Star employees get most of the credit and blame while collaborating with non-stars

Star employees often get most of the credit when things go right, but also shoulder most of the blame when things go wrong, according to new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York.

A Remote, Computerized Training Program Eases Anxiety in Children

Using a computerized and completely remote training program, researchers have found a way to mitigate negative emotions in children. Results support the link between inhibitory control dysfunction and anxiety/depression. EEG results also provide evidence of frontal alpha asymmetry shifting to the left after completing an emotional version of the training. Computerized cognitive training programs can be highly beneficial for children, not just for academics, but for psychological and emotional functioning during a challenging time in their development.

Digital solutions including remote monitoring can help chronic pain sufferers manage their pain and reduce the probability of misuse of prescription opioids.

For the first time, an app has been shown to reduce key symptoms of chronic pain. A UNH-led study evaluated the impact of Manage My Pain(MMP), a digital health solution on chronic pain patients.

Scholarship and Practice of Undergraduate Research Issue Features Nontraditional Approaches to Research

The winter 2020 issue of Scholarship and Practice of Undergraduate Research (SPUR), the academic journal of the Council on Undergraduate Research, focuses on unusual approaches to undergraduate research such as research for chefs and a video game for biology majors.

Expert Available: School Psychologists, COVID-19, and the Return of In-Person Learning

By now, with the COVID-19 pandemic approaching the one-year mark, the impacts of extended quarantine on all ways of life have been well documented. And no group may be more affected than the youngest members of society: children. Virtual schooling…

Innovative Parenting Programs Address Inequality in Young Children’s Development

Parent education programs and interventions that begin shortly after the birth of a child have shown to significantly impact parenting behaviors that support social and academic engagement for children growing up in poverty.

Body shape, beyond weight, drives fat stigma for women

Fat stigma in women contributes to poor medical outcomes and negatively affects educational and economic opportunities. A new study from scientists at Arizona State University and Oklahoma State University shows that body shape, beyond overall weight, drives fat stigma. Women with overweight and obesity who carry gluteofemoral fat were less stigmatized than those who carry abdominal fat. These findings could affect how interventions for overweight and obesity are designed and delivered.

Mean or Nice? These Traits Could Make or Break a Child’s Friendships

While it’s logical to assume that children who are mean have friendships characterized by growing strife and that children who are nice report little of the same, these assumptions haven’t been tested in the real-world friendships. A study of elementary-school children is the first to examine the extent to which being “nice” and being “mean” shape changes in friend perceptions of their relationship. Results confirm the widespread assumption that one child’s behavioral traits drive the other child’s friendship experiences.

Study Aims to Break the Chains of Incarceration in African American Males

The majority of African American men return to prison within one to three years of their first release. A study explores why re-entry programs are not as effective for them when compared to others. Researchers suggest a holistic approach that addresses psychological and historical trauma in conjunction with the environmental factors that perpetuate the stigma justice-involved African American men experience. The approach accounts for negative associations developed in the centuries of oppression and segregation that shape their current societal interactions.

5 Things You Must Do While You Wait for the COVID-19 Vaccine

Even as vaccinations against COVID-19 are under way, the virus continues to kill thousands of Americans every day, making it more important than ever to stay safe and be ready in case it strikes you or your family. Here’s what you need to do to prevent and prepare for the novel coronavirus.

NAU researchers publish new report, recommendations to increase concussion disclosure in athletes

Psychology chair Heidi Wayment co-authored the report with Ann Huffman, Deborah Craig and Monica Lininger. The work was a result of a grant funded by the Mind Matters Challenge, which provides recommendations for increasing concussion symptom disclosure in collegiate athletic departments and military service academies.

Rutgers Expert Available to Discuss Risk Perception in COVID-19 Era

New Brunswick, N.J. (Oct. 26, 2020) – Rutgers University–New Brunswick Professor William Hallman is available for interviews on the science of risk perception and its practical implications in the COVID-19 era – a time of fear and anxiety among millions of…

Why Are Men So Negatively Impacted by Depression?

Anxiety, worry and depression are natural responses to the coronavirus pandemic and all of the problems that accompany it. Paul Ingram, in Texas Tech University’s Department of Psychological Sciences, said the impact on men might be more serious than for women because of how men deal with mental health.

Screen time can change visual perception — and that’s not necessarily bad

The coronavirus pandemic has shifted many of our interactions online, with Zoom video calls
replacing in-person classes, work meetings, conferences and other events. Will all that screen time damage our vision? Maybe not. It turns out that our visual perception is highly adaptable, according to research from Psychology Professor and Cognitive and Brain Sciences Coordinator Peter Gerhardstein’s
lab at Binghamton University.

FAU Receives $5.3 Million NIH Grant to Detect Cognitive Change in Older Drivers

Testing a readily and rapidly available, discreet in-vehicle sensing system could provide the first step toward future widespread, low-cost early warnings of cognitive change in older drivers. The use of an advanced, multimodal approach involves the development of novel driving sensors and integration of data from a battery of cognitive function tests, eye tracking and driving behaviors and factors. These in-vehicle technologies could help detect abnormal driving behavior that may be attributed to cognitive impairment.

Cellular processes and social behaviors and… zombies?

The Zombie Apocalypse Medicine Meeting will happen online October 15-18, 2020. The meeting spans the sciences, the arts and the scary while bringing scientists, artists and journalists together with the general public. This year’s meeting has been reanimated into a livestream broadcast on Channel Zed. Registrants will have access to programming on topics like how birth control, race relations, the pandemic, sex, literature and social media can all be thought of as zombification processes.

Rutgers Scholar Available to Discuss Concerning Trends of Suicidal Behavior Before and During COVID-19

Rutgers psychologist Edward Selby is available to comment on the need for greater awareness and prevention of suicidal behavior during COVID-19 pandemic. “Suicidal behavior has been escalating in the United States over the last 20 years, and we saw a…

Children with social anxiety, maternal history of depression more likely to develop depression

Although researchers have known for decades that depression runs in families, new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York, suggests that children suffering from social anxiety may be at particular risk for depression in the future.

WHEN DOING GOOD BOOSTS HEALTH, WELL-BEING

Performing acts of kindness and helping other people can be good for people’s health and well-being, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. But not all good-hearted behavior is equally beneficial to the giver. The strength of the link depends on many factors, including the type of kindness, the definition of well-being, and the giver’s age, gender and other demographic factors.

Frequent soft drink consumption may make adolescents more aggressive

Soft drink consumption is a likely predictor of aggressive behavior, according to a new study from UAB.A study from the University of Alabama at Birmingham has shown that frequent soft drink consumption by adolescents may contribute to aggressive behavior over time.  Previous studies have shown associations between soft drink consumption and mental health problems in adolescents.

Who Could Benefit From Exercise and Behavioral Treatment?

Aerobic exercise clearly benefits young adults with major depression, and a Rutgers-led study suggests it may be possible to predict those who would benefit from behavioral therapy with exercise. Unique to this precision medicine study, published in the journal Psychological Medicine, is an assessment of cognitive control and reward-related brain activity, two facets of brain function that are impaired in people with depression. Like previous studies, this one showed that aerobic exercise helps young adults with major depression.

Mental Health Experts Available to Discuss Increased Mental Health Needs Due to COVID-19

Media Advisory WHAT:  Recent data released by the CDC indicates that COVID-19 has contributed to an increase in the number of young adults, minorities, essential workers, and unpaid caregivers reporting symptoms of anxiety and depression. This is not completely unexpected.…

Rutgers Dean Receives Award for Acclaimed Book on Realities and Challenges Faced by Three Generations of Gay Men

Rutgers School of Public Health Dean, Perry N. Halkitis, has received the Distinguished Book Award from the American Psychological Association’s Society for the Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity for Out in Time: The Public Lives of Gay Men from Stonewall to the Queer Generation.

OHIO STATE EXPERTS OFFER TIPS FOR STUDENTS WHO MISS NORMALCY OF SPORTS, ACTIVITIES

As the nation continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, the future of school sports and extracurricular activities remains unclear. Sports psychologists at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center say this time can be difficult for students, whose identities are deeply rooted in their sport.