Like momentum traders in the stock market, parents today appear to favor names that have recently risen in popularity relative to names that are on the decline, say cognitive science researchers from Indiana University and New York University. The research, published in the journal Topics of Cognitive Science, is relevant to understanding how people's everyday decisions are influenced by aggregate cultural processes.

A neuroscientist in Indiana University Bloomington's Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences has received a two-year $683,736 grant from the National Institutes of Health for a project aimed at understanding how certain parts of the brain learn to predict the outcome of one's own actions. Assistant Professor Joshua Brown says his research could one day lead to a better understanding and better treatment for substance dependence.

With one in five people in the U.S. speaking a language other than English when at home, Tessa Bent's research into how children perceive so many different varieties of foreign-accented English has never been more timely. Recognizing the importance of understanding how children may or may not overcome foreign-accented speech variables, the National Institutes of Health has made Bent, an assistant professor in the Indiana University College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, one of the first IU faculty members to receive grant funds through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Little more than a week after election as a fellow to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Indiana University College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of Cognitive Science Douglas Hofstadter has been elected a fellow of the American Philosophical Society. With the honor Hofstadter becomes the first faculty member in Indiana University history to hold fellowships in the two prestigious societies and to have won a Pulitzer Prize.

In a new study, cognitive scientists have shown that when aware of both a negative and positive stereotype related to performance, women will identify more closely with the positive stereotype, avoiding the harmful impact the negative stereotype unwittingly can have on their performance.

Pulitzer Prize winning author and Indiana University distinguished professor of cognitive science and computer science Douglas Hofstadter has been elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

When it comes to assessing the romantic playing field -- who might be interested in whom -- men and woman were shown to be equally good at gauging men's interest during an Indiana University study involving speed dating -- and equally bad at judging women's interest.

New research from Indiana University has found evidence that how we look for things, such as our car keys or umbrella, could be related to how we search for more abstract needs, such as words in memory or solutions to problems.

Researchers in Indiana University Bloomington's Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences have received a $1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study how the brain uses highly complex statistics to learn language. The study, led by assistant professor Chen Yu and Linda B. Smith, professor and chair of the department, will use advanced sensing equipment to explore how toddlers perform complex mental computations as they begin to match words with objects.

While humans may pride themselves on being highly evolved, most still behave like the stereotypical Neanderthals when it comes to choosing a mate, according to research by Indiana University cognitive scientist Peter Todd. In a new study, Todd and colleagues found that although individuals may claim otherwise, beauty is the key ingredient for men while women, the much choosier of the sexes, leverage their looks for security and commitment.

Indiana University researchers tap cyberspace, biophysics and insights from poets and former president Dwight D. Eisenhower to examine how existing paths, regardless of how meager, influence travel and nothing less than future progress.

Richard M. Shiffrin, Distinguished Professor and Luther Dana Waterman Professor in the Psychology Department at Indiana University Bloomington, received a Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the American Psychological Association earlier this year. According to the APA, Shiffrin's research "has organized the manner in which the field addresses the key issues of memory and attention ... [and] helped shape the direction of cognitive psychology. His theories of memory and attention are the leading theories in the psychology of cognition."

This month's Living Well tips discuss the importance of exercise and annual dilated eye exams for people with diabetes, insights into memory, and questions to pose when looking for a personal trainer.