Cognitive decline with age is not the whole story: recent research is suggesting older adults are more likely to notice positive emotional stimuli like happy faces in addition to experiencing less anger and regulating emotions more effectively.
As we get older lots of depressing things start happening to our brains. We can’t simultaneously manipulate as many items as we once could. We find it more difficult to retrieve memories. Our attention degrades, and so on. Essentially our brains are slowing down, just like the rest of our bodies. But, in this discouraging picture, there is one ray of hope: our emotions.
I won’t comment any further other than to provide you a few excerpts, link to the article and ask you to vote (down at the bottom) on whether you would go along with any, some, all or none of this.
Almost 4 in 10 gay men and 1 in 8 lesbians and bisexuals have been the targets of violence.
Think we live in a civilised society? Think again.
Research to be published in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence shows that prejudice against minority sexual orientations still fuels violence and crime. The most comprehensive study to date found that in a US sample of 662 gay men, lesbians and bisexuals, almost 4 in 10 gay men and 1 in 8 lesbians and bisexuals have been the targets of violence or property crime because of their sexual orientation.
New research dispels the well-worn stereotypes that computer gamers having no social skills and girls avoid violent games like Grand Theft Auto.
[Photo by Planet Sinclair]
New research dispels the well-worn stereotypes that computer gamers having no social skills and girls avoid violent games like Grand Theft Auto.
A new study, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, surveyed 1,254 children from the US. It asked how often children played computer games, which games, and what they got out of it (Olson et al., 2007).
The results revealed:
94% of young teens had played computer games in the last six months.
Two-thirds of boys aged 12 to 14 and one in four girls had played an M-rated game (meant for those over 17) in the last six months.
Children playing violent M-rated games were more likely to play in groups. Friendship groups amongst boys, in particular, were often based around violent computer games.
One in five girls had played the violent game Grand Theft Auto ‘a lot’ in the last six months. It was their second favourite game, after The Sims – in which players manage a virtual person and their family.
Children used games to help them manage their emotions. When angry or stressed they liked to use games to get these emotions out.
People think sex sells. Advertisers know it, TV and film producers believe it and the internet was built on it. But does sex really help sell products, or is it just one of those expressions ad execs use so they can wile away an afternoon choosing models?
I was catching up with a friend I hadn’t seen for a while the other day when I noticed something unusual about our conversation.
I was catching up with a friend I hadn’t seen for a while the other day when I noticed something unusual about our conversation. Something I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
We were sat outside a pub by the Thames gazing out across the river with one eye on the famously changeable British summer. Each black cloud charging in from the west looked as though it would be the one to send us scurrying inside. But none of them did.
Does your email inbox stress you out? Does “You’ve got mail” mean “You’ve got stress”? Or are you more laid back about email?
Does your email inbox stress you out? Does “You’ve got mail” mean “You’ve got stress”? Or are you more laid back about email? Do you see it simply as a way to make your life easier?
Hair, Renaud and Ramsay (2007) investigated the different ways that people react to email. After administering some questionnaires, they came up with three types of emailers:
Continuing the weird psychology series, here’s a couple of studies you can replicate yourself – if you’ve got the nerve. In the first you could be risking bodily harm from enraged motorists, while the second has a twist in the tail. They both show the power of staring at other people and they’re both fantastically simple social psychology experiments.
Welcome one and all to the 25th edition of the mighty Encephalon blogging carnival!
Welcome one and all to the 25th edition of the mighty Encephalon blogging carnival! Before saturating you with all the neuroscience and psychology-based goodness from the blogosphere, I need to warn you about a serious condition called to my attention by the Neurocritic: Conditioned Blog Aversion. And once you’ve read my sickening attempts at humour below, you’ll have first-hand experience.
World of Psychology, run by the clinical psychologist Dr John Grohol, is a great blog for mental health generally. But the blog only forms part of the site, that also includes discussion forums, a guide to medications, psychological tests and more. Loads of useful resources on mental health books and research.
