Life News (Social & Behavioral Sciences)

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Released: 10-Apr-1998 12:00 AM EDT
Author Challenges AA Model for Addiction Treatment; Says Disease-Based Theory Misguided
Connecticut College

A Connecticut College psychology professor, author and researcher says the disease-based concept for addiction treatment, as embodied in recovery programs like AA, ignores the root causes of addiction and will unlikely achieve sustained recovery when used alone.

Released: 9-Apr-1998 12:00 AM EDT
Earth Day a 'Mixed Legacy,' UMaine faculty member finds in survey
University of Maine

Every April since 1970, Americans have celebrated Earth Day with fairs, rallies and educational programs on the imortance of protecting the planet. The holiday serves to promote environmental values -- but it also reveals the environmental movement's problems and limitations, says a University of Maine political scientist."The holiday has proved to be a mixed legacy," says Amy Fried.

Released: 9-Apr-1998 12:00 AM EDT
Higher prices won't stop teenage smokers
Cornell University

Boosting taxes on cigarettes will have a far less dramatic impact on rates of teen-age smoking than politicians are hoping, a new Cornell University study finds. In fact, say the researchers, higher taxes will have "a statistically insignificant impact" on whether young people decide to start smoking.

Released: 9-Apr-1998 12:00 AM EDT
How To Go Wild Without Ticking Off Your Neighbors
University of Michigan

The difference between environmentally correct, native landscaping and a neglected, weedy neighborhood eye-sore is not universally apparent. A new book offers advice on what gardeners can do to a home landscape in cities and suburbs to make people realize it is being naturalized, rather than neglected.

Released: 8-Apr-1998 12:00 AM EDT
New test identifies people who can handle high-pressure jobs requiring rapid decision making, large amounts of information
University of Washington

Few people are cut out for pressure-cooker jobs such as being a 911 operator or an air traffic controller. University of Washington psychologist have determined that certain people seem to possess a common trait that enables them to handle these kinds of jobs, sometimes involving life and death, and have developed a new test that identifies these individuals.

Released: 3-Apr-1998 12:00 AM EST
Colloquium Explores New Frontiers Of Aging And Health
University of Wisconsin–Madison

The University of Wisconsin-Madison Institute on Aging will hold a colloquium and two public lectures April 23-24 exploring new research insights into successful aging.

Released: 3-Apr-1998 12:00 AM EST
Study Finds Boy Bullies Popular; Girl Bullies Not
Purdue University

A study by a Purdue University expert on child development shows that boys who are bullies are not only accepted, but they can actually be among the more popular youngsters in school The only students that girl bullies were more popular than were the children that nobody seemed to like - the aggressive victims.

Released: 3-Apr-1998 12:00 AM EST
Johns Hopkins Children's Center Opens New Office to Counter
Johns Hopkins Medicine

Alarmed by the epidemic rate at which children are being exposed to violence - on the streets, in their communities, and through the media - the Johns Hopkins Children's Center has opened an Office for the Prevention of Violence to address the needs of traumatized children and to draw attention to a rapidly escalating public health threat.

Released: 2-Apr-1998 12:00 AM EST
The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge
Jeremy P. Tarcher

In a new book, an anthropologist has found that shamans on all five continents talk of a cosmic serpent, a very long single and double entity that is the key to life. They also report seeing twins, twisted ladders and sky ropes in their visions. Many say that this form shows them that the life principle is the same for all species.

Released: 1-Apr-1998 12:00 AM EST
Walking with Lucy: Short-legged human ancestors were very efficient at strolling through their world
University of Washington

She wasn't faster than a speeding bullet, but new research seems to indicate that Lucy and other early human ancestors walked with greater ease and efficiency than previously believed, despite their short leg, says a University of Washington anthropologist.

Released: 1-Apr-1998 12:00 AM EST
Promoting Peace Through Education in the Former Yugoslavia
Franklin Pierce College

With continued unrest threatening to boil over in corners of the former Yugoslavia, a professor at a small New Hampshire college is working to plant seeds for peace and stability there. Douglas Challenger, professor of sociology at Franklin Pierce College in Rindge, N.H., is helping educators in the former Yugoslavia learn how to promote concepts of democracy in the classroom.

Released: 28-Mar-1998 12:00 AM EST
School violence expert: school crime may never end, but can be reduced
Mississippi State University

High-profile shootings by students in Mississippi, Kentucky and Arkansas generate interational headlines and parental fears that school violence is the norm. But a professor who developed a method for reducing school crime says deadly incidents are anomalies that should mobilize the public to action.

Released: 28-Mar-1998 12:00 AM EST
Early Death Linked With Tendency To "Catastrophize"
University of Michigan

A new analysis shows the tendency to "catastrophize"---to see the bad that happens to you as part of a pervasive pall of evil and pain that happens to everyone, everywhere---has been linked to an increased risk of dying before the age of 65.

26-Mar-1998 12:00 AM EST
Research Finds That Watching TV Helps Kids Put On Pounds
Johns Hopkins Medicine

Despite living in a society that is increasingly weight and appearance conscious, many American children may be headed toward sedentary, overweight adulthood. Researchers at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center have found that as the hours of television watched by American children increases, so does their weight.

   
Released: 25-Mar-1998 12:00 AM EST
10 million report hunger, even with jobs
Cornell University

Ten million Americans, including almost 4 million children, don't get enough to eat, according to a new Cornell University/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study. More than half of the 4 percent of Americans who report they don't have enough food live in households in which at least one person has a job, says Katherine Alaimo, a doctoral candidate in nutritional sciences at Cornell.

25-Mar-1998 12:00 AM EST
Boys and Girls Are Cruel to Each Other in Different Ways--But Effects Are Equally Harmful
American Psychological Association (APA)

The vast majority of past studies on peer victimization have focused on boys and physical aggression. But new research illustrates that girls also experience peer victimization, usually relational aggression, in which a person is harmed through hurtful manipulation of their peer relationships or friendships.

Released: 21-Mar-1998 12:00 AM EST
"Fighting Poverty in the Post-Welfare Era"-- Mount Holyoke College symposium on welfare reform, April 24
Mount Holyoke College

The new Mount Holyoke Center for Leadership and Public Interest Advocacy has invited four prominent experts with opposing points of view to examine the potential success or failure of current directions in welfare policy and to debate both the likely outcome of current reforms.

Released: 20-Mar-1998 12:00 AM EST
Historian says it may be possible for African-Americans to determine information on African ancestors
University of Georgia

A University of Georgia historian has discovered that it is possible for African-Americans to begin identifying particular ethnic cultural and social influences once thought unrecoverable.

Released: 20-Mar-1998 12:00 AM EST
University of Georgia team to help archive, preserve 30 years of history from Foxfire project
University of Georgia

A team of anthropologists from the University of Georgia has joined the Foxfire Fund, Inc., to help preserve materials collected during the 30 years of the project that studies the southern Appalachians.

Released: 19-Mar-1998 12:00 AM EST
Letters describe adolescence in Indonesia
Cornell University

A unique collection of correspondence between Indonesian adolescents and the psychology professor who has become Southeast Asia's own "Dr. Ruth" is now available at the Cornell University Library.

Released: 19-Mar-1998 12:00 AM EST
The Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi
DePauw University

"Local People: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi," a book by John Dittmer, DePauw University professor of history, provides further insight into the civil rights efforts of the 1960s and the documents released by the Sovereignty Commission.

Released: 18-Mar-1998 12:00 AM EST
Philosopher integrates sciences to explain moral behavior
Lewis & Clark College

A groundbreaking new book by William Rottschaefer, professor of philosophy, Lewis & Clark College, integrates recent findings and theories in evolutionary theory, biology and psychology to explore what it means to behave morally. "The Biology and Psychology of Moral Agency" explains how people acquire and put into practice their capacities to act morally and how these capacities are reliable means to achieving true moral beliefs. Most philosophers argue that the sciences are no help at all in answering how moral action is justified. Rottschaefer argues that science has a lot to contribute.

Released: 17-Mar-1998 12:00 AM EST
PFLAG papers in Cornell Sexuality Collection
Cornell University

The records of the organization Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), a collection of letters and other documents showing how a handful of American families made history and launched a national movement by publicly supporting their gay and lesbian children, is now available at Cornell University Library's Human Sexuality Collection.

Released: 15-Mar-1998 12:00 AM EST
Mom Was Right about Gossip
American Psychological Association (APA)

Researchers say they have identified a common, but apparently mindless, psychological phenomenon that plays a previously unrecognized role in the way people form impressions of other people. Specifically, they've found that when someone attributes positive or negative traits to someone else, the listener will often attribute those same traits to the speaker. Embargoed: 3-18-98.

Released: 13-Mar-1998 12:00 AM EST
Firm Believers More Likely to Be Flabby, Purdue Study Finds
Purdue University

A Purdue University study of religion and body weight finds that religious people are more likely to be overweight than are nonreligious people. Fortunately for them, being religious may curtail some of the unhealthy effects of being overweight.

Released: 12-Mar-1998 12:00 AM EST
Healthcare Advocates Fill Critical Need -- Consumers Turn to Professionals for Help in Navigating Healthcare Maze
Sarah Lawrence College

Changes in managed healthcare are creating pioneering roles for healthcare workers. This is happening against a backdrop of President Clinton's call for a national patient bill of rights and movements by several states to draft consumer protection bills for managed-care participants.

Released: 11-Mar-1998 12:00 AM EST
How Religious Beliefs Affect Voting Needs More Scrutiny
Vanderbilt University

Religious beliefs are a major source of political cleavage, according to Vanderbilt political scientist Geoff Layman, who is calling for improved measurement of the effect of religous beliefs on voting.

Released: 11-Mar-1998 12:00 AM EST
Day care debate needs historical perspective
Vanderbilt University

President Clinton's proposal to spend $21.7 billion over five years to make child care affordable is a step in the right direction, but a Vanderbilt University historian says the public and policymakers need to do more to build a good system of child care. "Child care in America shouldn't just be expanded, it should also be improved," said Elizabeth Rose, assistant professor of history and author of a forthcoming book from Oxford University Press on the history of child care in America.

Released: 10-Mar-1998 12:00 AM EST
TV Rating System Offers Little Help to Parents In Monitoring Violence and Alcohol, Study Indicates
Temple University

The age-based TV program rating system unveiled last fall as a guide to prime time television offers little help to parents who want to protect their children from television violence or alcohol-saturated programming, according to a recently completed study of the fall 1997 TV season by George Gerbner, Bell Atlantic Professor of Telecommunications at Temple University.

Released: 7-Mar-1998 12:00 AM EST
Battered Workers Syndrome can Erupt in Violence
Fairfield University

The tragic killings at the Connecticut State Lottery Office reflect a situation Dr. Dorothea Braginsky is investigating in a book she is working on , called "The Battered Workers Syndrome."

Released: 7-Mar-1998 12:00 AM EST
Federal food aid makes healthier children
Cornell University

Preschoolers whose families get federal food benefits have much better diets and are protected from iron and zinc deficiencies, according to a new Cornell University study. And the benefits to the young children are much greater than if the families received cash allowances.

Released: 5-Mar-1998 12:00 AM EST
Job Accomodation Network useful
West Virginia University - Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

As nationwide efforts to reduce disability rolls increase the number of people re-entering the workplace with physical and mental challenges, today's businesses will need, more than ever, information on how to make the federally mandated accommodations.

Released: 5-Mar-1998 12:00 AM EST
Airport noise harms children, effects endure
Cornell University

Airport noise can seriously affect the health and psychological well-being of children, says a Cornell University study that looked at children before and after a new airport opened in Munich, Germany. The health effects of chronic noise -- higher blood pressure and boosted levels of stress hormones -- may have lifelong implications, says Gary Evans, an environmental psychologist.

Released: 3-Mar-1998 12:00 AM EST
Vanderbilt study examines jury nullification
Vanderbilt University

Judges can go to surprising lengths to ensure that jurors follow their instructions, according to Vanderbilt Law Professor Nancy King, who has written a new article called "Silencing Nullification Advocacy Inside the Juryroom and Outside the Courtroom."

Released: 3-Mar-1998 12:00 AM EST
University of New Mexico Researcher Studies "New" Indian Television
University of New Mexico

Images of modern women, smoking, drinking and driving cars, working and making their own decisions are bombarding the "new" Indian television and changing forever the way women in that country see themselves. Indian born Sheena Malhotra, a Ph.D. communication student at the University of New Mexico, is studying the effects of television portrayals of modern women in a culture that is traditionally patriarchal.

Released: 3-Mar-1998 12:00 AM EST
Fathers Strongly Influence Mothers' Decision To Breast-Feed
Ohio State University

Three out of four mothers feel that their partner's opinion greatly influences their decision to breast-feed, according to a study at Ohio State University.

Released: 3-Mar-1998 12:00 AM EST
People Want Direct Physician Involvement In Assisted Suicides
Ohio State University

People are more likely to support assisted suicide if there is direct physician involvement in helping people end their lives, new research suggests.

28-Feb-1998 12:00 AM EST
Why Women Physically Attack Husbands at about the Same Rate as Men Attack Wives
University of New Hampshire

There have been more than 100 other studies that looked into this question by asking people about conflicts in their marriage, or their dating or cohabiting relationships. According to Straus, co-director of the University of New Hampshire Family Research Laboratory, "every one of these 'couple conflict' studies have found about equal rates of partner assault." So, the controversy sparked by Straus largely died out.

Released: 27-Feb-1998 12:00 AM EST
Dividing Grandma'S Goods Need Not Lead To Family Feud
Purdue University

Three days after Grandma's funeral is no time to start a family feud over her personal belongings, says a Purdue University expert on family finances. "Some people assume such decisions will take care of themselves," says Janet Bechman, Cooperative Extension Service specialist in consumer sciences and retailing. "But, in reality, the situation has resulted in many painful experiences that need not have occurred."

Released: 27-Feb-1998 12:00 AM EST
Procrastination Expert
Colgate University

Check out the nearest post office on April 15 and you'll find a line of latecomers filing last-minute tax returns. If you ever want to examine why people procrastinate, contact Regina Conti, assistant professor of psychology at Colgate University. She researches procrastination.

Released: 27-Feb-1998 12:00 AM EST
It's emotional abuse, not vicious beatings, that often spurs women to leave battering husbands
University of Washington

It's the scarring left by an emotional abuse not the pain and bruises left by a violent that is more likely to trigger a battered wife's decision to leave her spouse, according to University of Washington psychologists who studied marriage marked by domestic violence.

Released: 25-Feb-1998 12:00 AM EST
Research On Tobacco And Nicotine
University of Michigan

Researchers are examining the effects of tobacco, nicotine, the industries that support their production and the public health issues that develop from tobacco use. These programs deal with virtually every area of tobacco research, from the physiological effects of nicotine, to teen smoking, to legal and financial issues.

Released: 24-Feb-1998 12:00 AM EST
Moms teach kids verbal aggression, WVU communications researcher finds
West Virginia University - Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

A recent study, published in the Western Journal of Communication, by a West Virginia University assistant communications professor suggest that sons and daughters pattern their aggressive verbal styles after their mothers.

Released: 21-Feb-1998 12:00 AM EST
Virginia Tech Professors Develops Method to Perpetuate Surviving Native American Languages
Virginia Tech

A Virginia Tech professor is using computer technology to help preserve and teach surviving languages and dialects of Native American culture.

Released: 21-Feb-1998 12:00 AM EST
Student Study Finds Prevention is Key to Welfare Reform
Vassar College

Prevention works. It is financially and socially advantageous to foster policies that prevent people from becoming welfare recipients, according to a report to be released by the Poughkeepsie Institute.

Released: 20-Feb-1998 12:00 AM EST
Baker Institute Prepares for Comprehensive Iraq Coverage
Rice University

If hostilities break out in Iraq, Rice's James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy will open its International Conference Facility (ICF) for a specified period of time to provide local, regional, national and international media outlets expert analysis of events.

20-Feb-1998 12:00 AM EST
A Husband's willingness to be influenced by wife, share power are key predictors of newlywed happiness, stability
University of Washington

Active listening techniques tuaght by many marriage counselors do not work when couples are in conflict. Instead a new study shows that "olnly those newlywed men who are acceptingof influence from their wives are winding up in happy, stable marriages, says John Gottman, University of Washington psychology professor

Released: 20-Feb-1998 12:00 AM EST
Media Advisory: Source On Iraq
University of San Francisco

Stephen Zunes, USF assistant professor of politics and director of the USF Peace and Justice Studies Program, says "The threatened United States military strikes against Iraq are a bad idea..."

Released: 18-Feb-1998 12:00 AM EST
Assessing Your Child's Language Development May Require a Professional
Northwestern University

Does your toddler show little interest in communicating with others? Does your 2-year-old not yet communicate with words? Is your 3-year-old's speech difficult to understand? If so, your child may need the services of a speech-language pathologist.

17-Feb-1998 12:00 AM EST
Emory Psychologist Examines Students' Latent Personal Prejudice Through Study of Facial Expression
Emory University

Facial muscle activity may serve as a tell-tale sign of latent personal prejudice, according Emory visiting psychology professor Eric Vanman, who analyzed how facial movements indicate racial bias among white college students in a study he conducted at the University of Southern California (USC).



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