Not all minds that wander are lost: ADHD and the types of mind wandering
Our minds often wander, but it is not always involuntarily. Sometimes we let our thoughts drift off on their own, and sometimes they wander to other matters while we try to focus on a task at hand. Recent research explores how those two types of mind wandering relate to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). (Source: Psychonomic Society News)
Source: Psychonomic Society News - July 2, 2015 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: news
Pink is beautiful but you laugh in yellow and birthdays are blue: The colors of emotion
What color is envy? Although asking about the color of emotions seems puzzling at first glance, it turns out that people agree to a large extent about the associations between colors and abstract emotional words. Recent research extends the link between emotions and colors to words that have an emotional connotation, such as "beautiful" and "laughter". (Source: Psychonomic Society News)
Source: Psychonomic Society News - June 29, 2015 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: news
Thinking about thinking: Practice makes imperfection detectable
Humans can not only think, but they can also think about their own thinking. We can monitor our cognitive processes and we can identify situations when we do not know enough to perform a task perfectly well. Recent research shows that this "metacognitive" monitoring requires working memory capacity and is therefore impaired when other, irrelevant things need to be remembered. With practice, the reliance on working memory can disappear and metacognition can be engaged even when irrelevant things must be remembered. (Source: Psychonomic Society News)
Source: Psychonomic Society News - June 25, 2015 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: news
9-1-1 in the wild: Dolphins' distress calls and their rescuers response
There are many anecdotal reports suggesting that dolphins come to the aid of stranded swimmers or divers, but to date there have been few scientific observations of this helping behavior. Recent research reports a detailed investigation of the helping behavior of dolphins when members of a pod are in distress and issue a call for help. (Source: Psychonomic Society News)
Source: Psychonomic Society News - June 24, 2015 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: news
Psychonomic Impact: Canopus or Pleiades?
The impact figures for the Psychonomic Society's journals for 2014 have been released. The trend is arguably pleasing and the flagship journal, Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, exhibits a robust citation pattern. (Source: Psychonomic Society News)
Source: Psychonomic Society News - June 19, 2015 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: news
Training of intelligence: A question of intelligent training
Can we improve human intelligence through training? Generations of researchers have tackled this apparently simple question, and yet, after approximately a century of efforts, the malleability of intelligence remains controversial. The potential payoff is high—imagine what it would mean if we could actually train intelligence—but the road to conclusive evidence on the matter appears to be long and rough. (Source: Psychonomic Society News)
Source: Psychonomic Society News - June 17, 2015 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: news
So what’s this שטיק about working memory? Discovering the gateway to updating
Working memory has to be both stable and dynamic to serve its function. Recent research exploited the fact that Hebrew and English are read in opposite directions to pin down the gate that switches between protecting working memory and allowing it to be updated. (Source: Psychonomic Society News)
Source: Psychonomic Society News - June 11, 2015 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: news
Need to find a needle? Make the haystack disappear by perceptual adaptation
Our perception adapts to stimuli whenever they remain invariant. This adaptation can have intriguing consequences. Recent research suggests that by adapting to a noisy background, detection of visual targets can be facilitated. This effect can have important consequences for situations such as mammography in which visual target detection is crucial. (Source: Psychonomic Society News)
Source: Psychonomic Society News - June 9, 2015 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: news
Need to invent a light bulb? Take a nap to boost your attentional skills
We may not know why we need to sleep, but we do know quite a bit about its beneficial effects on cognitive performance. Recent research shows that taking a nap reduces your susceptibility to what is known as an "attentional blink." (Source: Psychonomic Society News)
Source: Psychonomic Society News - June 5, 2015 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: news
Turning Dr. Strangelove into George W. Bush: Determinants of accentedness
Some 40 million foreign-born people live in the United States, many of whom will speak English with an accent. But what does it mean to have an accent? Recent research identifies the underlying variables. One of the surprising findings: Accents are a matter of timing (among other variables). If the duration of a spoken vowel relative to the length of the word departs from the native "standard" then talkers are judged to have an accent even if the sound is right. (Source: Psychonomic Society News)
Source: Psychonomic Society News - June 2, 2015 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: news
Who's having a party next door? Hearing but not counting voices
How many people are attending a party? Can you tell from listening alone? Recent research shows that people can enumerate 3 to 4 voices but beyond that it is all just a din, but in intriguing ways. (Source: Psychonomic Society News)
Source: Psychonomic Society News - May 28, 2015 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: news
Update from the Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences
This is a message from the Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences about current efforts on Capitol Hill concerning research funding. (Source: Psychonomic Society News)
Source: Psychonomic Society News - May 26, 2015 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: news
The transcendental mind: Memory in your head and in your smartphone
Where is our memory? In our heads or in our smartphones? Recent research illuminates when people rely on their own memories and when they prefer to rely on external devices. (Source: Psychonomic Society News)
Source: Psychonomic Society News - May 21, 2015 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: news
When two talking heads are better than two flips of a coin: Social interaction helps team performance
Are two heads better than one? Or do teams degenerate into the dreaded "group think"? Recent research identifies conditions when teams outperform individuals: Friendship is key. (Source: Psychonomic Society News)
Source: Psychonomic Society News - May 14, 2015 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: news
Stepping right when your next destination is straight ahead: Your ultimate plans guide your navigation now
History is replete with famous navigation errors, from Christopher Columbus to our belief that Reno is East of San Diego. New research shows that people's route choices depend on later destinations even if their location is not relevant now. (Source: Psychonomic Society News)
Source: Psychonomic Society News - May 12, 2015 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: news
