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Is Depression an Emotional Mush?
The Huffington Post: I have a vivid memory of dropping my oldest son off at college, the first day of his freshman year, many years ago. He stood outside his dorm, waving as I drove away, and I was overcome by a complex mix of emotions. I was unquestionably sad -- the tears testified to that -- but I wasn't morose or agitated, and I kind of knew that this sadness would pass. In fact, I was in the same moment keenly aware of a range of powerful and positive emotions -- pride that my son had earned his way into a fine university, relief that he seemed well-adjusted and untroubled and had solid friends. He seemed to be landing OK, and the moment was bittersweet. ...
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Cheese And Raw Veggies May Be Antidote To Kids’ Mindless Eating
NPR: It's hard to eat just one potato chip. The salt, the fat, the crunch — no wonder we mindlessly munch away, especially if we're parked in front of the TV. ... But here's what Mindless Eating author Brian Wansink found in a recent study published in the journal Pediatrics: Kids who snacked on a cheese and veggie combo ate about 70 percent fewer calories than those who snacked on potato chips, yet reported feeling satiated. Wansink found that the effect of eating fewer calories was even most pronounced among overweight children. So who participated in the study? About 200 children in grades three through six.
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A Question for the Holiday Season: Who among Us Identifies with All of Humanity?
Scientific American: The holiday season is a time of giving and receiving, reflection on what is and what could be—and perhaps more than a little guilt. We all want to promote world peace and live in harmony, but what does that really mean? What does the intersection of praxis and theory look like? Is it a bumper sticker on your car, an annual donation to an international aid group, a bi-annual religious service attendance of your choice? New research attempts to quantify some of these philosophical questions. The results could shed light on everything from liberal-conservative differences to conflict resolution between Israel and Palestine.
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For the Old, Less Sense of Whom to Trust
The New York Times: There’s a reason so many older people fall for financial scams, new research suggests. They don’t respond as readily to visual cues that suggest a person might be untrustworthy, and their brains don’t send out as many warning signals that ignite a danger-ahead gut response. The research, published last week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is the first to show that older adults’ vulnerability to fraud may be rooted in age-related neurological changes.
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APS Announces Inaugural Issue of New Journal, Clinical Psychological Science
The Association for Psychological Science and SAGE Publications are pleased to announce the inaugural issue of Clinical Psychological Science (CPS), a unique new journal that highlights cutting-edge research in the field of clinical psychological science. Headed by Founding Editor Alan E. Kazdin, John M. Musser Professor of Psychology and Child Psychiatry at Yale University and Director of the Yale Parenting Center, and a distinguished team of associate editors — Tyrone D. Cannon of Yale University; Emily A. Holmes of MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge; Jill M. Hooley of Harvard University; and Kenneth J.
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Why Old People Get Scammed
Science: Despite long experience with the ways of the world, older people are especially vulnerable to fraud. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), up to 80% of scam victims are over 65. One explanation may lie in a brain region that serves as a built-in crook detector. Called the anterior insula, this structure—which fires up in response to the face of an unsavory character—is less active in older people, possibly making them less cagey than younger folks, a new study finds. Both FTC and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have found that older people are easy marks due in part to their tendency to accentuate the positive.
