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Social Ecology: Lost and Found in Psychological Science
Various aspects of our environment—including political systems, economic systems, and even climate and geography—can affect our thinking and behavior, a field of study known as socioecological psychology. In a report in Perspectives on Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, psychological scientists Shigehiro Oishi and Jesse Graham from the University of Virginia examine the impact of social and physical environments on human thought and behavior. A society's economic system may have long-reaching effects on its citizens’ behaviors, beyond how much money they can make.
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Brain Study Shows That Thinking About God Reduces Distress–But Only for Believers
Thinking about God may make you less upset about making errors, according to a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The researchers measured brain waves for a particular kind of distress-response while participants made mistakes on a test. Those who had been prepared with religious thoughts had a less prominent response to mistakes than those who hadn't. "Eighty-five percent of the world has some sort of religious beliefs," says Michael Inzlicht, who cowrote the study with Alexa Tullett, both at the University of Toronto Scarborough.
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Culture Wires the Brain: A Cognitive Neuroscience Perspective
Where you grow up can have a big impact on the food you eat, the clothes you wear, and even how your brain works. In a report in a special section on Culture and Psychology in the July Perspectives on Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, psychological scientists Denise C. Park from the University of Texas at Dallas and Chih-Mao Huang from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign discuss ways in which brain structure and function may be influenced by culture. There is evidence that the collectivist nature of East Asian cultures versus individualistic Western cultures affects both brain and behavior.
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Is Your Memory Playing Tricks on You?
A new study claims that some of our vivid memories are simply figments of the imagination. Remembering events from our past that we know have never actually happened is actually a relatively common phenomenon, according to psychologists from the University of Hull. As part of the research study, which is the first of its kind and is published this week in the journal Psychological Science, more than 1600 students were asked to recall memories of events that they no longer believed had taken place. The results revealed that one in five had experienced these types of memories, and most of them related to when they were between four and eight years old.
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Study Suggests Intervention for Overcoming Reading-Comprehension Difficulties in Children
Researchers identify a training program that could help children who are able to read text aloud but have difficulties understanding what they’ve read.
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To Make One Happy, Make One Busy
In Greek mythology, the gods punished Sisyphus by condemning him to roll a rock up a steep hill for eternity. But he was probably better off than if they'd condemned him to sit and stare into space until the end of time, conclude the authors of a new study on keeping busy. They found that people who have something to do, even something pointless, are happier than people who sit idly. "The general phenomenon I'm interested in is why people are so busy doing what they are doing in modern society," says Christopher K. Hsee, of the University of Chicago. He co-wrote the study with Adelle X. Yang, also of the University of Chicago, and Liangyan Wang, of Shanghai Jiaotong University.
