Teens with Hard-to-Treat Depression at High Risk for Relapse

Author: Traci Pedersen

Publication Name: Associate News Editor

Date of Publication: December 7, 2010

Teenagers with depression that is very hard to cure needs to lots of continuous care and huge reduction of stress, seriousness of life, and be more forgiven. NIMH released Journal of Clinical Psychiatry that tells teens who been in treatment for 24 weeks have a huge chance of getting depression again. In the study teens were taken different types of medicine to cure depression. Out of 334 participants 61 percent had remission by week 72 but many still had remaining symptoms on that week including low self esteem, fatigue, and get easily mad. The ones who have a more severe depression from the beginning were harder to cure. It is said that ethnic minorities have a higher chance of getting depression again than the whites. From the results of ethnic minorities, authors believe that culture have something to do with depression and recovery but the evidence is not clear.
The results are very important because we need to know how to completely cure depression with no relapse. Medicines that were given to teenagers are Paroxetine (Paxil), Citalopram (Celexa), Fluoxetine (Prozac), Venlafaxine (Effexor) with serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, and other types of medicine. They were also treated with cognitive behavioral therapy.
In conclusion this article is about how we can cure the symptoms. The reason on why we should care is because we want to know why the ethnic minorities have a higher rate of relapse than the whites. We want to know more detail if culture factors have something to do with the relapse.

Links To Study: N/A

Article: http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/12/07/teens-with-hard-to-treat-depression-at-high-risk-for-relapse/21544.html

Submitted By: Matthew Wong

Gay Teenagers Face Harsher Punishments

AUTHOR: Tara Parker-Pope

PUBLICATION NAME: The New York Times

DATE OF PUBLICATION: December 6, 2010

SUMMARY: Gay, lesbian and bisexual is vulnerable. Kathryn found that they're being punish more harshly thatn their straight peers. They get picked on by their peers, teachers, the school, the police and the court; even though they have a smaller chance of making troubles then their straight peers. K thryn Himmelstein started the research of gay teens as an undergraduate student at Yale University and now a high school math teacher in New york City. She spend a lot of time in juvenile justice system study gay and lesbian teens in there , but she can't find any study in the scuentific literature about how likely is it for them to be involved in any crime activities and being punish more. In her senior year at Yale University, she found some research the National Longitudinal study of Adolescent Health had been doing between the year 1994 and 2002 on the gay and lesbian's health and bahavior problems of the students in middle and high school.

Scientists have done study on about 15,000+ students on middle achool and high school and found out that gay students have suffered through a great amount of harassment from classmates. There been many files in Unites States about gay, lesbian, and bisexual students being bullied and suicide due to all the harassments. Researshers surveyed teenagers about the use of drug, alcohol, weapon, stealing, crime, and lying to parent to study the differnt behaviors of the different types od the students. They concluded that gay, lesbian, adn bisexual teenagers are likely to commit small crimes such as lying to parents asn some non-violent misbehavior compare to their straight peer. However, their straight peers are more likely to be involved in some seriuos crime and violence.

LINKS TO STUDY: N/A

ARTICLE: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2021/12/06/gay-teen-face-harsher-punishments/?ref=health

SUBMITTED BY: Hue Ly

A Safe Haven in Cartoon Confidants

AUTHOR: David Bornstein

PUBLICATION NAME: The New York Times

PUBLISH DATE: November 22, 2010

SUMMARY: As we all know, many children become victims of child abuse in their own homes. The Pediatric Hospital of Tacubaya, located in Mexico, housed a 8 year old boy in the burn unit. He was burned everywhere with a clothing iron then was tied to a water heater in the basement by his aunt and uncle. Many therapists asked what had happened but the boy refused to answer. This is because in his mind, he is afraid if he says what had happened he would get in trouble and get hurt again. So a therapist decided to use Dulas.
     Dulas is a cartoon created by Julia Borbolla, a Mexican psychologist. This cartoon was created to be an alien from another planet who knows nothing, hoping to get answers from the kids, the kids will eventually gain trust from this cartoon. The cartoon is controlled by doctors viewing the session and when spoken, the voice transform into a goofy voice for the cartoon. Eventually the young boy started to talk about his life. How his mother and father died and was left to be raised by his aunt and uncle.
      After the first session with Dulas, when the boy was called to talk to the therapist he asked for Dulas. This method spread through out the country and a bit of the world in many hospitals. Naturally children have a fear of adults, especially if they've been abused by them and have trust issues. But with a kiddy cartoon always asking questions all kids know, they seem to put more trust in one who acts closer to their age and lacks knowledge of many things making the child feel superior and willing to tell the cartoon anything.

ARTICLE: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/22/a-safe-haven-in-cartoon-confidantes/?ref=psychology_and_psychologists

SUBMITTED BY: Shannen Quibuyen

Behind the Facade, Post-Traumatic Stress

AUTHOR: Karen Barrow

PUBLICATION NAME: The New York Times

DATE OF PUBLICATION: November 22, 2010

SUMMARY: Post-Traumatic Stress is psychological disorder commonly diagnosed to patients that are solders who return home from war. If a solder has this disorder they struggle to forget what has been seen while is combat. But not only does post-traumatic stress affect solders, it could also cause trauma towards survivors of natural disasters and mostly a rape victim. Robin Hutchins, 25, lived a normal life until one night she returns home from college and is raped by someone she knew. After a while she coped with what happened and continued to live life regularly. But acts of violence towards her puts Robin in an emotional state causing a severe anxiety attack. This was a drastic affect towards going to school or even getting out of her dorm. She was terrified to leave anywhere alone. After leaving college she had gotten into a car accident making her paranoia more intense. Friends and family believed this isolation thing was just a phase. Also when she went to see some psychologist they claimed she'll eventually get over it. But then she met a logical psychologist who listened to her full story and diagnosed Robin with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (P.T.S.D.)
               Dr. Ochberg, the Michigan State professor, who has never met Ms. Hutchins, estimated that as many as 80 percent of rapes may lead to symptoms of post-traumatic stress. But the stigma of rape, along with a general misunderstanding of the disorder and how it can affect anyone who has suffered trauma, often gets in the way of a proper diagnosis. Robin was glad when she heard she had P.T.S.D. She found better ways to help ease her emotions if things get too tense. Still alone, she adopted a companion who then took on training to help P.T.S.D. patients relax. Since then, Robin has made great progress and is slowly getting control of her emotional outbreaks.

ARTICLE: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/23/health/23voices.html?_r=1&ref=psychology_and_psychologists

SUBMITTED BY: Shannen Quibuyen

Sugary Lemonade May Cool A Hot Temper

AUTHOR: Jeff Grabmeier

PUBLICATION NAME: ScienceDaily

DATE OF PUBLICATION: Dec. 1, 2010

SUMMARY: A study performed by Brad Bushman (co-author of the study and professor of communication and psychology at Ohio State University), C. Nathan DeWall and Timothy Deckman of the University of Kentucky and Matthew Gailllot of SUNY-Albany found that people who drink lemonade with sugar are less aggressive to strangers a few minutes after drinking the beverage than those who drink lemonade with a sugar substitute. This study was performed with 62 college students as test subjects. The students fasted for 3 hours to reduce their glucose levels and then, half of them were given lemonade with sugar while the other half were given lemonade with a sugar substitute. Eight minutes were given for students to absorb the sugar into their blood. Participants were then informed that they and an unseen rival were to compete against each other by pressing a button as quickly as possible in 25 trials. Whoever lost would be punished with a blast of white noise, whose volume was determined by the winner of the trials. (In actuality, each participant “won” 12 random trials.) The sound was rates on a scale of 1-10. During the first trial (before being punished with any noise by their “partners,” it was found that students who had drunk the sugared lemonade, on average, gave a noise level of 4.8, while the ones who had drunk the substitute gave a 6.06.

Bushman believes that since the act of resisting aggressive behavior takes so much energy, glucose is essential for providing the energy needed to resist such impulses. Those people who have difficulty using the glucose present in their bodies (notably those with diabetes) are more prone to aggressive behavior and less willing to forgive others. This turns into a problem because diabetes level (which are shown to correspond directly with violence and crime rates) are rising in America.

LINKS TO STUDY: None

ARTICLE: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101130161535.htm

SUBMITTED BY: Lordesa Fok

Behavior: Napping Can Prime the Brain for Learning

AUTHOR: Roni Caryn Rabin
PUBLICATION NAME: The New York Times
DATE OF PUBLICATION: February 23, 2010
SUMMARY: Research lead by Matthew Walker, an assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience at University of California - Berkeley, demonstrated that young adults who slept for at least an hour and a half in the afternoon increased their memory capacity. This study reflects a well-known fact in which toddlers who take afternoon naps have greater learning capacities than those who don't. This study also "suggests that sleep can actually restore the ability to learn." Educators around the country have consistently emphasized the need for adolescents to sleep for at least 8 hours, and this study supports this claim; as Walker put it, "You need to sleep before learning, to prepare your brain, like a dry sponge, to absorb new information." Everyone should be aware of this study, so all can learn the importance of getting a full night's sleep!
LINKS TO STUDY: None that were included in the original article.
ARTICLE: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/23/health/research/23beha.html
SUBMITTED BY: Bettina Pancho

Why we struggle in our relationships

AUTHOR: Mel Schwartz

PUBLICATION NAME: Psychology Today.

DATE OF PUBLICATION: December 5, 2010

SUMMARY: This article addressed the problems people face in relationships and the most common reason why these problems arise. When in a relationship, most couples face countless disappointments. However, instead of trying to stop future disappointments by coming to an understanding of how the problem arose, couples have the tendency of blaming their significant others or even themselves. When looking at divorce statistics, one would instantly come to the conclusions that most relationships and marriages do not last. But the reason could be that people constantly place the fault on themselves or place the fault on their partners. Both of these are considered negative energy and both only lead to guilt. The research came to the conclusion that relationships between couples who only blame one another would never last because they would only argue. Instead of ruining a relationship based on problems, people must seek help to understand the problem. In addition, instead of only looking to repair the relationships, people must seek a way to feel fulfillment and joy with their partner. Relationships among people are not taught in classrooms, so in order to succeed and live happily, one must address the problem and understand that they cannot just seek for a salvation of their relationship. In order for the relationship to work, the need to be aware of the problem and read, go to workshops, and do therapy. The research even suggests that therapy before marriage is a much healthier way to keep a marriage stable and lasting. Through doing this, couples would come to realize that relationships can only last through the understanding and engagement of commitment to one's partner.

LINKS TO STUDY: None.

ARTICLE: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/shift-mind/201012/why-we-struggle-in-our-relationships

SUBMITTED BY: Connie Giang

Miscarriage and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

AUTHOR: Gad Saad

PUBLICATION NAME: Psychology Today.

DATE OF PUBLICATION: November 28, 2010

SUMMARY: In this article, the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) created after a miscarriage is addressed. PTSD can cause depression and anxiety in the woman who had a miscarriage. The research found helps people identify women that had miscarriages with PTSD and encourage them to seek help.

In the study, they found that symptoms of PTSD for women that experienced a miscarriage include tiredness, troubles sleeping, concentration difficulties, appetite loss, and many crying episodes. These results help friends and families of a miscarriage woman to gain help when symptoms are detected. PTSD causes trauma in the mother-to-be, making her stress level rise and the hopes of creating a family decrease. This study tells parents that experienced miscarriages to process their grief, which is the only way to resolve the problem. In order for the mother-to-be to move on, she must acknowledge that the miscarriage was not her fault or in her control.

When a woman decides on having a child, she begins to bond with him or her right away. Because of this bond, many mothers with miscarriages may instantly have PTSD after it occurs. If the miscarriage happens late in the pregnancy, PTSD is more likely because the baby must be surgically removed from the mother. This shows that bonds between humans are extremely strong, especially those between mothers and children. Because of these strong bonds, deep depression may occur when it ends due to death. This study acknowledges the fact that communication, support, and the seeking of help when faced with depression is vital to finally move on.

LINKS TO STUDY: The American Family Physician

ARTICLE: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/somatic-psychology/201011/miscarriage-and-post-traumatic-stress-disorder

SUBMITTED BY: Connie Giang

Do cell phones cause behavioral problems?

AUTHOR: Elizabeth Landau

PUBLICATION NAME:CNN

DATE OF PUBLICATION: December 7, 2010

Summary: Today, cell phones are how teenagers communicate. Most teens and even adults can go a few hours without their cell in their pocket. It’s crazy to think that these modern devices can cause behavioral problems for young children. Studies say that children that were exposed to cell phones either in the womb of their mother or after they were born up until the age of seven were at higher risk of behavioral problems. Researchers analyzed more than 28,000 children and more than 10 percent of them had mothers that spoke on the phone twice a day or even more and 50 percent had their phones turned on the whole day. The more a mother would use her cell phone the greater the risk of behavioral problems. It is very hard to believe that such a thing can cause damage to your behavior but they said that cell phones could have led up to a mother’s metabolism and could affect the brain of the fetus. This is very important to take account of since cell phones are used in our everyday lives. Women need to be aware of our cell phone usage when pregnant.

ARTICLE:http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2010/12/07/do-cell-phones-cause-behavioral-problems/?npt=NP1

SUBMITTED BY: Corri Takeda

Does Moving a Child Create Adult Baggage?

Author: Pamela Paul

Publication Name: The New York Times

Date of Publication: July 9, 2010

Summary:

Research has shown that a variety of adult problems has stemmed from moving houses in one’s adolescent life. Psychologist, sociologists, and epidemiologists notice that children that move often do worse in school and have behavioral problems than children that are stationary.

Americans are a highly mobile bunch and according to Professor Oishi, “American levels of well-being can be explained in part by residential differences.” People that move frequently say they have less “quality relationships.” People that moved a lot as children were reported to have less “self-satisfaction” and “well-being” as adults. These are the two characteristics used to measure adult happiness.

However the personality of the child also matters, whether they are introverted or extroverted. Those that are extroverted tend to remain the same while introverts are more deeply impacted. It is shown that a child reacts differently to the different reasons for moving. Military children handle moving better because children in military schools are in the same situation. However, relocation due to a job may adversely affect a child as well as relocation due to divorce or foreclosure because of the financial and relationship problems that may follow.

The age group that it affects the most though is the kids that are still in middle school. Being a pre-teenager with hormones and puberty is already a lot to handle. Adding in moving to a different place makes the tween years so much more appealing. Middle school kids will be more affected than older kids or younger kids in high school or elementary school.

Links to Study: N/A

Article:http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/fashion/11StudiedMoving.html?ref=psychology_and_psychologists

Submitted By: Tina Nguyen

TV Watching is Bad for Babies' Brains

AUTHOR: Nancy Shute
PUBLICATION NAME: US News & World Report
DATE OF PUBLICATION: December 7, 2010
SUMMARY: A study done in New York which followed 259 low-income (and mostly primary Spanish-speaking) families showed that babies around the age of 14 months who watched television for an hour daily had developmental scores lower that those of babies whose television-watching activities were limited. These results contradict what many parents allow their children to do: watch excessive television. Previous studies that focused on higher-income families showed similar results, refuting that argument that socioeconomic status matters in this study. This research also shows that television stunts developmental growth when babies are exposed at an age of 2 years or less (basically meaning all those Baby Einstein videos may be useless). A link between children who do not read (or whose parents do not read to them) and children who watch non-educational television has been established. Many should be aware of this study, because many are addicted to television and are passing it on to their children, and this research shows television is not good for developing children and babies!
LINKS TO STUDY: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17261478


ARTICLE:http://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/on-parenting/2010/12/07/tv-watching-is-bad-for-babies-brains.html
SUBMITTED BY: Bettina Pancho

Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits

Author: Benedict Carey

Publication Name: The New York Times

Date of Publication: September, 2010

Summary:

Every year before school starts, parents try to turn their mushy brained video game playing children into book ready students. A variety of techniques are used to up their study habits such as, “Clear[ing] a quiet work space. Stick to a homework schedule. Set goals. Set boundaries. Do not bribe."

Psychologists have found that many of the study habits that we depend on nowadays are wrong. Many people are lead to believe that by finding a nice, quiet, secluded corner in a library or study room will help them study better. However, research showed that it was just the opposite. In a 1978 experiment, psychologist found that college students that studied a list of forty vocabulary words in two different rooms did better on a test than another set of college students who studied the words twice in one room.

This happens is because the brain makes associations with the content a person is studying with the environment around them. By forcing the brain to associate the same material in a variety of environments, it gives the material more neural scaffolding.

It has also been shown that studying a many different subjects in one sitting, leaves a greater impression on the brain than studying one subject alone. “What we think is happening here is that, when the outside context is varied, the information is enriched, and this slows down forgetting,” said Dr. Bjork, one of the people that conducted the two room experiment.

There was also an experiment where a group of children were split into two groups, one group was given a repeated example of one problem and the other group was given mixed problem sets to study. The children with mixed problem sets did twice as well on a test than their counterparts.

Cognitive scientists do not deny though that good old cramming works. However, the brain does not retain the information and when a student is confronted with the information again. It is like seeing it for the first time again. Although we are confronted with a variety of study habits that we should adapt in the spirit of doing better an exam, adding variety to our study habits can certainly help us retain the information better.

Links to Study: N/A

Articles: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/health/views/07mind.html?ref=psychology_and_psychologists

Submitted by: Tina Nguyen

Can imagination help you stop eating?

AUTHOR: Madison Park

PUBLICATION NAME: CNN Health

DATE OF PUBLICATION: December 9th 2010

SUMMARY: So basically scientists have come up with the idea that if you imagine yourself eating something that you are creaving that you will in turn desire the food less. Crazy idea, I know, but the actually did an experiment on this. At Carnegie Mellow University they took participants in the study and divided them into three groups. The first group was told to imagine inserting thirty quarters into washing machine. The second group was told to imagine inserting thirty quarters into a washing machine and then to imagine eating three M&Ms. Finally, the third group was told to imagine iserting tree quarters in a washing machine and to then imagine eating thirty M&Ms. After imagining part, each group was allowed to eat freely from a bowl of M&Ms. Similar experiments were conducted with M&Ms and cheese afterwards. The Scientist concluded that the participants in te final group desired the M&Ms the least because of habitation. Basically it is a decreased response to simulus because of the repeated exposure. In simpler terms this basically that the tenth bite of a chocolate bar is less deirable then the fist. This study is very important because it can help people that have eating problems. It can help people refain from eatin as much which can then lead to a healthier lifestyle. Good job guys at Carnegie Mellon University ! You guys rock!

ARTICLE:http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2010/12/09/can-your-imagination-help-you-stop-eating/?iref=allsearch

SUBMITTED BY: Eddie Carrillo

Drinking Coffee With Sugar Boosts Brain Power, Memory

Author: Deborah Huso

Publication name: Aol Health

Date of publication: November 29, 2010

Summary: Can that cup of coffee increase your attention span and memory? Yes, according to researchers at the University of Barcelona who recently conducted a study to confirm “if caffeine and glucose can have beneficial effects on cognitive performance.” Participants in this study were all similar: healthy, right handed and low caffeine consuming subjects. The test: each of these participants received one of the following beverages: (1) plain water, (2) water plus 75 grams of glucose or natural sugar (sugar produced from plants, not in labs), (3) water plus 75 milligrams of caffeine, and (4) water plus both 75 milligrams of caffeine and sugar. How they tested the claim: two MRIs (magnetic resonance imaging) once before and thirty minutes after consuming the beverage. In addition to the MRIs, a continuous performance test was used to evaluate the attention span of each participant. The results: a combination of glucose and caffeine could increase a person’s attention span. Dr. Richard Lipton, professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine said, “Imagine a circuit with a light bulb, a battery and a switch. In a sense, caffeine acts as a molecular switch and glucose acts as the battery. If you throw the switch without the battery, the light will not go on.”

LINKS TO STUDY: N/A

ARTICLE: http://www.aolhealth.com/2010/11/29/coffee-and-sugar-are-a-good-mix-for-brain-power/

SUBMITTED BY: Lovedeep Uppal

For LGBT Teens, acceptance is critical

AUTHOR: Elizabeth Landau

PUBLICATION NAME: CNN Health

DATE OF PUBLICATION: December 6th 2010

SUMMARY: So basically this article is talking about a young man Zac Brokenrope. The article explains how he is feeling about the daily torment he faces for "acting gay". Zac has never felt accepted by any of his peers. His parents are embarresed by him and they wont let him start a gay-straight alliance at school. Basically Zac is alone because of his sexuallity. Studies have shown that Zac is not aone. Almost all gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender people feel the same way. In the study, scientists noticed that some LGBT people feel the need to change the way they act around other people so that they wont get bullied. Studies also show that by hanging out with meore people that are like you that you will feel more comfortable the way you are and you won't feel the need to conform to society. That is why it is important to have these LGBT groups availabe to the public.

ARTICLE: http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/12/06/lgbt.teens.punishment.problems/index.html?iref=allsearch

SUBMITTED BY: Eddie Carrillo

How acne and depression feed each other

AUTHOR: Elizabeth Landau

PUBLICATION NAME: CNN Health

DATE OF PUBLICATION: November 29, 2010

SUMMARY: There is a correlation between depression in teens and facial ance outbreaks. Having ance creates stress and lowers self esteem. This is because the media and society tells one that they are supposed to have perfect, airbushed skin as it appears on models in advertisement or actors in television. This stress can cause an increase iin depression and in turn the depression can exacerbate acne. As one can see, this can become a viscious cycle. The acne causes the patient to have low self confidence, hence becoming more depressed, and the stress of this situation again causes the ance to get worse. Although this does seem to be a recurring pattern in teens and young adults, there is no evidence that directly links depression and ance, Psychologist Bobbie Mc Donald says that once teens move out of high school, these symptoms of depression seem to go away for a while. She says that because these young adults are shifting towards a new phase of life, and "redefining" themselves, the are more prone to viewing themselves in a more positive light. Teens easily fall prey to viewing themselves in a negative way if they are different from the norm. Acne can be painful and embarrassing for a young adult to live with, and often the effects of this stress can be seen in depression.

ARTICLE: cnn

Hey stupid! How your eating habits can make you dumb.

AUTHOR: Susan Carnell, Ph.D.

PUBLICATION NAME: Psychology Today

DATE OF PUBLICATION: October 10, 2009

SUMMARY: It has long been known that nutrition can affect your mental and physical capacity. Without the proper nutrients, your body becomes weaker and less capable of regular tasks. But, there is also evidence that what we eat can effect the how we think.

A study was conducted to prove this idea. Researchers fed rats a high-fat diet for ten days and found that, not only were they exhausted after slight exercise, they became more forgetful and less successful at finding rewards in a maze.

Another study was conducted on elderly obese and thin people. Interestingly, the brains of the obese showed greater shrinkage of the temporal, frontal, and subcortical areas than those of the lean people. Taking into account the fact the diabetes has a similar affect on the brain, the researchers still found that weight played a role in the atrophy.

On the other hand, not eating enough fats can also cause problems with the function of the brain. Anorexic patients actually perform worse at tasks which test the flexible thinking of the prefrontal cortex. Also, women who claim to be dieting to lose weight tend to have slower reaction times and poorer recall in word memory tests.

Basically, eating a healthy diet can keep your mind and body sharp, but don't stress too much over the things that you eat because that's never good.

LINKS TO STUDY: None

ARTICLE: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/bad-appetite/200910/hey-stupid-how-your-eating-habits-can-make-you-dumb

SUBMITTED BY: Rosemary Barrass

Fear Not the Winter Blues

AUTHOR: Henry Emmons, M.D.

PUBLICATION NAME: Psychology Today

SUMMARY: During the winter months, people begin to feel more tired and depressed. The reason behind this is because of the increased levels of melatonin that our bodies produce. The human body automatically produces melatonin, the sleep hormone, when light levels are low. In order to create melatonin, the body uses up seratonin, one of the hormones which keeps us happy. If we were to go to sleep at the time that the brain begins the production of melatonin, perhaps as early as 6pm, there would be no issue. But, because our schedules do not change much with the seasons, we keep ourselves awake, forcing the brain to create more melatonin, which lowers the level of seratonin and makes us more tired.

Researchers have found that 10% of people who live in northern latitudes will develop significant symptoms of depression. As many as 25% of northern populations will develop the milder version, known as SAD or Seasonal Affective Disorder.

Fortunately for us, there are ways of combating these "Winter Blues." In order to prevent SAD, you must trick your brain into thinking that it is summer. Scientists suggest that you expose yourself to brighter lights when you feel tired, get about 8-9 hours of sleep each night, eat light foods, exercise in the afternoon, and take B complex, Omega-3, and Vitamin D3.

LINKS TO STUDY: None

ARTICLE: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-chemistry-calm/201012/fear-not-the-winter-blues

SUBMITTED BY: Rosemary Barrass

Playing violent video games: Good or bad?

AUTHOR: Darcia Narvaez

PUBLICATION NAME: Psychology Today

DATE OF PUBLICATION: Nov 9, 2010

SUMMARY: The Supreme Court was looking at arguments for and against the banning of selling violent video games to minors. There are some things that children can only learn from play; therefore, it is important for children to be able to play, but violent video games may not be the best option.
Some people however, believe that video games may teach as much, or even more than traditional games. Video games are far more complex than games such as pack man. Some people claim that this encourages more intelligence. Children must try something until they finally get it. This teaches them problem solving, and some even claim that it teaches children the scientific method. Therefore, video games can be good for children, as long as they continue to have face-to-face relationships and interactions. Real life interactions are still important, because video game tend to use primarily the primitive brain, which is not social.
On the other hand, when violent behaviors are repeated hundreds, or even thousands of times, it teaches children to be violent. Video games are addictive, because they give immediate rewards. Any addictive behavior can harm the brain before it is fully developed. This can lead to lack of maturity and less empathy for others. Both are important in a person’s adult life.
The affects of violent media on children is stronger than the affect of tobacco, and therefore is often considered a health risk. Although there are many plusses for video games, violent video games take away the ability for children to think and feel proper empathy in their futures, and therefore should not be allowed.

LINKS TO STUDY: N/A

ARTICLE: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/moral-landscapes/201011/playing-violent-video-games-good-or-bad

SUBMITTED BY: Rachel Walker

Mind Over Mood

AUTHOR: Clifford N. Lazarus, Ph.D.

PUBLICATION NAME: Psychology Today

DATE OF PUBLICATION: August 13, 2010

SUMMARY: A lady named Gina used to complain how she didn't have control of how the way she felt. She then learned that her thoughts are mainly responsible for her emotions and feelings. After, she knew how to control her emotions and alter any negative thoughts. Despite the quote "mind over matter" being quite fairly true, it's been increasingly clear that thoughts mainly control and influence one's emotions, feelings and attitudes. An important fact is, "it's not events that trigger our emotions, rather it's how we think about events that determine our feelings."
Our emotional reactions to external stimuli are really the combined effects of the external event and our interpretation. Also known as, cognitive connection; the link that joins together events and emotions of our experiences. Our reactions to outside influences are actually the feelings of a certain event and our intake of it. In my opinion, thoughts control everything. Many things can influence what you think, but it's best to follow your mind, and not just the situation. (If that makes sense..)

yepyep.


LINKS TO STUDY:

ARTICLE: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/think-well/201008/mind-over-mood-feeling-better-thinking-better

SUBMITTED BY: Kristine Vu

Detecting Lies v. detecting truth - serious implications

AUTHOR: Joe Navarro

PUBLICATION NAME: Psychology Today

DATE OF PUBLICATION: October 31, 2010

SUMMARY: Two hundred and sixty one people have been proven innocent by DNA testing in the United States since 1989. Seventeen of these people served time on death row. While these people were innocent, 25% of them admitted to committing the crime. In 100% of these cases, investigating officers were sure that these people were lying. People are generally very bad at reading non verbal language. We normally are right only 50% of the time, which is no better than chance. But in these 261 cases, each and every officer who was involved in the investigation was so sure of their ability to read these non-verbal signs that they would not consider the possibility of innocence. Often after many hours of interrogation (up to 12 hours), 25% of these people confessed. They had done nothing wrong, but they confessed to committing the crime anyway. This tells us that about 25% of people will admit to committing a crime they did not actually do in order to get out of an uncomfortable situation.
We realize now, that it is highly unreliable to judge a person for innocence or guilt based on what we see. If we are only right about half of the time, we might as well flip a coin. It is a scary thought that our system of justice is so flawed. We can convict people, even convincing them to confess, who are completely innocent. The very system that is attempting to keep us safe, is putting innocent people on death row.


LINKS TO STUDY: none

ARTICLE: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/spycatcher/201010/detecting-lies-v-detecting-truth-serious-implications

SUBMITTED BY: Rachel Walker

You are a conformist (that is, you are human)

AUTHOR: Noam Shpancer, Ph.D.

PUBLICATION NAME: Psychology Today

DATE OF PUBLICATION: December 5, 2010

SUMMARY: Philosopher Hannah Adrent, had once argued that the Nazi’s who committed the crimes of the Holocaust, were not insane killers, but just regular people, like you and I, put under pressure to conform. Although, as a species, we don’t require extreme pressure like that to conform, in fact we don’t need any pressure at all, we do it on our own. Human beings are social herd animals; we learn what to do and how to behave from other people. Research has shown that social disapproval turns on “danger circuits” in our brain, where as conforming “soothes”.

Professor Shpancer did an experiment, in which two students are asked to go outside. She then goes on to tell the students in class to avoid interaction with the two children outside (They were rewarded with extra credit on their next test to do it). She then told the two students outside to try to do whatever they can to illicit a reaction from the rest of the class. After a few minutes, the test is over, and Shpancer asks the students how they felt, in which they replied “horrible, embarrassed, rejected”. The students generally think this is a test on how it feels to be an outsider, however, it’s actually a test on conformity, and how simple it is for us to do it. (Note: Not one of the students refused to take part in the test)

We keep ourselves in conformity in two basic ways. From informational cues, which is when we look at others for information, and from normative cues in which we look at others to see how we should act. We have done this ever since we are toddlers, picking up cues from our parents on what action to do.

In the 30’s, there was an experiment by social psychologist Muzafer Sherif, in which a small light was put in a dark room, and subjects were asked to say how far the light moved from the beginning. In reality, the light didn’t move at all, the human brain just makes it appear like it does. The results were that, when alone people had answers varying from about two to six inches, however when they were asked to do this with a group the same people who said varying answers, compromised at four inches. When asked later if the grouping had anything to do with their answers, the subjects denied that it did. They then did the test again, alone, and came back with the group compromise of four inches.

Some people, may claim that “Oh, I wouldn’t have gone along with the group’s, I would have stuck to my guns.” That in Asch’s experiment, they would have picked the line that they knew was right and that in Milgram’s, they wouldn’t have inflicted shocks just because an authority figure said to. However, Shpancer argues that “…nonconformity, in itself is a group phenomenon.”, that our individual courage is based upon group thoughts. That is, if we go against a group, it’s for the sake of another group. In other words, Shpancer says “we can’t avoid conformity.” However, she does say what we can do, and that is to become more aware of conformity cues, and choose the right people to help us in our life.

ARTICLE: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/insight-therapy/201012/you-are-conformist-is-you-are-human

SUBMITTED BY: Brendan Soper

Plagiarism and Its Effect on Creative Work

AUTHOR: Shelley Carson

PUBLICATION NAME: Psychology Today

DATE OF PUBLICATION: October 16, 2010

SUMMARY: Why do students choose to plagiarize work? I’m sure educators have been asking that question, ever since there has been formal education. According to Shelley Carson, not only is it happening consistently at the college level, but it’s actually increasing. Plagiarism, just in general, is considered to be dishonest morally, and in many cases be illegal, legally. Especially at the College/University level of education, they take plagiarism very seriously, ranging punishments from receiving a failing grade to getting expelled from the school. (I find it worthy to note, that many students that I’ve known through personal experience, have gone through plagiarizing, usually on more than one occasion, so that they can get a good grade, so that they can get into a good college. These people range across the academic scale, that is, smart as well as not so smart people are guilty of this. Its rather ironic that the thing that, at least they think, is helping them get in to a good college, is the thing that might get them kicked out.)

So, if the punishments are so high, why do students do it? Well, Mrs. Carson asked this question to her students, and received a variety of answers. Many of them, she explains, “…tell me that they just got overwhelmed with their coursework and that the capability of reducing their stress by lifting material from an article or essay on the internet was just too tempting.” I think everyone who has ever been a student in the “Internet Age” can offer this excuse, and I must admit, I have been guilty of the ctrl+c ctrl+v once or twice in my life time. Others claim that they have been doing this for their entire academic career, and were never caught before, so why stop, right? Still others believe that there is nothing wrong with plagiarism. She tells us "Everybody does it," is a typical response.” The classic bandwagon effect, it’s okay if others are doing it. Carson states that it is “hard to argue against the "everybody does it" argument.” This is because, truthfully, everybody seems to be doing it, Science Blogs, the President, even William Shakespeare (According to the article).

However, Carson strongly discourages people from plagiarizing work. She states that “stealing” other people’s property decreases motivation to actually be creative and put time and effort in to work. Also, from an author’s perspective, it de-motivates you from wanting to produce anything else, because what’s the point if someone is just going to take credit for your hard work?

Why does this matter? Carson believes “rampant plagiarism will contribute to the "dumbing down" of our culture rather than the rise of a Golden Age…” Which, I can say from personal experience, is happening slowly, but there is definitely evidence of it happening. She suggests to all writers that they credit their sources and that Parents/Educators not turn a blind eye towards plagiarism.

LINKS TO STUDY: N/A

ARTICLE: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/life-art/201010/plagiarism-and-its-effect-creative-work

SUBMITTED BY: Brendan Soper (Not Jack...)

The Only Child : Not a Loner?

AUTHOR: Pamela Paul

PUBLICATION NAME: The New york Times

DATE OF PUBLICATION: September 10,2010

SUMMARY: Being the only child does not affect their interpersonal skills. In fact, they are as skillful as children with sibling according to Dr. Downey and Dr. Bobbitt-Zeher. They did some research in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolesent Health on 13,466 students from 7th grade all the way to 12th grade. By finding out the total average nuber of friends each individual students have and found out that the total number of friends the children with sibling are the same as the children without sibling.

The only child would start out from kindergarten and appear to lack a little of interpersonal skills, self-control, and behavior problems started by the teacher that was asked to evaluate the students. Due to the fact that they don't have interaction with other students would give them these types of problems and skills. Later on, the behaviors of children without sibling will catch up the those children who have sibling by the time they reach middle school. Dr. Downey concludes that the children who doen't have siblings improve over time because of the continuation of teachers that provide group projects and school clubs. The activities five the students a change to spend time and interact with others their own age.

However, Dalton Conley has a different conclusion, "it's plausible these only kids have trouble relating to fellow 5-year-olds," He added, "as they age, they are better able to relate to kids who are more adult like." Therefore, the children without sibling tend to make friends and have better relationships with other students that are more adult like rather than those who have child like personalities.

LINK TO STUDY: N/A

ARTICLE: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/12/fasion/12Studied.html?_r=1&ref=sociology

SUBMITTED BY: Hue Ly

Despite Warnings, Antidepressants Rarely Trigger Suicidal Thoughts

AUTHOR: Catherine Donaldson-Evans

PUBLICATION NAME: Aol Health

DATE OF PUBLICATION: September 3, 2010

SUMMARY: People on antidepressants are more likely to have suicidal thoughts? Rarely. Researchers in Germany analyzed more than 140,000 European psychiatric patients who were all taking some sort of medicine for depression. Studies found that only a small percentage of these patients were suicidal, numerically speaking, out of 142,090 about 33 patients had thoughts of committing suicide and eighteen tried killing themselves (Journal of Clinical Psychiatry). “In clinical practice, seeing a patient on antidepressants who has thoughts of suicide is extremely rare” said psychiatric Dr. Daniel Carlat. In 2005 about 10 percent of Americans were taking medication for depression. Just like other studies, this study has problems: doctors used reports from the patients themselves about whether they felt suicidal, physicians didn’t watch the patients around the clock, and some patients were on antidepressants such as SSRI and others on benzodiazepines or other tranquilizers. This research counters existing theories that connect antidepressants to suicide. A Welsh psychiatric Dr. David Healy said, “There is no doubt that such medicine [antidepressants] can trigger suicidal feelings”. The issue on whether drugs or medicine can trigger suicidal feelings is controversial and affects all of us because since 1996 the number of users has doubled in 2005 (about 27 million people taking prescription drugs).

LINKS TO STUDY: N/A

ARTICLE: http://www.aolhealth.com/2010/09/03/despite-warnings-antidepressants-rarely-trigger-suicidal-thoughts/

SUBMITTED BY: Lovedeep Uppal

Bad for Teeth, Good for Society

AUTHOR: Sonya Sobieski

PUBLICATION NAME: Psychology Today

DATE OF PUBLICATION: October 30. 2009

SUMMARY: Halloween is a day that anyone can be anyone they want to be without feeling guilty. According to Freud, he said that everyone needed some time to be able to be and do whatever they wanted without caring to be truly happy. Although Halloween is based on ancient Pagan rituals, it does not follow it's true roots anymore. It is now an American holiday where children dress up in costumes to receive candy from their neighbors. It is also one of the only holidays that does not include an kind of religious or patriotic significance. The community gains a sort of sense of belonging and acceptance on Halloween without any judgments. for Halloween. I myself usually dress as a nerd, cause I look like one in the first place. I have never looked at Halloween from this certain viewpoint before, but I think society thinks Halloween more as a day to receive free candy from your neighbors and not as a day where one can run free and be anyone they like to be. Their research has said that "Halloween allows people to express their shadow side in a safe and socially sanctioned way". This study brings up an interesting theory and does not conflict with any other popular theories regarding Halloween. This research changes the field of Psychology by stating that Halloween is a day for psychological freedom from social norms.

LINKS TO STUDY: N/A

ARTICLE: http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200910/bad-teeth-good-society

SUBMITTED BY: Ryan Liu

A Failure To Communicate

AUTHOR: Pamela Paul
PUBLICATION NAME: The New York Times.
DATE OF PUBLICATION: August 29, 2010
SUMMARY: This article is basically on the fact of knowledge that if someone speaks English to you in an accent, you are less likely to believe what he or she is trying to tell you. I would say this is majority true unless it is a big threat to me or for the sakes of others. They also did research as when you are reading font in newspapers and magazines. If it is typed neat, then you believe what it is saying, but if it is wet and hardly able to see, then people don't take much offense to what the article has to say. They did an experiment with 35 people, some speaking with different accents and their studies related to what they thought the outcome was going to be. This isn't really important to know of in the field of Psychology, but it gives people the more expanding knowledge and research to look for when they come along people with heavy accents. Thus article does not counter exist any research done in the past. It agrees to what other articles to what people wrote about people with heavy accents. It is human nature that people intend to think about strangers that they do not know that they are more helpful or trustworthy when speaking English precisely. Some people might think this is absurd but when you truely think about it, you find that it is actually done by a lot of Americans and there isn't a number out yet, but I wonder what the percentage is of those people are. For me, with strangers, I would think on first reactions about those who speak with accents that they wern't as well educated than those who speak English without an accent.
LINKS TO STUDY: None
ARTICLE: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/fashion/29studied.html
SUBMITTED BY: Matthew Menezes

Little League Training, Major League Problems

AUTHOR: ChiChi Madu

PUBLICATION NAME: Psychology Today

DATE OF PUBLICATION: October 22, 2009

SUMMARY: Kids are getting recruited to sports at an earlier age. As sports get more and more competitive, the kids train at a younger age to try to get recruited more successfully. The kids do not play for the fun of the sport anymore but rather be trained harder, and harder. When accepted at an early age, the kids miss out on important events that would fortify them and know how to reaction in a certain situation. Since they miss these events, they do not know how to deal with them and many get mental illnesses. The pressure of being on the team and expected to do well is also very mentally straining. Even pro teams have the same issues with their players. At first, many coaches ignored their players mental health and only cared about their physical health, but then their players started becoming very depressed and had anxiety problems. They noticed they needed professional help for their professional players to succeed not only on the field, but also off. If professional players need psychologists to help them, then children also should have them, to avoid any future mental illnesses from occurring in their lives. This affects Psychology by providing new information regarding psychological behaviors for athletes and children to be athletes. This research does not counter any existing researches but supports them. When I was a kid I was also pressured to become a soccer player, I was not a good one but my mom made me play to be more healthy and for exercise.

LINKS TO STUDY: N/A

ARTICLE: http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200910/little-league-training-major-league-problems

SUBMITTED BY: Ryan Liu

When the Mind Wanders, Happiness Also Strays

AUTHOR: John Tierney

PUBLICATION NAME:The New York Times.

DATE OF PUBLICATION: November 15, 2010

SUMMARY: This article is about the study that humans stating that when their minds wander off a lot, it is a sign of unhappiness. In this study, they analyzed 2,200 people and recorded over 250,000 of their thought processes and times when they are most happy. Psychologists did studies on iPhones of the people's moods at certain times and it came up as when people are happiest the most, they don't wander off at all. The time where people were happy the most is when they were having sexual intercourse. During then, noone wants to daydream about something else. But when commuting or working, people daydream about something better that they want to do over 40% of the time. When people wander, they want to be somewhere better because they are unhappy, but get even more depressed when they come back to reality. These results don't pose an important role in our society but gives us new evidence of people's daily lives and how much of us daydream in times of unhappiness. So if you see someone daydreaming in class, they are most likely sad about something going on. This article will help psychologists study a new breakthrough of something more genetic as many psychologists befor have written stories and articles about the human mind and day dreaming, but none has any clear cut evidence of their expectations. Hopefully, with the help of the iPhone, psychologists can help lengthen their research on this experiment. Over time, psychologists will be more advanced in this technology, and if you are intereested in this type of studies, this will be an interesting thing to look out for later in the future.

LINKS TO STUDY: None

ARTICLE: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/16/science/16tier.html?_r=1&ref=psychology_and_psychologistsThe

SUBMITTED BY: Matthew Menezes

Sleep Makes Your Memories Stronger, and Helps With Creativity

AUTHOR: Science Daily Staff/Association for Psychological Science

PUBLICATION NAME: Science Daily

DATE OF PUBLICATION: November 12, 2010

SUMMARY: Scientists have proven that humans spend about a third of their lives sleeping. According to the authors of an article in “Current Directions in Psychological Science,” sleeping seems to reorganize memories by picking out certain memories, such as the emotional ones and reconfiguring them to help create and produce fresh and innovative ideas. Sleep makes memories become stronger and restructure. According to Payne and Kensinger’s studies about what happens to memories during sleep, they have proven and found that if a person is asleep, they have a tendency to hang on to the most emotional and affecting part of a memory. For instance, if someone were to be tested after a night of sleep and were shown a scene or a picture of an emotional and disturbed object, such as a burning house, wrecked car, or an injured person or animal, they are more likely to respond and expected to remember the emotive object in the scene or picture than the non-emotive object(s) in the background. Payne and Kensinger have also measured people’s brain activity during their sleep. According to Payne and Kensinger’s brain activity research and results, they have found that certain areas and regions of the brain that are involved with memory and emotion consolidation are dynamic and active. During our sleep, our brains are full of activity. They are not only strengthening and stabilizing our memories, but also organizing them. Our brains are also selecting out the most noticeable, significant, and striking information we have. As a result, it is making it possible for us to come up with new and innovative ideas.

LINKS TO STUDY: None

ARTICLE: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101113165441.htm

SUBMITTED BY: Arielle Calara

No prosecutions in Spence Labs break-in

AUTHOR: B.A. Morelli

PUBLICATION NAME: Iowa City Press-Citizen

PUBLICATION DATE: November 30, 2010

SUMMARY: The Spence Laboratories at the University of Iowa were vadolized but no one was prosecuted for these wrong-doings. The perpetrators spilt chemicals and freed the test mice and the lab animals. These perpetrators caused $450,000 in damages to the labs and basically got away with it. Some of the professors at the University were even said to have psycological damages because of the break-ins. They feel as though they are no longer safe in the labs.

One of the berglars were discovered and were taken to court but because the young man agreed to a plead bargain, he was only given a misdeminer. Many of the professors thought that this wasn't fair enough because what they did was wrong and they are only getting off with a misdeminer.

Many of the enviromentalists were fightend of following these young mens exaples because of the long and hard hours the FBI spent on this case. Because the FBI spent these long hours, making the environmentalists afraid, made many of the Universities professors thankfull.

Does Adolescent Stress Lead to Mood Disorders in Adulthood?

AUTHOR: Science Daily Staff/Concordia University

PUBLICATION NAME: Science Daily

DATE OF PUBLICATION: November 4, 2010

SUMMARY: According to Concordia University’s recent research, stress may have a greater risk in our lives than we formerly thought. Over the years, there has been an increase in depression and stress rates and it has become a major health issue. The affect of depression on young people’s lives are gradually increasing and they are suffering earlier in life. Previous studies show that an early stage of stress can lead to depression or a bipolar disorder. According to the principle researcher Ellenbogen, children who have families that have been dealing with stress, depression, or a psychiatric disorder is said to have a much higher risk of battling with it in their lifetime. Not only are children inheriting these alarming traits from their parents, but also from their environment that they have been raised in. The environment could either be stressful and disordered and it is impacting the children's mental health in adolescence and adulthood. According to Ellenbogen’s recent findings, the cortisol, a stress hormone which is formed by the body in result to upsetting and stressful life events, has shown that the stress hormone can influence and develop a serious mood disorder in people’s lifetime. It has also shown that children of at-risk families have higher cortisol levels due to exposure to family stress and parenting style than children from families that are not battling with stress, depression, or disorders. Children that show high cortisol levels double their risk in developing and battling an alarming and major mood disorder in their adulthood.

LINKS TO STUDY: None

ARTICLE: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101103135348.htm

SUBMITTED BY: Arielle Calara

Delay Sex to Strengthen Marriage Study

AUTHOR: Dr. Ananya Mandal, MD



PUBLICATION NAME: Delay Sex To Strengthen Marriage : Study



DATE OF PUBLICATION: January, 5th 2011



SUMMARY: A study done by the Journal of Family Psychology found that couples who wait until exchanging their vows to have sex are “happier with the quality of sex” and also enjoy their “stable” marriage. The researchers studied 2,035 married couples on an online survey and called it “relate”. The results showed that the couples who waited until marriage to have sex rated it 15% high than couples who didn’t wait. They also rated 22% high on relationship stability, and were satisfied with their relationships 20% higher than usual. Dean Busby a professor at Brigham Young University explained the results saying it represented how greater satisfaction and sexual quality if they had waited because the extra time gave them a longer amount of time to learn about each other and develop the skills for a good relationship. The Church of Latter-Day saints has a strict a new regarding premarital sex and the results could have been biased. They also came to a conclusion that religious belief often plays a role for couples who choose to wait.

LINK:
http://www.news-medical.net/news/20110105/Delay-sex-to-strengthen-marriage-Study.aspx

Can autism be diagnosed in infants? New study says yes.

AUTHOR: Robbie Woliver

PUBLICATION NAME: Psychology Today

DATE OF PUBLICATION: August 18, 2010

SUMMARY: At the University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital in Cleveland, doctors conducted a study with newborn babies. At first this study had nothing to do with detecting Autism, but soon doctors began to realize that there was a connection between a certain symptom that the babies had and Autism. Every baby that had this symptom was later diagnosed with autism later on in life. This possible discovery could prove to be very helpful to children with Autism because if it is detected earlier in a child's life, treatment can be given at an earlier age. This would greatly benefit children with Autism as Autism is usually detected around 3-5 years of age.

However, one of the limiting factors of this study is the fact that only very ill babies were included. The unit that was in charge of this study was the intensive care unit, so the only reason that the symptoms connected with Autism were detected was because of how closely each baby was being watched by doctors. Also, healthy babies were not included in this study.

This discovery could prove incredibly useful to future children with autism. If autism could potentially be diagnosed during a child's infancy, then treatment could be given earlier, which would help a child much more in their life.

LINKS TO STUDY: none listed

ARTICLE: Can autism be diagnosed in infants? New study says yes.

SUBMITTED BY: Kimmy Guzzetta

New Study Shows Humans are on Auto Pilot Nearly Half the Time

AUTHOR: Dr. David Rock

PUBLICATION NAME: Psychology Today

DATE OF PUBLICATION: November 14, 2010

SUMMARY: Daniel Gilbert and Matthew Killingsworth recently found from a study they did that most people are "mentally checked out" for about half of their time. In addition to this, the people that participated in the study reported that during the time that they let their minds wander, they were unhappy. Rock concludes that the amount of mind wandering that is done can be used as an indicator as to how happy one is when doing an activity. The more that the mind wanders during an activity, the less happiness it brings to the person.

Rock then links this study to another study by Norman Farb called, "Mindfulness meditation reveals distinct neural modes of self-reverence." From this study Norman Farb concluded that humans are able to experience things in two different ways using different networks. The first network, called the default network, becomes active when not much else is happening. This network allows the mind to wander rather than paying direct attention to one's surroundings.

The other way of interacting with experiences is through direct experience. This mode of thought allows one to focus directly on what is happening right at that moment.

According to Kirk Brown, mindfulness is one of the keys to more cognitive control. It is a habit that you must develop, and by adjusting your mind to become more mindful, you can become happier person.

LINKS TO STUDY: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/330/6006/932.abstract

http://scan.oxfordjournals.org/content/2/4/313.short

http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=15556264

ARTICLE: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/your-brain-work/201011/new-study-shows-humans-are-auto-pilot-nearly-half-the-time

SUBMITTED BY: Kimmy Guzzetta

Positive And Negative Messages In Advertising

AUTHOR: unknown

PUBLICATION NAME: PsyArticles.com

DATE OF PUBLICATION: December 2008

SUMMARY: Researchers have discovered that consumers will spend more on a product using positive advertising if there is no deadline or the deadline is far in the future for the purchase. On the other hand, if the deadline is eminent, consumers will spend more money on products using negative advertising. A positive advertisement is something that encourages a consumer to buy a product because something good will happen to them if they do. One example is “get the best deal”. A negative advertisement is something that discourages a consumer from not buying the product. An example is “do not get ripped off.”

Researchers have also discovered that high levels of emotion in an advertisement have a positive effect on consumers regardless of the intended message of the advertisement or what the emotion in the advertisement is. In addition, advertisements with low levels of emotion have no effect on the consumer, no matter how factual or informative the advertisement is. This suggests that companies should focus more on the creativity and emotion in their advertisement than on factual information because no matter how good your product sounds on paper, consumers are only affected by the emotions in the advertisement. This may also lead to consumers being less aware that the advertisement is influencing their behavior, thus making them more susceptible to its sway.

To sum it all up, in an advertisement you should use positive reinforcement for products that there is no eminent deadline to purchase and negative advertisement if there is an eminent deadline. In addition, it does not matter what you say, but how you say it.

LINKS TO STUDY: none listed

ARTICLE: http://www.psyarticles.com/emotion/advertising-message.htm

SUBMITTED BY: Stephanie Walker

Girls are More Intelligent than Boys, but Men are More Intelligent than Women

AUTHOR: Satoshi Kanazawa

PUBLICATION NAME: Psychology Today

DATE OF PUBLICATION: October 3, 2010

SUMMARY: Girls mature faster than boys, so the “male advantage” in intelligence does not seem to appear until after puberty. Due to a large difference in maturity level, comparing two boys at age 10 is considered the equivalent to comparing two girls at the age of 12. Older and more mature children have a greater cognitive capacity than those children younger and less mature.

Britain’s National Child Development Study took a group of about 17,000 newborns in March of 1958 and followed them for more than fifty years, measuring their IQs at set dates. Using data from this interesting study, it is apparent that at ages seven and eleven (before puberty), girls have a higher IQ than boys. This indicates that prepubescent girls are more generally intelligent than prepubescent boys.

At age 16, however, measuring the IQs of the same group of children, it is evident that the roles have been reversed: males at this age have a slightly higher IQ than females.

Kanazawa claims that the later male advantage in intelligence is attributed to both maturity as well as height. This height theory connects to a previous post by Kanazawa and study, which can be found here: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-scientific-fundamentalist/200901/why-men-are-more-intelligent-women

The notion that young girls are more intelligent than young boys is widely accepted and is no surprise. Boys are much less mature than girls. However, the theory about teenage boys and men being more intelligent than teenage girls and women is somewhat controversial. It is an interesting concept, one that I believe will take many more years and many more studies to actually prove, if it ever can be proved.

LINKS TO STUDY: none

ARTICLE: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-scientific-fundamentalist/201010/girls-are-more-intelligent-boys-men-are-more-intelligent-w

SUBMITTED BY: Courtney Caglia-Hilty

Keeping Young Minds Healthy

AUTHOR: Jeffrey Kluger

PUBLICATION NAME: Times Magazine

DATE OF PUBLICATION: October 21, 2010
SUMMARY: Bethany was a young girl that developed a mental illness by the time she was in fifth grade. She began to question whether or not she truly was attracted to boys. Most children who begin to question their orientation eventually accept and embrace the fact that they are gay. However, Bethany was not homosexual; instead she had a form of OCD that feeds on uncertainty. Even when she instinctively felt that she was attracted to boys, she obsessed over the question of her onrientation. This constant doubt was fed from the fact that there is no scientific way of proving whether a person is attracted to men or women. When Bethany was thirty, she found a website for an OCD institute and found that she fit one of the expressions of this disorder. Once diagnosed, she was able to begin therapies to could cope with her uncertanity.
Studies show that there are high numbers of children who have emotional or behavioral disorders. About one in five children in the U.S. suffers from some sort of mental-health condition, and fifty percent of adults with these conditions were diagnosed before the age of fourteen. The good news is that most of these codnitions can be improved through early intervention. One way for these disorders to be diagnosed in time to be treated and resolved relatively quickly is for parents to notice behaviors that could be signs for a condition such as OCD or ADHD.
ARTICLE: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2026672_2026712_2026677,00.html

SUBMITTED BY: Ginevra Scherini

Stereotypes: Why We Do It

AUTHOR: Anne Murphy Paul

PUBLICATION NAME: Psychology Today

DATE OF PUBLICATION: May 01, 1998. Last reviewed: August 01, 2009

SUMMARY: This article is basically about how and why people stereotype. Researchers who studied stereotyping asked people about how they felt towards a certain race or minority group. Because of this, "psychologists now understand that these conscious replies are only half the story. How progressive a person seems to be on the surface bears little or no relation to how prejudiced he or she is on an unconscious level[...]" Another experiment was conducted- how quickly people respond when a positive word was paired with a white name, and a negative word paired with a black name. "Because our minds are more accustomed to making these associations, says Banaji, they process them more rapidly. Though the words and names aren't subliminal, they are presented so quickly that a subject's ability to make deliberate choices is diminished--allowing his or her underlying assumptions to show through. The same technique can be used to measure stereotypes about many different social groups, such as homosexuals, women, and the elderly." (huge quote!) Studies also show that we are too vulnerable to society's judgments about people/minorities/races-- thus making us stereotype. "Without it (stereotypes), we wouldn't survive. Stereotypes changes the field of psychology because it shows how the mind is easily influenced by anything we see or hear. This research doesn't counter existing history, since stereotypes have lived for many centuries. We should care about stereotypes, because, although stereotypes make life "easier," they are also incorrect (at times). For example, not every Asian is smart nor every African American does drugs. Despite it being a "mental shortcut," we should break the stereotype- although it would be very difficult. Stereotypes downgrade (more than upgrade) a person, a race, minority or religion- which is morally wrong. (Idk an alternative word for morally wrong..)

LINKS TO STUDY:

ARTICLE: http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/199805/where-bias-begins-the-truth-about-stereotypes

SUBMITTED BY: Kristine Vu

Adolescent Brains Biologically Wired to Engage in Risky Behavior

AUTHOR: (Author unnamed) University of Texas at Austin, edited by ScienceDaily staff

PUBLICATION NAME: Science Daily

DATE OF PUBLICATION: June 6, 2010

SUMMARY:

As we all know, teenagers are known for making the most egregious mistakes and the riskiest of decisions. Could there be a true biological reason behind this stereotypical teenage behavior? Learning seems to rely on prediction error because if the world is exactly as you expected it to be, there is nothing new to learn.

Poldrack, a professor of psychology and neurology had stated, "Our results raise the hypothesis that these risky behaviors, such as experimenting with drugs or having unsafe sex, are actually driven by over activity in the mesolimbic dopamine system, a system which appears to be the final destination to all addictions, in the teenage brain."

Scientists have uncovered 'positive prediction error signal's that link to learning. Professor Poldrack stated that previous research has shown that the dopamine system in the brain is responsive towards prediction errors. Reward prediction error is defined as the difference between an expected outcome of an action and the actual outcome. Prediction errors have ties with learning. The human brain will take and reject whatever it wants to.

"Learning seems to rely on prediction error because if the world is exactly as you expected it to be, there is nothing new to learn", says Poldrack.

An experiment was conducted with participants from age eight to thirty, testing to see which age group would elicit the most dopamine response. Dopamine refers to one one of the most important factors for the motivation to seek rewards. Afterwards, the greater prediction error signals in the teenage brain could result in increased motivation to receive more positive outcomes, and greater risk-taking.

But unfortunately, this study is nothing but a theory. Questions afloat the minds of bio-psychological scientists. Can teenagers really control all their decisions, both good and bad? Is the idea being over analyzed? Could their adolescent behavior only be some sort of philosophy? Are biological differences really playing a part of this?

In the end, no one really knows.

LINKS TO STUDY: N/A

ARTICLE: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100603132458.htm

SUBMITTED BY: Cecile F. Zapanta

Women's behavior linked to ... Ovulation?

AUTHOR: Emily Sohn

PUBLICATION NAME: Women's Health on MSNBC

DATE OF PUBLICATION: Aug 18, 2010

SUMMARY:

Studies show that women behave a bit differently during their menstrual cycle. No, not a bit, but an entire transformation. Women seem more desirable than ever during their hormonal shifts. Ovulation changes the pitch of a woman's voice, the swagger in her walk, and the perfume she buys. She becomes more confident in the clothes and shoes she wears, making herself more appealing to the opposite sex.

Scientists say it's not just about impressing men. Ovulating women become more competitive with other women. All of a sudden, they want the best of the best. During this cycle, they become more obsessed with the material aspects in life.

Women don't know that they act this way because they're used to the secrecy of their fertility.According to University of California's evolutionary psychologist, Greg Bryant, this is showing that there are all sorts of phenomena that happen in our behavior that we're "not actually aware of".

Studies recorded in the 1990's showed that ovulating women were extremely attracted to masculine men with higher social ranks, prominent and symmetrical features, and deep voices. Women in ovulation may endure infidelity if unhappy with their partners. Kristina Durante, a social psychologist at the University of Minnesota, observed that ovulating women are most likely to cheat on their men during this cycle.

This research is based on two theories. Women's drastic change in behavior is believed to be some kind of mouse trap. It's sometimes described as a subtle way of 'seducing' their most desired men. Otherwise, it's the hormone changes that occur in the woman's bodily functions without them knowing.

Sometimes, the things that happen inside you will affect your attitude whether you know it or not. People would consider this a problem, because women wouldn't act the way they 'normally' do without thinking. Some people would prefer women to ovulate instead because they seem to make better choices about dating and shopping, not to mention look and sound more appealing.

LINKS TO STUDY: N/A

ARTICLE: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38755436/

SUBMITTED BY: Cecile F. Zapanta