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Spirituality May Help Buffer Some New Mothers Against Postpartum Depression
While the birth of a new baby is usually an exciting time for parents, for half a million American mothers each year, childbirth is followed by the onset of postpartum depression (PPD). Along with potential long-term harm to newborns, PPD makes adjustment to life with a new baby more challenging for mothers, who may experience difficulty at work and in relationships. Previous research suggests that women who are members of racial minority groups are especially at risk for PPD -- psychological scientist Alyssa C. D.
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SARMAC 11th Annual Meeting
The Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition (SARMAC) 11th annual meeting will be held June 24–27, 2015, in Victoria, BC, Canada. Visit www.sarmac.org/upcoming-conferences for more information. SARMAC welcomes submissions for papers, symposia, or posters in any area of applied research on memory and cognition (e.g., law, education, engineering, health/medicine, politics, marketing). Deadline for submissions is January 9, 2015.
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Reflections on the Failure of Ignorance to Recognize Itself
Distinguished Lecturer David Dunning of Cornell University explores research into the accuracy — and, more commonly, the errors — of human judgment.
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OPRE Funding Announcement: Secondary Analyses of Strengthening Families Datasets
The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) in the Administration for Children and Families, US Department of Health and Human Services has recently published a discretionary research funding announcement titled "Secondary Analyses of Strengthening Families Datasets," which are summarized below. If you have questions regarding this grant announcement, please email the OPRE grant review team at [email protected] or call 1-877-350-5913. Secondary Analyses of Strengthening Families Datasets The full announcement for “Secondary Analyses of Strengthening Families Datasets” is available online at www.acf.hss.gov/grants/open/foa/view/HHS-2014-ACF-OPRE-PD-0802.
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Predicting Uncertain Events on a Global Scale
When it comes to predicting world events, some of the most influential decisions are fraught with a significant amount of uncertainty: Will this national economy stabilize or crash? Will that country follow through with their promises to halt production of WMDs? Will these public demonstrations lead to democratic change or violent revolt? “Governments rely routinely and heavily on intuitive beliefs about high-stakes outcomes,” write psychology researchers Barbara Mellers, Philip Tetlock, Don Moore, and colleagues. Despite this, training the people who make these intuitive judgments is difficult, because there is little scientific research available that can shed light on the issue.
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Accents Can Carry Over When You Switch Between Languages
Switching back and forth between two different languages presents a cognitive challenge that can trip up even the most fluent bilingual speakers. Researcher Matthew Goldrick of Northwestern University and colleagues wondered whether the disruptions caused by language-switching might extend beyond the ability to produce words to influence how bilingual speakers actually pronounce words. They hypothesized that switching between languages might lead to accent “contamination,” whereby a speaker’s native language influences the subsequent pronunciation of words in a nonnvative language.
