news 2012

Children with autism spectrum disorders who also have serious behavioral problems responded better to medication combined with training for their parents than to treatment with medication alone, Yale researchers and their colleagues report in the February issue of Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

Good news for lovers on Valentine's Day - the seven deadly sins, including Lust, are good for you. University of Melbourne social psychologist Simon Laham uses modern research to make a compelling case for the virtues of living a sinful life in his latest book The Joy of Sin: The Psychology of the Seven Deadlies (And Why They Are So Good For You).

Stanford researchers are using fMRI machines to monitor the brains of girls at risk of depression and learn more about their responses to stress. Using brain imaging and a video game, researchers teach girls at risk of depression how to train their brains away from negative situations. What if you could teach your brain to respond differently to things that make you feel sad, down or stressed out?

Researchers are suggesting that there is a link between the number of friends you have and the size of the region of the brain – known as the orbital prefrontal cortex – that is found just above the eyes. A new study, published today (Wednesday) in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, shows that this brain region is bigger in people who have a larger number of friendships.

AUSTIN, Texas - Using a new mental-profiling technique, psychology researchers at The University of Texas at Austin shed light on five questioned plays of 17 th century playwright Aphra Behn, determining that only two were actually written by the prolific English dramatist. The method, they say, could be applied broadly, from forensic work to identifying critical mental health events on social media.

A new study has looked into how our psychology concerning war and conflict may have been shaped by our evolutionary past. Following a review of current academic literature by psychologists, biologists and anthropologists, the study concludes that men are biologically programmed to be warriors because of our deep ancestral history of inter-tribal war and conflict.

Studies showing that women's underachievement in maths is due to their own poor self-image are fundamentally flawed, according to psychologists Gijsbert Stoet, from the University of Leeds, and Professor David Geary from the University of Missouri. Their findings suggest that recent strategies aimed at improving girls' performance in maths - which are based on these studies - are misguided and unlikely to work.

Internet gambling is on the rise in Australia according to new research from the University of Sydney and Southern Cross University, with factors such as convenience and ease of access contributing to its popularity. The study shows that internet gamblers had significantly more positive attitudes towards gambling and that people appear to be gravitating towards online gambling because of its availability and convenience.

Researchers from the Institute of Psychiatry (IoP) at King's College London have, for the first time, identified the facial expression of anxiety. The facial expression for the emotion of anxiety comprises an environmental scanning look that appears to aid risk assessment. The research was published this week in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology .

It's official: older adults are naturally inclined to drive in the middle of the road, leaving the younger generation to cut corners. This tendency to sit mid-lane is an in-built safety mechanism that helps pensioners stay safe behind the wheel, according to researchers at the University of Leeds. The findings of the study, which are published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology Human Perception and Performance , have shown how older people naturally adapt when they can no longer move with the freedom they once had.