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Speed Reading Promises Are Too Good to Be True, Scientists Find
There is little scientific evidence to suggest that speed reading offers a shortcut to understanding lots of text.
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Couples’ Quality of Life Linked Even When One Partner Dies
When one spouse passes away, his or her characteristics continue to be linked with the surviving spouse’s well-being, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The findings also indicate that this link between the deceased spouse and surviving spouse is as strong as that between partners who are both living. “The people we care about continue to influence our quality of life even when we they are gone,” says lead researcher Kyle Bourassa, a psychology doctoral student at the University of Arizona.
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Basic Ratio Capacity May Serve as Building Block for Math Knowledge
Understanding fractions is a critical mathematical ability, and yet it’s one that continues to confound a lot of people well into adulthood. New research finds evidence for an innate ratio processing ability that may play a role in determining our aptitude for understanding fractions and other formal mathematical concepts. The research is published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
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Older Adults Are Bigger Risk Takers in High-Poverty Countries
People’s propensity to take physical, social, legal, or financial risks typically decreases as they age, but not in countries with high poverty and income inequality, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal
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New Research From Psychological Science
Read about the latest research published in Psychological Science: Neural Discriminability of Object Features Predicts Perceptual Organization Emily J. Ward and Marvin M. Chun In this study, participants viewed objects that varied in color, shape, and orientation while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Participants then performed a perceptual grouping task outside of the scanner, using the same objects as in the fMRI task. The researchers found that activity patterns in the lateral occipital cortex -- an area of the brain involved in high-level vision -- discriminated between the different object features.
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Lead Exposure Linked to ADHD in Kids with Genetic Mutation
Exposure to miniscule amounts of lead may contribute to ADHD symptoms in children who have a particular gene mutation, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. “This research is valuable to the scientific community as it bridges genetic and environmental factors and helps to illustrate one possible route to ADHD. Further, it demonstrates the potential to ultimately prevent conditions like ADHD by understanding how genes and environmental exposures combine,” says lead researcher Joel Nigg, professor of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience at the OHSU School of Medicine.