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New Research From Psychological Science
A Functional Role for the Motor System in Language Understanding: Evidence From Theta-Burst Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Roel M. Willems, Ludovica Labruna, Mark D’Esposito, Richard Ivry, and Daniel Casasanto Previous studies have revealed that motor areas of the brain can be activated when people read or listen to action words. To determine whether motor areas are necessary for language comprehension, researchers used theta-burst transcranial magnetic stimulation to stimulate an area in either the left or the right premotor cortex.
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Is TV Teaching Kids to Value Fame Above All?
TIME: Is fame more important to tweens than it used to be? A new study suggests that young kids of this decade are vastly more familiar with and are more likely to value individualistic personality traits like fame, achievement and wealth than kids of past eras — way back before the term "tween" was even invented — largely because of popular TV shows and other types of media. The study, which was done by Yalda Uhls and Patricia Greenfield of the University of California, Los Angeles, analyzed the content of the two most popular TV shows with kids aged 9 to 11 once a decade from 1967 to 2007.
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Teaching The Neurons To Meditate
Studies show that Buddhist monks, who have spent thousands of hours of meditating, have distinct patterns of brain activity. But findings suggest brain activity could change after just a short period of practice.
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Share the love! Being aroused makes you more likely to send information to other people, study finds
news.com Australia: DEAR reader, you're an idiot. And you smell bad. And nobody likes you. And, according to one professor, you're more likely to share this story with your friends if you took those insults to heart. A new study published in Psychological Science suggests that being aroused makes people more likely to share information with others. "Being aroused", in this context, just means any state of agitation, either positive or negative, such as being angry, anxious or amused — anything that gets your pulse up.
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Wellbeing: How money manipulates our relationships
National Post: What is a little money between friends? According to new research, at the very least, it’s not going to stimulate bonding. Researchers have found that mimicry strengthens social bonding between strangers. By subtly imitating a person’s posture or gestures, you can create goodwill. But a new study looking at the psychological effects of money on our behaviour suggests that this does not apply when money is involved. Mimic someone and he’ll feel a warm glow; but mimic someone while he’s being reminded of money and he’ll feel threatened. Read more: National Post
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A closer look at the role of coping mechanisms in regulating emotions
Scope: When feeling sad, stressed, anxious or angry, some of us may seek an escape, such as retail therapy, while others will simply think through the negative feelings. But are such differences in our responses tied to individual preference or intensity of emotion? A new study from Stanford researchers and colleagues suggests it may be the latter. According to a release: Read more: Scope