-
Intrusiveness of Old Emotional Memories Can Be Reduced by Computer Game Play Procedure
Playing a visually-demanding computer game after reactivating traumatic memories may eventually impede those memories from reoccuring, a study shows.
-
US Supreme Court Recognizes Role of Unconscious Bias in Disparate Treatment
Most people aim to treat others with fairness and equality -- and yet, research from psychological science shows that, despite our best intentions, our behavior is often influenced by subtle biases that operate outside our conscious awareness. In an historic decision on the Fair Housing Act issued last week, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy acknowledged that such implicit biases have the potential to be just as damaging as more explicit motivations, noting that housing policies can be considered discriminatory even without evidence of overt discriminatory intent.
-
Longer Acquaintance Levels the Romantic Playing Field
Partners who become romantically involved soon after meeting tend to be more similar in physical attractiveness than partners who get together after knowing each other for a while, according to new findings published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. “Our results indicate that perceptions of beauty in a romantic partner might change with time, as individuals get to know one another better before they start dating,” says lead researcher Lucy Hunt of the University of Texas at Austin.
-
New Research From Psychological Science
Read about the latest research published in Psychological Science: Perceived Partner Responsiveness Predicts Diurnal Cortisol Profiles 10 Years Later Richard B. Slatcher, Emre Selcuk, and Anthony D. Ong Decades of research has shown that marriage affects health; however, few studies have actually investigated how marriage "gets under the skin" to influence biological and psychological health. The authors hypothesized that cortisol might provide this link. Cortisol has a diurnal rhythm, peaking in the morning and decreasing over the course of the day. Research has linked flatter cortisol slopes to a host of negative psychological and psychological outcomes.
-
Holding on to the Blues: Depressed Individuals May Fail to Decrease Sadness
Given that depression is characterized by intense and frequent negative feelings, like sadness, it might seem logical to develop interventions that target those negative feelings. But new research suggests that even when depressed people have the opportunity to decrease their sadness, they don’t necessarily try to do so. The findings are published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. “Our findings show that, contrary to what we might expect, depressed people sometimes choose to behave in a manner that increases rather than decreases their sadness,” says the study's first author Yael Millgram of The Hebrew University.
-
New Research From Clinical Psychological Science
Read about the latest research published in Clinical Psychological Science: Reduced Prospective Motor Control in 10-Month-Olds at Risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder Therese L. Ekberg, Terje Falck-Ytter, Sven Bölte, Gustaf Gredebäck, and the EASE Team Prospective motor control (i.e., the ability to plan actions related to future events) is not a central part of Autism Spectrum diagnosis (ASD); however, many people who have an ASD display deficits in this ability. The researchers examined prospective motor control in 10-month-olds who did (high-risk group) or did not (low-risk group) have siblings with an ASD.