effects-negative-campaigning-emotions

The effects of negative campaigning on emotions

Do people display different emotions when they watch a commercial with or without negative campaigns? Sabine Dennert shares her findings in this guest blog post.
infant-gaze-during-feeding

What does an infant’s gaze tell us about how hungry they feel?

McNally and her colleagues developed a coding scheme to observe infant gaze behavior and applied it in a study of complementary feeding.
social-interactions-between-siblings

How do children interact with their older autistic siblings?

In celebration of World Autism Awareness Day, this blog post focuses on the social interactions between children and their older autistic siblings.
serious-gaming-reduces-anxiety-children

Serious gaming reduces anxiety in children

What is the effectiveness of the applied game called MindLight in teaching children how to cope with anxiety? Wols et al. investigated this game-based intervention.
closer-look-eye-contact

A closer look at eye contact

Infant siblings of children with or without ASD participated in a study to determine whether gaze behavior showed during a test with an unfamiliar examiner could predict gaze behavior in a more naturalistic context.
shopping-behavior

Shopping behavior - what can we measure in a retail environment?

Shopping ambience conditions such as light, sound, and smell are thought to affect shoppers’ browsing behavior and can increase sales due to impulse buying.
pcit-parent-child-interaction-therapy

PCIT: Parent-Child Interaction Therapy

What is Parent-Child Interaction Therapy? It helps improve family dynamics by working to reduce negative behavior and interactions, and to practice new behaviors and ways of communicating that are more encouraging.
how-botulinum-toxin-affects-facial-expression

How botulinum toxin affects facial expression

For the past twenty years, the demand for cosmetic procedures to the face has increased drastically. New technologies have become available that make it possible to look ‘better and younger’.
what-biometric-research

What is Biometric Research?

Biometric research is the study of subconscious processes related to attention, cognition, emotion, and physiological arousal.
facial-expressions-emotions-children

Analysis of facial expressions of emotions in children

The study described in this guest blog post focuses on the facial expressions of emotions induced by affective stimuli in children aged between 7 and 14.
video-tracking-bird-watching

Video tracking makes bird watching much easier

Everyone with children knows the phenomenon that what is good for a child is not always the best for a parent. The same counts for birds.
tides-american-horseshoe-crabs

Ticking clocks – tides and activity peaks in American horseshoe crabs

Recently, I came across an interesting paper in which American horseshoe crabs were video-tracked to investigate their internal clocks.
flower-preference-solitary-bees

Flower preference in solitary bees

Mason bees are fascinating and friendly creatures. Tibor Bukovinszky and his colleagues investigated how their foraging behavior affects their offspring.
time-essence-fish-studies

Time is of the essence in fish studies

You recently moved into your new house. How do you feel? How do you act in this new space? The answers may depend on how long you have lived there…
social-buffering-zebrafish

Social buffering in zebrafish

Shared sorrow is half a sorrow, according to the old proverb. New research indicates that social support is not only important for us humans, but also for zebrafish!
fish-live-longer-with-young-poo

Fish live longer and are more active after eating “young poo”

Have you got the guts for it? Well, I hope you at least have the gut bacteria for it.
isolated-stressed-zebrafish-model-depression

Isolated and stressed zebrafish as a model for major depression

Depression: a fifth (!) of us cope with it, making it the most prevalent psychiatric disorder. Prof. Gerlai recently investigated the interaction between mild stress and developmental isolation in zebrafish models.
dynamic-winners-and-sluggish-losers

Dynamic winners and sluggish losers

We all know the phenomenon: some have it all. Look around a classroom and you see immediately who gets all the attention and who doesn’t, who are “winners”, and who are “losers”. Are we born this way, or do we learn it?
new-mice-model-sporadic-alzheimers

Spatial and odor memory impaired mice – new model for Alzheimer’s

Plaques and tangles… those of you even remotely familiar with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) will immediately recognize these hallmarks. But they are linked to familial AD, while sporadic AD is far more common.
be-ravenous-or-be-social

To be ravenous or to be social

Prosocial behavior, a voluntary behavior to benefit another, is an interesting concept from an evolutionary point of view. At first sight it may seem logical to be social.