Kendra's Psychology Blog

In this edition of the Psychology News Roundup, we take a look at new research on how infants see color, an amusing psychometric scale from the 1930s and a study on the effects of perception on memory. More highlights include a look at the aging brain and a podcast on neurobiology and addiction.

• Do Infants See Colors Differently? - Scientific American investigates.


• A Wife Rating Scale From the 1930s - Mind Hacks reports on an amusing psychometric scale designed by Dr. George W. Crane as a way to provide feedback to couples on their marriages.


• How Does Moving Around a Scene Mess Up Our Memory? - Cognitive Daily looks at an interesting study on perception and memory.


• For a Sharp Brain, Stimulation - The New York Times looks at new research on the aging brain and neurogenesis.


• Depressed Brains are Different, Researchers Say - About.com’s Guide to Depression, Nancy Schimelpfening, reports on new research suggesting that depressed people have fewer serotonin receptors than non-depressed people.

Listen Up! Psychology Podcasts From Around the Web

• Quitting the Habit: Neurobiology, Addiction and the Insidious Ciggie – All in the Mind looks at addiction and a new treatment drug that may trigger suicidal thoughts and behavior.

Definition: In classical conditioning, the unconditioned stimulus is one that unconditionally, naturally and automatically triggers a response. For example, when you smell one of your favorite foods, you may immediately feel very hungry. In this example, the smell of the food is the unconditioned stimulus.

Related Reading:

• What Is Behaviorism?
• Introduction to Classical Conditioning
• Principles of Classical Conditioning

Psychologist Albert Bandura has defined self-efficacy as our belief in our ability to succeed in specific situations. Your sense of self-efficacy can play a major role in how you approach goals, tasks, and challenges. The concept of self-efficacy lies at the center Bandura’s social cognitive theory, which emphasizes the role of observational learning and social experience in the development of personality. According to Bandura's theory, people with high self-efficacy - that is, those who believe they can perform well - are more likely to view difficult tasks as something to be mastered rather than something to be avoided. Learn more about self-efficacy and Bandura in the links below.

• Social Cognitive Theory
• Albert Bandura Biography
• Albert Bandura Quotes

Some notable events that happened this week in psychology history:

March 11 - In 1988, the American Psychological Association sold the magazine Psychology Today for $6.5 million, after losing nearly $16 million in five years of ownership.

May 13 - In 1893, psychologist Henry A. Murray was born. Murray is known for his theory of psychogenic needs.

May 14 - In 1951, the results of Solomon Asch's famous conformity studies were published in Harold Guetzkow's Groups, Leadership, and Men.

May 15 - In 1848, Carl Wernicke was born. He is known for his research on the effects of brain disease on speech and language and his discovery that damage to an area of the temporal lobe (now known as Wernicke's area) is associated with what is now called Wernicke's aphasia.

May 16 - In 1938, Abraham A. Brill published The Basic Writings of Sigmund Freud.

An interesting article in The New York Times takes a look at the psychological differences between exaggeration and lying. Research has shown that maintaining a deception is exhausting and stressful, causing people to speak and behave differently when telling a lie. However, a study published in the February issue of Emotion found that students who exaggerated their grades did not experience the same psychological stress that lying creates.

"...fibs can reflect something close to the opposite of the frustration, insecurity and secretiveness that often fuel big lies. That may be why they can come so easily, add up so fast and for some people — especially around closing time — become indistinguishable from the truth."

Read the full article.

In the study of developmental psychology, there are a number of theoretical issues that are debated by researchers. These issues include the debate over nature versus nurture, as well as questions about the importance of the timing of experiences and individual differences in development.

Read more about issues in developmental psychology.

Living wills are often touted as a sure-fire way to ensure that our end-of-life wishes are observed. A living will is a legal document designed to relate wishes in the event that the individual becomes seriously ill and unable to communicate. This document often includes specific information about the type of treatment, care and interventions that a person does or does not want to have if he or she becomes terminally ill.

Do living wills accurately convey end of life decisions? According to new research published in the APA journal Health Psychology, these directives may not be as effective as many believe because preferences can change over time without the individual being aware of these changes.

"Living wills are a noble idea and can often be very helpful in decisions that must be made near the end of life," explains Peter Ditto of the University of California-Irvine. "But the notion that you can just fill out a document and all your troubles will be solved, a notion that is frequently reinforced in the popular media, is seriously misguided."

In the study, 401 participants over the age of 65 were asked about which life sustaining treatment they would want, such as CPR and tube feedings, if they were seriously ill. Twelve months later, these individuals were asked to recall the choices they had made in the first interview.

Approximately one-third of the respondents had changed their wishes over the course of the year. Surprisingly, 75% of these individuals falsely remembered their original views on various end-of-life treatments. Researchers also interviewed individuals who held the authority to make such decisions in the event that the participants were no longer able. These individuals showed even lower awareness of changes in their loved ones wishes, with 86% of respondents showing false memories.

Ditto suggests that these results indicate that living wills should have an "expiration date." But what should people do in order to ensure that their final wishes are followed. "On a more personal level," Ditto explains, "our research stresses the importance of maintaining an ongoing dialogue among individuals, their families and their physicians about end-of-life treatment options.

_{Reference: Sharman, S.J., Garry, M., Jacobsen, J.A., Loftus, E.F. and Ditto, P.H. False memories for end-of-life decisions. Health Psychology, 27(2), 291-296.}

While some students claim that learning under pressure actually helps them remember more, a new study from research at the University of California-Irvine suggests that even short-term stress can negatively impact memory and learning. The study, published in the March 12 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, found that short-term stress leads to the release of corticotripin releasing hormones. These molecules disrupt the activity of synapses in the hippocamus, the brain's memory and learning center.

As you are preparing for final exams and due dates, focus on minimizing stress in order to maximize your learning. Explore some different ways to reduce student stress and find out more great tips to improve your memory.

Carl Rogers, one of the preeminent psychologists of the 20th-century, is best known for creating what is known as client-centered therapy, a nondirective approach that places the client in control of the therapeutic process.

As one of the leaders of the humanist movement in psychology, Rogers believed that people were essentially good and healthy. This differed greatly from the psychoanalytic focus on abnormal behavior. You can learn more about his views on psychology through quotations from his many writings.

• Carl Rogers Quotations

Definition: According to Freud, the ego is the largely unconscious part of personality that mediates the demands of the id, the superego and reality. The ego prevents us from acting on our basic urges (created by the id), but also works to achieve a balance with our moral and idealistic standards (created by the superego)...

Read More:

• What Is the Ego?
• The Id, Ego and Superego
• The Conscious and Unconscious Mind