Constructive criticism craved
According to research in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychologyopens in new window, people consistently underestimate others’ desire for constructive criticism and therefore don’t provide it, even when it could improve the recipient’s performance. In a pilot study in the United States, researchers found that only 4 out of 155 participants provided feedback to a survey administrator who had food or lipstick on their face. Across three studies with 1,224 participants, they found that the primary factor for this lack of feedback is that people underestimate how much others desire constructive criticism. This underestimation was noted across 10 hypothetical scenarios (study 1), recalled feedback experiences (study 2), and real-time feedback among participants (study 3). A fourth study with 600 participants revealed that asking feedback-givers to consider receivers’ perspectives improved givers’ recognition of others’ desire for feedback. Finally, a fifth study with 204 participants demonstrated that giving less constructive feedback resulted in less improvement in feedback-receivers’ public-speaking performance. DOI: 10.1037/pspi0000393
Ozone boosts depression risk
Exposure to ozone from air pollution may significantly increase risk of depression for adolescents, indicates a study in Developmental Psychologyopens in new window. Researchers analyzed data from a previous study about early-life stress with 213 participants ages 9 to 13 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The researchers compared data about the participants’ mental health over four years with air quality data for their neighborhoods. They found that adolescents exposed to higher ozone levels had significantly more depressive symptoms over time, even though ozone levels in their neighborhoods didn’t exceed state or national air quality standards. The findings were not affected by the participants’ sex, age, race, household income, parental education, or the socioeconomic characteristics of their neighborhoods. DOI: 10.1037/dev0001310
False understanding
Although people have concerns about the processes involved in algorithm-based decision-making, humans are often just as opaque in their reasoning, suggests research in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Generalopens in new window. In three initial studies, researchers presented online participants with one of three scenarios in which they were told a human expert or an algorithm had to make a decision related to health care, criminal justice, or hiring. In all scenarios, participants reported having a better understanding of the human’s decision-making process than the algorithm’s process. But when asked to explain how a human or algorithm would come to a decision, the gap in “understanding” scores between the human and algorithm vanished. Two more studies with 800 participants suggest that this “illusion of understanding” arises because people project their decision-making processes onto humans but not algorithms. DOI: 10.1037/xge0001181
Covid double standards
People apply higher Covid self-quarantine standards to others than to themselves, but only when a relatively low threat is perceived, suggests research in the European Journal of Social Psychologyopens in new window. In the first of three studies, researchers asked 535 participants in the United States how severe they thought the pandemic was in their city and then presented them with a scenario in which they or someone else had to self-quarantine at home following international travel. They found that participants were more likely to indicate that self-quarantining was necessary when the scenario involved someone else rather than themselves. This difference was absent when the participants perceived that local threat of infection was high. For the second and third studies, with 553 participants in China and 1,092 participants in the United States, the researchers experimentally manipulated the perceived pandemic threat level, again finding a difference in self-quarantine standards under low-threat but not high-threat conditions. DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.2834
Oxytocin high in hypersexual disorder
Research in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolismopens in new window indicates that men with hypersexual disorder, or sex addiction, may have elevated levels of oxytocin, the so-called “love hormone.” Researchers analyzed blood samples of 64 men in Sweden with hypersexual disorder and 38 age-matched healthy men and found that the men with hypersexual disorder had higher levels of oxytocin in their blood. Furthermore, oxytocin levels were positively correlated with ratings of hypersexual behavior. Thirty of the men with hypersexual disorder underwent cognitive behavioral therapy designed to reduce oxytocin and did, indeed, have a significant reduction in their oxytocin levels following treatment. The researchers suggest that oxytocin holds promise as a potential biomarker for hypersexual disorder diagnosis. DOI: 10.1210/clinem/dgac015
Amygdala overgrowth in autism
According to a study in The American Journal of Psychiatryopens in new window, the amygdala—a brain structure enlarged in 2-year-old children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)—begins its sped-up growth between 6 and 12 months of age, suggesting that therapies to reduce ASD symptoms may be most successful if initiated in the first year of life. Researchers conducted three MRI scans of 408 U.S. infants, including 270 who were at higher ASD risk because they had an older sibling with ASD, 109 typically developing infants, and 29 infants with fragile X syndrome. The scans were taken at 6, 12, and 24 months of age. The researchers found that the 58 infants who went on to develop ASD had a normal-size amygdala at 6 months but an enlarged amygdala at 12 months and 24 months. Furthermore, the faster the amygdala overgrowth, the more severe ASD symptoms were at 24 months. The infants with fragile X syndrome showed no amygdala overgrowth, but at 6 months they did show enlargement of the caudate, which was linked to increased repetitive behaviors. DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.21090896
Poverty bad for brain development
Research in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciencesopens in new window indicates that after one year of cash support to low-income families, 1-year-olds exhibited increased brain activity patterns associated with the development of thinking and learning. Shortly after giving birth, 1,000 mothers in the United States were randomized to receive either $333 or $20 per month. The mothers, most of whom identified as Black or Latina, were free to spend the money however they chose. After one year, the researchers measured brain activity of children from 435 of the families. Compared with infants of mothers in the low-cash group, infants of mothers in the high-cash group had more high-frequency resting brain activity, which has previously been associated with better language, cognitive, and social–emotional scores later in life. The researchers will measure the children’s cognition and behavior in subsequent waves of their study. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2115649119
Scientists’ credibility trumps that of gurus
Most religious and nonreligious people are more likely to accept nonsensical statements from scientists than from spiritual gurus, suggests research in Nature Human Behaviouropens in new window. Researchers presented 10,195 participants from 24 countries with two meaningless but profound-sounding statements (e.g., “We are called to explore the cosmos itself as an interface between faith and empathy…”). Participants then rated the credibility of the claims, which were randomly attributed to a scientist or a spiritual guru. Overall, if the statement was attributed to a scientist it was deemed more credible than if it was attributed to a guru. Even religious participants deemed scientists’ statements more credible, although the effect was weaker in that group. The finding was universal across countries, although Dutch participants were the most skeptical of both statements, regardless of the source. The difference in credibility between the scientist and the guru was greatest in Turkey and smallest in India, China, and Japan. DOI: 10.1038/s41562-021-01273-8
Psilocybin’s long-term depression relief
The antidepressant effects of psilocybin, alongside supportive psychotherapy, may last at least a year for some patients, suggests a study in the Journal of Psychopharmacologyopens in new window. Researchers randomized 27 participants with a long-term history of moderate to severe depression into immediate or delayed (8 weeks) groups that received two doses of psilocybin with supportive psychotherapy. They noted large decreases in participants’ depression-rating scores at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months. Scores for treatment response (a reduction in depression scores greater than 50% from baseline) and remission were 75% and 58%, respectively, at 12 months. DOI: 10.1177/02698811211073759
Guilt keeps some away from fast food
According to research in Food Quality and Preferenceopens in new window, people generally avoid fast food not because they think it is unhealthy but because they feel guilty eating it and resisting it gives them a sense of accomplishment. Researchers asked 307 online participants how often and why they ate—or did not eat—fast food. They found that people who regularly consume fast food do so out of convenience and taste. Fast food’s perceived unhealthiness was not a factor for either regular consumers or infrequent consumers. Also, regular and nonregular consumers of fast food were found to deviate from their normal behavior when certain conditions were present (e.g., food safety issues, time pressure, or stress). DOI: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2022.104550
Aha! It’s still poppycock
People tend to believe statements more when comprehending them requires a special effort that results in an “aha” or “eureka” moment, suggests research in Scientific Reportsopens in new window. In the first of two studies, researchers presented 3,000 U.S. participants with 15 “worldview” statements that required them to solve a simple anagram (e.g., Nothing that happens is truly…donmra). The participants rated worldview statements as more valid when they involved solving an anagram and even more so when doing so yielded an aha moment. A second study with 1,564 participants showed that the worldview statement and the aha moment must be perceived simultaneously for the “insight misattribution” effect to occur. Solving the “donmra” anagram and reading the full statement 10 seconds later did not imbue the statement with a greater sense of truth. The researchers discuss the possible implications of these findings, including that artificially induced aha experiences may encourage belief in false central premises. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-05923-3
Most editors of English-language journals are male
According to a study in Nature Neuroscienceopens in new window, most editors of top English-language psychology and neuroscience journals are male and live in the United States. Researchers noted the country of affiliation and gender of the editors at the top 50 journals in both psychology and neuroscience. They found that men accounted for 60% of the editors of psychology journals. There were more male than female editors at each of three levels of editorial seniority, and men made up the majority of editors in more than 75% of the journals. Importantly, the proportion of female editors (40%) was significantly lower than expected based on the overall proportion of psychology researchers in the United States who are women (between 45% and 65%, depending on rank). Almost all psychology editors of English-language journals (91%) were based in either North America or Europe, with 61% coming from the United States—an unexpectedly high proportion given that only 45% of senior authors of psychology articles were based in the United States. The gender differences were even more extreme for neuroscience journals. DOI: 10.1038/s41593-022-01012-w
Amphetamines and psychosis
Users of illicit amphetamines are more than 5 times as likely to experience psychosis as nonusers, according to research in Evidence-Based Mental Healthopens in new window. Researchers examined health data acquired between 2007 and 2016 for 74,601 users of illicit amphetamines in Taiwan and 298,404 controls matched for age and sex. Compared with nonusers, users of illicit amphetamines had poorer health in terms of depression (2% versus 0.4%), anxiety (0.9% versus 0.3%), ischemic heart disease (1.3% versus 0.8%), cardiovascular disease (0.8% versus 0.45%), and stroke (1.3% versus 0.7%). By the end of the 10-year monitoring period, users of illicit amphetamines were also 5.28 times as likely to experience psychosis as those who weren’t using after accounting for age, sex, and comorbid health issues. The likelihood of experiencing psychosis was higher for women users and those with multiple arrests for amphetamine use. Likelihood was lower when users received court-ordered rehabilitation treatment. DOI: 10.1136/ebmental-2021-300300
Illusory faces tend to be male
People are more likely to see male faces when they experience face pareidolia, the illusion of seeing a facial structure in an everyday object, according to a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciencesopens in new window. Researchers asked 3,815 participants in the United States to indicate the emotion, age, and gender of 256 unique illusory faces captured in photos of natural and human-made objects, such as potatoes, suitcases, and pastries. The participants perceived a broad range of emotions across the imaginary faces: happiness (34%), surprise (19%), anger (14%), sadness (9%), fear (4%), disgust (1%), and neutral (19%). Participants thought nearly 75% of the illusory faces were less than 30 years old and 91% were male as opposed to female. The researchers suggest that this strong gender bias means that the visual features that are sufficient for face detection are generally not sufficient for the perception of female faces. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2117413119
Retina thickness as biomarker of cognitive decline
Performing a simple eye test early in life may make it possible to diagnose the earliest stages of cognitive decline in older adults, according to research in JAMA Ophthalmologyopens in new window. Researchers measured the cognitive performance of 865 participants in New Zealand at ages 7, 9, 11, and 45. They also measured the thickness of participants’ retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and ganglion cell layer (GCL) via optical coherence tomography at age 45. They found that thinner RNFL and GCL were associated with lower IQ in childhood and at age 45. Thinner RNFL was also associated with decreases in processing speed from childhood to adulthood. Additional studies are needed to determine whether retinal thinning can predict Alzheimer’s disease or just normal cognitive decline associated with older age. DOI: 10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2021.6082
Dementia mortality lower in large households
A study in Plos Oneopens in new window indicates that older adults who live with family members or in larger households are less likely to die as a result of dementia. Researchers calculated the dementia-specific mortality rates of 183 countries and matched those rates with data on the respective countries’ household size, gross domestic product, urban population, and aging. They found that household size was strongly associated with reduced dementia mortality. The association held when controlling for the contribution of aging, socioeconomic status, and urban lifestyle. The researchers recommend that health care practitioners encourage people with fewer household members to increase their positive interactions with people from their neighborhood as part of routine dementia prevention. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0263309
Postpartum depression soared during Covid
Women who became mothers in the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic experienced postpartum depression at nearly triple prepandemic levels, according to research in BMC Research Notesopens in new window. Researchers collected survey data between February and July 2020 from 670 postpartum mothers in the United States. They found that 33% experienced postpartum depression, an almost threefold increase over the 12% rate of prepandemic postpartum depression. The occurrence of major depressive symptoms was greater during the early pandemic as well, with 20% of patients experiencing such symptoms compared with 6% before the pandemic. In addition, new mothers who fed their infants formula had 92% and 73% greater odds of screening positive for postpartum depression and major depressive symptoms, respectively, compared with those who breastfed or bottle-fed with their own breast milk. Also, new mothers with infants in neonatal intensive care units and those worried about contracting Covid-19 had 74% and 71% greater odds of screening positive, respectively. DOI: 10.1186/s13104-022-05991-8
Quicker schizophrenia screening
A new 5-minute screening tool can identify young people at high risk of developing schizophrenia, suggests a study in Schizophrenia Researchopens in new window. Using a group of 825 participants in Kenya ages 14 to 25, researchers compared a new 16-item questionnaire, called the Washington Early Recognition Center Affectivity and Psychosis (WERCAP) Screen, with the current gold standard for diagnosing schizophrenia, the Structured Interview for Psychosis-Risk Syndromes (SIPS), which is more than 40 pages in length and requires an interviewer with specialized training. The researchers found that the WERCAP tool could identify 78% of those at high risk for schizophrenia and 77% of those who were not—rates similar to the longer, harder-to-administer SIPS test. DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2022.01.031
