Our weekly round-up of the best psychology coverage from elsewhere on the web

Researchers from tech company DeepMind have drawn inspiration from their own AI research to develop a new theory of how reinforcement learning works in the brain. Dopamine neurons respond to the difference between a predicted reward and the reward that an animal actually receives: so if the reward is greater than predicted, for instance, more dopamine will be released. But the team found that dopamine neurons in mice don’t all produce the same level of response, reports Donna Lu at New Scientist — instead, they show a distribution of responses, similar to techniques used in machine learning.

Continue reading “Brain Parasites And Super-Recognisers: The Week’s Best Psychology Links” →

Our weekly round-up of the best psychology coverage from elsewhere on the web

It’s hard for researchers to study the brain activity involved in social interactions when they can only conduct MRI scans on a single person at a time. But what if you could squeeze two people into the scanner at once? At Science, Kelly Servick reports on the development of new, rather intimate imaging arrangements, in which two participants lie face-to-face while having their brains scanned simultaneously.  

Continue reading “The Emotions Of Music And The Meaning Of Life: The Week’s Best Psychology Links” →

Our weekly round-up of the best psychology coverage from elsewhere on the web

Thinking of your sadness as a person — à la the Pixar movie Inside Out — can make you feel less sad. That’s according to a recent study which highlights the benefits of putting some distance between yourself and your emotions, reports Elle Hunt at The Guardian — though the strategy can backfire when it comes to positive emotions like happiness.

Continue reading “Blue Spaces And Whale Wisdom: The Week’s Best Psychology Links” →

Our weekly round-up of the best psychology coverage from elsewhere on the web

Why do children so readily believe in someone as ridiculous as Father Christmas — a man who flies around the world climbing down millions of chimneys, all in one night? It’s not that children are simply gullible beings, argues Rohan Kapitany at The Conversation: studies have shown that they can actually be pretty sceptical. Instead, it’s the detailed and committed actions modelled by adults — putting up trees, leaving out biscuits, hanging stockings — that seem to suggest to kids that of course this jolly red gift-giver must be real.

Continue reading “Cat Whisperers And Dog Listeners: The Week’s Best Psychology Links” →

Our weekly round-up of the best psychology coverage from elsewhere on the web

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) can help patients with Parkinson’s control their movement — but a new study has found that it also prevents some people from being able to swim. Nine patients — including two former competitive swimmers — were no longer able to keep afloat after receiving implants for DBS, reports Jennifer Walter for Discover. Past research has found that DBS can also disrupt other learned motor skills, such as golfing.

Continue reading “Retail Ruses And Accent Attitudes: The Week’s Best Psychology Links” →

Our weekly round-up of the best psychology coverage from elsewhere on the web

In an attempt to tackle the replication crisis, hundreds of psychology labs around the world are collaborating to repeat experiments at a large scale. And now this network, known as the Psychological Science Accelerator, has its first results. Dalmeet Singh Chawla reports on their findings at Undark.

Continue reading “Waking Dreams And Phantom Kicks: The Week’s Best Psychology Links” →

Our weekly round-up of the best psychology coverage from elsewhere on the web

Could greater empathy help heal our current political divisions? Not according to this Wired article by Robert Wright. Researchers have found that more empathy for an “in group” may actually relate to greater hostility towards the “out group”. People with higher levels of empathy were more likely to be support no-platforming a speaker from an opposing party, for instance, and even showed more amusement when they read that a bystander in favour of that speaker had been hurt.

Continue reading “Proficient Pigs And Political Polarisation: The Week’s Best Psychology Links” →

Our weekly round-up of the best psychology coverage from elsewhere on the web

Getting kids to sit still during brain scans is notoriously difficult — but now researchers have developed an MEG scanner that is essentially a modified bike helmet. The device could make it easier to measure brain activity in young children, as well as scan older participants as they perform activities they wouldn’t be able to do in a standard MEG scanner, writes Jennifer Walter at Discover Magazine’s “D-Brief” blog.

Continue reading “Pet Placebos And A Brain Scanner For Kids: The Week’s Best Psychology Links” →

Our weekly round-up of the best psychology coverage from elsewhere on the web

A large review of studies published over the past 40 years has found little evidence that cannabis is helpful in treating mental health conditions like depression and anxiety, Ruby Prosser Scully reports in New Scientist. Researchers say that people should be wary of claims by companies producing medical cannabis, and that there is a need for more large-scale, well-controlled studies into the effects of the drug on different conditions.

Continue reading “Haunted Houses And The Ghosts Of Psychology Past: The Week’s Best Psychology Links” →

Our weekly round-up of the best psychology coverage from elsewhere on the web

A recent review has found that there are many good reasons to be humble, writes Benedict Carey in The New York Times. People who score higher on humility are more curious and open-minded, for instance, and less aggressive towards people with different beliefs. Continue reading “Talking Nonsense And Being Humble: The Week’s Best Psychology Links” →