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.
Click here for more coverage
The Pursuit of Status in Social Groups (from Current Directions in Psychological Science)
By Cameron Anderson and Gavin J. Kilduff
Recent studies suggest that being sneaky and manipulative may not be the best way for someone to gain prominent status in a group. Instead, by enhancing their value to a group (e.g., behaving in ways that make them seem generous, competent, and committed to the group) individuals can achieve high status and influence.
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.
The Importance of Sound for Cognitive Sequencing Abilities: The Auditory Scaffolding Hypothesis (from Current Directions in Psychological Science)
By Christopher M. Conway, David B. Pisoni, and William G. Kronenberger
Hearing is not just useful for listening to music or hearing sounds on the street—it also crucial for tasks where order and timing are important. Deaf children with cochlear implants have a harder time with sequence learning (even non-auditory sequences) than do normal-hearing children. Impaired connections between the auditory cortex and prefrontal cortex (which is critical for planning and executing sequences of thoughts and actions) in deaf individuals may be a mechanism for this effect.
The “Name-Ease” Effect and Its Dual Impact on Importance Judgments (from Psychological Science)
By Aparna A. Labroo, Soraya Lambotte, and Yan Zhang
Giving a name to something unfamiliar can evoke feelings of ease. However, when research findings are given names the resulting feelings of ease may change their perceived importance: When volunteers assessed the memorability of a named finding, feelings of ease increased the finding’s importance more than did thinking about the understandability of the finding; attributing ease to how understandable information is may make the finding seem less novel and thus less important.
