The Fragility of Memory
Set aside some time if you want to take in this massive Slate article. Lots of embedded video, including this, the Skinner Box at work:
UPDATE: The Slate article seems to have disappeared. Here’s a Wiki page about the Skinner Box instead.
The Psychology of Power
Jonah Lehrer looks at the “paradox of power” in the WSJ.
Contrary to the Machiavellian cliché, nice people are more likely to rise to power. Then something strange happens: Authority atrophies the very talents that got them there.
College Anxiety and Depression Upswing
PsychCentral: More College Students with Depression, Anxiety
More college students are grappling with depression and anxiety disorders than they did a decade ago, according to research presented at the annual conference of the American Psychological Association. And with greater diagnoses of depression and anxiety has come a related rise in the number of college students on psychiatric medications.
Trust
ScienceDaily: Trusting people make better lie detectors
Trusting others may not make you necessarily a fool or a Pollyanna, according to a study in the current Social Psychological and Personality Science. Instead it can be a sign that you’re smart…
Does Venting Anger Help?
Does venting anger help? YANSS looks at the research.
The Misconception: Venting your anger is an effective way to reduce stress and prevent lashing out at friends and family.
The Truth: Venting increases aggressive behavior over time.
Related: Angry People Want To Be Rewarded (PsychCentral).
Brooding and (Not) Depressed
From Wired: Why Russians Don’t Get Depressed
According to Grossman and Kross, however, not all brooders and ruminators are created equal. While American brooders showed extremely high levels of depressive symptomatology (as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory, or BDI), Russian brooders were actually less likely to be depressed than non-brooders. This suggests that brooding, or ruminative self-reflection, has extremely different psychiatric outcomes depending on the culture. While rumination makes Americans depressed, it actually seems to provide an emotional buffer for Russians.
Study: Get Some Sleep
PsychCentral: Cumulative Sleep Deprivation Harms Brain and Body.
“Instead of going to bed when they are tired, like they should, people watch TV and want to have an active social life,” she says. “People count on catching up on their sleep on the weekends, but it may not be enough.”
Also: Similar Effects from Chronic and Acute Sleep Deprivation.
Exercise v. Anger
NYT: Can Exercise Moderate Anger?
For years, researchers have known that exercise can affect certain moods. Running, bike riding and other exercise programs have repeatedly been found to combat clinical depression. Similarly, a study from Germany published in April found that light-duty activity like walking or gardening made participants “happy,” in the estimation of the scientists. Even laboratory rats and mice respond emotionally to exercise; although their precise “moods” are hard to parse, their behavior indicates that exercise makes them more relaxed and confident. But what about anger, one of the more universal and, in its way, destructive moods? Can exercise influence how angry you become in certain situations?
Generation X, Y, Z
A look at difficulties assessing personality differences between generations.
Generation Y’s collective personality, if such a thing exists, is not likely to be much different from other generations’. Still, small differences may matter, and there is some agreement in findings from psychologists on both sides of this debate. In his own research, Dr. Terracciano has found a slight decrease in trust over the generations and a slight increase in a something called “ascendancy,” or “competence” — a self-professed confidence in getting things done.