All of the major market indexes dropping into the red for the year, and simultaneously below their 200-day moving averages, would no doubt add to the increasingly negative psychology and embolden the shorts.

FORBES: Still Plenty Of Downside Left In U.S. Stocks

"The negative crowd psychology serves to clear out weak holders from the market and prepares the way for the next advance, " says Spear, who is looking for the Dow to hit 9, 400 to 9, 600 by late December.

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As any psychology student knows, negative reinforcement is not a recipe for long-term success.

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Schramm clearly intended to tap on the brakes a little, but just as the positive feedback of investor psychology inflated the stock price on the upside, negative feedback exaggerated the negative effects on the downside.

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Meanwhile, social psychology and developmental research seems to constantly look for the negative outcomes that gaming promotes.

FORBES: New Research Emphasizes Gaming's Positive Impact on Psychological Development

Research that Dr. Markman published in 2010 in the Journal of Family Psychology indicates that couples who became unhappy five years into their marriage had a roughly 20% increase in negative communication patterns consistent with nagging, and a 12% decrease in positive communication.

WSJ: Nagging in Marriage Is More Common Than Adultery But Can Also Lead to Divorce