Steve Rimmer

Latest news and developments in the world of psychology, social and political science.

Latest news and developments in the world of psychology, social and political science.

Latest news and developments in the world of psychology, social and political science.

Game advocates are calling for a sweeping transformation of conventional education to replace traditional curricula with game-based instruction. But what do researchers have to say about this idea and what is the role of policymakers? A new study out today discourages an educational revolution based on gaming and encourages adding promising features to games in schools including heightened use of explanative feedback in games and relevant pregame activities. This article is part of a new issue of Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences (PIBBS), a Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences (FABBS) journal published by SAGE.

There are small easy steps that we can take to tackle the burgeoning problem of obesity. One of those solutions is surprisingly simple: use smaller plates.

Neuroimaging studies suggest that frontolimbic regions of the brain, structures that regulate emotions, play an important role in the biology of aggressive behavior. A new article published in the inaugural issue of the journal Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging reports that individuals with intermittent explosive disorder (IED) have significantly lower gray matter volume in these frontolimbic brain structures. In other words, these people have smaller "emotional brains."

The organic food industry has grown from fresh produce and grains to snack foods and condiments--from farmers markets to supercenters. Has this new variety in organic products, and the availability of them, affected consumers' perceptions? A University of Illinois researcher and her team designed an experiment to provide insight on some of the variables that may influence opinions about organic foods.

For half a century, the accepted research on happiness has shown our lives on a U-shaped curve, punctuated by a low point that we've come to know as the "mid-life crisis". A number of studies have claimed over the years that happiness declines for most from the early 20s to middle age (40 to 60). Today, the "mid-life crisis" is a generally accepted phenomenon, fodder for sitcoms and the subject of advertising propaganda the world over - but does it actually exist?

Health care providers and insurance companies are increasingly relying on smartphone and wearable activity trackers to reward active individuals for healthy behavior or to monitor patients. However, because activity trackers can be easily deceived, Northwestern Medicine and Northwestern Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) researchers have designed a way to train smartphone trackers to spot the difference between fake and real activity.

The children of divorcing or separating parents are often proverbially "caught in the middle." What's worse is when one parent tries to turn the child against the other parent, through bad-mouthing, lying or withholding contact. Sound familiar? That behavior - deliberately trying to sabotage a child's relationship with the other parent - has a name: parental alienation. It's a topic familiar to most people, but in social, psychological and legal realms, it's understudied, and under-discussed.

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Outdated land management practices, a dearth of local decision-making bodies with real powers, a lack of long-term planning, along with long-standing educational and financial disempowerment and marginalization are among the hurdles the prevent Arctic communities from adapting to climate change, says a McGill-led research team. But Arctic communities inherently have the capacity to adapt to significant climate change. That's partly because they are used to accepting a changeable and uncertain climate. What currently limits this ability, however, are a range of non-climatic factors that vary from one society to the next.

AU School of Public Affairs assistant professor Taryn Morrissey conducted a study that links parental depression to increased safety risks for their children. Her article on the findings, 'Parents' Depressive Symptoms and Gun, Fire, and Motor Vehicle Safety Practices,' was published online by the Maternal and Child Health Journal on Jan. 5, 2016.

Valuing your time more than the pursuit of money is linked to greater happiness, according to new research published by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. In six studies with more than 4,600 participants, researchers found an almost even split between people who tended to value their time or money, and that choice was a fairly consistent trait both for daily interactions and major life events.

Try this on for size: The Happy Meal could be the answer to our nation's obesity epidemic. Not the actual contents of a McDonald's kid's meal, but the concept of it. Researchers from the University of Arizona's Eller College of Management as well as the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business and Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences have found that offering a small incentive with a meal consistently motivates kids and adults to choose smaller portions.