June 2006 | Monitor on Psychology
Vol. 37 No. 6
On the Cover: Funny but true
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The formula for funny
Research suggests that the critical ingredient for a chuckle is incongruity. But if you can also point to some unspoken truth, you'll hit humor gold.
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A laughing matter
Psychologists are finding that the ancient roots of laughter predate the idea of “funny”.
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The chuckle connection
Research suggests that humor may play a crucial role in building group rapport, finding a mate and more.
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How laughing leads to learning
Research suggests that humor produces psychological and physiological benefits that help students learn.
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The anatomy of funny
Psychologists using brain imaging are finding that the brain's reward circuit may be the seat of humor appreciation.
SCIENCE WATCH
Mixed-handed people may be better able to remember early childhood memories than strong righties, according to new research.
IN BRIEF
- Meetings frustrate task-oriented employees, study finds
- Burnout harms workers’ physical health through many pathways
- Psychologists testify at Senate video-game hearing
- Music lessons may boost IQ and grades
- APA Practice Organization voices opposition to health insurance act
- Prenatal alcohol exposure variably affects children’s attention
- Early intervention benefits heavier low birth-weight babies longer
- People who self-identify as proactive make better job hunters
- Irrelevant information blurs judgments, study suggests
ETHICS ROUNDS
The discipline of ethics entails giving reasons, which can be a valuable exercise in regard to even the most fundamental of our ethical standards.
Features
A lab-based insight--that focusing on time goals can reduce pain--helps chronic pain patients reclaim their lives.
School psychologists are linking parents with community resources to head off mental illness in children and adolescents.
At the Southwestern Psychological Association Annual Convention, Joshua Aronson suggested ways to counteract the harmful affects of stereotypes about minorities' intellectual abilities.
School psychologists help Katrina-evacuated children express their feelings and tell their stories.
Through CDC-funded programs, psychologists are teaching parents strategies to avoid physical child abuse.
A bill authorizing prescriptive authority for psychologists was approved by the House but held back by a Senate committee.
This new Monitor series offers readers news and information about psychotropic medications their clients may take.
Feds seek compliance, but fines are possible for practitioners who don't protect information.
A national forum focused on the state of mental health care three years after the President's New Freedom Commission report.
Findings on how people identify familiar songs may lend insight into the workings of musical memory.
A new book makes the case for a phase of development between adolescence and adulthood.
A CLOSER LOOK
Div. 54's formal mentoring program creates relationships between pediatric psychologists at any career stage.
PUBLIC POLICY UPDATE
Psychologists are assisting policy-makers in meeting the needs of older Americans.
COLUMNS
From the CEO
In the Public Interest
Judicial Notebook
President's Column
Science Directions