Chimpanzees enjoy listening to the different rhythms of music from Africa and India, according to a study that examined the behavior of 16 adult chimps at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center at Emory University. Over 12 consecutive days for 40 minutes each morning, researchers played African, Indian or Japanese music near the chimps' large outdoor enclosure. They found that when they played African and Indian music — characterized by extreme ratios of strong to weak beats — the chimps spent significantly more time in areas where they could best hear the music. When the researchers played Japanese music — which has regular, strong beats that are also typical of Western music — the chimps were more likely to be found in spots where it was more difficult or impossible to hear the music (Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Learning and Cognition, online June 23).
Delinquent youth — especially girls and Hispanics — are more likely to die violently as adults, according to research conducted by Northwestern University scientists. The study examined data from the Northwestern Juvenile Project, a longitudinal study of 1,829 youth who were in a juvenile detention center between 1995 and 1998. The researchers followed the youth for up to 16 years after and found that 111 of the original study participants had died. Among them, 68 percent were homicide victims. The study showed that delinquent females died violently at nearly five times the rate of those in the general population, while delinquent males died at three times the rate of the general population. Death rates in Hispanic males and females were five and nine times higher than rates in the general population, respectively (Pediatricsopens in new window, July).
Most violent behavior is due to factors other than mental illness, according to an international team of scholars who analyzed dozens of studies on gun violence and mental illness. The researchers found that while mass murderers with mental health problems receive a tremendous amount of media attention, they are not typical of those who commit violent crimes, and the vast majority of those with serious mental illness do not engage in violent acts. The team also suggests that gun violence can be reduced by instituting federal and state policies that prohibit firearms possession among individuals who display clear risk factors for violence (Annals of Epidemiologyopens in new window, online April 28).
We trust strangers out of a sense of obligation, according to a study of 645 undergraduates by Cornell University researchers. In one experiment, participants could either keep $5, give $20 to a stranger who could either keep the entire amount or give half back to the participant, or give $20 to a stranger who flipped a coin to determine whether to return half. Although the coin flip would seem to offer the best odds of doubling your money, only 22 percent of participants chose that option. More than half decided to trust a stranger to share fairly, whereas 24 percent kept the $5 for themselves. Before each experiment, the participants completed a questionnaire about their tolerance for risk and expectations of their peers, which allowed the researchers to connect the participants' behavior with feeling morally obligated to trust strangers (Journal of Personality and Social Psychologyopens in new window, online May 12).
An intervention aimed at reducing behavior problems also boosts math and reading scores among low-income kindergarteners and first-graders, according to a study by New York University researchers. The scientists randomized 22 urban elementary schools serving low-income families to either a 10-week INSIGHTS Into Children's Temperament intervention or a supplemental reading program. In the INSIGHTS intervention, teachers and parents received education on the best ways to appreciate and support differences in the personalities of children and learned child management strategies that match children's temperaments. Children also had lessons on temperaments and on understanding and solving daily dilemmas. Findings showed that children enrolled in INSIGHTS experienced greater growth in math and reading achievement and more sustained attention than children enrolled in the supplemental reading program. In addition, children participating in INSIGHTS had fewer behavior problems over time, while those enrolled in the supplemental reading program had more such problems (Journal of Educational Psychologyopens in new window, online April 21).
Doing something — possibly even self-harm — is better than doing nothing for most people, finds a study led by a University of Virginia psychologist. In a series of 11 studies, researchers found that participants from a range of ages generally did not enjoy spending even brief periods of time — between 6 and 15 minutes — alone in a room with nothing to do but think or daydream. Instead, they enjoyed more focused activities, such as listening to music or using a smartphone. Some even preferred to spend the time giving themselves mild electric shocks rather than to spend it thinking (Scienceopens in new window, July 4).
Female managers in science and engineering firms were more likely than male managers to be influenced by a boss's or colleague's attitudes about whether to hire, promote and retain women in their companies, according to a survey of 233 middle managers. In the study, conducted at the California School of Professional Psychology, researchers found that concern about what another person might think was more likely to lead female managers to forgo women-friendly hiring practices. Many participants also believed that women can be harder to manage, emotional, sensitive and distracted by family-related commitments, and that these characteristics may result in women being less committed to their work or to advancing their careers (Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Researchopens in new window, June).
Bigger cigarette warning labels could prompt more smokers to quit, according to research led at the Cancer Council Victoria in Melbourne, Australia. The study examined data from telephone surveys and follow-up calls conducted with more than 5,000 smokers in four countries from 2007 to 2009. The findings indicate that small, text-only warning labels, such as those on U.S. cigarette packs, prompt people to think about the health risks of smoking, and people who notice the warnings regularly are more likely to try to quit. However, larger, more graphic warning labels that showcase photos of mouth or throat cancer, used in Australia, among other countries, were better at getting people's attention and motivating them to attempt quitting (Health Psychology, online June 30).
Heavily decorated classrooms may disrupt attention and learning in young children, according to a study by Carnegie Mellon psychologists. The researchers placed 24 kindergarten students in laboratory classrooms for six introductory science lessons on unfamiliar topics. The researchers taught three lessons in a heavily decorated classroom and delivered three others in a sparse classroom. They found that the children were more distracted, spent more time off-task and demonstrated smaller learning gains in the highly decorated classrooms than when the decorations were removed (Psychological Scienceopens in new window, July).
Twenty-four hours of sleep deprivation can lead to symptoms of schizophrenia in healthy people, according to a study by researchers at the University of Bonn and King's College London. Sleep lab scientists kept 24 healthy adults awake all night with movies, conversation, games and brief walks. The next morning, they asked participants about their thoughts and feelings and measured their pre-pulse inhibition of the acoustic startle response, a standard test to measure the filtering function of the brain. The study showed that participants' pre-pulse inhibition was significantly reduced. Participants experienced pronounced attention deficits, indicated more sensitivity to light, color or brightness and reported altered senses of time and smell (Journal of Neuroscienceopens in new window, July 2).
College athletes who have abusive coaches are more willing to cheat to win than players with more supportive coaches, according to research led by scientists at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The study was based on surveys from nearly 20,000 student athletes at more than 600 colleges, representing 11 men's and 13 women's sports. Players who said they had coaches who ridiculed or put them down in front of others also were more likely to report that their coaches didn't create inclusive team environments and that both their coaches and teammates were less respectful of people from other racial or ethnic groups. The players also reported that they were more willing to cheat to win a game than players with nonabusive coaches. The study also found that players with more ethical and supportive coaches were more likely to be happy about their college choice and to feel included on their teams (Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychologyopens in new window, online July 7).
The less older adults sleep, the faster their brains age, according to a study conducted at Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore. Scientists examined data from 66 Chinese adults age 55 and older who underwent structural MRI brain scans measuring brain volume and neuropsychological assessments testing cognitive function every two years. They also completed a questionnaire recording their sleep duration. Participants who slept fewer hours showed evidence of a faster decline in cognitive performance as a result of more rapid brain ventricle enlargement (SLEEPopens in new window, July).
Early elementary school start times may negatively affect students' ability to learn — particularly among more affluent families, according to a study led by a University of Kentucky psychologist. Researchers examined standardized test scores of reading, math, science, social studies and writing skills of students from 718 public elementary schools in Kentucky. They found that early start times were associated with worse performance in schools in more affluent districts, where fewer kids got free or reduced-cost lunches. Among schools with more disadvantaged students, start times did not seem to make a difference in performance — perhaps because these children already have so many other risk factors, the authors suggest (Journal of Educational Psychologyopens in new window, online June 16).
Children who have strong bonds with their parents make better friends and are more adaptable, suggests research from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Researchers assessed how securely attached 114 33-month-old children were to their mothers, and asked parents to rate their children's temperament, including anger proneness and social fearfulness. Six months later, children of the same gender were randomly paired and observed over three laboratory visits in a one-month period. Investigators found that securely attached kids were more responsive to a new peer partner and were more likely to use suggestions and requests rather than commands to get what they wanted. When paired with anger-prone peers, securely attached children also adapted their behavior over time to become more controlling themselves (Developmental Psychologyopens in new window, June).
Children in homes affected by violence, suicide or the incarceration of a family member have significantly shorter telomeres — a cellular marker of aging — than kids in stable households, finds research conducted at Tulane University. Researchers took genetic samples from 80 children ages 5 to 15 in New Orleans and interviewed their parents about their home environments and exposures to adverse life events. Even after controlling for the child's age, parental age, household income, maternal education and other factors, the researchers found that the more traumatic events the children were exposed to, the shorter their telomeres (Pediatricsopens in new window, online June 16).
Babies from lower income families whose mothers work outside the home fare as well as or even better as kindergarteners than those with stay-at-home moms, finds research out of Boston College. The study used data from a federal education longitudinal survey that followed 10,700 children born in the United States in 2001, collecting data when children were 9 months old, 2 years old and 4 years old, and when they entered kindergarten. Children's cognitive skills were measured at the start of kindergarten, and teachers reported on their behavior in the classroom. The researchers found that children from low-income families had slightly higher cognitive skills if their mothers went back to work before they were 9 months old, and fewer conduct problems if their mothers went back to work when they were 9 months old to 24 months old. For children in high-income households, however, having a mom who went back to work quickly was linked with small detrimental effects on children's cognitive skills and behavior (Developmental Psychologyopens in new window, online June 9).
Female-named hurricanes kill about twice as many people as male-named hurricanes, possibly because people underestimate the power of a "woman," according to a study led by a University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign scientist. Researchers examined the most damaging hurricanes in the United States between 1950 and 2012, excluding a couple of outliers, including Katrina in 2005. The researchers found that female-named storms killed an average of 45 people, while comparable hurricanes with male names killed about half as many, likely because female-named hurricanes lead to a lower perceived risk and consequently less preparedness. When scientists asked about a male-named hurricane, like Alexander, they found that people predicted a more violent storm than when asked about a female-named hurricane, like Alexandra. Study participants were also more willing to evacuate to avoid a hypothetical Hurricane Victor than a Hurricane Victoria (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciencesopens in new window, online June 2).
— Amy Novotney
