Perspectives on Psychological Science

Know thyself: How mindfulness can improve self-knowledge

paying attention to one's current experience in a non-judgmental way—might help us to learn more about our own personalities, according to a new article published in the March 2013 issue of Perspectives on Psychological Sc ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Mar 14, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

A new approach to understanding research relevance

(Medical Xpress)—"Science is broken; let's fix it," says the University of Sydney's Associate Professor Alex Holcombe, who is part of a major new effort to improve the reliability of psychological research.

Psychology & Psychiatry created Mar 05, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Diet, parental behavior, and preschool can boost children's IQ

Supplementing children's diets with fish oil, enrolling them in quality preschool, and engaging them in interactive reading all turn out to be effective ways to raise a young child's intelligence, according to a new report ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Jan 25, 2013 | popularity 3.4 / 5 (10) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Scanning the brain: Scientists examine the impact of fMRI over the past 20 years

Understanding the human brain is one of the greatest scientific quests of all time, but the available methods have been very limited until recently. The development of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)—a tool ...

Neuroscience created Jan 16, 2013 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (4) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Taking on the challenges of replication in psychological science

Psychological science has come of age. But the rights of a mature discipline carry with them responsibilities, among them the responsibility to maximize confidence in our findings through good data practices and replication.

Psychology & Psychiatry created Nov 08, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

What makes self-directed learning effective?

In recent years, educators have come to focus more and more on the importance of lab-based experimentation, hands-on participation, student-led inquiry, and the use of "manipulables" in the classroom. The underlying rationale ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Oct 04, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (8) | comments 13 | with audio podcast

'I'm bored!'—Research on attention sheds light on the unengaged mind

(Medical Xpress)—You're waiting in the reception area of your doctor's office. The magazines are uninteresting. The pictures on the wall are dull. The second hand on the wall clock moves so excruciatingly slowly that you're ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Sep 26, 2012 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Prejudice can cause depression at the societal, interpersonal, and intrapersonal levels

Although depression and prejudice traditionally fall into different areas of study and treatment, a new article suggests that many cases of depression may be caused by prejudice from the self or from another person. In an ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Sep 18, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Self-control may not be a limited resource after all

refusing that second slice of cake, walking past the store with the latest gadgets, working on your tax forms when you'd rather watch TV – seem to boil down to one essential ingredient: self-control. Self-control is what ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Sep 12, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (6) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

Social psychologists espouse tolerance and diversity—do they walk the walk?

Every ten years or so, someone will make the observation that there is a lack of political diversity among psychological scientists and a discussion about what ought to be done ensues. The notion that the field discriminates ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Sep 06, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 15 | with audio podcast

'I knew it all along.. didn't I?'—Understanding hindsight bias

The fourth-quarter comeback to win the game. The tumor that appeared on a second scan. The guy in accounting who was secretly embezzling company funds. The situation may be different each time, but we hear ourselves say it ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Sep 06, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (5) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Speaking multiple languages can influence children's emotional development

On the classic TV show "I Love Lucy," Ricky Ricardo was known for switching into rapid-fire Spanish whenever he was upset, despite the fact Lucy had no idea what her Cuban husband was saying. These scenes were comedy gold, ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Aug 02, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (7) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Social identification, not obedience, might motivate unspeakable acts

What makes soldiers abuse prisoners? How could Nazi officials condemn thousands of Jews to gas chamber deaths? What's going on when underlings help cover up a financial swindle? For years, researchers have tried to identify ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Jul 18, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Supporting patient autonomy is critical to improving health

Even as we spend more on healthcare every year, the number of people with chronic health problems continues to rise in developed countries like the United States. Most of these chronic health problems – such as obesity, ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Jul 10, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Rest is not idleness: Reflection is critical for development and well-being

As each day passes, the pace of life seems to accelerate – demands on productivity continue ever upward and there is hardly ever a moment when we aren't, in some way, in touch with our family, friends, or coworkers. ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Jul 02, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast