All Articles Tagged As: social skills

Gene Associated with Social Behavior in Animals Has Similar Effects in Human Males (9/3/2008)

A gene variant related to the hormone vasopressin appears to be associated with how human males bond with their partners or wives ...> Full Article

Cooperation Impaired in People with Borderline Personality Disorder (8/15/2008)

A new study in Science suggests that borderline personality disorder may arise partly through abnormalities in a brain region involved in cooperation and social exchange. ...> Full Article

It's enough to make you blush (8/10/2008)

An academic is to delve into a series of embarrassing situations in an attempt to discover who makes us blush. ...> Full Article

Aggressive preschoolers found to have fewer friends than others (7/24/2008)

Preschoolers who are aggressive, angry, and inattentive tend to have fewer playmates than their non-aggressive classmates, whether they are boys or girls. ...> Full Article

Money Makes the Heart Grow Less Fond ... but More Hardworking (7/18/2008)

Researchers found that participants' personal performance improved, and interpersonal relationships and sensitivity towards others declined, when they were reminded of money. ...> Full Article

New study shows persistence of anxiety (7/4/2008)

New research indicates that the brains of those suffering from anxiety and severe shyness in social situations consistently respond more strongly to stress and show signs of being anxious even in situations that others find safe. ...> Full Article

New hope for sufferers of social anxiety (7/3/2008)

Young people and adults who experience social anxiety may benefit from a revolutionary new study ...> Full Article

Study shows 'being fat in today's world' invites social discrimination (6/27/2008)

Obese people feel "a culture of blame" against them, which they say has been made worse by media reports about the health risks of obesity ...> Full Article

When the Powerless Rise Up (6/21/2008)

Power leads to positive action, but only when acquired legitimately ...> Full Article

'Faulty' brain connections may be responsible for social impairments in autism (6/16/2008)

New evidence shows that the brains of adults with autism are "wired" differently from people without the disorder, and this abnormal pattern of connectivity may be responsible for the social impairments that are characteristic of autism. ...> Full Article

Brain's 'trust machinery' identified (5/24/2008)

The brain centers triggered by a betrayal of trust have been identified by researchers, who found they could suppress such triggering and maintain trust by administering the brain chemical oxytocin. The researchers said their findings not only offer basic insights into the neural machinery underlying trust; the results may also help in understanding the neural basis of social disorders such as phobias and autism. ...> Full Article

Teens' perception that they are liked found to be at least as important as actually being liked (5/19/2008)

A new study has found that teenagers who feel good about themselves and are comfortable with their peers can also be socially successful without being popular in the traditional sense ...> Full Article

Having less power impairs the mind and ability to get ahead, study shows (5/18/2008)

New research suggests that being put in a low-power role may impair a person's basic cognitive functioning and thus, their ability to get ahead. ...> Full Article

United We Stand: When cooperation butts heads with competition (5/1/2008)

Study reveals that the individuals preferred choosing cooperation over competition, when given the option to do so ...> Full Article

Reputation and money: New insights into how the brain processes social, economic reward (4/29/2008)

Researchers have mapped the brain regions that process social standing and money rewards, yielding new insights that they said will aid understanding of the basis of social behaviors. ...> Full Article

Why dominant individuals climb the proverbial ladder (4/27/2008)

Scientists using metaphor and symbolism to determine socially dominant people ...> Full Article

Human brain appears 'hard-wired' for hierarchy (4/26/2008)

Scans hint at why it can be unhealthy even at the top ...> Full Article

More clues to midlife dementia that erases personality (4/22/2008)

New clues have been uncovered about a mystifying, hidden dementia that robs its victims of empathy and social skills, and leads to an early death. ...> Full Article

Study finds teasing may be more damaging than once thought (4/20/2008)

Children are more likely to interpret teasing -- even teasing intended to be harmless -- as negative rather than positive ...> Full Article

Are humans hardwired for fairness? (4/17/2008)

Is fairness simply a ruse, something we adopt only when we secretly see an advantage in it for ourselves? Many psychologists have in recent years moved away from this purely utilitarian view, dismissing it as too simplistic. Recent advances in both cognitive science and neuroscience now allow psychologists to approach this question in some different ways, and they are getting some intriguing results. ...> Full Article

Researchers Find Sex Differences in Monkey Toy Preferences Similar to Humans (4/11/2008)

Nonhuman primate-based behavioral studies suggest hormones may shape preferences ...> Full Article

Who's bad? Chimps figure it out by observation (4/2/2008)

Experiments test chimpanzees' ability to make judgments about the reputation of strangers ...> Full Article

Neurons hard wired to tell left from right (4/2/2008)

It's well known that the left and right sides of the brain differ in many animal species and this is thought to influence cognitive performance and social behaviour. For instance, in humans, the left half of the brain is concerned with language processing whereas the right side is better at comprehending musical melody. ...> Full Article

Antisocial conduct and decision making about aggressive behavior influence each other in teens (3/27/2008)

A new study challenges the idea that antisocial behavior is relatively unchangeable during the teenage years ...> Full Article

Brains are hardwired to act according to the Golden Rule (3/23/2008)

Brains are hardwired to do unto others as we would have them do unto us ...> Full Article

Punishment does not earn rewards or cooperation, study finds (3/22/2008)

Winners don't punish, say the authors of a forthcoming Nature paper ...> Full Article

Which came first, social dominance or big brains? Wasps may tell (3/13/2008)

There's new evidence supporting the idea that bigger brains are better. A study of a tropical wasp suggests that the brainpower required to be dominant drives brain capacity. ...> Full Article

New Study Examines our Gazes During Potentially Offensive Behavior (3/7/2008)

It's happened to all of us: While sitting at the conference table or at dinner party, a friend or colleague unleashes a questionable remark that could offend at least one person amongst the group. A hush falls and, if you're like most people, your eyes will dart towards the person most likely to take offense to the faux pas. It's a doubly unpleasant experience for the offended: Not only have you been insulted, but you have also suddenly become the center of unwelcome attention. ...> Full Article

Psychologist finds gender differences in forgiving (3/4/2008)

Forgiveness can be a powerful means to healing, but it does not come naturally for both sexes. Men have a harder time forgiving than women do, according to Case Western Reserve University psychologist Julie Juola Exline. But that can change if men develop empathy toward an offender by seeing they may also be capable of similar actions. Then the gender gap closes, and men become less vengeful. ...> Full Article

When People Feel Powerful, They Ignore New Opinions, Study Finds (2/18/2008)

Don't bother trying to persuade your boss of a new idea while he's feeling the power of his position - new research suggests he's not listening to you. ...> Full Article

Sheep in human clothing - scientists reveal our flock mentality (2/15/2008)

Have you ever arrived somewhere and wondered how you got there? Scientists at the University of Leeds believe they may have found the answer, with research that shows that humans flock like sheep and birds, subconsciously following a minority of individuals. ...> Full Article

Poor recognition of 'self' found in high functioning people with autism (2/9/2008)

Contrary to popular notions, people at the high end of the autism spectrum disorder continuum suffer most from an inability to model "self" rather than impaired ability to respond to others, said Baylor College of Medicine researchers in a report that appear in the journal Neuron. ...> Full Article

A good fight may keep you and your marriage healthy (1/25/2008)

A good fight with your spouse may be good for your health, research suggests. ...> Full Article

Kids learn more when mom is listening (1/24/2008)

Kids may roll their eyes when their mother asks them about their school day, but answering her may actually help them learn. New research from Vanderbilt University reveals that children learn the solution to a problem best when they explain it to their mom. ...> Full Article

People not always needed to alleviate loneliness (1/19/2008)

New research at the University of Chicago finds evidence for a clever way that people manage to alleviate the pain of loneliness: They create people in their surroundings to keep them company. ...> Full Article

Popular opinion not always so popular (1/13/2008)

Whether you're a voter choosing the next president, a manager making policy decisions or a consumer selecting a brand, it's likely your decision is influenced by the opinions of others. ...> Full Article

Culture Influences Brain Function (1/12/2008)

People from different cultures use their brains differently to solve the same visual perceptual tasks, MIT researchers and colleagues report in the first brain imaging study of its kind. ...> Full Article

Public Policy Fails to Address the Effects of Media Violence on Children (12/30/2007)

Highly publicized events such as school shootings arouse public interest in the effects of media violence exposure on children, yet there is still considerable public debate about whether to take this issue seriously. A recent article in Social Issues and Policy Review summarizes the research on the effects of media violence and convincingly demonstrates the profound influence that media violence is having in our society. ...> Full Article

Unsupervised children are more sociable and more active (12/27/2007)

Youngsters who are allowed to leave the house without an adult are more active and enjoy a richer social life than those who are constantly supervised, according to a study conducted at UCL and reported in a special edition of the journal Built Environment (19th December). ...> Full Article

Behavioral Therapy Effectively Treats Children with Social Phobia (12/22/2007)

A behavioral therapy designed to treat children diagnosed with social phobia helped them overcome more of their symptoms than the antidepressant fluoxetine (Prozac), according to an NIMH-funded study published in the December 2007 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. ...> Full Article

New drug can restore social ability in schizophrenics (12/8/2007)

The social behaviour of rats displaying schizophrenic tendencies is restored when they are treated with two new potential drugs that seem to have unique effects on dopaminergic signalling. This is a conclusion of a thesis from the Sahlgrenska Academy. ...> Full Article

Children's Bad Behavior Gives Insights to Academic Achievement and Later Career Success (11/29/2007)

Early behavior problems don't impede children's school achievement, but persistent problems may impede educational and occupational outcomes. ...> Full Article

New discoveries about nitric oxide can provide drugs for schizophrenia (11/26/2007)

Problems with memory and social function in patients with schizophrenia may result from an imbalance in the brain's nitric oxide system. A dissertation from the Sahlgrenska Academy shows that rats with characteristics of schizophrenia regain normal brain function if they receive drugs that reduce the production of nitric oxide in the brain. ...> Full Article

Effects of Social Isolation Traced to Brain Hormone (11/15/2007)

The anxiety and aggression that result from social isolation have been traced to altered levels of an enzyme that controls production of a brain hormone. ...> Full Article

Want to influence someone? Pile on the information (11/12/2007)

Politicians and marketers take note: when it comes to persuading people who have ambivalent attitudes, more is more. ...> Full Article

Research indicates dogs have some ability to read minds (11/7/2007)

Dog owners who think their beloved pooch can read their mind may be right. ...> Full Article

Holier than thou? Employees who believe they are 'ethical' or 'moral' might not be (11/5/2007)

Bad behavior seems rampant in business, and scholars are divided as to why people act ethically or unethically. Many have argued that ethical behavior is the result of simple judgments between right and wrong. Others suggest that the driving force behind ethical behavior is the individual's moral identity, or whether the individual thinks of him/herself as an ethical person. ...> Full Article

Humans And Monkeys Share Machiavellian Intelligence (10/26/2007)

When it comes to their social behavior, people sometimes act like monkeys, or more specifically, like rhesus macaques, a type of monkey that shares with humans strong tendencies for nepotism and political maneuvering. ...> Full Article

Scientists To Study Psychosocial Stress (10/21/2007)

Researchers are studying the effectiveness of a wrist-mounted instrument for measuring psychosocial stress exposure during the course of daily life. ...> Full Article

Predicting the future of the past tense (10/19/2007)

Mathematicians apply evolutionary models to language ...> Full Article

How Shyness Became a Mental Illness (10/17/2007)

What's wrong with being shy, and just when and how did bashfulness and other ordinary human behaviors in children and adults become psychiatric disorders treatable with powerful, potentially dangerous drugs, asks a Northwestern University scholar in a new book that already is creating waves in the mental health community. ...> Full Article

Rejection sets off alarms for folks with low self-esteem (10/12/2007)

Few can tolerate such romantic or professional rebuffs as "It's not you, it's me" and "we regret to inform you that your application was not successful." But while a healthy dose of self-esteem can absorb the shock of rejection, poor self-esteem can trigger the primal fight-or-flight response. ...> Full Article

Infant Expert Helps Show Children Learn Language Skills Earlier Than Thought (10/2/2007)

Research with English-language babies shows toddlers are learning language skills earlier than expected, and by the age of 18 months understand enough of the lexicon of their own language to recognize how speakers use sounds to convey meaning. ...> Full Article

Study on Joint Attention Has Implications for Understanding Autism (9/29/2007)

A hallmark of human nature is the ability to share information and to comprehend the thoughts and intentions of others. This capability involves social cognition (the cognitive processes involved in social interaction) and makes a significant contribution to the foundations for language development, as well as social competence. It also sets us apart from other primates. ...> Full Article

New Study Reveals Higher Social Skills Are Uniquely Human (9/7/2007)

Apes bite and try to break a tube to retrieve the food inside while children follow the experimenter's example to get inside the tube to retrieve the prize, showing that even before preschool, toddlers are more sophisticated in their social learning skills than their closest primate relatives. ...> Full Article

Young researcher looks for scientific basis of human social behaviour (8/27/2007)

Humans are social animals even more than was thought, including those suffering from autism and conditions that make it hard to relate to others. Cooperative behaviour is deeply ingrained in nearly all people, but the underlying cognitive processes that make this happen are poorly understood. The cognitive scientist Natalie Sebanz has won a European Young Investigator Awards (EURYI) Award from the European Science Foundation (ESF) to identify the underlying mechanisms and neurological structures underpinning the great human ability to cooperate and participate jointly in tasks that require close coordination with others. ...> Full Article