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Family

Research conclusive that spanking children is detrimental as it promotes antisocial behaviour and slows mental development

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90% of studies on spanking agree that it’s bad for children.

A new book which includes research on over 7,000 US families plus data from 32 different countries, has found that spanking is ultimately detrimental to children.

The book, by Professor Murray Straus of the University of New Hampshire and colleagues, finds that four decades of research is heavily against the use of spanking for children (Straus et al., 2013; The primordial violence: spanking children, psychological development, violence, and crime).

While it may work to correct their behaviour, it doesn't have any advantages over other methods, and also has significant disadvantages.

Professor Straus explained:
"Research shows that spanking corrects misbehavior. But it also shows that spanking does not work better than other modes of correction, such as time out, explaining, and depriving a child of privileges. Moreover, the research clearly shows that the gains from spanking come at a big cost."
According to the research, more than 90% of the studies agree that spanking is not good for children

Chalkboard

No math gene: Learning mathematics takes practice

Practice, not innate skill, makes for good mathematicians.

New research at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim could have an effect on how math is taught.

If you want to be really good at all types of math, you need to practice them all. You can't trust your innate natural talent to do most of the job for you.

This might seem obvious to some, but it goes against the traditional view that if you are good at math, it is a skill that you are simply born with.

Professor Hermundur Sigmundsson at Department of Psychology is one of three researchers involved in the project. The results have been published in Psychological Reports.

The numbers

The researchers tested the math skills of 70 Norwegian fifth graders, aged 10.5 years on average. Their results suggest that it is important to practice every single kind of math subject to be good at all of them, and that these skills aren't something you are born with.

"We found support for a task specificity hypothesis. You become good at exactly what you practice," Sigmundsson says.

Calendar

Harmless fun? Horoscopes may be bad for you, study suggests

Horoscopes may be bad for you as negative readings promote self-indulgent behaviour as people attempt to escape their fate, scientists find

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© Alamy
Star signs

Star signs Photo: Alamy
Astrology may seem like harmless fun - but a new study suggests following your star sign could be bad for you.

Consumers who read their horoscope daily were found to be more likely to exhibit impulsive or indulgent behaviour when their zodiac was negative, the research suggested.

This is because reading a poor outcome in your star sign makes you more susceptible to temptation, it is believed.

The study, published in the Journal of Consumer Research, showed that those who believed their fate could change were more prone to erratic decision-making following bad news in their zodiac.

It has long been thought that reading your star sign can improve mood and encourage people to undertake selfless activities.

However, scientists at the University of South Carolina and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, found the opposite effect.

A number of participants were presented with unfavourable star sign readings and asked to choose between either going to a party or cleaning their home

Info

Fear makes scary scents stronger

 Brain's Smell Center
© Marley Kass and Michelle RosenthalAn image of the mouse neural response to odors (color) in the brain's smell center, known as the olfactory bulb.
The nose may really "know" when it comes to danger, according to a new study that found that odors associated with electric shocks in mice trigger a sensory-cell reaction much stronger than for non-fearful odors.

The finding was surprising, said study researcher John McGann, a neuroscientist at Rutgers University in New Jersey. The sensory neurons are at the very beginning of the circuit that enables the perception of smell, far outside of conscious control, and yet they "learn" to tune into scary smells.

"The effects of learning can happen not just on behavior, but on sensory processing," McGann told LiveScience.

Family

SOTT Focus: Behind the Headlines: The Empathy Trap - Understanding how predators manipulate people's strengths and weaknesses

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Earlier this year on SOTT Talk Radio we spoke with Tim McGregor, co-author with Dr Jane McGregor of The Empathy Trap: Understanding Antisocial Personalities. Tim is a health practitioner with more than 20 years' experience in addiction and sociopathy and Jane is an author and lecturer at the Institute of Mental Health, University of Nottingham, UK.

The McGregors prefer the term 'sociopath' over 'psychopath', although their recently published book discusses essentially the same condition, explaining how predators operate, why they're often difficult to spot, and the importance of recognising pathological behaviour for what it is. The Empathy Trap also challenges antisocial behaviour in everyday life and calls for more empathy among normal people, something that can help victims cope with the aftermath of destructive relationships by re-establishing healthy boundaries.

Running Time: 01:48:00

Download: MP3


Yoda

Thoughts create reality: Researchers show how mindfulness can induce specific molecular changes to your genes

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With evidence growing that training the mind or inducing specific modes of consciousness can have beneficial health effects, scientists have sought to understand how these practices physically affect the body. A new study by researchers in Wisconsin, Spain, and France reports the first evidence of specific molecular changes in the body following a period of intensive mindfulness practice.

The study investigated the effects of a day of intensive mindfulness practice in a group of experienced meditators, compared to a group of untrained control subjects who engaged in quiet non-meditative activities. After eight hours of mindfulness practice, the meditators showed a range of genetic and molecular differences, including altered levels of gene-regulating machinery and reduced levels of pro-inflammatory genes, which in turn correlated with faster physical recovery from a stressful situation.

"To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper that shows rapid alterations in gene expression within subjects associated with mindfulness meditation practice," says study author Richard J. Davidson, founder of the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds and the William James and Vilas Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Health

Spanking children slows cognitive development and increases risk of criminal behavior, expert says

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© HaywireMedia / FotoliaHarsh punishment such as spanking has been shown to slow cognitive development and increase antisocial and criminal behavior.
A new book by Murray Straus, founder and co-director of the Family Research Lab and professor emeritus of sociology at the University of New Hampshire, brings together more than four decades of research that makes the definitive case against spanking, including how it slows cognitive development and increases antisocial and criminal behavior.

"The Primordial Violence" (Routledge, 2013) shows that the reasons parents hit those they love includes a lot more than just correcting misbehavior. It provides evidence on the effect spanking has on children, and what can be done to end it. The book features longitudinal data from more than 7,000 U.S. families as well as results from a 32-nation study and presents the latest research on the extent to which spanking is used in different cultures and the subsequent effects of its use on children and on society.

"Research shows that spanking corrects misbehavior. But it also shows that spanking does not work better than other modes of correction, such as time out, explaining, and depriving a child of privileges. Moreover, the research clearly shows that the gains from spanking come at a big cost. These include weakening the tie between children and parents and increasing the probability that the child will hit other children and their parents, and as adults, hit a dating or marital partner. Spanking also slows down mental development and lowers the probability of a child doing well in school," Straus says.

"More than 100 studies have detailed these side effects of spanking, with more than 90 percent agreement among them. There is probably no other aspect of parenting and child behavior where the results are so consistent," he says.

Magnify

Psychiatrist investigates children's claims of past lives

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© Unknown.Associate Professor of Psychiatry Jim B. Tucker
When Ryan Hammons was 4 years old, he began directing imaginary movies. Shouts of "Action!" often echoed from his room.

But the play became a concern for Ryan's parents when he began waking up in the middle of the night screaming and clutching his chest, saying he dreamed his heart exploded when he was in Hollywood.

His mother, Cyndi, asked his doctor about the episodes. Night terrors, the doctor said. He'll outgrow them.Then one night, as Cyndi tucked Ryan into bed, Ryan suddenly took hold of Cyndi's hand.

"Mama," he said. "I think I used to be someone else."

He said he remembered a big white house and a swimming pool. It was in Hollywood, many miles from his Oklahoma home. He said he had three sons, but that he couldn't remember their names. He began to cry, asking Cyndi over and over why he couldn't remember their names.

Family

Human brain hard-wired for rural tranquillity

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© GettyStudy of brain activity shows it struggling to process complex urban landscapes
Humans may be hard-wired to feel at peace in the countryside and confused in cities - even if they were born and raised in an urban area.

According to preliminary results of a study by scientists at Exeter University, an area of the brain associated with being in a calm, meditative state lit up when people were shown pictures of rural settings. But images of urban environments resulted in a significant delay in reaction, before a part of the brain involved in processing visual complexity swung into action as the viewer tried to work out what they were seeing.

The study, which used an MRI scanner to monitor brain activity, adds to a growing body of evidence that natural environments are good for humans, affecting mental and physical health and even levels of aggression.

Dr Ian Frampton, an Exeter University psychologist, stressed the researchers still had more work to do, but said they may have hit upon something significant.

Health

Psychiatrist Hyla Cass: First Do No Harm

Psychiatrist Hyla Cass says most psychiatrists simply label patients mentally ill based solely on symptoms and put them on dangerous and addictive drugs, instead of doing complete physical examinations to find and treat underlying medical conditions which can manifest as psychiatric symptoms. There are numerous non-harmful medical solutions that patients are not being offered. She also discusses the severe withdrawal effects of psychiatric drugs and what patients need to know about safely getting off of these drugs under a doctor's supervision.


Comment: The one underlying problem that often gets ignored is the very food we eat! See 'Carbohydrates rot the brain': Neurologist slams grains as 'silent brain killers' - and says we should be eating a high-fat diet and The Ketogenic Diet - An Overview for more information.