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What the Rise of Large Datasets Means for Psycholinguistics
The ability to crowdsource data from large groups and the rise of Big Data have helped advance many different areas of psychological research. The field of psycholinguistics — the study of the psychology behind the acquisition, use, production, and comprehension of language — is one of those areas. Such is the importance of Big Data to the field that it was the subject of a special issue, edited by Emmanuel Keuleers (Ghent University, Belgium) and APS Fellow David A. Balota (Washington University in St. Louis, USA) and published in a 2015 issue of The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology.
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No Evidence of Seasonal Differences in Depressive Symptoms
A large-scale survey of U.S. adults provides no evidence that levels of depressive symptoms vary from season to season, according to new research published in Clinical Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The findings are inconsistent with the notion of seasonal depression as a commonly occurring disorder. “In conversations with colleagues, the belief in the association of seasonal changes with depression is more-or-less taken as a given and the same belief is widespread in our culture,” says Steven LoBello, a professor of psychology at Auburn University at Montgomery and senior author on the new study.
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The Energizing Effect of Humor
Humor may actually help people persevere in completing arduous tasks, researchers have found.
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6th International Self-Determination Theory Conference
The 6th International Self-Determination Theory (SDT) Conference will take place from June 2–5, 2016, in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, with poster submissions being accepted until February 1. Thefirst day (June 2) will start with a welcoming ceremony and Recognition of Presence on Coast Salish Territory, followed by presentations by SDT leaders on the most recent theoretical developments in self-determination theory, cumulating with a talk by the SDT founders and APS Fellows Edward Deci and Richard Ryan. A welcome reception will follow.
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New Research From Psychological Science
Read about the latest research published in Psychological Science: The Evolutionary Basis of Honor Cultures Andrzej Nowak, Michele J. Gelfand, Wojciech Borkowski, Dov Cohen, and Ivan Hernandez In honor cultures, people often fight to defend their reputation, even if doing so is personally risky or costly. Under what circumstances is this type of behavior likely to arise?
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Speed Reading Promises Are Too Good to Be True, Scientists Find
There is little scientific evidence to suggest that speed reading offers a shortcut to understanding lots of text.