-
PTSD Risk From Combat Linked With Childhood Violence: Study
Scientific American: War is hell. And for many soldiers, the experience leaves lasting scars. And not just physical ones. A subset of veterans develop posttraumatic stress disorder or PTSD. But it might not be only the horrors of battle that make them susceptible. According to a study in the journal Psychological Science [link to come] echoes of childhood abuse may contribute. Psychologists assessed the mental health of hundreds of Danish soldiers before, during and 8 months after they were shipped to Afghanistan. Turns out the vast majority, some 84%, were resilient, showing no undue signs of stress at any time.
-
Ah, Wilderness! Nature Hike Could Unlock Your Imagination
NPR: Want to be more creative? Drop that iPad and head to the great outdoors. That's the word from David Strayer, a cognitive neuroscientist who studies multitasking at the University of Utah. He knew that every time he went into the southern Utah desert, far from cellular service, he started to think more clearly. But he wanted to know if others had the same experience. To find out, he first sent students out into nature with computers, to test their attention spans. "It was an abysmal failure," Strayer says. "The students didn't want to be anywhere near the computers." Worse still, he says, "the light of the computer screen attracts moths and ants and things.
-
To Tell Its Story, Red Cross Goes to Those It Helped
The New York Times: The American Red Cross has commissioned a new public service advertising campaign to raise money in the holiday season by showing how the organization helps people facing problems other than major disasters like Hurricane Sandy. Deborah Small, an associate professor of marketing and psychology at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, expressed similar sentiments. The new campaign, she said, “tugs at our heartstrings. The very best way for an ad to get people to open their wallets is to present them with an identifiable victim. It creates an emotional connection.” Edward Russell, an associate professor of advertising at the S. I.
-
How To Talk to Your Kids About the School Shooting
Slate: What do you say to your elementary-school-aged children about the mass slaughter of children at an elementary school? I put this question to Dr. Alan E. Kazdin, director of the Yale Parenting Center. He said there are two main principles to keep in mind: comfort and information. People should be ready to respond honestly to their children’s question, but at the level they are asked and with the minimum of detail necessary. If your child has managed to remain oblivious to this horror and has not brought it up, then Kazdin advises that you should not either. You can help keep your child blessedly in the dark by limiting exposure to media coverage.
-
Science by the numbers: Researchers ask, ‘How true are our findings?’
WHYY News: Next month, the respected British Medical Journal will no longer publish the results of clinical trials unless drug companies agree to provide detailed study data. They hope to nudge other medical journals to follow suit. The journal Psychological Science is doing something similar, in a voluntary pilot program for now. The journal's editor Eric Eich, also a professor at the University of British Columbia, said other groups are systematically trying to reproduce past experiments to see if they can be replicated. "Most research in psychology, or pretty well any other field, it's all geared toward discovery," said Eich. "People get kudos for discovering new things.
-
New Research on Emotion From Psychological Science
Read about the latest research on emotion from Psychological Science. The Emotionally Intelligent Decision Maker: Emotion-Understanding Ability Reduces the Effect of Incidental Anxiety on Risk Taking Jeremy A. Yip and Stéphane Côté Can understanding the source of your emotions help you make better decisions? Participants were assessed for ability to understand emotions and were then told they would have to give a video-recorded speech (incidental anxiety condition) or prepare a grocery list (neutral condition). Each participant's level of risk taking was then measured.
