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Sadly, the PsychDigest newsletter will cease publishing after the April 2009 (vol. 2, no. 12) edition. However, while the subscription-based model has ended, our news service will continue (for free) on the Psych-So-Easy blog. Please join us there for news updates in the fields of psychology, psychiatry and neurology. We will still be delivering current, comprehensive and convenient information from scholarly, peer-reviewed sources, with each article fully referenced for quick access.

18th EPA European Congress of Psychiatry (EPA 2010)

Munich, Germany
27 February 27 – 2 March 2, 2010
Contact: Liraz Bregman, 1-3, Rue du Chantepoulet, PO Box 1726, CH-1211 Geneva 1, Switzerland
tel: +41 22 908 0488; fax: +41 22 906 9140
Email:  epa2010@kenes.com
Website:  http://www.kenes.com/epa/

Journal's special edition focuses on young people and the media

The current issue of the British Journal of Developmental Psychology focuses on young people and the media.

The goal of this special issue was to bring together current perspectives on the ways young people use (or sometimes avoid), live with, react to, learn from, and learn about the ubiquitous communication tools of 21st century life.

Articles in the issue include:

• Editorial Introduction, Professor Kevin Durkin Mark Blades
• Infant imitation from television using novel touch-screen technology, Dr Rachel Barr
• Just a talking book? Word learning from watching baby videos, Mr Michael Robb
• TV as storyteller: How exposure to television narratives impacts at-risk preschoolers' story knowledge and narrative skills, Dr Deborah L Linebarger
• Young children's ability to recognize advertisements in Web page designs, Dr Mark Blades
• Television alcohol advertising: do children really mean what they say? Dr Avril Nash
• The effectiveness of parental communication in modifying the relation between food advertising and children's consumption behavior, Dr Moniek Buijzen
• Predicting children's media use: Differences in cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses, Dr. Sook-Jung Lee
• Exploring the relationship between children's knowledge of text message abbreviations and school literacy outcomes, Dr Beverly Ann Plester
• Electronic mail, a new written-language register: A study with French-speaking adolescents, Olga Volckaert-Legrier
• Remote control, umbilical cord, and beyond: The mobile phone as a transitional object, Rivka Ribak
• Educational and interpersonal uses of home computers by adolescents with and without specific language impairment (SLI), Professor Kevin Durkin
• In their words: Connecting online weblogs to developmental processes, Professor Kaveri Subrahmanyam

For more information email the media centre at mediacentre@bps.org.uk.

Sources: 

British Psychological Society (BPS) (2009, February 26). Journal's special edition focuses on young people and the media. BPS Media Centre. Retrieved March 18, 2009, from http://www.bps.org.uk/media-centre/press-releases/releases$/british-journal-of-developmental-psychology$/journals-special-edition-focuses-on-young-people-and-the-media.cfm

Cognitive Remediation in Psychiatry

New York, NY, USA
5 June 2009
Contact: Rochelle Thomas, Center for Continuing Medical Education, 630 W. 168th St., Unit 39, New York, NY 10025
tel: +1 212-305-3334; fax: +1 212-781-6047
Email:  cme@columbia.edu
Website:  http://www.columbiacme.org/Psych-100-09/Psych-100-09.html

This conference is designed for mental health professionals involved in the research and treatment of people with psychiatric conditions who have cognitive deficits. This course is designed to present information on the understanding and treatment of the cognitive deficits that commonly occur in many psychiatric conditions. Course participants will acquire knowledge about different approaches to treating cognitive deficits, how cognitive deficits can impact everyday functioning, the factors that influence a positive response to cognitive remediation, how medications affect cognition, and how to provide cognitive remediation to different psychiatric populations.

Aggressive people could have a "warrior gene"

Image by assbach via Flickr

People with the so-called “warrior gene” exhibit higher levels of behavioural aggression in response to provocation, according to new research. In the experiment, subjects penalized opponents by administering varying amounts of hot sauce.

In the study--the first to examine a behavioural measure of aggression in response to provocation--subjects were asked to cause physical pain to an opponent they believed had taken money from them by administering varying amounts of hot sauce.

Their experiment synthesized work in psychology and behavioural economics.

This post was taken from our psychology newsletter, PsychDigest. You can subscribe to PsychDigest for R1200 (US$120) for 12 issues, or R110 (US$11) per issue.

Monoamine oxidase A is an enzyme that breaks down important neurotransmitters in the brain, including dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. The enzyme is regulated by monoamine oxidase A gene (MAOA). Humans have various forms of the gene, resulting in different levels of enzymatic activity. People with the low-activity form (MAOA-L) produce less of the enzyme, while the high-activity form (MAOA-H) produces more of the enzyme.

Several studies have found a correlation between the low-activity form of MAOA and aggression in observational and survey-based studies. Only about a third of people in Western populations have the low-activity form of MAOA. By comparison, low-activity MAOA has been reported to be much more frequent (approaching two-thirds of people) in some populations that had a history of warfare. This led to a controversy over MAOA being dubbed the “warrior gene.”

A total of 78 male students took part in the experiment over networked computers. Each subject (A) first performed a vocabulary task in which they earned money. They were then told that an anonymous partner (B), linked over the network, could choose to take some of their earnings away from them. The original subject (A) could then choose to punish the taker (B) by forcing them to eat unpleasantly hot (spicy) sauce—but they had to pay to do so, so administering punishment was costly.

In reality, the “partner” who took money away was a computer, which allowed the researchers to control responses. No one actually ingested hot sauce.

Their results demonstrate that low-activity MAOA subjects displayed slightly higher levels of aggression overall than high-activity MAOA subjects.There was strong evidence for a gene-by-environment interaction, such that MAOA is less associated with the occurrence of aggression in the low-provocation condition (when the amount of money taken was low), but significantly predicted aggression in a high-provocation situation (when the amount of money taken was high).

The results support previous research suggesting that MAOA influences aggressive behaviour, with potentially important implications for interpersonal aggression, violence, political decision-making, and crime. The finding of genetic influences on aggression and punishment behaviour also questions the recently proposed idea that humans are “altruistic” punishers, who willingly punish free-riders for the good of the group. These results support theories of cooperation that propose there are mixed strategies in the population. Some people may punish more than others, and there may be an underlying evolutionary logic for doing so.

Sources:

Brown University (2009, January 19). “Warrior gene” predicts aggressive behavior after provocation. Brown University Media Relations. Retrieved March 8, 2009, from http://news.brown.edu/pressreleases/2009/01/hotsauce

McDermott, R., Tingley, D., Cowden, J., Frazzetto, G., & Johnson, D.D.P. (2009, February 17). Monoamine oxidase A gene (MAOA) predicts behavioral aggression following provocation. PNAS, 106(7). 2118-2123. Retrieved March 11, 2009, from the journal website at http://www.pnas.org/content/106/7/2118.abstract?sid=2f476c23-b1bb-4332-a070-e1532501a154.

Technorati Tags: aggression,violence,behavior,dopamine,norepinephrine,serotonin,MAOA

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Spotless minds: Erasing unwanted memories

The brain acts as a computer to both store information and process that information. In a computer, separate devices perform these roles; while a hard disk stores information, the central processing unit (CPU) does the processing. But the brain is thought to perform both these functions in the same cells--neurons--leading researchers to ask if distinct molecules within the brain cells serve these different functions.

In a discovery that may one day lead to the ability to erase debilitating painful memories and addictions from the brain, researchers at SUNY Downstate Medical Center have found that a molecule known to preserve memories--PKMzeta--specifically stores complex, high-quality memories that provide detailed information about an animal's location, fears, and actions, but does not control the ability to process or express this information. This finding suggests that PKMzeta erasure that is designed to target specific debilitating memories could be effective against the offending memory while sparing the computational function of brain.

Sources:

Serrano, P., Friedman, E.L., Kenney, J., Taubenfeld, S.M., Zimmerman, J.M., Hanna, J., Alberini, C., Kelley, A.E., Maren, S., Rudy, J.W., Yin, J.C.P., Sacktor, T.C., & Fenton, A.A. (2008, December 23). PKMzeta maintains spatial, instrumental, and classically conditioned long-term memories. PLos Biology, 6(12). e318. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060318

SUNY Downstate Medical Center (2008, December 24). Spotless mind? Unwanted memories might be erasable without harming other brain functions. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 1, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081223121137.htm

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Fear of seeming weak often behind domestic abuse

Societal power structures and some pop culture stereotypes which lead some men to fear appearing weak are often behind intimate spousal abuse.

Clare Murphy, of the Queensland University of Technology's Faculty of Law has, as part of her PhD research into men's intimate partner abuse and control, interviewed 16 men who have been physically, emotionally, sexually or financially controlling of a live-in female partner and participated in programmes to stop abuse.

Published in PsychDigest, March 2009.

Her research found many men who had been abusive thought that displaying behaviours such as showing empathy and love meant they would be seen as less masculine by other men. Even men who wanted a loving, non-abusive relationship with a woman may suppress loving and caring practices to avoid being ostracized by other men.

Ms Murphy spent two years facilitating women's programmes at Hamilton Abuse Intervention Project in New Zealand, researching how women coped with psychological abuse. She defined spousal abuse as the use of a systematic pattern of wide ranging tactics used to establish and maintain power and control over a female partner.

According to Ms Murphy, not all perpetrators use physical violence; rather they may use psychological abuse including mind games, degradation and violation of trust. They may sexually abuse their partner, control finances, prevent her from working, isolate her from family and friends and prevent her from getting any medical help she might need.

Society tends to depict perpetrators of domestic violence as non-white, poor, young men, according to Ms Murphy, and if a white, middle-class man's violence makes the news, women are often investigated to see how they may have provoked the response.

Moreover, men who do not fit the stereotypes often do not define themselves as perpetrators, decreasing the possibility of seeking to change.

For intimate partner abuse to cease, changes must occur in individuals and institutions that practise and condone hierarchical power and control, regardless of context. "This includes those who denigrate homosexual men or women, education officials who do not reinforce school bullying policies, legal professionals who do not reinforce laws against elder abuse, TV sports comedy programmes that favour misogynistic jokes and companies that record music that supports domestic violence."

Sources:

Queensland University of Technology (2009, February 5). Misplaced machismo behind domestic violence. Retrieved February 22, 2009, from http://www.news.qut.edu.au/cgi-bin/WebObjects/News.woa/wa/goNewsPage?newsEventID=24017

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Socially active and not easily stressed people are less likely to develop dementia

A new study shows that people who are socially active and not easily stressed may be less likely to develop dementia. The study involved 506 older people who did not have dementia when first examined. The results show that participants who were not socially active but calm and relaxed had a 50% lower risk of developing dementia compared with people who were isolated and prone to distress. The dementia risk was also 50% lower for people who were outgoing and calm compared to those who were outgoing and prone to distress.

Sources:

American Academy of Neurology (2009, January 20). Socially active and not easily stressed? You may not develop dementia. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 3, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090119210328.htm

Comparing two products makes us more willing to purchase other, unrelated items

Previous research has shown that expressing preference for two commercial products makes us more willing to purchase not only one of these products but also different products that we consider later on. The increased purchase intentions are due to a mind-set that is activated in the process of comparing those products. Once developed, the mind-set prevents consumers from thinking about the option of not making a purchase at all and increases their purchase intentions. Moreover, the mind-set may persist to influence decisions that consumers make in subsequent situations.

In one experiment, some participants reported their preference for two vacation packages whereas others indicated which they disliked most. In a second experiment, participants either reported their preference for pairs of wild animals or compared them with respect to physical attributes (e.g. "Which are heavier, elephants or hippos?"). In still another study, participants judged how similar one object is to another (e.g., "How similar is Korea to China?"). Other participants did not engage in these activities.

The effect of making comparisons on decision making was quite striking. Making comparisons, regardless of whether they were about vacations, animals or pairs of countries, increased participants' willingness to purchase one of two computers they considered later in the experiment. It also increased their willingness to go out with one of the potential dating partners based on descriptions of their attribute. Finally, participants who had made comparative judgments of animals actually bought more candy following the experiment.

The results, as reported in Psychological Science, indicate that when participants were asked to make comparisons, regardless of the type of comparison they were asked to make, they developed a comparative mind-set that increased their willingness to purchase one of two products they considered later rather than choosing neither. In addition, this study indicates that the processes that result in making comparisons can be activated by experiences that are unrelated to purchase decisions.

Sources:

Association for Psychological Science (APS) (2008, November 12). The comparative mind-set: From animal comparisons to increased purchase intentions. APS Press Releases.

Xu, A.J. & Wyer, R.S. (2008, September). The comparative mind-set: From animal comparisons to increased purchase intentions. Psychological Science, 19(9). 859-864. The article can be purchased from Wiley Interscience for $29.95.

Space yourself for better learning and recall

Proper spacing of lessons can dramatically enhance learning and larger gaps between study sessions result in better recall of facts. Conversely, cramming-regardless of the subject-is not effective in the long haul.
More than 1000 subjects participated in three learning sessions. In the first session, they were taught a set of obscure but true facts, such as "Norway is the European nation that consumes the most spicy Mexican food" and "Rudyard Kipling invented snow golf." The second session was a review of the same facts. The time between the sessions ranged from several minutes to several months. Study time was held constant in all the conditions.

After some further delay, up to about one year, subjects were tested on their recall of the facts. Not surprisingly, when the interval between the second session and the test was increased, memory became worse, reflecting the familiar curve of forgetting. The interesting finding, however, was that increasing the time between the study sessions reduced the rate of forgetting. This reduction in forgetting was very large-sometimes increasing the likelihood that information would be recalled in the final session by 50 per cent.

    Published in PsychDigest, vol. 2. no. 11

The results suggest that the optimal amount of time over which learning should take place depends upon how long the information needs to be retained: "If you want to remember information for just a week, it is probably best if study sessions are spaced out over a day or two. On the other hand, if you want to remember information for a year, it is best for learning to be spaced out over about a month."
Extrapolating from the results, the researcher added, "it seems plausible that whenever the goal is for someone to remember information over a lifetime, it is probably best for them to be re-exposed to it over a number of years."

In light of the study, the co-authors write, "it appears no longer premature for psychologists to offer some rough practical guidelines to those who wish to use study time in the most efficient way possible to promote long-term retention."

Sources:

Cepeda, N.J., Vul, E., Rohrer, D., Wixted, J.T., & Pashler, H. (2008, November). Spacing effects in learning: A temporal ridgeline of optimal retention. Psychological Science, 19(11). 1095-1102. Retrieved January 9, 2009, from Wiley Interscience at http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/121553469/abstract. The full article can be accessed online for $29.95.

Kiderra, I. (2008, November 18). The smart way to study. University of California-San Diego. Retrieved January 6, 2009, from http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/soc/11-08PashlerPsychScience.asp