Your Psychology Psychology articles and news

You can be distracted by something totally worthless if that something was once associated with a reward, scientists have found. The results of their research have implications for understanding how the brain responds to rewards, which may contribute to more effective treatments for drug addiction, obesity and ADHD.

Researchers have what they say is some of the first solid proof that insulin has direct effects on the reward circuitry of the brain. Mice whose reward centers can no longer respond to insulin eat more and become obese, they show.

Women service members who experience combat are apparently as resilient as the men they serve alongside, according to a new psychological study. Men and women deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan in 2007 and 2008 experienced very similar levels of combat-related stress and post-deployment mental health impacts during the first year following return from deployment, researchers report.

It is one of the wonders of language: We cannot possibly anticipate or memorize every potential word, phrase, or sentence. Yet we have no trouble constructing and understanding myriads of novel utterances every day. How do we do it? Linguists say we naturally and unconsciously employ abstract rules – syntax…

Birds do it. Bees do it. Even little kids picking strawberries do it. Every creature that forages for food decides at some point that the food source they’re working on is no richer than the rest of the patch and that it’s time to move on and find something better…

According to the American Cancer Society, more than 11.4 million Americans are currently living with cancer. While cancer treatments are plentiful, many have negative side effects. Previous studies have indicated that a significant number of patients who receive chemotherapy also experience cognitive declines, including decreases in verbal fluency and memory…

Terrorist groups bend the rules of ‘true’ Islam to justify the use of female suicide bombers, according to Margaret Gonzalez-Perez from Southeastern Louisiana University in the US. Her paper traces the development of radical Islamic doctrine over time, highlights how it deviates from mainstream Islam, and identifies the building blocks that have culminated in Jihadi female suicide bombers…

In recent years, much sleep research has focused on memory, but now results of a new study suggest another key effect of sleep is facilitating and enhancing complex cognitive skills such as decision-making.

A new study shows that while family members often provide critical support, they also can sometimes be the source of stigmatizing attitudes that impede the recovery of mentally ill relatives.

While violent video games may lead to more aggression and anger in players, a new study shows that the opposite is also true: relaxing video games can make people happier and more kind…