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Psychologists Stress the Importance of Memory in Preventing Relapse after Therapy
Addictions, phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder—such painful and harmful problems are recalcitrant to treatment. In the clinic, a person may suppress the association between the stimulus and the response—say, a bar with ashtrays and smoking—by learning to pair the stimulus with a new memory not involving smoking. But once out in the world, faced with bars and ashtrays aplenty, he relapses into the old behavior. Some treatment aims at helping the patient avoid locations and stimuli that trigger the harmful behavior. A new article in Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal published by the Association for Psychological Science, says this is not the most effective route.
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Why Mindfulness Meditation Makes Us Healthier
Huffington Post: Previous research on mindfulness meditation has shown that it aids in lowering blood pressure, improves immune system and brain function and minimizes pain sensitivity. A new review of past literature on mindfulness now breaks down what exactly it is about the practice that seems to have these beneficial effects. Researchers defined mindfulness as "the nonjudgmental awareness of experiences in the present moment" in the Perspectives on Psychological Science study. They identified the four acting components of mindfulness meditation: regulation of attention, body awareness, self-awareness and regulation of emotion.
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It’s true: Women ARE worse with technology – but only because they’re not interested
Daily Mail: Why do females score worse in technology tests at school? Researchers have been puzzled by the fact that males score better on technical tests - but do no better in the workplace. Researchers at the University of Iowa found that the difference in performance in technical tests wasn't related to intelligence - and it had no impact on job performance. Young women simply aren't interested in the tests, but can adapt to the same skills if required for a job. Read the full story: Daily Mail
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Was Steve Jobs Smart? Scientists on the Keys to Success
ABC News: You don't have to be the brightest kid in the class to become the best scholar. Researchers are finding new clues about what it takes to succeed in school, and probably throughout life. For centuries thinkers have argued about what intelligence is, and how much it takes to make a genius, whatever that means, and how important intelligence is in guaranteeing success. Today, most would agree that intelligence is the cornerstone of academic success. But there's more to success than that, and there's plenty of examples, including Steve Jobs, the legendary innovator who changed the world. No one would suggest that Jobs wasn't very, very smart.
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Happiness: All Things Must End
Psychology Today: All good things must come to an end, and dwelling on that fact will just spoil the fun, right? Wrong. Research published in Psychological Science reveals that you savor a temporary experience more when you remind yourself of its imminent conclusion. Six weeks before graduation, researcher Jaime Kurtz of Pomona College asked University of Virginia seniors to spend two weeks writing about their college experience and what they felt grateful for.
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Man with schizophrenia has out-of-body experience in lab, gains knowledge, controls his psychosis
Discover Magazine: RM had his first out-of-body experience at the age of 16. Now, at the age of 55, he has had more than he can count. They usually happen just before he falls asleep; for ten minutes, he feels like he is floating above his body, looking down on himself. If the same thing happens when he’s awake, it’s a far less tranquil story. The sense of displacement is stronger – his real body feels like a marionette, while he feels like a puppeteer. His feelings of elevation soon change into religious delusions, in which he imagines himself talking to angels and demons. Psychotic episodes follow. After four or five days, RM is hospitalised.
