EurekAlert! News by Subject: Social & Behavior

Legal jargon confused people by reducing their so-called processing fluency, or ability to handle new information. Using simpler language throughout the judicial system could improve outcomes, the researcher says

Journal: Journal of Applied Communication Research

18-Mar-2026

For humans and AI to work well together, they must form a cognitive alignment, according to Stevens researchers

Stevens Institute of Technology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The promise of AI lies not in making machines smarter in isolation, but in making human–AI collaboration work better. That alignment, not raw intelligence, is what turns AI from a source of frustration into a source of value.

Journal: Academy of Management Journal

18-Mar-2026

Half of surveyed U.S. teens have used AI to create sexualized images

PLOS
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a survey study of U.S. teens, more than half (55.3%) reported that they had created at least one image using nudification tools, which use generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) to show what an individual may look like without clothing. Chad Steel of George Mason University, Virginia, U.S., presents these findings in the open-access journal PLOS One on March 18, 2026.

Journal: PLOS One

18-Mar-2026

Neanderthals may have used birch tar for its anti-bacterial properties

PLOS
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Neanderthals probably used birch tar for multiple functions, including treating their wounds, according to a study published March 18, 2026 in the open-access journal PLOS One by a team of researchers led by Tjaark Siemssen of the University of Cologne, Germany, and the University of Oxford, U.K.

Journal: PLOS One