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New Research From Clinical Psychological Science
A sample of new articles published in Clinical Psychological Science are part of the forthcoming special series "Dissecting Antisocial Behavior: The Impact of Neural, Genetic, and Environmental Factors": Polygenic Risk for Externalizing Psychopathology and Executive Dysfunction in Trauma-Exposed Veterans Naomi Sadeh, Erika J. Wolf, Mark W. Logue, Joanna Lusk, Jasmeet P. Hayes, Regina E. McGlinchey, William P. Milberg, Annjanette Stone, Steven A. Schichman, and Mark W. Miller Although studies have indicated that externalizing problems are highly heritable, it has become apparent that this heritability is likely polygenic in nature.
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How Caffeine Can Keep You Honest
Caffeine is the most commonly used psychoactive drug in the world. And anyone who has ever worked in an office probably has a good reason for this socially accepted drug use: Caffeine enhances many cognitive processes, particularly when people are tired. This could explain why around 90% of Americans consume caffeine every day. In addition to wreaking havoc on productivity and safety, researchers have found evidence that sleepiness may also play a role in unethical behavior. Sleep deprivation increases the presence of adenosine, an inhibitory neuromodulator that decreases cellular activity in the brain.
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The Art of Ignoring Things
The Atlantic: Let’s begin with a little experiment: Whatever you do, as you’re reading this short article, don’t think about polar bears. This is, you may have recognized, a classic thought exercise from the writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky. In Winter Notes on Summer Impressions, in a passage that launched a thousand psychology theses, he wrote, “Try to pose for yourself this task: not to think of a polar bear, and you will see that the cursed thing will come to mind every minute.” ...
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Product Placement Ineffective in Violent Video Games
Pacific Standard: In spite of the many studies that suggest they increase users' aggression and hostility, violent video games continue to be extremely popular, and thus extremely profitable. Clearly, they're going to continue to proliferate as long as companies are making so much money off of them. Given that reality, a newly published study provides some interesting information. It finds one source of revenue—in-game advertisements—accomplish their intended purpose much more effectively when they're placed in non-violent, rather than violent, games.
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To Make Better Predictions, Don’t Stick With The Easy Stuff
NPR: The presidential primaries are a great opportunity to test your skills in political prediction. Who will win which states, and by what margin? And if your predictions aren't all that good, how can you do better? Two weeks ago, I wrote about how to make better predictions in domains both big (world politics) and small (your breakfast), drawing on recent work in psychological science. Today, I'm going to revisit this question from a new angle. Making good predictions isn't just about your accuracy; it's also about your calibration. ...
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Why Donald Trump Has Done Worse in Mostly White States
The New York Times: Mr. Trump’s anti-immigration language lands with force for people who fear the browning of America. Within three or four decades, several reports have indicated, non-Hispanic whites will no longer make up a majority of the United States population. The social psychology researchers Maureen Craig and Jennifer Richeson, working at Northwestern, studied whether people could become more politically conservative if they felt a threat to their status in the racial pecking order.
