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Mirror Neurons Help Us Identify Emotion in Faces
Madeleine L. Werhane won an APSSC Student Research Award for her work examining mirror neurons’ role in the identification of facial emotions. She received the award in May 2012 at the 24th APS Annual Convention. Mirror neurons are unique in that they engage not only when we perform specific actions, but also when we see others performing specific actions. The same neurons that control hand and mouth actions in monkeys, for instance, are activated when one monkey sees another monkey pick up a piece of food. Mirror neurons allow humans to learn through observation and communication.
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Gone but Not Forgotten: Yearning for Lost Loved Ones Linked to Altered Thinking About the Future
People suffering from complicated grief may have difficulty recalling specific events from their past or imagining specific events in the future, but not when those events involve the partner they lost, according to a new study published in Clinical Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The death of a loved one is among the most painful and disruptive experiences a person can face. For most, the grief subsides over time. But those who suffer from complicated grief continue to yearn for the lost loved one, experience waves of painful emotion, and feel hopeless about the future.
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New Research From <em>Clinical Psychological Science</em>
Read about the latest research published in Clinical Psychological Science. David A. Sbarra, Adriel Boals, Ashley E. Mason, Grace M. Larson, and Matthias R. Mehl Expressive writing (EW) is a therapeutic exercise in which individuals write about their deepest thoughts and feelings related to a trauma. This study examined the effectiveness of a new form of expressive writing called narrative expressive writing (NEW). Recently separated individuals were assigned to complete a traditional EW, a NEW, or a control writing exercise.
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Know Thyself: How Mindfulness Can Improve Self-Knowledge
Mindfulness -- 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 Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. Recent research has highlighted the fact that we have many blind spots when it comes to understanding our patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving. Despite our intuition that we know ourselves the best, other people have a more accurate view of some traits (e.g., intellect) than we do.
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Intel Science Talent Search: Social Roles Seen Through Eye Movements
The Intel Science Talent Search (Intel STS), the nation's most prestigious pre-college science competition, recognizes and rewards 300 student semifinalists and their schools each year. The 40 finalists are then invited to Washington, DC, where they display their work in public, meet with notable scientists, and compete for a $100,000 prize. Representing the field of psychological science in this year’s contest was Michael Zhang of Smithtown High School East in New York, who investigated how visual behavior reflects the self-perception of human subjects playing one of four distinctive roles. Zhang assigned each participant the role of thief, security guard, cleaning person, or tourist.
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Write to be Read
Today many scientists struggle to get the public interested in psychological research. To help social psychologists reach larger audiences, In-Mind Magazine will organize a May 23 workshop, "Writing and Communicating with the General Public," in conjunction with the APS 25th Annual Convention in Washington, D.C. This workshop aims to support psychological scientists by offering a vital skill: the power to enchant a broad audience. How can you communicate important scientific findings to the media? Or, how do you turn your award-winning ideas into successful grant proposals?