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Meena, featured on Google’s AI blog, is a chatbot trained in a conversational model. The concept is that it conducts conversations that are more sensible and specific than existing chatbots. This chatbot, trained with 2.6 billion parameters, is designed to offer more humanlike conversations. [More]

A national survey by the Federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found that 11.4 per cent of 12 to 17-year-olds were depressed in 2014. Ruby Walker was one of them. Her book, Advice I Ignored: Stories and Wisdom from a Formerly Depressed Teen is the only book on teenage mental health written by a teenager. It answers the question everyone's been asking her: What happened? [More]

According to a human rights experts that performed psychological evaluations with immigrants, they stated that separation of families by immigration officials amounts to torture. In an investigation, “You Will Never See Your Child Again: The Persistent Psychological Effects of Family Separation,” Physicians for Human rights evaluated 17 adults and nine children from Central America who had been separated between 60 and 69 days. [More]

A public opinion poll found that 44 per cent of Americans believe most poor people who receive welfare would prefer to stay on welfare rather than earn their own living. A new study published in the Journal of Nursing Education looked at the relationship between past experience, empathy, and attitudes toward poverty among nursing students. The results were surprising. [More]

A new report by RAND showed that Los Angeles county could potentially divert up to two-thirds of their mentally ill inmates out of jails and into community-based treatment services. Diversion programs benefit individuals by giving them patient centered care while easing the burden on the jail system. But an increase in people with serious mental illness in the criminal justice system and the shortage of beds in outside mental health facilities make this a tough transition. [More]

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, there can be devastating consequences for the unborn baby if a pregnant woman who is dependent on opioids is not properly treated. The function of the placenta can be comprised and the unborn baby can experience severe episodes of withdrawal. A new study published in the Annals of Family Medicine looked at maternity care and buprenorphine prescribing in new family physicians. [More]

Being less agreeable in old age may be protective against Alzheimer’s disease. Using brain imaging and psycho-cognitive evaluations, researchers from the University of Geneva and the University Hospitals of Geneva found that certain personality traits in elderly people were protective against neuro-degeneration. [More]

A study of the largest sample of transgender people ever surveyed found that possession of gender-concordant ID is associated with a lower rate of suicidal thoughts and suicidal planning, and a reduction in psychological stress among transgender people. [More]

In a new study, researchers examined beliefs about whether political and marketing campaigns use psychology to influence people’s behaviors. Although the goal of marketing strategies is to persuade people towards specific choices, the researchers suggest people from the study don't believe these techniques actually work. [More]

As a society, many have lost sight of what is just right or adequate, or enough. Now that retailers are closing stores and the citizenry has been asked to gather in groups of no more than ten at one time (more on that later), the time has arrived to focus on the strengths within. [More]