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A Neurobehavioral Approach to Addiction: Implications for the Opioid Epidemic and the Psychology of Addiction
Psychological Science in the Public Interest (Volume 20, Number 2) Read the Full Text (PDF, HTML) In recent years, heroin and other opioid fatalities have escalated to crisis proportions, intensifying the need for evidence-based recommendations for educational and policy campaigns to prevent abuse of opioids and other substances. Understanding the neurobiological mechanisms underlying drug-seeking behaviors is vital to creating these prevention campaigns. To fully provide a neurobehavioral view of addiction, it is important to answer two major questions: (a) why do people seek drugs in the first place?
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Touting Flavor Before Nutrition Encourages Healthy Eating
Evocative labels such as “twisted citrus glazed carrots” and “ultimate chargrilled asparagus” can get people to eat more vegetables than they otherwise would—as long as the food is prepared flavorfully, a nationwide study shows.
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Are Kids Hardwired for Revenge?
Have you ever noticed that there are some things kids seem to do reflexively—say, punching a little brother for toppling a Lego tower? Yet, other behaviors, like saying thank you or helping with chores, must be laboriously taught. If it’s instinctive to punish someone who wrongs you, doesn’t it follow that you’d reward the person who helps you? Aren’t the age-old maxims “an eye for an eye” and “one good turn deserves another” just two sides of the same coin?
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The Surprising Science Behind Why People Underestimate Their Lifespans
When it comes to planning for retirement, and choosing when to start claiming Social Security benefits, one of the key inputs into our decisions is how long we expect to live. Seniors can choose when they want to start taking Social Security payouts; wait longer, and the monthly check from the Social Security Administration is bigger. ... Your own life expectancy depends on a range of factors, most importantly, your health. The Social Security Administration provides life expectancy tables that account for the “conditional probability” of having reached a particular age, but you may find a calculator that takes into account your health status to be more accurate.
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What makes dogs so special and successful? Love.
Research on dogs has exploded in recent decades. Universities have opened canine cognition labs, and scientists have probed dogs’ intelligence, behavior, biology and skills. Clive Wynne, a psychologist and founder of the Canine Science Collaboratory at Arizona State University, has a new book that walks readers through the growing body of dog science. In it, he argues that what makes dogs remarkable is not their smarts, but their capacity to form affectionate relationships with other species — in short, to love. Wynne spoke recently with The Washington Post about his book, “Dog Is Love: Why and How Your Dog Loves You.” This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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How to Tune Out Office Distractions
Multiple mechanisms contribute to our ability to tune out distractions in the workplace.
