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155 news posts in Psychology

Psychology

17 Jun 2022

Colorful urban environments, even if just in virtual reality, promote wellbeing

By Conn Hasting, science writer Colorful virtual reality cityscape. Image credit: A. Batistatou, F. Vandeville, and Y.N. Delevoye-Turrell Urban environments can be drab and stressful, but introducing vegetation or colorful designs could improve the wellbeing of city dwellers. A new study investigated the potential of these simple interventions using a virtual reality simulation. It found that green vegetation was pleasurable for volunteers, whereas colorful designs increased curiosity and fascination. The virtual methods could be useful for urban planners in testing new methods to improve wellbeing.   Drab urban environments tend to increase our stress, whereas nature can soothe the soul, but how do you get the best of both? One option is to increase color and vegetation in cities, but finding the best approach can be tricky. A new study in Frontiers in Virtual Reality tested the effects of vegetation and colorful patterns in an urban environment. Employing virtual reality, the study found that green vegetation caused volunteers to walk more slowly, while also increasing their heartrate, indicating a pleasurable experience. Meanwhile, colorful patterns increased alertness, fascination and curiosity. The study illustrates the potential of simple interventions to improve the lives of urbanites, and also the power of virtual reality […]

Psychology

09 Mar 2022

Editor’s Choice Awards: Frontiers in Psychology (Positive Psychology)

In March 2021, Frontiers in Psychology launched a new section dedicated to the scientific advancement of Positive Psychology. This new section aimed to provide an interdisciplinary platform for disseminating cutting-edge scientific research on the science and practice of positive psychology. Over the last year, the section established itself as the 12th most popular within the entire Psychology collection, with more than 273 submissions and 17 special issues submitted from 6 continents and 55 countries. It also gained a significant amount of international exposure, with the editors being invited to represent the section at several international positive psychology societies and conferences. The editorial board comprises 2 Specialty Chief Editors, 31 Associate Editors, and 145 Review Editors who collaborate closely to ensure high-quality reviews and fast turnaround times to fast track the dissemination of scientific discoveries.  Over the past year, the section’s success depended heavily upon a close, symbiotic relationship between the editorial office, the editorial board (associate and review editors), and our contributing authors. Although each of these stakeholders played a significant role in growing the section, a few outliers have gone above and beyond the call of duty this year. With this significant contribution in mind, we want to recognize […]

Psychology

28 Feb 2022

Origins of life and plastic invasions: The most viewed Frontiers news articles of January 2022

By Colm Gorey, Science Communications Manager Image: DisobeyArt/Shutterstock.com Each month, Frontiers shines a spotlight on some of the leading research across a wide range of topics. Here are just some of the highlights that resonated strongly with readers on our news site in the month of January. Likely energy source behind first life on Earth found ‘hiding in plain sight’ Life on Earth arose roughly 4bn years ago. How it arose, and from what energy source is of interest to everyone because we humans like to know where we come from. The team of Prof William Martin at the University Düsseldorf’s Institute of Molecular Evolution investigates early evolution. In a recent paper in Frontiers in Microbiology, they argue that the source of energy required at life’s origin has been hiding in plain sight: under the environmental conditions at deep sea hydrothermal vents, hypothesized to have been the sites where life on Earth originated, the central biosynthetic reactions of life do not require an external energy source. Article link: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2021.793664/full 2. How do we define a well-lived life? First scientific evidence helps us get closer to an answer A transition, such as the beginning of a new year or entering the second half of life, […]

Psychology

15 Dec 2021

Are older people more likely to fall for Covid-19 scams than younger people?

By Colm Gorey, science communications manager Image: mimagephotography/Shutterstock.com Not long after the Covid-19 pandemic began, a surge in scams targeting people’s fears was seen across the globe. Yet despite the disease posing a greater threat to older people, it wasn’t known whether this demographic were more likely to fall for these scams. Now, a study published to Frontiers has found that contrary to stereotypes, older people are less likely to fall for the alleged benefits of scams than middle-aged and younger people are. Are older people more likely to fall for Covid-19 scams than younger generations? Despite a prevailing mentality that older people are less up to speed on the latest technology and 21st century scams, new research suggests that cautiousness concerning scams does not vary between age groups. In our highly interconnected age, the opportunities to try and exploit people into handing over large sums of money through various falsehoods are now widespread. Unsurprisingly, the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic also coincided with the start of a new wave of scams. By October of this year, the US Federal Trade Commission reported more than 270,000 Covid-19 fraud cases that cost their victims a total of more than $580m. But […]

Psychology

24 Nov 2021

Electroconvulsive therapy is safe for treatment of mental conditions, shows large-scale study

By K.E.D. Coan, science writer Electroconvulsive therapy may be one of the most effective treatments for depression and severe mental conditions. But ongoing stigma associated with this therapeutic approach prevents it from being used more frequently. A recent study published in Frontiers in Psychology shows that, at least for one treatment center in Germany, the rate of life-threatening adverse events is less than 0.1%, suggesting that the medical community can safely use the method more broadly. The safety concerns associated with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) are unwarranted, according to a new study in Frontiers in Psychology. In part due to historical misuse and cinematic portrayals such as in One flew over the cuckoo’s nest, physicians and patients have been reluctant to use this approach. But extensive evidence appears to show that ECT may be one of the most valuable and effective options for severe and treatment-resistant mental conditions such as schizophrenia and depression. This latest study of more than 3,100 ECT sessions in a German psychiatric hospital appears to confirm that ECT is also very safe. There were no cases of permanent impairments from the treatment and only three sessions (<0.1%) caused potentially life-threatening events, which were all resolved by medical […]

Psychology

28 Sep 2021

Deep dive into global Twitter posts reveals possible drop in negativity towards Covid-19 pandemic

By Colm Gorey, Frontiers science writer Image: Sattalat Phukkum/Shutterstock.com An in-depth analysis of more than 120m Twitter posts across the globe has shown that users’ perception of the Covid-19 pandemic became less negative as it has progressed. In a paper published to Frontiers, its authors found a significant decrease in negativity in countries which rolled out extensive vaccination programs, such as the US, the UK, and Canada. The devastation and distress brought by the Covid-19 pandemic to millions of lives goes without question, but trying to gauge an entire planet’s changing perception of the disease over time can seem an almost impossible task. Yet with some estimates showing that almost 4.5bn people now use some form of social media online, researchers are tapping into this vast resource in an attempt to create a clearer picture of how the perception of this life-changing event has shifted since early 2020. Now, publishing their findings in Frontiers in Psychology, scientists from Vanderbilt University in the US and the Federal Technological University of Paraná in Brazil have tapped into one enormous dataset of Twitter posts (tweets) to show that the number of negative posts about Covid-19 is dropping, especially in countries which rolled out […]