Virtual Reality (VR) has aimed at providing just that to for the whole of its 20-year existence. From helping form better posture in those with Multiple Sclerosis (Gutiéerrez, et al, 2013) to helping those with autism develop better job interview skills (Smith, et al, 2015), VR has been training minds to conceptualize how different their […]
Brief Questionnaires to Assess for Addiction to the Internet and Video Games It is very likely you or your child is addicted to the Internet if most or all of the following statements are true: Preoccupied with the Internet (thinks about previous online activity or anticipate next online session). Uses the Internet with increasing amounts […]
The new release of Grand Theft Auto V is out today, bringing the game to the next generation of consoles. Now running on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, players can enjoy the game in first-person mode, making it seem as if they’re really inside the game. But eyebrows are already being raised over one […]
Most young adults go off to college with a textbook full of health information stuffed into their skulls. They get the lecture about sex, including birth control and protection against disease. (It only takes once, people!) They hopefully know the symptoms of both alcohol poisoning and bacterial meningitis, and are aware of possible fungal transmission […]
The typical US citizen spends a staggering 50 plus hours consuming media from a screen per week. Recent statistics show that the average U.S. adult spends around two hours and 20 minutes per day online, about the same amount of time on mobile devices, and another four hours and 31 minutes watching TV. Ever wonder […]
By Janice Wood Associate News Editor Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on December 7, 2013 A new study has found that college students who use their cell phones frequently had lower grades, higher anxiety and were less happy than other students. For their study, Kent State University researchers Andrew Lepp, Ph.D., Jacob Barkley, Ph.D., […]
Addiction to video games and the Internet is gaining legitimacy as a psychological disorder, and experts say it’s not uncommon for kids to become violent when their ‘drug’ is taken away Video game addiction will be acknowledged for the first time in the updated edition of the American Psychological Association diagnostic manual, DSM-5, out in […]
Every now and then during the workweek—usually around three in the afternoon—a familiar ache begins to saturate my forehead and pool in my temples. The glare of my computer screen appears to suddenly intensify. My eyes trace the contour of the same sentence two or three times, yet I fail to extract its meaning. Even […]
By Ned Hepburn | January 24, 2013 Anyone who spends their day staring at screens can speak to the modern-day epidemic of eye fatigue. But what is our digital obsession doing to our brains. Researchers have noted a rise in something called Digital Attention Disorder — the addiction to social networks and computers in general. How does […]
We’ve all seen the trolls. The online bullies. The sudden surge of late night Facebook posts, or uncharacteristically antagonistic comments for seemingly no reason. Many of us have been unexpectedly de-friended or blocked — or blocked someone ourselves, due to a string of depressing, attention-seeking status updates. This is a part of modern virtual life, […]
