Research has shown that about half of all adults make New Year’s resolutions. However, fewer than 10% manage to keep them for more than a few months. As a professor of behavioural addiction I know how easy people can fall into bad habits and why on trying to give up those habits it is easy to relapse. Resolutions usually come in the form of lifestyle changes and changing behaviour that has become routine and habitual (even if they are not problematic) can be hard to do. The most common resolutions are: losing weight, doing more exercise, quitting smoking and saving >>>

USC researchers have not unlocked the key to keeping you from sleeping through your 5 a.m. spin class or avoiding the 4 p.m. trip to the vending machine. But John Monterosso, a USC expert on the psychology and neuroscience of self-control as well as addiction, can offer insight on how to create more calculated resolutions — and keep yourself from going too far with a resolution that’s making you miserable. “I don’t think any research on the topic is going to work like an advance in engineering — like ‘Aha! If people do this or take this pill, they will keep their resolutions,’ >>>

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Copyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. Transcript AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: I'm Audie Cornish with this salient question - why do we make New Year's resolutions, especially if we know we're just going to break them? Here with some insight on this subject is NPR's social science correspondent Shankar Vedantam. And Shankar, you also are going to offer some advice - right? - on how to make these goals more achievable. SHANKAR VEDANTAM, BYLINE: I'm going to try, Audie. CORNISH: OK. Let's get this out of the way. First of all, why do we bother with New Year's resolutions? What's going >>>

“Dogs are helping people in more ways than ever before,” says Brian Hare, associate professor of evolutionary anthropology. “(The course is about) how we use the information about how they actually think, to help them help us even more.”

New Year’s resolutions tend to be both ambitious and unsuccessful. We set ourselves vague, broad goals—to lose weight or be happier or more confident—and then abandon them just a few weeks later. It’s hard to transform your personality or lifestyle on the whim of a New Year’s wish, and if you want to see real change, psychologists say you need to be realistic and specific. Fortunately, psychology is no stranger to specificity: There are hundreds of scientific studies that link tiny tweaks in daily behavior to broad, positive effects, and these studies could be put to good use in >>>

Perry Ritthaler's 'The Interrogator' is Now Available as eBook Creston, British Columbia (PRWEB) January 01, 2016 Local inspirational author and self-proclaimed cyber warfare physicist scientist releases a creative story; Perry Ritthaler of Creston BC Canada, will debut his mystery science novella "Interrogator" in the "Spy Land Women Play Me " collection Jan. 1, 2016 as part of eBookIt Publishing's line. He is planning a murder mystery party in January for the launch which will include an eBook >>>

Today, Israeli-Arab Joint List MK Haneen Zoabi called for improved psychological treatment for Israeli Arabs. “It is important for Arabs to have access to Arab psychologists because of language and cultural differences that can impede proper treatment,” Zoabi said. Clarifying her position, Zoabi added that an eight-year old Israeli-Arab rape victim who does not speak Hebrew would not receive optimal care due to the language barrier. The issue is compounded by the fact that waits for an appointment with an Israeli-Arab psychologist can take up to half a year. During a discussion at the Knesset’s >>>

DANA-GAYE Weller is living proof that there are no boundaries to excelling. Diagnosed with muscular dystrophy at age three, a genetic disorder that progressively weakens and results in the loss of muscle mass over time, she was given until age eight to live. Now 27 years old, she has surpassed all expectations. A contrast for many people with disabilities, Weller says that though physically disabled, she was never treated differently at home, in her community or at school. Instead, she says people were quite accepting of her and would offer help where necessary. “Growing up I did not face >>>

Q. My husband’s doctor told him to slow down on his drinking. He has slowed down, but he still drinks too much. Over the holidays he had at least three glasses of wine most nights. Some nights, he would consume an entire bottle. Then he would go a couple of days without drinking. He says that he’s not dependent on alcohol, so he doesn’t have a problem. I say he does. What is your opinion?A. If your husband has been drinking close to a bottle of wine a night, he likely is drinking too much. He may not be an alcoholic, but he seems to be alcohol dependent.According to the National Institute >>>