Psychology news

• Harris Says She'd Take Cognitive Test; Challenges Trump to Do the Same

  28-10-2024 08:39 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: CBS News - U.S. NewsVice President Kamala Harris, responding to former President Donald Trump's claims about her IQ, said she would take a cognitive test—and "would challenge him to take the same one." The vice president pointed to a slew of individuals who worked closely with Trump who have spoken out against him in recent weeks as evidence that he is "unfit to be president of the United States." Harris said: "Don't take it from me, listen to the people who know...
  
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• The big idea: is convenience making our lives more difficult?

  04-11-2024 13:30
  Everything is easier with modern technology – except fulfilling your true potentialThe convenience of modern life is nothing short of astounding. As I write this, my phone is wirelessly sending some of the greatest hits from the 1700s (Bach, if you must know) to my portable speaker. I could use that same device to, within moments, get a car to pick me up, have food delivered to my house, or start chatting with someone on a dating app. To human beings from even the recent past thi
  
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• Why discovering your ancestral roots can help you to truly feel like yourself

  03-11-2024 13:00
  Since the age of six Greta Solomon knew she was a writer, but gained a richer sense of self when she discovered her ancestors were gifted storytellers tooThere’s a photo somewhere – taken to preserve history – of me swabbing my inner cheek with a cotton stick, ready for DNA testing to find my roots. Two years earlier, in 2008, my mother had died by suicide, aged 60. The coroner had said she was extraordinarily healthy for a woman her age, which only exposed the gulf between her
  
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• Ticker-tape synaesthesia – when real life comes with subtitles

  02-11-2024 15:00
  
  A rare variation of the phenomenon in which people’s senses are intermingled involves the mind’s eye seeing speech in captions. Scientists believe the condition arises from excessive neural connectivity and stimulationImagine having a conversation with someone and seeing each word they use appear before your eyes like subtitles in a film, or even as speech bubbles near the speaker’s mouth. Now, picture trying to read a book on a crowded train, only to have the sentences spoken
  
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• ‘It’s like collective daydreaming’: the giant study showing how dancing affects our brains

  01-11-2024 15:00
  
  Dancers and audiences are being fitted with electrode caps as part of a massive neurological study into how we respond to live performance – and the findings go far beyond what was first imaginedThe gel felt cold on my scalp and I had to forget how silly I must have looked, because we were in the midst of some serious science. This was back in 2021, anyway, still in the land of anti-bac and face masks – I’d long got over looking a bit silly in public in the name of science. The
  
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• Google Maps Introduces AI Features to Help Users Explore and Navigate

  01-11-2024 10:19 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: PBS ScienceGoogle Maps recently surpassed 2 billion monthly users worldwide for the first time, a milestone that illustrates how dependent people have become on the service's directions during their daily commutes and excursions to new places. Now, Google Maps is heading down a new road steered by artificial intelligence. With Google's AI-powered Gemini technology, its maps are now being set up to become entertainment guides in addition to navigational...
  
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• Trump Makes Anti-Trans Attacks Central to His Presidential Campaign

  01-11-2024 10:18 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: U.S. News and World ReportDonald Trump has made his opposition to transgender rights central to his campaign, using demeaning language and misrepresentations to paint an exceedingly narrow slice of the U.S. population as a threat to national identity. "We will get... transgender insanity the hell out of our schools, and we will keep men out of women's sports," Trump said at his recent Madison Square Garden rally, drawing an approving roar from the crowd of 20,000-plus.
  
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• More Than Half of U.S. Votes Cast Before Election Day

  01-11-2024 10:18 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: United Press International - Health NewsResults of a new Gallup poll show that 54% of registered voters in the United States have already cast their ballots, and that enthusiasm is high among both parties, but especially strong among Democrats. While more than half have cast ballots ahead of the official November 5th Election Day, the number is down from 64% during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Democrats are more likely to vote early than Republicans, according to the new poll.
  
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• Inside a 1760 Schoolhouse, a History of Slavery and Resilience

  01-11-2024 10:18 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: U.S. News and World ReportA Virginia museum is nearly done restoring the nation's oldest surviving schoolhouse for Black children, where hundreds of mostly enslaved students learned to read through a curriculum that justified slavery. The museum, Colonial Williamsburg, has identified more than 80 children who lined its pinewood benches, including Aberdeen, 5, who was enslaved by a saddle maker, and Bristol, 7, "owned" by a doctor. Yet the museum also tells a story of...
  
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• Low-Level Lead Poisoning Is Still Pervasive in the U.S. and Globally

  01-11-2024 10:17 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Science DailyChronic, low-level lead poisoning is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease in adults and cognitive deficits in children, even at levels previously thought to be safe, according to a new report in New England Journal of Medicine. Lead exposure is responsible for an annual loss of some 765 million IQ points in children globally and is a risk factor for adults, which can result in chronic kidney failure, hypertension, and cardiovascular...
  
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• Art Created by AI Robot Valued at $120-180,000 in Sotheby's Auction

  01-11-2024 08:02 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: United Press International - Health NewsA robot powered by artificial intelligence created an abstract portrait of Alan Turing valued at $120-180,000. The robot, named "Ai-Da," used AI algorithms, cameras, and robotic arms to paint the "first-ever artwork made by a humanoid robot," Smithsonian Magazine reported Wednesday. The abstract portrait is called "A.I. God. Portrait of Alan Turing," who is credited with being the first person to work on AI, which he called "intelligent...
  
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• MAPP Magazine: Consider the Collective

  31-10-2024 15:22 via positivepsychologynews.com
  By Josey Murray -
  Traditionally, positive psychology has focused on the individual, the meaning, purpose, and happiness of singular lives often detached from the context in which they exist. The third wave of positive psychology asks us to consider the collective: not just our individual lives, but what it means to exist in groups, in communities, as a species, and as part of this world. In times like these, when political discourse attempts to untie the threads that connect us, when disconnecti
  
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• Second Japanese High Court Rules Gay Marriage Ban Unconstitutional

  31-10-2024 07:01 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: United Press International - Health NewsThe Tokyo High Court on Wednesday ruled that the government's refusal to recognize same-sex marriage was against the country's constitution, marking the second court to do so. The court said the Japanese government's failure to protect same-sex marriage had "no rational basis" and has become a form of "legal discrimination based on sexual orientation." Wednesday's ruling follows another by the Sapporo High Court in March.
  
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• Scientists Convene for Inaugural APS Global Psychological Science Summit

  31-10-2024 07:01 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Association for Psychological ScienceMore than 400 scientists from 34 countries gathered October 23-24 to share their latest research and discuss the future of global psychological science at APS's inaugural Global Psychological Science Summit. Presenters discussed emerging issues facing global communities, such as climate change impacts, mental health support, and pathways toward more inclusive and representative research. The virtual event was designed to foster scientific...
  
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• Longtime Music Director at Michigan Church Fired for Same-Sex Marriage

  31-10-2024 07:01 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: U.S. News and World ReportThe longtime music director at a Michigan church said he was fired a few months before retirement after officials learned that he was in a same-sex marriage, a dismissal that led choir members on October 20 to wear black, leave their seats empty, and refuse to sing. "People are sad. In a time where there is so much controversy in the world, the church needs to be a place of peace, and instead it's turmoil after turmoil," church member Toni...
  
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• Downey Threatens to Sue If Execs Recreate Him with AI, Even After Death

  31-10-2024 07:01 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Canadian Broadcasting Company - Top Stories NewsRobert Downey Jr. doesn't think Marvel executives would ever recreate his portrayal of Tony Stark using artificial intelligence. But if they did, he would lawyer up—even posthumously. On a recent episode of the On With Kara Swisher podcast, the Oscar-winning actor said he intends to "sue all future executives" who allow an AI-created version of him. Speaking about his role as Iron Man, Downey said he does not want his likeness recreat
  
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• Why I would counsel against statutory regulation of psychotherapists | Letter

  30-10-2024 19:15
  
  To proceed would divide a profession that has only recently found a fragile unity via the Professional Standards Authority, writes Prof Andrew SamuelsAs a former chair of the UK Council for Psychotherapy, who led our fight against statutory regulation in the first decade of this century, I am disquieted to read of what feels like a new and unreflective rush towards statutory regulation of counsellors and psychotherapists, suffused with all kinds of sectional interests and hidden agendas (Letters
  
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• Scare tactics: scientists offer insights on what makes a perfect prank

  30-10-2024 12:23
  
  Researchers come up with theory for why ‘jump scares’ are often followed by laughter – with advice on how to find ‘sweet spot’ of fearWhether it’s a friend jumping out from behind a bush or accidentally walking into a web of fake cobwebs, most of us will have fallen victim to a scare prank at some point.Now scientists have come up with a theory for why “jump scares” are so often followed by laughter – with insights for pranksters hoping to co
  
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• South Africa Files Main Legal Claim Accusing Israel of Genocide

  30-10-2024 08:05 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: U.S. News and World ReportSouth Africa delivered a nearly 5,000-page document to the United Nations' top court on Monday, the latest step in a case the country filed accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. The document, which the International Court of Justice will not make public until a later stage in the proceedings, puts forth the "main case" that Israel has a "special intent to commit genocide," according to a statement from South...
  
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• Sharp Drop in Marijuana Use Among U.S. Youth Over a Decade

  30-10-2024 07:22 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Science Daily - Top SocietyA U.S. national survey of 88,183 adolescents in grades nine to 12 shows marijuana use declined from 23.1% in 2011 to 15.8% in 2021, with first-time use before age 13 dropping from 8.1% to 4.9%. Notably, in 2021 girls (17.8%) surpassed boys (13.6%) in reported use, reversing previous trends. Asian, Hispanic, and White adolescents saw declines, but Black adolescents reported a higher usage rate of 20.5% in 2021, revealing ongoing racial...
  
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• Experiencing intense emotions with others makes people feel more connected, study finds

  30-10-2024 01:01
  
  Participants bonded more after watching films that sparked intense emotionsWhether it is laughing at a classic comedy or watching a horror film from behind a cushion, movies can generate myriad feelings. Now researchers say experiencing intense emotions alongside others makes people feel more connected – provided you can see them.It has long been known that experiencing emotional events together can strengthen bonds between people, with a previous study finding that watching emotional film
  
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• ‘You tried to tell yourself I wasn’t real’: what happens when people with acute psychosis meet the voices in their heads?

  29-10-2024 06:00
  
  In avatar therapy, a clinician gives voice to their patients’ inner demons. For some of the participants in a new trial, the results have been astoundingIn the summer of 2019, when Joe was 21, he went on a university rugby tour of California. One night, one of his teammates bought some cannabis edibles to share, and Joe ate some. For the next 12 hours, he believed he was in hell. He was on fire; his body was suffused with pain. His ears were filled first with incoherent screaming and then
  
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• Using avatars in psychosis therapy can help those who hear voices, study finds

  28-10-2024 17:00
  
  Therapy involves patients talking with animated digital representations of voices they hear‘You tried to tell yourself I wasn’t real’: what happens when people with acute psychosis meet the voices in their heads?Digital characters – avatars – could help people with psychosis hear voices less often and reduce the distress caused, research suggests.The therapy involves a series of guided sessions during which patients are able to have a conversation with an animated d
  
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• World Wildly Off Track From Tackling Climate Change, U.N. Warns

  28-10-2024 08:38 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: United Press International - Health NewsCountries' national plans to tackle climate change are nowhere near what is needed to prevent global warming from ruining every economy and destroying the lives of their citizens, the United Nations warned in a damning report Monday. To limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the world needs to cut its CO2 equivalent by 43%, but in reality, it is just 2.6% below 2019 levels. Indeed, greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere reached record...
  
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• Trump NYC Rally Descends Into Racist Insults and Name-Calling

  28-10-2024 08:38 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: U.S. News and World ReportFormer President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are making very different final pitches in their U.S. presidential campaigns. Trump captured headlines after his Madison Square Garden featured speeches laden with racist and sexist remarks, including one that called Puerto Rico a "floating island of garbage." Meanwhile, the Harris campaign proposed the creation of a task force to foster economic growth and new jobs in Puerto Rico.
  
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• Prenatal Cannabis Use Linked to Child Aggression and Cognitive Deficits

  28-10-2024 08:37 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Google News - HealthNew research shows has linked prenatal exposure to cannabis with children's thinking and behavioral skills, including impulse control, attention, and aggression. The study observed preschool-aged children and found that those with prenatal cannabis exposure showed poorer control over impulses and emotions. These findings align with earlier research and come as cannabis potency has increased over the years, underscoring concerns about use during...
  
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• The clocks go back, but now is not the time to hibernate

  27-10-2024 10:00
  
  The dark months make nature harder to access, but these simple activities will help you stay connected to itAs the clocks go back today, it’s worth remembering that even though we may consider ourselves to be a nation of nature lovers, in a recent study people in the UK were found to be more disconnected from the natural world than most of our European neighbours. And the result is a decline not just in nature’s wellbeing but in ours, too. And, though it’s harder to get out and
  
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• Russia Behind Disinformation Effort to Help Elect Trump, Official Says

  27-10-2024 08:45 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Social Psychology Network NewsGroups in Russia spread viral disinformation targeting Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz, a senior U.S. intelligence official said Tuesday. The content, which includes false accusations about the Minnesota governor's time as a teacher, contains several indications that it was manipulated, said the official with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The effort is also consistent with other Russian efforts to defeat...
  
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• Ozempic Shows Potential in Lowering Alzheimer's Risk

  27-10-2024 08:45 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Google NewsResearchers have found that, when compared to seven other drugs, a popular diabetes and weight-loss drug, semaglutide, may lower the risk of Alzheimer's disease in people with type 2 diabetes. The study, published today in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association, found diabetic patients taking semaglutide had a significantly lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Nearly 7 million older Americans live with...
  
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• Where European Countries and U.S. Stand on Slavery Reparations

  27-10-2024 08:44 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: U.S. News and World ReportDiscussions on reparations for transatlantic slavery and colonialism are gaining momentum, with Caribbean and African nations calling on former colonial powers to engage on the issue. From the 15th to the 19th century, at least 12.5 million Africans were kidnapped, forcibly transported mostly by European merchants and sold into slavery. Here is where some former European colonial powers and the United States stand on reparations.
  
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