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Psychology and the Law: A Special Issue of Current Directions in Psychological Science
Legal systems are necessary in any functioning society. Centuries ago, people realized that the only way to maintain a peaceful community was to develop a firm set of rules—laws—to punish transgressors. As laws have continued to evolve in societies around the world, psychological scientists have begun to investigate the psychological basis of many aspects of legal systems. A new special issue of Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, presents the current state of research on psychology and law.
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New Research From Psychological Science
On the Strength of Connections Between Localist Mental Modules as a Source of Frequency-of-Occurrence Effects Shannon O’Malley, Derek Besner, and Sarah Moroz How do people become familiar with items and events that appear frequently in their lives? To test potential mechanisms, the reaction times to numerical stimuli presented in either Arabic numerals (the more frequent form in which numbers are presented) or words (less frequent) were compared in different tasks. There was a difference in the reaction times between the two formats for a parity judgment task (in which participants indicated whether a number was odd or even) but not for a test in which participants read each stimulus aloud.
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Herschel W. Leibowitz Dies at 85; Studied Night Vision’s Tricks
The New York Times: Herschel W. Leibowitz, a Penn State University psychologist who was among the first scientists to explore how the mind can misinterpret what the eye sees at night, a phenomenon that contributes to traffic accidents, died on Sunday in State College, Pa. He was 85. His death was confirmed by his granddaughter Amy Milgrub Marshall. Dr. Leibowitz lived in State College. Read the whole story: The New York Times
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Mirror Movements Might Reflect ADHD in Kids
ABC News: The cause of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, which affects roughly 5.4 million kids in the United States alone, remains unknown. But new research into "mirror movements" sheds light on the mysterious neurobehavioral disorder and might even aid in its diagnosis. Read the whole story: ABC News
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Behind every successful man is a woman keeping out of the way
The Daily Mail: The secret of success may be a spouse who stands at your side - but keeps out of the way, psychologists claim. Whether you are the Prime Minister, or simply trying to stick to a diet, the best support comes from those who offer practical help without making a fuss. Read the whole story: The Daily Mail
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When helping doesn’t help – having support encourages procrastination, says study
The Vancouver Sun: A supportive partner can often give people a good kick in the rear to get motivated to accomplish their goals, but a new study suggests that too much cheerleading actually may have a detrimental effect. The study from two U.S. universities looked at "self-regulatory outsourcing," the notion that thinking about how other people can help you achieve a goal can actually decrease your motivation to focus on that task yourself. Read the whole story: The Vancouver Sun
