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Facebook Activity Reveals Clues to Mental Illness, says MU Researcher

By Guest PostJanuary 26, 2013Health, Technologyclinical picture, elizabeth martin, experience, facebook activity, levels of paranoia, odd beliefs, participant, perceptual aberrations, pleasure, profile, psychological health, psychological state, psychologists, schizotypy, schizotypy symptoms, self reporting, social anhedonia, social media, social withdrawal, therapists, tool, university of missouri

Analysis of social media use could give therapists more complete view of patients’ health

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Facebook activity provided a window into the psychological health of participants in a study at the University of Missouri. Social media profiles could eventually be used as tools for psychologists and therapists, according to study leader Elizabeth Martin, doctoral student in MU’s psychological science department in the College of Arts and Science.

“Therapists could possibly use social media activity to create a more complete clinical picture of a patient,” Martin said. “The beauty of social media activity as a tool in psychological diagnosis is that it removes some of the problems associated with patients’ self-reporting. For example, questionnaires often depend on a person’s memory, which may or may not be accurate. By asking patients to share their Facebook activity, we were able to see how they expressed themselves naturally. Even the parts of their Facebook activities that they chose to conceal exposed information about their psychological state.” (more…)

Obama, Romney supporters: R-E-S-P-E-C-T (just a little bit)

By Guest PostOctober 4, 2012PoliticsBarack Obama, Chicago, democrat, John McCain, marketing research, mccain voters, michigan, mitt romney, obama voter, oleg urminsky, political aisle, political season, president, presidential campaign, psychologists, republican, university, video game, yesim orhun

ANN ARBOR— It’s a common refrain during the political season—Republicans and Democrats talk past one another. They claim they live in different universes or come from different species, with little hope for extending empathy across the political aisle.

But University of Michigan researcher Yesim Orhun and her colleague Oleg Urminsky of the University of Chicago say that there exists a greater respect for one another’s views than is generally assumed. (more…)

People Don’t Just Think with Their Guts; Logic Plays a Role Too

By Guest PostJanuary 2, 2012Generaldecisions, france, gut, intuitive, logic, psychologists, red balls, Science, stereotypes, thinking, understand the logic, university of toulouse, wim de neys

For decades, science has suggested that when people make decisions, they tend to ignore logic and go with the gut. But Wim De Neys, a psychological scientist at the University of Toulouse in France, has a new suggestion: Maybe thinking about logic is also intuitive. He writes about this idea in the January issue of Perspectives on Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

Psychologists have partly based their conclusions about reasoning and decision-making on questions like this one:

“Bill is 34. He is intelligent, punctual but unimaginative and somewhat lifeless. In school, he was strong in mathematics but weak in social studies and humanities. (more…)

What Do Animals ‘Know’? More Than You May Think

By Guest PostDecember 11, 2011Nature, Scienceaaron blaisdell, aging, ambiguity, ambiguous situations, animal behavior, animal cognition, animal intelligence, animal kingdom, auditory cues, brain, brain malfunctions, cynthia fast, degenerative diseases, face of uncertainty, human imagination, lack of information, logical inferences, national science foundation, origins of imagination, psychologists, rational, rats, sugar solution, teenagers like soda, uncertainty

Rats use their knowledge to make decisions when faced with ambiguous situations, UCLA psychologists report.

“Rats often make judgments and behave as if they’re rational creatures,” said UCLA associate professor of psychology Aaron Blaisdell, a member of UCLA’s Brain Research Institute and senior author of a new study published in the December issue of the journal Psychonomic Bulletin and Review.

“To make a decision in the face of uncertainty, rats call on prior history and reasoning,” Blaisdell said. “They apply what they know to a situation where they are uncertain. The rats are not necessarily thinking like little humans, but they have learned through experience. A lot of animal behavior seems to be rational. Their behavior follows logical inferences.” (more…)

Conflict Levels Don’t Change Much Over Course of Marriage

By Guest PostAugust 21, 2011Cultureclaire kamp dush, conflict, cornell university, couples, demographic questions, institute for the social sciences, jeff grabmeier, kamp dush, life long marriage, marital happiness, marriages, miles taylor, ohio state university, psychologists, spouse, telephone surveys, validator marriages

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Think about how much you fight and argue with your spouse today. A new study suggests that your current level of conflict probably won’t change much for the remainder of your marriage.

That may be good news for the 16 percent of couples who report little conflict or even the 60 percent who have only moderate levels of conflict. But it’s not such happy news for the 22 percent of couples who say they fight and argue with each other a lot.

The study followed nearly 1,000 couples over 20 years, from 1980 to 2000. (more…)

Romantic Sexual Relationships Deter Teenage Delinquency, New Study Shows

By Guest PostAugust 18, 2011Culture, Healthadolescence into early adulthood, adolescent sexual activity, antisocial behavior, casual sex, dating relationships, economically disadvantaged households, genetic and environmental background variables, hooking up, jane mendle, paige harden, policymakers, potential benefits of teenage sexual relationships, psychologists, risky sexual behaviors, romantic relationships, sexually active teens, teenagers, the university of texas at austin, united states, university of oregon

AUSTIN, Texas — Sexually active teens in committed, romantic relationships are less likely to engage in delinquent behavior than teens who have casual sex, according to new research from psychologists at The University of Texas at Austin.

The study, published in the June issue of the Journal of Youth and Adolescence, found teenagers who are sexually active in dating relationships show lower levels of antisocial behavior compared to teenagers who are not having sex at all. However, teenagers who have sex with non-dating partners (“hooking up”) show higher levels of antisocial behavior compared to the other groups. (more…)

Healthcare Reform Must Involve Psychologists, Medical Providers, Educate Patients, MU Researcher Finds

By Guest PostJuly 21, 2011General, Healthaccountable care organizations, aco, american psychological association, healthcare reform law, medical care, members of congress, nancy cheak zamora, oxford university press, patient protection and affordable care act, policymakers, psychologists, psychology and rehabilitation, united states, university of missouri

COLUMBIA, Mo. — While some members of Congress and others are trying to repeal the healthcare reform law that was passed in 2010, known as the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” medical providers have begun to implement requirements as the law slowly phases in over the next several years. For reform to be successful, one University of Missouri public health expert has determined that professional associations for psychologists and other medical providers need to be at the forefront of the planning stages, and that everyone, including providers and patients, will need to be educated on rights and responsibilities.

“We looked at psychology departments here in the United States and in other countries to determine what worked best when implementing the policies outlined in healthcare reform,” said Nancy Cheak-Zamora, assistant professor of health science in the MU School of Health Professions. “Many providers, especially psychologists, work independently, but the new healthcare law is encouraging providers to develop a medical team approach, one that can tackle many different aspects of a disease.” (more…)

MU Psychology Study Finds Key Early Skills for Later Math Learning

By Guest PostJuly 15, 2011Educationcomplex math, david geary, elementary school years, fractions and algebra, good foundation, good head start, growth in mathematics, low level arithmetic, math learning, math skills, mathematics, psychologists, understanding numbers and quantity, united states, university of missouri

*Long-term study shows students must know about numbers at beginning of first grade*

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Psychologists at the University of Missouri have identified the beginning of first grade math skills that teachers and parents should target to effectively improve children’s later math learning.

A long-term psychology study indicates that beginning first graders that understand numbers, the quantities those numbers represent, and low-level arithmetic will have better success in learning mathematics through the end of fifth grade, and other studies suggest throughout the rest of their lives. (more…)

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