Characteristics of Near-Death Experiences Memories as Compared to Real and Imagined Events Memories Marie Thonnard, Vanessa Charland-Verville, Serge Bre ́dart, Hedwige Dehon, Didier Ledoux, Steven Laureys, and Audrey Vanhaudenhuyse Since the dawn of time, Near-Death Experiences (NDEs) have intrigued and, nowadays, are still not fully explained. Since reports of NDEs are proposed to be […]
Study Alerts
STUDY ALERT: Why We Essentialize Mental Disorders
Why We Essentialize Mental Disorders PIETER R. ADRIAENS and ANDREAS DE BLOCK Essentialism is one of the most pervasive problems in mental health research. Many psychiatrists still hold the view that their nosologies will enable them, sooner or later, to carve nature at its joints and to identify and chart the essence of mental disorders. […]
STUDY ALERT: Intensive Reasoning Training Alters Patterns of Brain Connectivity at Rest
Intensive Reasoning Training Alters Patterns of Brain Connectivity at Rest Allyson P. Mackey, Alison T. Miller Singley, and Silvia A. Bunge Patterns of correlated activity among brain regions reflect functionally relevant networks that are widely assumed to be stable over time. We hypothesized that if these correlations reflect the prior history of coactivation of brain […]
STUDY ALERT: Is Working Memory Training Effective? A Meta-Analytic Review
Is Working Memory Training Effective? A Meta-Analytic Review Monica Melby-Lervåg and Charles Hulme It has been suggested that working memory training programs are effective both as treatments for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other cognitive disorders in children and as a tool to improve cognitive ability and scholastic attainment in typically developing children and adults. However, […]
STUDY ALERT: Analytic Thinking Promotes Religious Disbelief
Analytic Thinking Promotes Religious Disbelief Will M. Gervais and Ara Norenzayan Scientific interest in the cognitive underpinnings of religious belief has grown in recent years. However, to date, little experimental research has focused on the cognitive processes that may promote religious disbelief. The present studies apply a dual-process model of cognitive processing to this problem, testing the […]
STUDY ALERT: Presence of FDS function in the small fingers of professional string players: natural selection?
Assessment of the presence of independent flexor digitorum superficialis function in the small fingers of professional string players: Is this an example of natural selection? Y. Godwin, G. A. C. Wheble and C. Feig This study estimated the prevalence of independent flexor digitorum superficialis function in the small fingers of 90 violin and viola players. […]
STUDY ALERT: Men and Women Are From Earth: Examining the Latent Structure of Gender
Men and Women Are From Earth: Examining the Latent Structure of Gender Bobbi Carothers and Harry Reis Taxometric methods enable determination of whether the latent structure of a construct is dimensional or taxonic (nonarbitrary categories). Although sex as a biological category is taxonic, psychological gender differences have not been examined in this way. The taxometric methods of […]
STUDY ALERT: Working Memory Training Associated with Lower Prefrontal Cortex Activation in Divergent Thinking
Working Memory Training Is Associated with Lower Prefrontal Cortex Activation in a Divergent Thinking Task Oshin Vartanian, Marie-Eve Jobidon, Fethi Bouak, Ann Nakashima, Ingrid Smith, Quan Lam, Bob Cheung Working memory (WM) training has been shown to lead to improvements in WM capacity and fluid intelligence. Given that divergent thinking loads on WM and fluid intelligence, we […]
STUDY ALERT: Developing Intuition: Neural Correlates of Cognitive-Skill Learning in Caudate Nucleus
Developing Intuition: Neural Correlates of Cognitive-Skill Learning in Caudate Nucleus Xiaohong Wan, Daisuke Takano, Takeshi Asamizuya, Chisato Suzuki, Kenichi Ueno, Kang Cheng, Takeshi Ito, and Keiji Tanaka The superior capability of cognitive experts largely depends on automatic, quick information processing, which is often referred to as intuition. Intuition develops following extensive long-term training. There […]
STUDY ALERT: Identification of Gifted Students in the United States Today
Identification of Gifted Students in the United States Today: A Look at State Definitions, Policies, and Practices MARY-CATHERINE McCLAIN and STEVEN PFEIFFER Definitions of what constitute students who are gifted and talented as well as policies and procedures to identify these high-ability stu- dents play a critical role in determining which individuals actually receive gifted […]
STUDY ALERT: Use of Brief Intelligence Tests in the Identification of Giftedness
Use of Brief Intelligence Tests in the Identification of Giftedness Eric E. Pierson, Lydia M. Kilmer, Barbara A. Rothlisberg and David E. McIntosh Schools often administer brief intelligence tests as the first step in the identification of students who are cognitively gifted. However, brief measures are often used without consideration of underlying constructs or […]
STUDY ALERT: An Empirical Investigation of the WAIS-III and WAIS-IV and Implications for Atkins Criterion
An Empirical Investigation of the WAIS-III and WAIS-IV and Implications for Addressing the Atkins Intelligence Criterion GORDON E. TAUB, PhD and NICHOLAS BENSON, PhD “Which test provides the better measurement of intelligence, the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition (WAIS-III) or the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV)?” is an important question to professional psychologists; […]