Topic description and stories

Boy in school corridor

Limited resources leave school leaders with few options to manage poor behaviour

07 Jun 2023

School leaders in England feel compelled to continue using a system of escalating punitive measures to manage student behaviour, even though they...

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Rewarding accuracy instead of partisan pandering reduces political divisions over the truth

06 Mar 2023

Researchers argue that the findings hold lessons for social media companies and the “perverse incentives” driving political polarisation online.

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Child and mother during lockdown

Study reveals ‘drastic changes’ to daily routines during UK lockdowns

03 Nov 2021

Some spent an extra hour a day on chores and childcare during lockdowns, while others got an added daily hour of solo leisure time – and most of us...

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A screen shot of the Fake News Game on a smart phone.

Fake news ‘vaccine’: online game may ‘inoculate’ by simulating propaganda tactics

20 Feb 2018

A new experiment, launching today online, aims to help ‘inoculate’ against disinformation by providing a small dose of perspective from a “fake news...

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Conservationists’ eco-footprints suggest education alone won’t change behaviour

10 Oct 2017

A new study shows that even those presumably best informed on the environment find it hard to consistently “walk the walk”, prompting scientists to...

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Winner takes all: Success enhances taste for luxury goods, study suggests

19 Sep 2017

Footballers in flashy cars, City workers in Armani suits, reality TV celebrities sipping expensive champagne while sitting in hot tubs: what drives...

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Victorians rally for No New Coal projects

'Psychological vaccine’ could help immunise public against ‘fake news’ on climate change – study

23 Jan 2017

New research finds that misinformation on climate change can psychologically cancel out the influence of accurate statements. However, if legitimate...

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Teenagers in Oslo, Norway

Positive teacher-student relationships boost good behaviour in teenagers for up to four years

09 Aug 2016

The first study to look at the impact of the relationship with teachers on adolescent behaviour finds that a positive teacher-student relationship...

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The orbitofrontal cortex (blue) and medial temporal cortex (red) were more similar in terms of thickness in youths with Conduct Disorder than in typically-developing youths, suggesting that the normal pattern of brain development is disrupted.

‘Map’ of teenage brain provides strong evidence of link between serious antisocial behaviour and brain development

16 Jun 2016

The brains of teenagers with serious antisocial behaviour problems differ significantly in structure to those of their peers, providing the clearest...

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No evidence that genetic tests change people’s behaviour

15 Mar 2016

Genetic tests that provide an estimate of an individual’s risk of developing diseases such as lung cancer and heart disease do not appear to motivate...

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Highway to addiction: how drugs and alcohol can hijack your brain

25 Feb 2016

The discovery of a brain circuit ‘shortcut’ could explain why some addicts unintentionally relapse, and suggests that a shift in focus for therapies...

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Bargains Galore!

Digital bargain hunters: optimal online searching

06 May 2015

Easterners are more inclined than Westerners to search too long online for the best deals because they are more sensitive to the ‘sunk cost’ of their...

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