MedWorm.com provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest items from the 'Current Directions in Psychological Science' source. Sat, 06 Feb 2010 15:24:51 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3065597&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.index_6.x (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3065597 Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3065597 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3065596&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01668.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Humans continuously evaluate aspects of their environment (people, objects, places) in an automatic fashion (i.e., unintentionally, rapidly). Such evaluations can be highly adaptive, triggering behavioral responses away from threats and toward rewards in the environment. Even in the absence of immediate threats and fleeting rewards, the ability to automatically evaluate aspects of the environment enables individuals to effortlessly make sense of their world without depleting limited and valuable cognitive resources. We discuss two lines of research on automatic evaluation: The first demonstrates that people can evaluate a stimulus even when they are not conscious of the stimulus and thus unaware of having evaluated it. The second line of work shows that even when people are ... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3065596 Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3065596 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3065595&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01667.x ABSTRACT[mdash]We document how starting prices differentially impact outcomes in negotiations and auctions. In negotiations (where the number of actors is often predetermined), starting prices drive cognitive processes, leading individuals to selectively focus on information consistent with, and make valuations similar to, the starting value. Thus, starting high will often lead to ending high in negotiations. Conversely, in auctions (where the number of actors is determined during the course of the auction), low starting prices catalyze social processes that can lead to higher final prices: Low starting prices lower barriers to entry and increase the number of bidders; produce more sunk costs for early entrants; and lead participants to infer greater value from this increased bidding activ... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3065595 Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3065595 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3065594&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01666.x ABSTRACT[mdash]The loss of a loved one carries serious consequences for the physical and emotional well-being of many of the bereaved. It is therefore not surprising that to mitigate the impact of loss and promote successful adaptation, various forms of grief therapy have been proposed. However, controversies about the effectiveness of bereavement interventions have arisen, in part because previous reviews have relied on small samples of studies, which makes drawing inferences about the evidence base for bereavement interventions precarious at best. Drawing on a recent comprehensive analysis of over 60 controlled studies, we attempt to offer a more definitive view, and we discuss moderators associated with more effective bereavement interventions. Finally, we conclude by considering severa... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3065594 Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3065594 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3065593&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01665.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Approximate number discrimination in adult human and nonhuman animals is governed by Weber's Law: The ratio between the values determines discriminability. Here, we review recent evidence from behavioral and neuroimaging studies that suggests that number sense in human infancy shares the same hallmark feature of Weber's Law and may rely on the same neural substrates as previously found in adults, children, and nonhuman animals. These findings support the notion of ontogenetic and phylogenetic continuity in number sense. New methods described here may help uncover how infants' early number sense supports the development of a mature number sense. Moreover, they may aid in understanding how children learn to map nonsymbolic number representations onto symbols for number by prov... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3065593 Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3065593 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3065592&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01664.x ABSTRACT[mdash]The goal of this article is to highlight recent work examining how culture affects neural activation. We suggest a framework for cultural neuroscience in which there are two objectives: culture mapping[mdash]or the mapping function from patterns characteristic of cultures to their neural processing[mdash]and source analysis[mdash]or the attempt to determine the sources of observed commonalities and differences. We review links between culture and the brain across fundamental domains of cognitive and social psychology. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3065592 Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3065592 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3065591&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01663.x This article describes an integrative model that identifies specific psychological and physiological pathways through which benefit finding may affect physical health. The underlying premise of the model is that benefit finding leads to more adaptive, efficient responses to future stressors, limiting exposure to stress hormones that may have damaging effects on long-term health. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3065591 Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3065591 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3065590&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01662.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Researchers have increasingly turned their attention from younger individuals who hold age stereotypes to older individuals who are targeted by these stereotypes. The refocused research has shown that positive and negative age stereotypes held by older individuals can have beneficial and detrimental effects, respectively, on a variety of cognitive and physical outcomes. Drawing on these experimental and longitudinal studies, a theory of stereotype embodiment is presented here. It proposes that stereotypes are embodied when their assimilation from the surrounding culture leads to self-definitions that, in turn, influence functioning and health. The theory has four components: The stereotypes (a) become internalized across the life span, (b) can operate unconsciously, (c) gain... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3065590 Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3065590 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3065589&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01661.x This article concludes with a consideration of how these hypotheses individually and collectively generate new lines of research linking early pubertal maturation and psychopathology. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3065589 Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3065589 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3065588&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01660.x ABSTRACT[mdash]In many everyday situations, speed is of the essence. However, fast decisions typically mean more mistakes. To this day, it remains unknown whether reaction times can be reduced with appropriate training, within one individual, across a range of tasks, and without compromising accuracy. Here we review evidence that the very act of playing action video games significantly reduces reaction times without sacrificing accuracy. Critically, this increase in speed is observed across various tasks beyond game situations. Video gaming may therefore provide an efficient training regimen to induce a general speeding of perceptual reaction times without decreases in accuracy of performance. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3065588 Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3065588 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3065587&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01659.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Despite commonly held assumptions, growing older does not necessarily result in disturbed or unsatisfying sleep. There is no reason to assume, a priori, that the sleep of an older adult is necessarily problematic; in fact, many high-functioning older adults are satisfied with their sleep. When the various factors that can disrupt sleep[mdash]poor health, primary sleep disorders, poor sleep-hygiene practices (e.g., irregular sleep schedules and poor sleeping environments), and so on[mdash]are screened out, "optimally" or "successfully" aging older adults, assuming they remain healthy, can expect to experience little further change in their sleep and are not likely to experience excessive daytime sleepiness and the concomitant need to nap regularly during the day. Nevertheless... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3065587 Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3065587 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3065586&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01658.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Children and even some adults struggle to understand and use maps. In the symbolic realm, users must appreciate that the marks on a surface stand for environments and must understand how to interpret individual symbols. In the spatial realm, users must understand how representational space is used to depict environmental space. To do so, they must understand the consequences of cartographic decisions about the map's viewing distance, viewing angle, viewing azimuth, and geometric projection. Research identifies age-linked progressions in symbolic and spatial map understanding that are linked to normative representational and spatial development, and reveals striking individual differences. Current work focuses on identifying experiences associated with better map understandin... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3065586 Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3065586 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3065585&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01657.x ABSTRACT[mdash]This paper reviews theory and research regarding the "Michelangelo phenomenon." The Michelangelo model suggests that close partners sculpt one another's selves, shaping one another's skills and traits and promoting versus inhibiting one another's goal pursuits. As a result of the manner in which partners perceive and behave toward one another, each person enjoys greater or lesser success at attaining his or her ideal-self goals. Affirmation of one another's ideal-self goals yields diverse benefits, both personal and relational. The Michelangelo model and supportive empirical evidence are reviewed, the phenomenon is distinguished from related interpersonal processes, and directions for future work are outlined. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3065585 Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3065585 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2953180&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01656.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Randomized experiments are preferred for making inferences about causality when they can be implemented and their assumptions are met. Yet assumptions can fail (e.g., attrition, treatment noncompliance) or randomization may be unethical or infeasible. I describe alternative design and statistical approaches that permit testing causal hypotheses and present current empirical evidence related to alternative designs. Alternative designs permit a wider range of research questions to be answered and permit more direct generalization of causal effects; however, when using such designs, estimates of the magnitude of the causal effect may be more uncertain. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2953180 Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 2953180 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2953179&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01655.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Status differences are ubiquitous and highly consequential. Yet with regard to human social groups, basic questions persist about how status differences develop. In particular, little is known about the processes by which individuals pursue status in social groups. That is, how do individuals compete and jockey for status with their peers? The current paper reviews recent research that helps fill this gap in our knowledge. Specifically, studies of a variety of face-to-face groups show that individuals pursue status by enhancing the apparent value they provide to their group. Individuals compete for status not by bullying and intimidating others, as some theorists have proposed, but by behaving in ways that suggest high levels of competence, generosity, and commitment to the ... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2953179 Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 2953179 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2953178&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01654.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Visual object recognition is foundational to processes of categorization, tool use, and real-world problem solving. Despite considerable effort across many disciplines and many specific advances, there is no comprehensive or well-accepted account of this ability. Moreover, none of the extant approaches consider how human object recognition develops. New evidence indicates a period of rapid change in toddlers' visual object recognition between 18 and 24 months that is related to the learning of object names and to goal-directed action. Children appear to shift from recognition based on piecemeal fragments to recognition based on geometric representations of three-dimensional shape. These findings may lead to a more unified understanding of the processes that make human object... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2953178 Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 2953178 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2953177&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01653.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Decades of research in Western countries such as the United States have supported the idea that parental control undermines children's psychological development. In recent years, investigators have asked whether this is also true in East Asian countries such as China, given that several aspects of East Asian culture have the potential to make children more accepting of parental control. We review research indicating that the effects of parental control on children's psychological functioning are similarly negative in the United States and China, the two countries where most research on this subject has been conducted. However, we also highlight specific contexts in which the effects may be stronger in the West. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2953177 Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 2953177 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2953176&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01652.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Individuals regularly confront situations in which acceptance of short-term costs may lead to long-term gains. Given that individuals frequently discount the utility of future benefits with respect to more immediate ones, successfully solving such intertemporal choice dilemmas has been theorized to involve self-regulation aimed at controlling emotional responses that are sensitive to immediate rewards. In this article, I argue for a more multifaceted view of the role played by emotions in intertemporal choice. In support of this view, I review emerging evidence demonstrating the ability of specific, socially oriented emotions to facilitate behaviors designed to build social and economic capital in the long run. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2953176 Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 2953176 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2953175&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01651.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Sound is inherently a temporal and sequential signal. Experience with sound therefore may help bootstrap[mdash]that is, provide a kind of "scaffolding" for[mdash]the development of general cognitive abilities related to representing temporal or sequential patterns. Accordingly, the absence of sound early in development may result in disturbances to these sequencing skills. In support of this hypothesis, we present two types of findings. First, normal-hearing adults do best on sequencing tasks when the sense of hearing, rather than sight, can be used. Second, recent findings suggest that deaf children have disturbances on exactly these same kinds of tasks that involve learning and manipulation of serial-order information. We suggest that sound provides an "auditory scaffoldin... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2953175 Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 2953175 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2953174&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01650.x ABSTRACT[mdash]A robust, linear association between socioeconomic status (SES) and health has been identified across many populations and health outcomes. This relationship is typically monotonic, so that each step down the SES hierarchy brings increased vulnerability to disease and premature mortality. Despite growing attention to health disparities, scientists and policymakers have made little progress toward confronting their causes and implementing effective solutions. Using the reserve capacity model (Gallo & Matthews, 2003) as an organizing framework, the current article examines the contribution of resilient psychosocial resources to socioeconomic disparities in physical health. Findings suggest that deficient psychosocial resources, such as low perceptions of control and social sup... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2953174 Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 2953174 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2953173&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01649.x ABSTRACT[mdash]We propose that people protect the belief in a controlled, nonrandom world by imbuing their social, physical, and metaphysical environments with order and structure when their sense of personal control is threatened. We demonstrate that when personal control is threatened, people can preserve a sense of order by (a) perceiving patterns in noise or adhering to superstitions and conspiracies, (b) defending the legitimacy of the sociopolitical institutions that offer control, or (c) believing in an interventionist God. We also present evidence that these processes of compensatory control help people cope with the anxiety and discomfort that lacking personal control fuels, that it is lack of personal control specifically and not general threat or negativity that drives these pro... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2953173 Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 2953173 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2953172&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01648.x ABSTRACT[mdash]The prefrontal cortex is crucial for the ability to regulate thought and control behavior. The development of the human cerebral cortex is characterized by an extended period of maturation during which young children exhibit marked deficits in cognitive control. We contend that prolonged prefrontal immaturity is, on balance, advantageous and that the positive consequences of this developmental trajectory outweigh the negative. Particularly, we argue that cognitive control impedes convention learning and that delayed prefrontal maturation is a necessary adaptation for human learning of social and linguistic conventions. We conclude with a discussion of recent observations that are relevant to this claim of evolutionary trade-offs in a wide range of research areas, including a... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2953172 Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 2953172 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2953171&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01647.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Why are older adults reluctant to adopt new technology, such as the Internet, given its potential to improve the quality of their lives? We review evidence indicating that attitudes and abilities are among the most powerful predictors of technology use. We conclude that normative age-related changes in ability must be taken into account when designing products and training programs for aging adults, and we discuss new tools to support designers. The most promising emerging technologies likely lie in training cognitive abilities and augmenting or substituting for impaired abilities. We discuss reasons to expect that the lag in technology adoption between younger and older adults may lessen but will not disappear in future generations. (Source: Current Directions in Psychologi... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2953171 Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0100 2953171 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2760567&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01645.x ABSTRACT[mdash]To successfully pursue a goal in the face of temptation, an individual must first identify that she faces a self-control conflict. Only then will the individual exercise self-control to promote goal pursuit over indulging in temptation. We propose a new model that distinguishes between the problems of conflict identification and those of conflict resolution. We then review research on the factors that influence conflict identification and those that determine conflict resolution. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2760567 Tue, 01 Sep 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2760567 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2760566&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01644.x ABSTRACT[mdash]The experience of agency refers to the experience of being in control both of one's own actions and, through them, of events in the external world. Recent experimental studies have investigated how people recognise a particular event as being caused by their own action or by that of another person. These studies suggest that people match sensory inputs to a prediction based on the action they are performing. Other studies have contrasted voluntary actions to physically similar but passive body movements. These studies suggest that voluntary action triggers wide-ranging changes in the spatial and temporal experience not only of one's own body but also of external events. Prediction and monitoring of the consequences of one's own motor commands produces characteristic experien... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2760566 Tue, 01 Sep 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2760566 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2760565&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01643.x ABSTRACT[mdash]The biopsychosocial model treats pain as resulting from a complex interaction of biological, psychological, and social factors. Individual differences in approaches to coping with pain-related symptoms are important determinants of pain-related outcomes, and are often classified under the "psychological" category within the biopsychosocial model. However, engagement in various cognitive, affective, and behavioral pain-coping strategies appears to exert biological effects, which we review here. Pain-coping activities such as catastrophizing, distracting oneself from pain sensations, or reappraisal of pain may exert effects on activity in a variety of pain-processing and pain-modulatory circuits within the brain, as well affect the functioning of neuromuscular, immune, and neu... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2760565 Tue, 01 Sep 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2760565 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2760564&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01642.x Abstract[mdash]Recent work on judgment and decision making has focused on how people preferentially use cues, or pieces of relevant information, that are easy to access when making decisions. In this article, we discuss a framework for understanding the ways that cues become accessible. We begin by identifying two components of cues and show how these components can become accessible during different parts a decision process. We highlight evidence for the use of accessible information and discuss implications for future research on heuristics. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2760564 Tue, 01 Sep 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2760564 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2760563&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01641.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Studies of prolonged separation from the attachment figure that were conducted with infant monkeys during the middle of the 20th century identified a passive behavioral response, termed "despair," that appeared to model human depressive illness. Studies in guinea pigs, which exhibit filial attachment that resembles attachment in monkeys, have described a similar passive response to briefer periods of maternal separation. Recent evidence indicates that elements of the immune system mediate the passive behavioral response of guinea pigs. These findings accord well with current ideas that immune responses contribute to depressive illness, suggest new hypotheses about how maternal separation might promote depression, and give us a rodent model in which such hypotheses might be t... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2760563 Tue, 01 Sep 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2760563 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2760562&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01640.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Most mammal species show traditional patterns of sexual dimorphism (e.g., greater male size and aggression), the proximal mechanism of which involves the male's greater pre- and postnatal exposure to circulating androgens. But in several species, females diverge from the traditional pattern, converging on the male form or even reversing sexual dimorphisms. Such "masculinized" females might show elongation of the clitoris, enhanced body size, and aggressively mediated social dominance over males, and they are interesting case studies for examining the role of androgens in females. This review addresses our understanding of the mediating mechanisms of morphological and behavioral development in both traditional and exceptional mammal species. Although certain lines of evidence... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2760562 Tue, 01 Sep 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2760562 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2760561&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01639.x ABSTRACT[mdash]The heritability of human behavioral traits is now well established, due in large measure to classical twin studies. We see little need for further studies of the heritability of individual traits in behavioral science, but the twin study is far from having outlived its usefulness. The existence of pervasive familial influences on behavior means that selection bias is always a concern in any study of the causal effects of environmental circumstances. Twin samples continue to provide new opportunities to identify causal effects with appropriate genetic and shared environmental controls. We discuss environmental studies of discordant twin pairs and twin studies of genetic and environmental transactions in this context. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2760561 Tue, 01 Sep 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2760561 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2760560&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01638.x ABSTRACT[mdash]A sudden comprehension that solves a problem, reinterprets a situation, explains a joke, or resolves an ambiguous percept is called an insight (i.e., the "Aha! moment"). Psychologists have studied insight using behavioral methods for nearly a century. Recently, the tools of cognitive neuroscience have been applied to this phenomenon. A series of studies have used electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study the neural correlates of the "Aha! moment" and its antecedents. Although the experience of insight is sudden and can seem disconnected from the immediately preceding thought, these studies show that insight is the culmination of a series of brain states and processes operating at different time scales. Elucidation of these precurs... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2760560 Tue, 01 Sep 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2760560 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2760559&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01637.x This article summarizes research on stress as a risk factor for PTB. As is evident in considering the complex mechanisms, psychological science has much to contribute to addressing this important health issue. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2760559 Tue, 01 Sep 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2760559 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2760558&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01636.x ABSTRACT[mdash]High rates of diagnosable depression in adolescence, especially among young women, present challenging clinical and research issues. Depression not only portends current maladjustment but may also signal risk for recurrent or chronic depression and its associated impairment. Because depression is most often a response to stressful events and circumstances, it is important to understand the stress context itself. Individuals with depression histories are known to contribute to the occurrence of interpersonal and other stressors at a high rate, and for young women particularly, the occurrence of interpersonal stressors and conditions in turn predicts recurrences of depression, in a vicious cycle. Interpersonal dysfunction in early adolescence predicts the likelihood of continu... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2760558 Tue, 01 Sep 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2760558 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2760557&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01635.x ABSTRACT[mdash]The serotonin system is a collection of neural pathways whose overall level of functioning (from low to high) relates to diverse kinds of psychological and behavioral variability. Individual differences in serotonergic function are important both in personality and in vulnerability to psychological disorders. These disorders range widely[mdash]from impulsive aggression to depression. One way to understand such diverse reflections of differences in serotonergic function is by viewing serotonergic function through the lens of two-mode (or dual-process) models of self-regulation. Such theories posit a lower-order system that responds quickly to associative cues of the moment and a higher-order system that responds reflectively and planfully. Low serotonergic function appears to... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2760557 Tue, 01 Sep 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2760557 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2760556&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01634.x ABSTRACT[mdash]When reminded of something we would prefer not to think about, we often try to exclude the unwanted memory from awareness. Recent research indicates that people control unwanted memories by stopping memory retrieval, using mechanisms similar to those used to stop reflexive motor responses. Controlling unwanted memories is implemented by the lateral prefrontal cortex, which acts to reduce activity in the hippocampus, thereby impairing retention of those memories. Individual differences in the efficacy of these systems may underlie variation in how well people control intrusive memories and adapt in the aftermath of trauma. This research supports the existence of an active forgetting process and establishes a neurocognitive model for inquiry into motivated forgetting. (Source:... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2760556 Fri, 31 Jul 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2760556 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2495185&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01633.x ABSTRACT[mdash]The idea that emotions regulate social interaction is increasingly popular. But exactly how do emotions do this? To address this question, I draw on research on the interpersonal effects of emotions on behavior in personal relationships, parent[ndash]child interactions, conflict, negotiation, and leadership, and propose a new framework that can account for existing findings and guide future research: the emotions as social information (EASI) model. I demonstrate that emotional expressions affect observers' behavior by triggering inferential processes and/or affective reactions in them. The predictive strength of these two processes[mdash]which may inspire different behaviors[mdash]depends on the observer's information processing and on social-relational factors. Examples of ... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2495185 Sun, 21 Jun 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2495185 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2495184&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01632.x ABSTRACT[mdash]The concept of psychopathy refers to a pattern of chronic antisocial behavior and personality features, such as emotional detachment, lovelessness, and guiltlessness, attributable in part to a temperament deficit. Historically, that deficit has been seen as a low reactivity to fear, but recent research has documented a second temperament deficit in adults that involves poor emotional and behavioral control. Both pathways are found in the child psychopathology literature, pointing to multifactorial developmental pathways from childhood to adult psychopathy. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2495184 Sun, 21 Jun 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2495184 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2495183&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01631.x We describe the implications of this research for eyewitness testimony. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2495183 Sun, 21 Jun 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2495183 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2495182&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01630.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Many local and global environmental challenges are tragedies-of-the-commons dilemmas in which private and collective interests are frequently at odds. Recent developments in social psychological theory and research suggest that in such commons dilemmas people are not just motivated by narrow (economic) self-interest but that they also consider the broader implications of their decisions for others and for the natural environment. Based on a core-motives analysis, I identify four necessary components for designing interventions to protect the environment: (a) information, (b) identity, (c) institutions, and (d) incentives, and discuss their utility and the feasibility of incorporating them. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2495182 Sun, 21 Jun 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2495182 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2495181&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01629.x ABSTRACT[mdash]The origins of music have intrigued scholars for thousands of years. In this article I discuss the role of experiments in discussions of these issues. I argue that potentially useful kinds of evidence are those that address the innateness and the specificity of different components of musical behavior. At present there is some evidence for innate influences on music, but little evidence for capacities that are clearly specific to music. Although future experiments could potentially alter this picture, there is currently little unambiguous support for the notion that music is an adaptation. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2495181 Sun, 21 Jun 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2495181 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2495180&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01628.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Recent evidence indicates that people's judgments of their own learning are causally related to their study behavior and not epiphenomenal. I argue here that people use these metacognitions in an effort to selectively study material in their own region of proximal learning. First they attempt to eliminate materials that are already well learned. Then they progress successively from studying easier to more difficult materials. Successful implementation of this metacognitively guided strategy enhances learning. The necessary components are, first, that the metacognitions be accurate, and second, that the appropriate choices are implemented for study. With these parts in place, the individual is in position to effectively take control of his or her own learning. (Source: Curren... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2495180 Sun, 21 Jun 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2495180 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2495179&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01627.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Some organisms learn to calculate, accumulate knowledge, and communicate in ways that others do not. What factors determine which intellectual abilities a particular species or individual can easily acquire? I propose that cognitive-skill learning capacity reflects (a) the availability of specialized cortical circuits, (b) the flexibility with which cortical activity is coordinated, and (c) the customizability of cortical networks. This framework can potentially account for differences in learning capacity across species, individuals, and developmental stages. Understanding the mechanisms that constrain cognitive plasticity is fundamental to developing new technologies and educational practices that maximize intellectual advancements. (Source: Current Directions in Psycholog... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2495179 Sun, 21 Jun 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2495179 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2495178&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01626.x ABSTRACT[mdash]The emotional significance of sensory events may influence attention in a reflexive manner, but these effects vary across paradigms and participants. Recent research indicates that specific circuits in the brain may serve to amplify neural responses to emotional stimuli, a modulation similar to attentional effects usually driven by endogenous goals. However, this modulation involves distinct sources in emotional systems such as the amygdala, and may thus operate partly independent of top-down control by attentional systems in frontoparietal cortices. It remains to be clarified to what degree these emotional effects are influenced by specific perceptual and emotional dimensions, automaticity and attentional resources, task goals or expectations, and individual personality tra... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2495178 Sun, 21 Jun 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2495178 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2495177&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01625.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Humans seem unique in their consideration of others' goals, motivations, intentions, and needs. But the human form of social awareness did not spring from nowhere; certain mechanisms shared across primates formed the foundation from which these processes derived. A review of recent nonhuman primate research points to particular ancestral mechanisms, including an interest in images moving in synchrony with self, a mirror neuron system that responds in the same way to actions made by the self and by others, and inherited social tolerance that provided the bases for social thinking. Still there is a gap in tracking social awareness from these basic beginnings to the ability to think about self and other with respect to intentions and goals. Comparative and clinical work will fi... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2495177 Sun, 21 Jun 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2495177 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2495176&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01624.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Childhood maltreatment elevates risk for antisocial behavior, depression, and other problems over the life span, but a subset of maltreated individuals avoids maladaptive development and shows resilience. Resilience reflects a dynamic confluence of factors that promotes positive adaptation despite exposure to adverse experiences. Recent replicated findings of gene[ndash]environment interactions (abbreviated G × E) involving maltreatment have identified two genes, monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) and serotonin transporter (5-HTT), that moderate the association between childhood maltreatment and psychopathology. Accordingly, G × E raise new questions about potential biological mechanisms by which some individuals are able to cope adaptively and function relatively well despite exp... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2495176 Sun, 21 Jun 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2495176 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2495175&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01623.x ABSTRACT[mdash]The relationship between genes and social behavior has historically been construed as a one-way street, with genes in control. Recent analyses have challenged this view, by discovering broad alterations in the expression of human genes as a function of differing socio-environmental conditions. The emerging field of social genomics has begun to identity the types of genes subject to social regulation, the biological signaling pathways mediating those effects, and the genetic polymorphisms that moderate socioenvironmental influences on human gene expression. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2495175 Sun, 21 Jun 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2495175 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2495174&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01622.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Interactions between genes and the environment are a critical feature of development. Insights into the dynamic interplay between these factors have come from laboratory studies exploring experience-dependent changes in gene function, which illustrate the importance of environmental factors in determining activity of the genome. These studies have implications for our understanding of the origins of individual differences in behavior and may provide new ways of thinking about the transmission of traits across generations. Here we will highlight how these new findings illustrate the importance of putting genes in context. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2495174 Sun, 31 May 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2495174 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2336775&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01621.x Discussion focuses on how recent insights[mdash]in combination with needed experimental and longitudinal data[mdash]can help reconcile the developmental- and social-psychological literatures on adult attachment. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2336775 Wed, 15 Apr 2009 04:00:00 +0100 2336775 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2336774&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01620.x ABSTRACT[mdash]In nonhuman mammals, the social environment in which pregnant females live is critical for their offsprings' brain development, endocrine state, and social and sexual behavior later in life. Social instability during pregnancy generally brings about a behavioral and neuroendocrine masculinization in daughters and a less pronounced expression of male-typical traits in sons. We favor the hypothesis that such behavioral effects of prenatal social stress are not necessarily "pathological" (nonadaptive) consequences of adverse social conditions. Rather, pregnant mothers could be adjusting their offspring to their environment in an adaptive way. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2336774 Wed, 15 Apr 2009 04:00:00 +0100 2336774 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2336773&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01619.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Most research methodology in the behavioral sciences employs interindividual analyses, which provide information about the state of affairs of the population. However, as shown by classical mathematical-statistical theorems (the ergodic theorems), such analyses do not provide information for, and cannot be applied at, the level of the individual, except on rare occasions when the processes of interest meet certain stringent conditions. When psychological processes violate these conditions, the interindividual analyses that are now standardly applied have to be replaced by analysis of intraindividual variation in order to obtain valid results. Two illustrations involving analysis of intraindividual variation of personality and emotional processes are given. (Source: Current D... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2336773 Wed, 15 Apr 2009 04:00:00 +0100 2336773 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2336772&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01618.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Families are dynamic systems that are permeable to influences from the outside world, such as daily stressors at work and at school. Our research uses naturalistic methods to investigate how family interactions change in response to such experiences and how other family members contribute to that process. We argue that the short-term effects of daily stressors on family dynamics can have cumulative, long-term implications for family health and functioning. Naturalistic studies that incorporate daily diary, observational, and physiological measures can offer new insights into families' everyday stress responding and coping processes. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2336772 Wed, 15 Apr 2009 04:00:00 +0100 2336772 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2336771&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01617.x ABSTRACT[mdash]It is typically assumed that people always want to feel good. Recent evidence, however, demonstrates that people want to feel unpleasant emotions, such as anger or fear, when these emotions promote the attainment of their long-term goals. If emotions are regulated for instrumental reasons, people should want to feel pleasant emotions when immediate benefits outweigh future benefits, but when future benefits outweigh immediate benefits, people may prefer to feel useful emotions, even if they are unpleasant. In this article, I describe an instrumental account of emotion regulation, review empirical evidence relevant to it, and discuss its implications for promoting adaptive emotional experiences. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2336771 Wed, 15 Apr 2009 04:00:00 +0100 2336771 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2336770&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01616.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Contemporary theories of learning typically assume that learning is driven by prediction errors[mdash]in other words, that we learn more when our predictions turn out to be incorrect than we do when our predictions are correct. Results from the recording of electrical brain activity suggest one mechanism by which this might happen; we seem to direct visual attention toward the likely causes of previous prediction errors. This can happen very rapidly[mdash]within less than 200 milliseconds of the error-causing object being presented. It is tempting to infer that if learning is driven by prediction errors, then little can be learned in the absence of feedback. Such a conclusion is unwarranted. In fact, the substantial learning that is sometimes the result of simple exposure to... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2336770 Wed, 15 Apr 2009 04:00:00 +0100 2336770 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2336769&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01615.x This article provides a brief introduction to the concept of executive function and discusses how it is assessed and the conditions under which it is compromised. A short overview of the diverse theoretical viewpoints regarding its psychological and biological underpinnings is also provided. The article concludes with a consideration of how a multilevel approach may provide a more integrated account of executive function than has been previously available. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2336769 Wed, 15 Apr 2009 04:00:00 +0100 2336769 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2336768&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01614.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Nightmares[mdash]vivid, emotionally dysphoric dreams[mdash]are quite common and are associated with a broad range of psychiatric conditions. However, the origin of such dreams remains largely unexplained, and there have been no attempts to reconcile repetitive traumatic nightmares with nontraumatic nightmares, dysphoric dreams that do not awaken the dreamer, or with more normative dreams. Based on recent research in cognitive neuroscience, sleep physiology, fear conditioning, and emotional-memory regulation, we propose a multilevel neurocognitive model that unites waking and sleeping as a conceptual framework for understanding a wide spectrum of disturbed dreaming. We propose that normal dreaming serves a fear-extinction function and that nightmares reflect failures in emoti... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2336768 Wed, 15 Apr 2009 04:00:00 +0100 2336768 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2336767&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01613.x This article presents a theoretical model of the development and maintenance of NSSI. Rather than a symptom of mental disorder, NSSI is conceptualized as a harmful behavior that can serve several intrapersonal (e.g., affect regulation) and interpersonal (e.g., help-seeking) functions. Risk of NSSI is increased by general factors that contribute to problems with affect regulation or interpersonal communication (e.g., childhood abuse) and by specific factors that influence the decision to use NSSI rather than some other behavior to serve these functions (e.g., social modeling). This model synthesizes research from several different areas of the literature and points toward several lines of research needed to further advance the understanding of why people hurt themselves. (Source: Current Di... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2336767 Wed, 15 Apr 2009 04:00:00 +0100 2336767 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2336766&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01612.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Various psychological models posit the existence of two systems that contribute to decision making. The first system is bottom-up, automatic, intuitive, emotional, and implicit, while the second system is top-down, controlled, deliberative, and explicit. It has become increasingly evident that this dichotomy is both too simplistic and too vague. Here we consider insights gained from a different approach, one that considers the multiple computational demands of the decision-making system in the context of neural mechanisms specialized to accomplish some of that system's more basic functions. The use of explicit computational models has led to (a) identification of core trade-offs imposed by a single-system solution to cognitive problems that are solved by having multiple neur... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2336766 Wed, 15 Apr 2009 04:00:00 +0100 2336766 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2336765&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01611.x ABSTRACT[mdash]People have long believed that adversity and stress contribute to emotional problems in general and to depression in particular. A considerable body of research has supported this intuition, documenting a consistent association between major stressful life events and the onset of clinical depression. However, most individuals under stress do not become depressed, sometimes depression develops without prior stress, and distinguishing psychological distress from major depression can be diagnostically challenging. In varying forms and degrees, life stress may play multiple roles in relation to major depression. In this article, we outline the opportunities and obstacles associated with conceptualizing depression from a life-stress perspective and discuss the implications for fu... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2336765 Wed, 15 Apr 2009 04:00:00 +0100 2336765 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2336764&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01610.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Compared to adolescents with low exposure to smoking in movies, those with high exposure are about three times as likely to try smoking or become smokers. We have observed this effect in nationally representative samples using cross-sectional and longitudinal designs. This effect remains statistically significant after controlling for numerous other traditional risk factors, such as personality, parenting style, and sociodemographics. Indeed, the movie-smoking exposure effect on adolescent smoking initiation is greatest among those traditionally considered at lower risk for smoking, such as those low in sensation seeking and those whose parents do not smoke. In this article, we consider possible moderators and mediators of this important media effect as well as health-policy... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2336764 Wed, 01 Apr 2009 04:00:00 +0100 2336764 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2213868&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01606.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Core self-evaluations (CSE) is a broad, integrative trait indicated by self-esteem, locus of control, generalized self-efficacy, and (low) neuroticism (high emotional stability). While only a decade old, research on CSE suggests that it explains much of the overlap among these trait measures, while also predicting many work and other applied outcomes better than the individual traits. Individuals with high levels of CSE perform better on their jobs, are more successful in their careers, are more satisfied with their jobs and lives, report lower levels of stress and conflict, cope more effectively with setbacks, and better capitalize on advantages and opportunities. Though research on individual self-concept traits such as self-esteem and locus of control should continue, res... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2213868 Mon, 23 Feb 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2213868 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2213867&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01605.x ABSTRACT[mdash]The perception of others as intentional agents is fundamental to human experience and foundational to development. Recent research reveals that this cornerstone of social perception has its roots early in infancy, and that it is influenced by the universal, early-emerging human experience of engaging in goal-directed action. Infants' own action capabilities correlate with their emerging tendency to view others' actions as organized by goals. Moreover, interventions that facilitate new goal-directed actions alter infants' perception of those same actions in others. These effects seem to depend on the first-person aspects of infants' experience. These findings open new questions about how doing leads to knowing in the social domain. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2213867 Mon, 23 Feb 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2213867 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2213866&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01604.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Phenylketonuria (PKU) is an inborn metabolic error in which metabolism of phenylalanine into tyrosine is disrupted. If the diet of an infant with PKU is not restricted, blood phenylalanine levels are elevated, leading to irremediable brain damage and severe mental retardation. Children with PKU who are placed early and continuously on a low-phenylalanine diet develop normal levels of intelligence, and brain damage is largely prevented. However, if the diet of a mother with PKU is unrestricted during her pregnancy, high phenylalanine levels in her blood can cross the placental barrier and damage the developing fetus in multiple ways. These results demonstrate how genes and environmental factors combine to create prenatal environments that can have profound effects on the grow... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2213866 Mon, 23 Feb 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2213866 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2213865&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01603.x ABSTRACT[mdash]When we move, the visual world moves toward us. That is, self-motion normally produces visual signals (flow) that tell us about our own motion. But these signals are distorted by our motion: Visual flow actually appears slower while we are moving than it does when we are stationary and our surroundings move past us. Although for many years these kinds of distortions have been interpreted as a suppression of flow to promote the perception of a stable world, current research has shown that these shifts in perceived visual speed may have an important function in measuring our own self-motion. Specifically, by slowing down the apparent rate of visual flow during self-motion, our visual system is able to perceive differences between actual and expected flow more precisely. This i... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2213865 Mon, 23 Feb 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2213865 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2213864&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01602.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Two world trends are powerfully reshaping human existence: the degradation, if not destruction, of large parts of the natural world, and unprecedented technological development. At the nexus of these two trends lies technological nature[mdash]technologies that in various ways mediate, augment, or simulate the natural world. Current examples of technological nature include videos and live webcams of nature, robot animals, and immersive virtual environments. Does it matter for the physical and psychological well-being of the human species that actual nature is being replaced with technological nature? As the basis for our provisional answer (it is "yes"), we draw on evolutionary and cross-cultural developmental accounts of the human relation with nature and some recent psychol... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2213864 Mon, 23 Feb 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2213864 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2213863&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01601.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Studies of person perception (people's impressions and beliefs about others) have developed important concepts and methods that can be used to help improve the assessment of personality disorders. They may also inspire advances in our knowledge of the nature and origins of these conditions. Information collected from peers and other types of informants is reliable and provides a perspective that often differs substantially from that obtained using questionnaires and interviews. For some purposes, this information is quite useful. Much remains to be learned about the incremental validity (and potential biases) associated with data from various kinds of informants. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2213863 Mon, 23 Feb 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2213863 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2213862&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01600.x ABSTRACT[mdash]The standard view of personality disorder is that it is a maladaptive expression of personality traits, which are relatively stable and unchanging. Thus, personality disorder has been considered to have its roots in childhood and adolescence, to persist in adulthood, and to be difficult to change. However, recent research has challenged this view, revealing that personality continues to change, albeit more slowly, well into adulthood, and that the maladaptive manifestations of personality disorder are much less stable than previously believed. These research findings are described, and factors that influence stability and change in personality disorder are discussed. The emerging view of personality disorder has important implications for diagnosis, assessment, and treatment... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2213862 Mon, 23 Feb 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2213862 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2213861&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01599.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Typically developing children require years of overt training and practice to learn to read with skill. The relatively recent advent of functional neuroimaging methods amenable to the study of children has provided insight into the neurobiological underpinnings of skilled reading development. In this brief review, we discuss how neuroimaging during reading-related tasks has revealed that, when adult and child skilled readers perform identical reading-related tasks with comparable levels of performance, these groups show similar but nonidentical patterns of regional brain activity. Children activate some neural regions that adults do not activate (or activate less), and vice versa. The activity patterns in these regions transition to mature levels with increased proficiency a... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2213861 Mon, 23 Feb 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2213861 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2213860&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01598.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Mediating variables continue to play an important role in psychological theory and research. A mediating variable transmits the effect of an antecedent variable on to a dependent variable, thereby providing more detailed understanding of relations among variables. Methods to assess mediation have been an active area of research for the last two decades. This paper describes the current state of methods to investigate mediating variables. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2213860 Mon, 23 Feb 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2213860 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2213859&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01597.x ABSTRACT[mdash]It has long been assumed that metacognition[mdash]thinking about one's own thoughts[mdash]is a uniquely human ability. Yet a decade of research suggests that, like humans, other animals can differentiate between what they know and what they do not know. They opt out of difficult trials; they avoid tests they are unlikely to answer correctly; and they make riskier "bets" when their memories are accurate than they do when their memories are inaccurate. These feats are simultaneously impressive and, by human standards, somewhat limited; new evidence suggests, however, that animals can generalize metacognitive judgments to new contexts and seek more information when they are unsure. Metacognition is intriguing, in part, because of parallels with self-reflection and conscious awa... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2213859 Mon, 23 Feb 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2213859 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2213858&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01596.x ABSTRACT[mdash]In order to more fully understand associations between psychological stress and health, it is helpful for researchers to identify "psychobiomarkers," or biological measures that are regulated in part by psychological function and that predict longevity. Telomere length appears to be such a measure. Telomeres, the protective caps at the tips of chromosomes, shorten with age, and this shortening predicts disease and longevity. Leukocyte telomere length may be best viewed through a life-span approach, as it reflects in part the cumulative number of cell divisions that have occurred and the long-term biochemical environment. Recently, a critical mass of studies demonstrated that telomeres appear to shorten with chronic stress, although the mechanisms are unknown. This paper revi... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2213858 Mon, 23 Feb 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2213858 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2213857&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2009.01595.x This article discusses the state of the literature on the consequences of online communication technologies (e.g., instant messaging) for adolescents' social connectedness and well-being. Whereas several studies in the 1990s suggested that Internet use is detrimental, recent studies tend to report opposite effects. We first explain why the results of more recent studies diverge from those of earlier studies. Then, we discuss a viable hypothesis to explain the recent findings: the Internet-enhanced self-disclosure hypothesis. Finally, we discuss some contingent factors that may deserve special attention in future research. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2213857 Sun, 01 Feb 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2213857 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2030825&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00423.x (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2030825 Thu, 11 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2030825 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2030824&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00422.x (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2030824 Thu, 11 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2030824 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2030823&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00617.x This article outlines advances in the field and translational research that still is needed, presenting these within a heuristic framework. The framework is designed to guide a broad translational research agenda fostering a shift toward a paradigm of public health impact[mdash]called a translational impact paradigm. Current advances and needed research in the subfield are mapped onto a set of four translational impact factors: effectiveness of interventions; extensiveness of their population coverage; efficiency of interventions; and engagement of eligible populations or organizations, including widespread adoption and sustained, quality implementation (the "4 Es" of intervention impact). The article then highlights key tasks required to progress in this area: improving practitioner[ndash... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2030823 Thu, 11 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2030823 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2030822&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00616.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Sixty years ago, the notion that animals could have culture was unthinkable to most behavioral scientists. Today, evidence for innovation, transmission, acquisition, long-term maintenance, and intergroup variation of behavior exists throughout the animal kingdom. What can the longitudinal and comparative study of monkeys handling stones tell us about how culture evolved in humans? Now in its 30th year, the systematic study of stone-handling behavior in multiple troops of Japanese macaques has shown that socially mediated learning is essential to explain the spread, persistence, and transformation of individual behavioral innovations among group members. The integrative research paradigm presented here can be applied to the study of various candidate behavioral traditions in ... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2030822 Thu, 11 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2030822 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2030821&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00615.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Speech perception is inherently multimodal. Visual speech (lip-reading) information is used by all perceivers and readily integrates with auditory speech. Imaging research suggests that the brain treats auditory and visual speech similarly. These findings have led some researchers to consider that speech perception works by extracting amodal information that takes the same form across modalities. From this perspective, speech integration is a property of the input information itself. Amodal speech information could explain the reported automaticity, immediacy, and completeness of audiovisual speech integration. However, recent findings suggest that speech integration can be influenced by higher cognitive properties such as lexical status and semantic context. Proponents of a... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2030821 Thu, 11 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2030821 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2030820&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00614.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Lay opinion and extensive survey data indicate that crying is a cathartic behavior that serves to relieve distress and reduce arousal. Yet laboratory data often indicate that crying exacerbates distress and increases autonomic arousal. In this article, we present a framework for explaining variations in the psychological effects of crying as a function of (a) how the effects of crying are measured, (b) conditions in the social environment, (c) personality traits of the crier, and (d) the affective state of the crier. Recognizing the heterogeneity of crying effects represents a step toward a more nuanced understanding of this behavior, including its implications for psychosocial adjustment. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2030820 Thu, 11 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2030820 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2030819&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00613.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Natural selection constantly removes those genetic variants (alleles) that even slightly decrease average reproductive success. Yet, given the high heritabilities and prevalence rates of severe mental disorders, human populations seem to be awash in deleterious alleles. Evolutionary genetics offers an illuminating framework for understanding why mental disorder risk alleles have persisted despite natural selection, and this framework can help guide future research in behavioral and psychiatric genetics. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2030819 Thu, 11 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2030819 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2030818&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00612.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Using recent research, I argue that beliefs lie at the heart of personality and adaptive functioning and that they give us unique insight into how personality and functioning can be changed. I focus on two classes of beliefs[mdash]beliefs about the malleability of self-attributes and expectations of social acceptance versus rejection[mdash]and show how modest interventions have brought about important real-world changes. I conclude by suggesting that beliefs are central to the way in which people package their experiences and carry them forward, and that beliefs should play a more central role in the study of personality. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2030818 Thu, 11 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2030818 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2030817&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00611.x ABSTRACT[mdash]A crucial issue in the study of eyewitness memory concerns effects of repeated interviews on children's memory accuracy. There is growing belief that exposure to repeated interviews causes increased errors. In some situations, it may. Yet, several studies reveal increased accuracy with repeated interviewing, even when the interviews include misleading questions. We review repeated-interview research in relation to event veracity, interviewer bias, and delay. We conclude that when and how children are interviewed is at least as important for their accuracy as is how many times they are interviewed. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2030817 Thu, 11 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2030817 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2030816&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00610.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Recent evidence suggests that many organizational members and leaders are seen as under- or over-assertive by colleagues, suggesting that having the "right touch" with interpersonal assertiveness is a meaningful and widespread challenge. In this article, I review emerging work on the curvilinear relation between assertiveness and effectiveness, including evidence from both qualitative descriptions of coworkers and ratings of colleagues and leaders. I discuss mediators and context effects and also explore why unhelpfully low and high levels of interpersonal assertiveness may emerge and persist. I draw implications for interventions as well as future research. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2030816 Thu, 11 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2030816 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2030815&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00609.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Language comprehension looks pretty easy. You pick up a novel and simply enjoy the plot, or ponder the human condition. You strike a conversation and listen to whatever the other person has to say. Although what you're taking in is a bunch of letters and sounds, what you really perceive[mdash]if all goes well[mdash]is meaning. But how do you get from one to the other so easily? The experiments with brain waves (event-related brain potentials or ERPs) reviewed here show that the linguistic brain rapidly draws upon a wide variety of information sources, including prior text and inferences about the speaker. Furthermore, people anticipate what might be said about whom, they use heuristics to arrive at the earliest possible interpretation, and if it makes sense, they sometimes e... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2030815 Thu, 11 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2030815 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2030814&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00608.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Emotions are complex processes that are essential for survival and adaptation. Recent studies of children and animals are shedding light on how the developing brain learns to rapidly respond to signals in the environment, assess the emotional significance of this information, and in so doing adaptively regulate subsequent behavior. Here, I describe studies of children and nonhuman primates who are developing within emotionally aberrant environments. Examining these populations provides new insights on the ways in which social or interpersonal contexts influence development of the neural systems underlying emotional behavior. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2030814 Thu, 11 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2030814 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2030813&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00607.x ABSTRACT[mdash]In this article we discuss how social or group identities affect achievement. We also present a model of identity engagement that describes how a salient social identity can trigger psychological threat and belonging concerns and how these can produce persistent performance decrements, which through feedback loops can increase over time. The character of such processes may be revealed only over time because they are recursive in nature and interact with other factors in chronically evaluative social environments. Finally, we address how this model helped in the development of successful interventions. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2030813 Thu, 11 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2030813 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2030812&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00606.x We report experiments measuring errors in perceptual and cognitively mediated depth estimates and show that these estimates can be concatenated (linked) without further error, providing evidence for an amodal representation. We further contrast conventional ultrasound with an in-situ display whereby an ultrasound image appears to float at the precise location being imaged, enabling the depth of a target to be directly perceived. The research has the potential to enhance ultrasound-guided surgical intervention. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2030812 Mon, 01 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2030812 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1882291&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00605.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Déjà vu occurs when one feels as though a situation is familiar, despite evidence that the situation could not have been experienced before. Until recently, the topic of déjà vu remained largely outside of the realm of mainstream scientific investigation. However, interest in investigating the nature of déjà vu is growing among researchers of cognitive processes. In some cases, déjà vu may be understood within the context of research on human recognition memory. Specifically, déjà vu may sometimes result from familiarity-based recognition, or recognition that is based on feelings of familiarity that occur without identification of their source. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1882291 Wed, 15 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1882291 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1882290&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00604.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Whether one is male or female is one of the most important predictors of how long one is likely to live and what diseases one is likely to encounter. Researchers have long been puzzled by the mechanisms that could underlie such profound sex differences. Recent findings suggest a key role is played by physiological stress responses[mdash]how men and women respond differently to psychosocial stressors in everyday life. This review focuses on two important physiological stress systems: the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (which regulates the stress hormone cortisol) and the autonomic nervous system. The general pattern is that between puberty and menopause, the responses of these systems to experimental psychosocial stress are lower in females, and their changes with menopa... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1882290 Wed, 15 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1882290 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1882289&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00603.x ABSTRACT[mdash]A key component of critical thinking is the ability to evaluate the statements of other people. Because information that is obtained from others is not always accurate, it is important that children learn to reason about it critically. By as early as age 3, children understand that people sometimes communicate inaccurate information and that some individuals are more reliable sources than others. However, in many contexts, even older children fail to evaluate sources critically. Recent research points to the role of social experience in explaining why children often fail to engage in critical reasoning. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1882289 Wed, 15 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1882289 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1882288&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00602.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Whether because individuals are made aware of negative stereotypes about how they should perform or are in a high-stakes testing situation, a stressful environment can adversely affect the success people have in solving math problems. I review work examining how unwanted failure in math occurs and individual differences in those most likely to fail. This work suggests that a high-stress situation creates worries about the situation and its consequences that compete for the working memory (WM) normally available for performance. Consequently, the performance of individuals who rely most heavily on WM for successful execution (i.e., higher-WM individuals) is most likely to decline when the pressure is on. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1882288 Wed, 15 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1882288 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1882287&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00601.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Despite a powerful social norm that parents should treat offspring equally, beginning in early childhood and continuing through adulthood, parents often differentiate among their children in such domains as closeness, support, and control. We review research on how parent[ndash]child relationships differ within families, focusing on issues of parental favoritism and differential treatment of children. We begin by examining within-family differences in childhood and adolescence and then explore differentiation by older parents among adult children. Overall, we find considerable similarities across the life course in the prevalence, predictors, and consequences of parents' differentiation among their offspring. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1882287 Wed, 15 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1882287 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1882286&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00600.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Research over the last decade has provided compelling evidence that the ability to engage with music is a fundamental human trait, yet the biological basis of music remains largely unknown. Recent findings indicate that a small number of individuals have severe musical problems that have neurogenetic underpinnings. Such deficiencies are termed congenital amusia, an umbrella term for lifelong musical disabilities that cannot be attributed to mental retardation, deafness, lack of exposure to music, or brain damage after birth. Congenital amusia constitutes a natural experiment, giving us a rare chance to examine the biological basis of music by tracing causal links among genes, environment, brain, and behavior. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1882286 Wed, 15 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1882286 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1882285&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00599.x ABSTRACT[mdash]This review summarizes recent brain-imaging and molecular-genetic findings on antisocial, violent, and psychopathic behavior. A "genes to brain to antisocial behavior" model hypothesizes that specific genes result in structural and functional brain alterations that, in turn, predispose to antisocial behavior. For instance, a common polymorphism in the monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) gene has been associated with both antisocial behavior and also reductions in the volume of the amygdala and orbitofrontal (ventral prefrontal) cortex[mdash]brain structures that are found to be compromised in antisocial individuals. Here I highlight key brain regions implicated in antisocial behavior, with an emphasis on the prefrontal cortex, along with ways these areas give expression to risk facto... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1882285 Wed, 15 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1882285 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1882284&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00598.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Terror management theory (TMT) is used to explore psychological forces that act to promote or discourage support for terrorism and violent counterterrorist policies. According to TMT, domination, humiliation, and perceived injustice threaten the self-esteem and cultural worldviews that protect people from death-related anxiety; the result may be hostility and violence directed against the threatening out-group as a way of defusing this threat. We review research documenting the role of terror management processes in promoting and discouraging support for terrorism and violent counterterrorist policies and discuss the implications of this research. The studies we review suggest that the same psychological forces that promote support for terrorist violence also promote support... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1882284 Wed, 15 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1882284 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1882283&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00597.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Recent findings in neuroscience challenge the view that the motor system is exclusively dedicated to the control of actions, and it has been suggested that it may contribute critically to conceptual processes such as those involved in language and number representation. The aim of this review is to address this issue by illustrating some interactions between the motor system and the processing of words and numbers. First, we detail functional brain imaging studies suggesting that motor circuits may be recruited to represent the meaning of action-related words. Second, we summarize a series of experiments demonstrating some interference between the size of grip used to grasp objects and the magnitude processing of words or numbers. Third, we report data suggestive of a common... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1882283 Wed, 15 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1882283 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1882282&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00596.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Psychologists have known for over 20 years that infants begin learning the speech-sound categories of their language during the first 12 months of life. This fact has dominated researchers' thinking about how language acquisition begins, although the relevance of this learning to the child's progress in language acquisition has never been clear. Recently, views of the role of infancy in language acquisition have begun to change, with a new focus on the development of the vocabulary. Infants' learning of speech-sound categories and infants' abilities to extract regularities in the speech stream allow learning of the auditory forms of many words. These word forms then become the foundation of the early vocabulary, support children's learning of the language's phonological syst... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1882282 Wed, 15 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1882282 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1882281&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00595.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Traditionally, nostalgia has been conceptualized as a medical disease and a psychiatric disorder. Instead, we argue that nostalgia is a predominantly positive, self-relevant, and social emotion serving key psychological functions. Nostalgic narratives reflect more positive than negative affect, feature the self as the protagonist, and are embedded in a social context. Nostalgia is triggered by dysphoric states such as negative mood and loneliness. Finally, nostalgia generates positive affect, increases self-esteem, fosters social connectedness, and alleviates existential threat. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1882281 Wed, 15 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1882281 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1882280&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00594.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Insomnia commonly occurs along with other psychiatric disorders. I aim to address two issues that arise from this observation. First, insomnia is commonly assumed to be epiphenomenal to the so-called "primary" psychiatric disorder. On the basis of new evidence, I argue instead that insomnia may be an important but under-recognized mechanism in the multifactorial cause and maintenance of psychiatric disorders. Second, insomnia may be a transdiagnostic process[mdash]a process that is common across psychiatric disorders. The move to identify and study transdiagnostic processes contrasts with the standard "disorder focused" approach in which classification systems and research programs specialize in a single disorder. The latter approach can neglect the intriguing and potentiall... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1882280 Wed, 01 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1882280 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1662641&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00582.x We present evidence consistent with this proposal, namely that processing information for its survival relevance leads to superior long-term retention[mdash]better, in fact, than most known memory-enhancement techniques. Even if one remains skeptical about evolutionary analyses, adopting a functional perspective can lead to the generation of new research ideas. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1662641 Wed, 30 Jul 2008 06:33:46 +0100 1662641 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1662652&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00593.x ABSTRACT[mdash]The study of future thinking is gaining momentum across various domains of psychology. Mentally projecting the self forward in time (i.e., mental time travel) is argued to be uniquely human and of vital importance to the evolution of human culture. Yet it is only recently that developmentalists have begun to study when, and how, this capacity emerges. I begin by outlining the concept of mental time travel, along with newly developed methodologies to test children's ability to mentally project the self into the future. Data suggest that this ability is in place by ages 4 or 5 but also reveal conditions under which children may experience difficulty accurately predicting their future desires. I conclude by discussing how the research on children's mental time travel can be use... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1662652 Mon, 28 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1662652 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1662651&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00592.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Ritualized behavior is characteristic of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), but it is also observed in other, nonclinical contexts such as children's routines and cultural ceremonies. Such behaviors are best understood with reference to a set of human vigilance[ndash]precaution systems in charge of monitoring potential danger and motivating the organism toward appropriate precautions. Ritualized behavior focuses attention on low-level representations of actions, probably leading to some measure of intrusion suppression. Cultural rituals too may be understood in this framework. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1662651 Mon, 28 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1662651 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1662650&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00591.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Verbal irony is nonliteral language that makes salient a discrepancy between expectations and reality. For researchers who study verbal irony, a critical question is: How do we grasp the meaning of ironic language? The parallel-constraint-satisfaction approach holds promise as an answer to this question. By this account, multiple cues to ironic intent, such as tone of voice, incongruity, and knowledge of the speaker, are processed rapidly and in parallel and this information is coordinated with the utterance itself in order to construct a coherent interpretation that is the best fit for the activated information. Recently, research with individuals who struggle with irony comprehension (typically developing children, individuals with autism-spectrum disorder, individuals wit... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1662650 Mon, 28 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1662650 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1662649&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00590.x ABSTRACT[mdash]People feel grateful when they have benefited from someone's costly, intentional, voluntary effort on their behalf. Experiencing gratitude motivates beneficiaries to repay their benefactors and to extend generosity to third parties. Expressions of gratitude also reinforce benefactors for their generosity. These social features distinguish gratitude from related emotions such as happiness and feelings of indebtedness. Evolutionary theories propose that gratitude is an adaptation for reciprocal altruism (the sequential exchange of costly benefits between nonrelatives) and, perhaps, upstream reciprocity (a pay-it-forward style distribution of an unearned benefit to a third party after one has received a benefit from another benefactor). Gratitude therefore may have played a uni... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1662649 Mon, 28 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1662649 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1662648&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00589.x This article reviews a recent line of inquiry that uses animal models of head-direction-system functioning to motivate behavioral research on human sense of direction. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1662648 Mon, 28 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1662648 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1662647&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00588.x ABSTRACT[mdash]In response to the societal premium placed on understanding the difficulties faced by children from high-conflict homes, emotional security theory aims to understand precisely how and why interparental discord is associated with children's psychological problems. One of its main premises is that interparental discord increases children's vulnerability to mental illness by undermining their sense of safety or security in the context of the interparental relationship. In this article, we highlight the main assumptions of a new ethological formulation of emotional security theory and its predictions and findings regarding the organization, precursors, and consequences of individual differences in children's emotional insecurity. We conclude with a synopsis of the value of the n... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1662647 Mon, 28 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1662647 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1662646&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00587.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Children's personality traits have enduring effects that shape adult well-being. In particular, childhood conscientiousness influences core aspects of adult well-being: health, friendships, and mastery. Research is now examining the mechanisms by which early personality traits initiate and sustain particular life paths. These include mediating and moderating mechanisms that may operate during critical developmental periods or may build cumulatively over time. Future research would benefit from testing theoretically derived mechanisms for different traits and examining variables as they change over time, using both short- and long-term longitudinal designs over different life stages. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1662646 Mon, 28 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1662646 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1662645&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00586.x We describe research showing that attempts to suppress such trauma memories can be associated with paradoxically enhanced remembering of the trauma, enhanced access to other negative personal material, and a lack of specificity in the recollection of the personal past. This suggests that attempted suppression is generally a counterproductive approach to the regulation of traumatic memories in distressed trauma survivors. Working with trauma memories, rather than suppressing them, is more adaptive. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1662645 Mon, 28 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1662645 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1662644&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00585.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Mentoring is one of the most popular social interventions in American society, with an estimated three million youth in formal one-to-one relationships. Studies have revealed significant associations between youth involvement in mentoring relationships and positive developmental outcomes. These associations are modest, however, and depend on several intervening processes. Centrally important is the formation of close, enduring connections between mentors and youth that foster positive developmental change. Effects of mentoring programs likewise typically have been small in magnitude, but they increase systematically with the use of program practices likely to support relationship development. Gaps between research and practice are evident both in the indiscriminate use of th... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1662644 Mon, 28 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1662644 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1662643&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00584.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Despite the commonsense belief that people do not confess to crimes they did not commit, 20 to 25% of all DNA exonerations involve innocent prisoners who confessed. After distinguishing between voluntary, compliant, and internalized false confessions, this article suggests that a sequence of three processes is responsible for false confessions and their adverse consequences. First, police sometimes target innocent people for interrogation because of erroneous judgments of truth and deception. Second, innocent people sometimes confess as a function of certain interrogation tactics, dispositional suspect vulnerabilities, and the phenomenology of innocence. Third, jurors fail to discount even those confessions they see as coerced. At present, researchers are seeking ways to imp... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1662643 Mon, 28 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1662643 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1662642&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00583.x ABSTRACT[mdash]For many of the complex motor actions we perform, perceptual information is available from several different senses including vision, touch, hearing, and the vestibular system. Here I discuss the use of multisensory information for the control of motor action in three particular domains: aviation, sports, and driving. It is shown that performers in these domains use information from multiple senses[mdash]frequently with beneficial effects on performance but sometimes with dangerous consequences. Applied psychologists have taken advantage of our natural tendency to integrate sensory information by designing multimodal displays that compensate for situations in which information from one or more of our senses is unreliable or is unattended due to distraction. (Source: Current ... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1662642 Mon, 28 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1662642 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1612354&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00581.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Hemispheric specialization has long been considered a uniquely human trait associated with the evolution of language and handedness. Recent studies in a host of vertebrate species have reported evidence of population-level behavioral and brain asymmetries, challenging the claims for the uniqueness of hemispheric specialization to the human species. Here we summarize the findings in nonhuman species and discuss the adaptive significance and potential costs of lateralization of function. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1612354 Sat, 28 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1612354 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1612353&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00580.x This article summarizes recent findings on infant word learning and recognition. Infants initially store very detailed representations of words, including details that are not truly necessary for word recognition. As they are exposed to more varied productions of words, they develop more sophisticated knowledge about which details are important, and streamline their representations, allowing them to better recognize words across different contexts, speakers, and environments. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1612353 Sat, 28 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1612353 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1612352&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00579.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Childhood-onset antisocial behavior is an important predictor of chronic and serious forms of antisocial behavior in later life. Both biological and social factors are involved in the development of abnormal behavior. We examine the underlying role of stress-response systems in the link between early social adversity and juvenile antisocial behavior, and propose that children with genetically and/or perinatally based neurobiological deficits have problems in activating these systems and therefore experience difficulties in regulating affect and behavior. Underactivity or attenuated reactivity of the stress-response systems may predispose antisocial individuals to seek out stimulation or take risks, and thereby explain deficits in learning and socialization. Further investiga... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1612352 Sat, 28 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1612352 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1612351&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00578.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Effective managers recognize both positive and negative changes in employee performance and take appropriate remedial action when required. Managers' assumptions about the rigidity or malleability of personal attributes (e.g., ability and personality) affect their performance of these critical personnel management tasks. To the extent that managers assume that personal attributes are fixed traits that are largely stable over time, they tend to inadequately recognize actual changes in employee performance and are disinclined to coach employees regarding how to improve their performance. However, a growth-mindset intervention can lead managers to relinquish their fixed mindset and subsequently provide more accurate performance appraisals and helpful employee coaching. Implicat... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1612351 Sat, 28 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1612351 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1612350&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00577.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Locomotion[mdash]moving the body from place to place[mdash]is one of infants' greatest achievements. In addition to conquering gravity, infants must cope with variable and novel constraints on balance and propulsion. At the same time that they are learning to move, changes in infants' bodies, skills, and environments change the biomechanical constraints on movement. Recent work highlights both flexibility and specificity in infants' responses to novel and variable situations, demonstrating that infants are learning to learn as they master locomotion. Within sitting, crawling, cruising, and walking postures, experienced infants adapt their locomotor responses to the current biomechanical constraints on movement. However, what infants have learned about coping with variability... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1612350 Sat, 28 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1612350 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1612349&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00576.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Money plays a significant role in people's lives, and yet little experimental attention has been given to the psychological underpinnings of money. We systematically varied whether and to what extent the concept of money was activated in participants' minds using methods that minimized participants' conscious awareness of the money cues. On the one hand, participants reminded of money were less helpful than were participants not reminded of money, and they also preferred solitary activities and less physical intimacy. On the other hand, reminders of money prompted participants to work harder on challenging tasks and led to desires to take on more work as compared to participants not reminded of money. In short, even subtle reminders of money elicit big changes in human behav... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1612349 Sat, 28 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1612349 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1612348&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00575.x ABSTRACT[mdash]The distinction between categories and dimensions has important consequences for basic and applied science in many areas of psychological research. Decisions as to whether individuals should be assigned to groups or located along one or more continua often are based on personal preferences or discipline-specific measurement traditions, which can lead to the creation, use, or reification of spurious categories or dimensions. Methods for evaluating the latent structure of psychological constructs, using powerful and informative tests between competing models, are available. Rather than choosing on a priori grounds, investigators can perform structural research to evaluate the strength and consistency with which results tease apart categorical and dimensional models. Here, we r... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1612348 Sat, 28 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1612348 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1612347&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00574.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Evidence from longitudinal, experimental, and neuroimaging studies converge to indicate that psychological functions other than episodic memory are affected very early in the course of Alzheimer's disease and, indeed, may predate or influence the apparent memory deficits. Changes in personality and difficulty in executive function, especially in terms of attentional and inhibitory control, are especially prominent. Deficits in other types of memory (i.e., semantic memory, conditioning) can also be detected in the early stages of the disease. It is time to update existing diagnostic criteria for this form of dementia in terms of current knowledge of multiple and interacting brain systems. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1612347 Sat, 28 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1612347 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1612346&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00573.x This article highlights the strengths and promise of speed-dating procedures, reviews some of their most exciting contributions to our understanding of the social psyche, and illustrates how scholars can employ speed-dating and its straightforward variants to study topics relevant to diverse subfields of psychological science. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1612346 Sat, 28 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1612346 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1612345&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00572.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Recent research has shown compellingly that sleep supports the consolidation of declarative memories for events and facts. During consolidation, memories are stabilized against future interference and undergo qualitative changes with regard to their "explicitness" and underlying neural representation. In this article, we argue that declarative memory consolidation during sleep is based on covert reactivations of newly encoded memory traces in the hippocampus. During slow-wave sleep (SWS), the prominent slow oscillations act to synchronize the repeated reactivation of the newly encoded representations in hippocampal networks with the generation of spindle activity in the thalamus, supporting changes in neocortical networks that contribute to long-term memory storage. In this ... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1612345 Sat, 28 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1612345 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1612344&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1111%252Fj.1467-8721.2008.00571.x ABSTRACT[mdash]Conventional views suggest that exaggerated biological reactivity to stress is a harmful vestige of an evolutionary past in which threats to survival were more prevalent and severe. Recent evidence, however, indicates that effects of high reactivity on behavior and health are bivalent rather than univalent in character, exerting both risk-augmenting and risk-protective effects depending on the context. These observations suggest that heightened stress reactivity may reflect increased biological sensitivity to context, with potential for negative health effects under conditions of adversity and for positive effects under conditions of support. From an evolutionary perspective, the developmental plasticity of the stress-response systems, along with their structured, context-de... Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1612344 Sat, 28 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1612344 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1514983&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blackwell-synergy.com%2Fdoi%2Fabs%2F10.1111%2Fj.1467-8721.2008.00570.x%3Fai%3D12n%26mi%3D4mpuw%26af%3DR Current Directions in Psychological Science, Volume 17, Issue 3, Page 177-182, June 2008. ABSTRACT—The most unexpected and intriguing result from functional brain imaging studies of cognitive aging is evidence for age-related overactivation: greater activation in older adults than in younger adults, even when performance is age-equivalent. ... (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1514983 Fri, 13 Jun 2008 18:11:03 +0100 1514983 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1514994&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blackwell-synergy.com%2Fdoi%2Fabs%2F10.1111%2Fj.1467-8721.2008.00581.x%3Fai%3D12n%26mi%3D4mpuw%26af%3DR Current Directions in Psychological Science, Volume 17, Issue 3, Page 233-237, June 2008. ABSTRACT—Hemispheric specialization has long been considered a uniquely human trait associated with the evolution of language and handedness. Recent studies in a host of vertebrate species have reported evidence of population-level behavioral and brain ... (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1514994 Fri, 13 Jun 2008 16:41:25 +0100 1514994 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1514993&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blackwell-synergy.com%2Fdoi%2Fabs%2F10.1111%2Fj.1467-8721.2008.00580.x%3Fai%3D12n%26mi%3D4mpuw%26af%3DR This article summarizes recent findings on infant word learning and recognition. Infants initially store very detailed representations of words, including details that are not truly necessary for word recognition. As they are exposed to more ... (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1514993 Fri, 13 Jun 2008 16:41:25 +0100 1514993 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1514987&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blackwell-synergy.com%2Fdoi%2Fabs%2F10.1111%2Fj.1467-8721.2008.00574.x%3Fai%3D12n%26mi%3D4mpuw%26af%3DR Current Directions in Psychological Science, Volume 17, Issue 3, Page 198-202, June 2008. ABSTRACT—Evidence from longitudinal, experimental, and neuroimaging studies converge to indicate that psychological functions other than episodic memory are affected very early in the course of Alzheimer's disease and, indeed, may predate or influence ... (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1514987 Fri, 13 Jun 2008 16:41:24 +0100 1514987 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1514986&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blackwell-synergy.com%2Fdoi%2Fabs%2F10.1111%2Fj.1467-8721.2008.00573.x%3Fai%3D12n%26mi%3D4mpuw%26af%3DR Current Directions in Psychological Science, Volume 17, Issue 3, Page 193-197, June 2008. ABSTRACT—Scholars have recently begun to harness the immense power of speed-dating procedures to achieve important and novel insights into the dynamics of romantic attraction. Speed-dating procedures allow researchers to study romantic dynamics ... (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1514986 Fri, 13 Jun 2008 16:41:24 +0100 1514986 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1514988&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blackwell-synergy.com%2Fdoi%2Fabs%2F10.1111%2Fj.1467-8721.2008.00575.x%3Fai%3D12n%26mi%3D4mpuw%26af%3DR Current Directions in Psychological Science, Volume 17, Issue 3, Page 203-207, June 2008. ABSTRACT—The distinction between categories and dimensions has important consequences for basic and applied science in many areas of psychological research. Decisions as to whether individuals should be assigned to groups or located along one or more ... (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1514988 Fri, 13 Jun 2008 16:41:23 +0100 1514988 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1514989&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blackwell-synergy.com%2Fdoi%2Fabs%2F10.1111%2Fj.1467-8721.2008.00576.x%3Fai%3D12n%26mi%3D4mpuw%26af%3DR Current Directions in Psychological Science, Volume 17, Issue 3, Page 208-212, June 2008. ABSTRACT—Money plays a significant role in people's lives, and yet little experimental attention has been given to the psychological underpinnings of money. We systematically varied whether and to what extent the concept of money was activated in ... (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1514989 Fri, 13 Jun 2008 16:41:21 +0100 1514989 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1514984&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blackwell-synergy.com%2Fdoi%2Fabs%2F10.1111%2Fj.1467-8721.2008.00571.x%3Fai%3D12n%26mi%3D4mpuw%26af%3DR Current Directions in Psychological Science, Volume 17, Issue 3, Page 183-187, June 2008. ABSTRACT—Conventional views suggest that exaggerated biological reactivity to stress is a harmful vestige of an evolutionary past in which threats to survival were more prevalent and severe. Recent evidence, however, indicates that effects of high ... (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1514984 Fri, 13 Jun 2008 16:41:21 +0100 1514984 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1514990&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blackwell-synergy.com%2Fdoi%2Fabs%2F10.1111%2Fj.1467-8721.2008.00577.x%3Fai%3D12n%26mi%3D4mpuw%26af%3DR Current Directions in Psychological Science, Volume 17, Issue 3, Page 213-218, June 2008. ABSTRACT—Locomotion—moving the body from place to place—is one of infants' greatest achievements. In addition to conquering gravity, infants must cope with variable and novel constraints on balance and propulsion. At the same time that they are learning ... (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1514990 Fri, 13 Jun 2008 16:41:20 +0100 1514990 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1514991&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blackwell-synergy.com%2Fdoi%2Fabs%2F10.1111%2Fj.1467-8721.2008.00578.x%3Fai%3D12n%26mi%3D4mpuw%26af%3DR Current Directions in Psychological Science, Volume 17, Issue 3, Page 219-223, June 2008. ABSTRACT—Effective managers recognize both positive and negative changes in employee performance and take appropriate remedial action when required. Managers' assumptions about the rigidity or malleability of personal attributes (e.g., ability and ... (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1514991 Fri, 13 Jun 2008 16:41:19 +0100 1514991 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1514992&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blackwell-synergy.com%2Fdoi%2Fabs%2F10.1111%2Fj.1467-8721.2008.00579.x%3Fai%3D12n%26mi%3D4mpuw%26af%3DR Current Directions in Psychological Science, Volume 17, Issue 3, Page 224-228, June 2008. ABSTRACT—Childhood-onset antisocial behavior is an important predictor of chronic and serious forms of antisocial behavior in later life. Both biological and social factors are involved in the development of abnormal behavior. We examine the underlying ... (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1514992 Fri, 13 Jun 2008 16:41:18 +0100 1514992 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1514985&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blackwell-synergy.com%2Fdoi%2Fabs%2F10.1111%2Fj.1467-8721.2008.00572.x%3Fai%3D12n%26mi%3D4mpuw%26af%3DR Current Directions in Psychological Science, Volume 17, Issue 3, Page 188-192, June 2008. ABSTRACT—Recent research has shown compellingly that sleep supports the consolidation of declarative memories for events and facts. During consolidation, memories are stabilized against future interference and undergo qualitative changes with regard to ... (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1514985 Fri, 13 Jun 2008 16:41:17 +0100 1514985 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1359089&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blackwell-synergy.com%2Fdoi%2Fabs%2F10.1111%2Fj.1467-8721.2008.00549.x%3Fai%3D12n%26mi%3D4mpuw%26af%3DR Current Directions in Psychological Science, Volume 17, Issue 2, Page 61, April 2008. (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1359089 Wed, 09 Apr 2008 18:31:04 +0100 1359089 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1359095&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blackwell-synergy.com%2Fdoi%2Fabs%2F10.1111%2Fj.1467-8721.2008.00555.x%3Fai%3D12n%26mi%3D4mpuw%26af%3DR Current Directions in Psychological Science, Volume 17, Issue 2, Page 91-95, April 2008. ABSTRACT—The conceptual system contains categorical knowledge about experience that supports the spectrum of cognitive processes. Cognitive science theories assume that categorical knowledge resides in a modular and amodal semantic memory, whereas ... (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1359095 Tue, 08 Apr 2008 23:48:10 +0100 1359095 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1359100&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blackwell-synergy.com%2Fdoi%2Fabs%2F10.1111%2Fj.1467-8721.2008.00560.x%3Fai%3D12n%26mi%3D4mpuw%26af%3DR This article considers the contribution of functional neuroimaging toward understanding the computational underpinnings of human decision making. We outline the main processes likely underlying the capacity to make simple choices and describe ... (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1359100 Tue, 08 Apr 2008 23:48:09 +0100 1359100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1359098&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blackwell-synergy.com%2Fdoi%2Fabs%2F10.1111%2Fj.1467-8721.2008.00558.x%3Fai%3D12n%26mi%3D4mpuw%26af%3DR Current Directions in Psychological Science, Volume 17, Issue 2, Page 107-111, April 2008. ABSTRACT—Nondeclarative learning refers to abilities characterized by a lack of awareness of what has been learned and an independence from medial temporal lobe structures that support conscious memories of facts and events. Neuroimaging approaches have ... (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1359098 Tue, 08 Apr 2008 23:48:08 +0100 1359098 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1359103&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blackwell-synergy.com%2Fdoi%2Fabs%2F10.1111%2Fj.1467-8721.2008.00563.x%3Fai%3D12n%26mi%3D4mpuw%26af%3DR Current Directions in Psychological Science, Volume 17, Issue 2, Page 136-141, April 2008. ABSTRACT—One major contribution of neuroscience to understanding cognitive development has been in demonstrating that biology is not destiny—that is, demonstrating the remarkable role of experience in shaping the mind, brain, and body. Only rarely has ... (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1359103 Tue, 08 Apr 2008 23:48:07 +0100 1359103 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1359108&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blackwell-synergy.com%2Fdoi%2Fabs%2F10.1111%2Fj.1467-8721.2008.00568.x%3Fai%3D12n%26mi%3D4mpuw%26af%3DR Current Directions in Psychological Science, Volume 17, Issue 2, Page 164-170, April 2008. ABSTRACT—Evidence that human preferences, beliefs, and behavior are influenced by sources that are outside the reach of conscious awareness, control, intention, and self-reflection is incontrovertible. Recent advances in neuroscience have enabled ... (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1359108 Tue, 08 Apr 2008 23:48:04 +0100 1359108 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1359104&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blackwell-synergy.com%2Fdoi%2Fabs%2F10.1111%2Fj.1467-8721.2008.00564.x%3Fai%3D12n%26mi%3D4mpuw%26af%3DR Current Directions in Psychological Science, Volume 17, Issue 2, Page 142-146, April 2008. ABSTRACT—Increasingly, researchers have been applying the methods of cognitive neuroscience—especially functional neuroimaging—to address questions about how humans make inferences about the mental states of others. At the same time, a number of critics ... (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1359104 Tue, 08 Apr 2008 23:48:04 +0100 1359104 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1359105&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blackwell-synergy.com%2Fdoi%2Fabs%2F10.1111%2Fj.1467-8721.2008.00565.x%3Fai%3D12n%26mi%3D4mpuw%26af%3DR Current Directions in Psychological Science, Volume 17, Issue 2, Page 147-152, April 2008. ABSTRACT—A growing body of evidence suggests emotion boosts memory accuracy to an extent but affects the subjective sense of recollection even more. The result is vivid memories for emotional events that are held with confidence but that may be ... (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1359105 Tue, 08 Apr 2008 23:48:02 +0100 1359105 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1359091&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blackwell-synergy.com%2Fdoi%2Fabs%2F10.1111%2Fj.1467-8721.2008.00551.x%3Fai%3D12n%26mi%3D4mpuw%26af%3DR Current Directions in Psychological Science, Volume 17, Issue 2, Page 68-72, April 2008. ABSTRACT—Should psychologists care about functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)? Within the field of visual perception, the answer to this question is an emphatic "yes." There is a long history of close interactions between psychology and ... (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1359091 Tue, 08 Apr 2008 23:48:00 +0100 1359091 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1359096&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blackwell-synergy.com%2Fdoi%2Fabs%2F10.1111%2Fj.1467-8721.2008.00556.x%3Fai%3D12n%26mi%3D4mpuw%26af%3DR Current Directions in Psychological Science, Volume 17, Issue 2, Page 96-101, April 2008. ABSTRACT—Claims that neuroscientific data do not contribute to our understanding of psychological functions have been made recently. Here I argue that these criticisms are solely based on an analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) ... (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1359096 Tue, 08 Apr 2008 23:47:59 +0100 1359096 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1359109&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blackwell-synergy.com%2Fdoi%2Fabs%2F10.1111%2Fj.1467-8721.2008.00569.x%3Fai%3D12n%26mi%3D4mpuw%26af%3DR Current Directions in Psychological Science, Volume 17, Issue 2, Page 171-176, April 2008. ABSTRACT—People often show considerable systematic variability in their ability to perform many different cognitive tasks. In this article, we argue that by combining an individual-differences approach with an experimental-cognitive-neuroscience ... (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1359109 Tue, 08 Apr 2008 23:47:56 +0100 1359109 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1359097&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blackwell-synergy.com%2Fdoi%2Fabs%2F10.1111%2Fj.1467-8721.2008.00557.x%3Fai%3D12n%26mi%3D4mpuw%26af%3DR Current Directions in Psychological Science, Volume 17, Issue 2, Page 102-106, April 2008. ABSTRACT—What have neuroscientific techniques contributed to the development of psychological theory about short- and long-term memory? We argue that the contributions have been varied: In some cases, data about brain mechanisms have been vital to the ... (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1359097 Tue, 08 Apr 2008 23:47:55 +0100 1359097 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1359107&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blackwell-synergy.com%2Fdoi%2Fabs%2F10.1111%2Fj.1467-8721.2008.00567.x%3Fai%3D12n%26mi%3D4mpuw%26af%3DR Current Directions in Psychological Science, Volume 17, Issue 2, Page 159-163, April 2008. ABSTRACT—Major depression is among the most debilitating, prevalent, and recurrent of all psychiatric disorders. Over the past decade, investigators have examined the neural mechanisms associated with this disorder. In this article we present an ... (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1359107 Tue, 08 Apr 2008 23:47:47 +0100 1359107 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1359090&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blackwell-synergy.com%2Fdoi%2Fabs%2F10.1111%2Fj.1467-8721.2008.00550.x%3Fai%3D12n%26mi%3D4mpuw%26af%3DR Current Directions in Psychological Science, Volume 17, Issue 2, Page 62-67, April 2008. ABSTRACT—During the past quarter century, advances in imaging technology have helped transform scientific fields. As important as the data made available by these new technologies have been, equally important have been the guides provided by existing ... (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1359090 Tue, 08 Apr 2008 23:47:45 +0100 1359090 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1359099&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blackwell-synergy.com%2Fdoi%2Fabs%2F10.1111%2Fj.1467-8721.2008.00559.x%3Fai%3D12n%26mi%3D4mpuw%26af%3DR Current Directions in Psychological Science, Volume 17, Issue 2, Page 112-118, April 2008. ABSTRACT—Neuroimaging of declarative memory is not an endeavor divorced from psychology but, instead, is another path through which a more complete understanding of memory has emerged. Specifically, neuroimaging allows us to determine if differences ... (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1359099 Tue, 08 Apr 2008 23:47:43 +0100 1359099 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1359102&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blackwell-synergy.com%2Fdoi%2Fabs%2F10.1111%2Fj.1467-8721.2008.00562.x%3Fai%3D12n%26mi%3D4mpuw%26af%3DR Current Directions in Psychological Science, Volume 17, Issue 2, Page 130-135, April 2008. ABSTRACT—The motor-program concept, emphasizing how actions are represented in the brain, helped bring the study of motor control into the realm of cognitive psychology. However, interest in representational issues was in limbo for much of the past 30 ... (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1359102 Tue, 08 Apr 2008 23:47:38 +0100 1359102 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1359101&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blackwell-synergy.com%2Fdoi%2Fabs%2F10.1111%2Fj.1467-8721.2008.00561.x%3Fai%3D12n%26mi%3D4mpuw%26af%3DR Current Directions in Psychological Science, Volume 17, Issue 2, Page 124-129, April 2008. ABSTRACT—It has long been observed that damage to the frontal cortex affects a person's ability to control thought, behavior, and emotion while sometimes leaving fundamental processes such as vision, hearing, and long-term memory intact. Such ... (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1359101 Tue, 08 Apr 2008 23:47:37 +0100 1359101 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1359092&cid=s_27186_36_f&fid=27186&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blackwell-synergy.com%2Fdoi%2Fabs%2F10.1111%2Fj.1467-8721.2008.00552.x%3Fai%3D12n%26mi%3D4mpuw%26af%3DR Current Directions in Psychological Science, Volume 17, Issue 2, Page 73-79, April 2008. ABSTRACT—Recent advancements in imaging methods and analysis approaches have provided important insights about the neural bases of object recognition. We address the potential limitations of standard functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and ... (Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science) Current Directions in Psychological Science journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1359092 Tue, 08 Apr 2008 23:47:36 +0100 1359092