It’s an eerie feeling: You walk into a place you know you’ve never been before but are overwhelmed by a sense of familiarity—a memory you can’t quite reach. Has this all happened before? Most people experience this sensation, known as déjà vu, at some point in their lives. It’s a hard feeling to study, though, […]

Everyone lies. But very few lie quite like George Santos. His lies are so breathtaking they shocked even the jaded denizens of Washington, who have a high tolerance for exaggeration and self-aggrandizement. Who makes up nearly everything — and then runs for public office? The lies that launched a thousand memes have become a staple for late-night

A long-smoldering debate among scientists studying autism has erupted. At issue is language—for example, whether researchers should describe autism as a “disorder,” “disability,” or “difference,” and whether its associated features should be called “symptoms” or simply “traits.” In scientific papers and commentaries published in recent months, some have decried ableist language among their colleagues whereas

… That’s a big part of what I like so much about birding: It’s a way to pay attention. Practicing mindfulness and being present in the moment can be rather difficult, and doing it when you’re out in the world can be especially hard because there are so many distractions. But birding is a way of leaning

Image above: MojNews, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons The 2020 Tokyo Olympics were unique not just for taking place during the COVID-19 pandemic but for being the first athletic event to measure and broadcast competitors’ heart rates as world-class archers took a shot at Olympic gold. Analysis of these biometric data by Yunfeng Lu

The Association for Psychological Science continues to make journal research pertaining to trauma and disasters publicly available. The latest update (February 14, 2023) provides additional resources that are intended to support public understanding of the impact of catastrophes such as natural disasters (including the January 2023 earthquake in Turkey and Syria) and global health pandemics

Diagnoses often oversimplify complex mental health problems. How can researchers and practitioners avoid oversimplifications, improve research, and provide more effective and customized clinical practices?  A recent article published in Current Directions in Psychological Science presented the advantages of studying mental health problems as systems, not syndromes. The author, APS Fellow Eiko Fried, a psychologist and

Results from a study published in Clinical Psychological Science suggest combining alcohol and virtual social interaction had negative effects compared to in-person gatherings. In the study, participants video called either a friend or a stranger seated in a separate room. Researchers gave some participants alcoholic drinks and others nonalcoholic drinks. As the call took place, researchers tracked

Hang out with a 3-year-old and you will quickly be transported to a world of unicorns and superheroes, pretend tea parties and invisible spaceships. Young children spend hours pretending. But why would they spend so much time exploring imaginary worlds when there is so much to learn about the real one? Pretend play may help

Say you’re LeBron James and your long-term goal is to score 38,388 points and break the NBA all-time scoring record. Scoring 30 points in a forgettable mid-season game early in your career was great, but was also just a drop in the 30,000-plus points bucket. Success has, until last night — when you scored 38 points against Oklahoma City to become the all-time scoring leader — was always a lagging indicator. LeBron had to play the long, long game.