Two powerful new tests developed by psychologists at Harvard University show great promise in predicting patients' risk of attempting suicide. The work may help clinicians overcome their reliance on self-reporting by at-risk individuals, information that often proves misleading when suicidal patients wish to hide their intentions...
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July 29, 2010
June 4, 2010
Children can tell the difference between science and religion
Paul Harris, a psychologist at Harvard University, is interested in how children learn to differentiate between different kinds of knowledge. In his latest study, he's teamed up with two Spanish psychologists to unpick the beliefs of young, Catholic children.These 10-12 year olds have a pretty firm conviction in both God and the soul. They also believe (slightly more strongly, in fact) in invisib
7 Vote(s)
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October 27, 2009
The Pain Of Torture Can Make The Innocent Seem Guilty
The rationale behind torture is that pain will make the guilty confess, but a new study by researchers at Harvard University finds that the pain of torture can make even the innocent seem guilty. Participants in the study met a woman suspected of cheating to win money. The woman was then "tortured" by having her hand immersed in ice water while study participants listened to the session over a
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September 5, 2009
For Building Human Cooperation, Carrots Are Better Than Sticks
Rewards go further than punishment in building human cooperation and benefiting the common good, according to research published this week in the journal Science by researchers at Harvard University and the Stockholm School of Economics. While previous studies have focused almost exclusively on punishment for promoting public cooperation, here rewards are shown to be much more successful.
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July 10, 2009
Debate Over Recovered Memory Continued By Brown Professor
Fueling the debate over the controversial psychiatric disorder known as dissociative amnesia, or repressed memory, Brown University political scientist Ross Cheit is challenging claims by two Harvard University psychiatrists. At issue is how to prove whether the memories of trauma, such as childhood sexual abuse, can be repressed and then resurface later in life. Cheit's paper, co-authored by Rac
11 Vote(s)
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June 29, 2009
Abstract Number Sense in Newborn Humans
Veronique Izard (Harvard University, Massachusetts) and coworkers have shown that abstract number sense is present in humans from birth, a discovery which may enable psychologists to test early in life for neurological impairments that lead to difficulties in mathematics comprehension. This news feature was written on June 29, 2009.... Izard, V., Sann, C., Spelke, E. S., & Streri, A. (2
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April 22, 2009
Anthropomorphic gods turn religious transgressions into moral outrage
The previous post took a look at a recent brain scanning study which found that Orthodox Christians tend to relate to their God in an unorthodox way - pretty much as they would to another human being.Here's another study that tries to puzzle out some of the implications of that. What Carey Morewedge (Carnegie Mellon University) and Michael Clear (Harvard University) wanted to know was this: how d
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