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M.R.I.s Are Finding Connections Between Our Brain Activity and Psychology
In March, neuroscientists and psychiatrists from the School of Medicine at Washington University, St. Louis, along with colleagues elsewhere, published a study in the journal Nature that sparked widespread discussion in their fields. Researchers, the study noted, are increasingly using magnetic resonance imaging — which can reveal the brain’s structure and activity — to try to find links between what is seen on an M.R.I., like cortical thickness or patterns of connection, and complicated psychological traits, like cognitive ability or mental-health conditions. In theory, such so-called brain-wide association studies could yield incredibly valuable insights.
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New Research in Psychological Science
A sample of research on beliefs and information search, power holders and bribes, attitudes, children and choice, food judgments, gratitude, attitudes toward sexual assault, metacognition, and masculinity-contest cultures in organizations.
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New Content from Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science
A sample of articles on mediation analysis, human error in research, a tool to estimate sample size, machine-learning measurement bias, preprints, and an experiment builder.
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2022 Spence Award Mini Episode: Human to Nonhuman Interactions with Kai Chi (Sam) Yam
Kai Chi (Sam) Yam (National University of Singapore) tells us about his research on human-nonhuman communication.
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This Is Why It’s So Hard to Find Mental Health Counseling Right Now
Angelle Haney Gullett lost her father in September and knew she would need grief counseling. She contacted 25 therapists in the Los Angeles area, where she lives, between early October and Christmas, neatly tracking her efforts on a spreadsheet. None would accept a new client. In most cases, their waiting lists were closed as well, even though Gullett was willing to pay hundreds of dollars in cash for each session. She spent February’s Super Bowl in tears, watching the Cincinnati Bengals, the team her father rooted for. “I’m in a big city. I’m in L.A. We have a lot of therapists,” she said.
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Intuition: When Is It Right to Trust Your Gut Instincts?
When asked about the source of his genius, Albert Einstein had no doubts. “I believe in intuitions and inspirations. I sometimes feel that I am right. I do not know that I am,” he told the Saturday Evening Post in 1929. It was much better to trust those instincts and test them later than to dismiss them out of hand, he said. The physicist was by no means alone in this philosophy. It was also, apparently, a big part of Coco Chanel’s strategy. “Fashion is in the air, born upon the wind. One intuits it,” she said. You may recognise the sensation yourself.