Current reporting, research and professional developments across Cognitive Psychology, curated for psychologists and behavioral-health professionals.
Have you ever gone to a store or a restaurant where the music was so annoying that you walked right out? Now imagine what it must be like for the employees. In a new study, researchers found that when background music at…
Scientists find the protein IL-17 that fights infection also acts on the brain, inducing anxiety or sociability. This adds to evidence that immune molecules can influence behavior during illness.
A research group has discovered that using a device that stimulates the inner ear with a specific wavelength of sound reduces motion sickness. Even a single minute of stimulation with a unique sound, called 'sound spice…
Regulatory focus theory distinguishes two principal motivational orientations that guide how individuals pursue goals and make ...
Cognitive reflection refers to an individual’s propensity to override intuitive, rapid judgments in favour of effortful ...
Does our ability to enjoy music have a biological basis? A genetic twin study shows that music enjoyment is partly heritable. Scientists uncovered genetic factors that influence the degree of music enjoyment, which were…
Most haptic devices only deliver feedback as simple vibrations. New device applies dynamic forces in any direction to simulate a more realistic sense of touch. Small, lightweight device can enhance virtual reality, help…
In a recent series of posts, I've explored a rather provocative landscape—moving from traditional thinking about cognition to a ...
A research team has uncovered a fundamental principle of how the brain prioritizes vision and hearing differently depending on whether we are still or in motion. The study provides new insights into how movement alters…
Many youth have heart disease risk factors by their late teens, and preventing or addressing these risks early may reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular disease in the future, according to a new scientific…
What goes through your mind when someone asks 'Did you see that?' A study shows that children and adults process ambiguous information like 'that' differently. While children focus more on the literal meaning, adults use…
If you've ever noticed how memories from the same day seem connected while events from weeks apart feel separate, a new study reveals the reason: Our brains physically link memories that occur close in time not in the…
Though we learn so much during our first years of life, we can't, as adults, remember specific events from that time. Researchers have long believed we don't hold onto these experiences because the part of the brain…
The parts of the brain that are needed to remember words, and how these are affected by a common form of epilepsy, have been identified by a team of neurologists and neurosurgeons at UCL.
New research finds the brain's language-processing network also responds to artificial languages such as Esperanto and languages made for TV, such as Klingon on 'Star Trek' and High Valyrian and Dothraki on 'Game of…
Humans' unique language capacity was present at least 135,000 years ago, according to a survey of genomic evidence. As such, language might have entered social use 100,000 years ago.
By studying never-before-seen details of brain connectivity in human infants, researchers have identified how a balance of innate structure and flexible learning produces our remarkably organized visual brains.
Reasons given usually center on protecting children, protecting cisgender women's rights in bathrooms and sports competitions ...
Neuroscientists have found a link between vocal changes and the aging brain in zebra finch songbirds, which could help lead to earlier diagnoses for disorders such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases in people.
Research finds people who learn the basics of debate are more likely to advance to leadership roles in U.S. organizations. A key reason seems to be that debate training makes employees more comfortable about being…
A new study focuses on the powerful role our surroundings play in shaping dementia risk.
Group arts interventions, such as painting, dance, or music, significantly reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety in older adults, offering a powerful alternative to traditional treatments. The benefits are universal…
A groundbreaking study shows that creativity plays an essential role in academic success, suggesting that students who think outside the box are more likely to excel in literacy and numeracy assessments.
First study to reveal the brain encodes pitch accents separately from the sounds that make up words. Heschl's gyrus region of the brain, an earlier stage of auditory processing, plays a much larger role than previously…
Africa is a multilingual continent and many adults speak several languages fluently. An empirical study by a psycholinguist now shows that the roots of this multilingualism can be found in infancy: In Ghana, most babies…
Cognitive biases are systematic departures from rational judgement that arise from heuristic information processing, emotional ...
unites empirical studies of mental processes with formal and algorithmic approaches to
Disorders of consciousness encompass a spectrum of clinical states arising from severe brain injury, ranging from coma to ...
In the rapidly developing contest between human creativity and artificial intelligence algorithms, professional artists still have an edge in producing more creative AI-assisted artwork than the AI programs themselves or…
A team of researchers has developed an advanced physics-based AI-driven tool to aid the forensic investigation of traumatic brain injuries (TBI).
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