Newsweek: Why do psychologists reject science? (from Psychological Science in the Public Interest)
By Sharon Begley
Newsweek columnist Sharon Begley discusses a new PSPI report on the current state of clinical psychology and what psychologists can do to steer their field (and their patients) in the right direction.
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From Fragments to Geometric Shape: Changes in Visual Object Recognition Between 18 and 24 Months (from Current Directions in Psychological Science)
By Linda B. Smith
The period between 18 and 24 months of age is associated with remarkable behavioral change, and this time frame is also when visual object recognition is honed. Specifically, while 18-month-old children are able to identify fragments of objects, once they reach 24 months of age they are able to recognize entire objects as 3-dimensional geometric shapes.
The Nature (and Nurture?) of Plasticity in Early Human Development (from Perspectives on Psychological Science)
By Jay Belsky and Michael Pluess
Experiences we have as young children impact our life course, and recent evidence suggests that genetics helps determine how the environment shapes brain development. Specifically, children with certain genotypes may be more susceptible to both positive and negative environments. Even though research has tended to focus on negative experiences that result in developmental problems, investigating positive experiences will also tell us a lot about how the brain develops over time.
Cognition Without Control: When a Little Frontal Lobe Goes a Long Way (from Current Directions in Psychological Science)
By Sharon L. Thompson-Schill, Michael Ramscar, and Evangelia G. Chrysikou
Our prefrontal cortex (PFC) helps to shape our thoughts and behaviors. The PFC undergoes a lengthy period of maturation, and as a result, children often have problems with behavioral and cognitive control. However, there may be some advantages to this period of “cognition without control,” including the ability to easily learn languages, acquire social and cultural conventions, and engage in creative thinking.
Losing Access to the Native Language While Immersed in a Second Language (from Psychological Science)
By Jared A. Linck, Judith F. Kroll, and Gretchen Sunderman
Adults often have a difficult time acquiring a second language. Being completely immersed in the second language (e.g., studying abroad) may help, but immersion may have surprising effects on the native language. Although English-speaking students learning Spanish in Spain performed better on Spanish comprehension and verbal-fluency tasks than students exposed to Spanish only in the classroom, the immersed students performed worse than classroom students on English-language tasks.
