Psychology posts
- February 3, 2012
- 04:34 PM
- 14 views
SPSP 2012: Political Polarization
by Melanie Tannenbaum in PsySociety
What’s that? This is some sort of big year for American politics? Ah, yes – it’s 2012. We’re in the middle of the Republican primaries, there’s a presidential election in 9 months, and political psychology was all over this year’s … Continue reading →... Read more »
Krosnick, J. A., Holbrook, A. L., & Visser, P. S. (2000) The impact of the Fall 1997 debate about global warming on American public opinion. Public Understanding of Science. info:/
- February 3, 2012
- 02:14 PM
- 19 views
Friday Fun: A few simple tricks for healthier eating
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
Confession: Today I ate three cookies. Not because I particularly wanted them, but because they were there. I could be a case study for Brian Wansink’s book “Mindless Eating: Why we eat more than we should.” Wansink was one of the invited speakers at SPSP 2012 and he and his colleagues, such as David Just, apply psychology and behavioral economics to food marketing. They use experiments to answer questions such as, “Why do we eat more than we should?” and “How do we get kids to pick ........ Read more »
Wansink, B., van Ittersum, K., & Painter, J. (2005) How descriptive food names bias sensory perceptions in restaurants. Food Quality and Preference, 16(5), 393-400. DOI: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2004.06.005
- February 3, 2012
- 07:02 AM
- 23 views
We have nothing to fear (unless we are conservative)
by Rita Handrich in The Jury Room
A number of recent research projects have focused on attitudinal differences corresponding to political orientation. Many of them have looked at our political leanings are based in our genes. That is, we’re born this way. We have another one and this one is on how fear motivates conservatives (more than it motivates liberals). First, research participants [...]
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Dodd MD, Balzer A, Jacobs CM, Gruszczynski MW, Smith KB, & Hibbing JR. (2012) The political left rolls with the good and the political right confronts the bad: connecting physiology and cognition to preferences. Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 367(1589), 640-9. PMID: 22271780
- February 3, 2012
- 02:05 AM
- 24 views
A gene for trauma
by Suzanne Elvidge in Genome Engineering
Why do some people go through some really traumatic experiences and emerge unscathed, and others end up traumatised? It might be down to coping strategies, but genes might influence it too, according to research from Rutgers University.... Read more »
Martel, G., Hevi, C., Wong, A., Zushida, K., Uchida, S., & Shumyatsky, G. (2012) Murine GRPR and Stathmin Control in Opposite Directions both Cued Fear Extinction and Neural Activities of the Amygdala and Prefrontal Cortex. PLoS ONE, 7(2). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0030942
- February 2, 2012
- 05:19 PM
- 56 views
SPSP 2012: The Year Of Morality Research
by Melanie Tannenbaum in PsySociety
SPSP may as well have called this the “Year of Morality,” since there were so many interesting-looking sessions, posters, and talks on morality and injustice! I was able to attend 2 symposia on this topic while at SPSP. One set … Continue reading →... Read more »
Allemand, M. (2008) Age differences in forgivingness: The role of future time perspective. Journal of Research in Personality, 42(5), 1137-1147. DOI: 10.1016/j.jrp.2008.02.009
Hill, P., Allemand, M., & Burrow, A. (2010) Identity development and forgivingness: Tests of basic relations and mediational pathways. Personality and Individual Differences, 49(5), 497-501. DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2010.05.011
- February 2, 2012
- 12:32 PM
- 35 views
Improving healthy food & beverage choices through choice architecture
by pennydeck in Feedback Solutions for Obesity
In my previous blog post, I discussed a study by Thorndike et al that looked at how both labeling healthy and unhealthy food choices with colour codes affected the purchase of healthy foods and beverages (1). The previous post focused … Continue reading →... Read more »
Thorndike, A., Sonnenberg, L., Riis, J., Barraclough, S., & Levy, D. (2012) A 2-Phase Labeling and Choice Architecture Intervention to Improve Healthy Food and Beverage Choices. American Journal of Public Health. DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2011.300391
- February 2, 2012
- 11:44 AM
- 30 views
When Your Case Follows a Bellwether, Prepare Jurors to Hear only Part of the Story
by Persuasion Strategies in Persuasive Litigator
By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm and Dr. Kevin Boully: The first bellwether case in Toyota's "Unintended Vehicle Acceleration" litigation has just been selected by a judge in California. To some, that may come as a surprise, since it might have been assumed that these cases would have deflated after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) concluded a year ago that there is no electronics-based cause. Then, just last week, an exhaustive investigation by the National Academy of Sciences ag........ Read more »
Smith AC, & Greene E. (2005) Conduct and its consequences: attempts at debiasing jury judgments. Law and human behavior, 29(5), 505-26. PMID: 16254740
Wissler RL, Rector KA, & Saks MJ. (2001) The impact of jury instructions on the fusion of liability and compensatory damages. Law and human behavior, 25(2), 125-39. PMID: 11419378
- February 2, 2012
- 09:17 AM
- 42 views
You can't trust your receptors: Smell
by TheCellularScale in The Cellular Scale
Food smells better when you're hungry, right? This is a common phenomenon that everyone I've ever talked to on the subject has experienced. For a long time, I assumed that the entire process underlying this phenomenon is in the brain proper, and not in the olfactory epithelium (that is, the smell receptors themselves). However, a study on the adorable (and totally weird) salamander known as the 'Axolotl' suggests that the brain proper can actually modulate how sensitive thos........ Read more »
Mousley A, Polese G, Marks NJ, & Eisthen HL. (2006) Terminal nerve-derived neuropeptide y modulates physiological responses in the olfactory epithelium of hungry axolotls (Ambystoma mexicanum). The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 26(29), 7707-17. PMID: 16855098
- February 2, 2012
- 05:30 AM
- 74 views
The Bachelor: A modern-day replication of the Stanford Prison Experiment?
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
In 1971 a group of Stanford researchers led by psychologist Philip Zimbardo conducted what became a famous study of the power of deindividuating situations. Within only six days, twenty-four seemingly normal, psychologically healthy participants were transformed into sadistic prison guards and dejected, emotionally unstable prisoners who came to voluntarily tolerate the abuse that was inflicted on them.
Thirty-one years later, the first episode of "The Bachelor" was aired on ABC. During the........ Read more »
Miller, G. (2011) Using the Psychology of Evil To Do Good. Science, 332(6029), 530-532. DOI: 10.1126/science.332.6029.530
- February 2, 2012
- 02:22 AM
- 51 views
Science Majors are from Mars...
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic
According to a new study, students with a family history of autism tend to major in math and science, while substance abuse and depression are more common in the ancestors of humanities fans.In an online survey, over 1,000 new Princeton undergrads were asked about their intended major and whether anyone in their family had been diagnosed with one of 16 neurological and psychiatric disorders. More details here.Of the 16 maladies, 5 were so rare that there wasn't enough data to analyze. Of the rem........ Read more »
Campbell BC, & Wang SS. (2012) Familial Linkage between Neuropsychiatric Disorders and Intellectual Interests. PloS one, 7(1). PMID: 22291951
- February 1, 2012
- 07:02 AM
- 2 views
Does a ‘bad heart’ lead to a bad heart?
by Doug Keene in The Jury Room
John Edwards apparently has a bad heart and this will delay his criminal trial. Cynical commenters snipe “oh, he has a heart?” and there is little sympathy for a man people see as narcissistic. And now we see this research showing that narcissistic men have chronically high cortisol levels which leads to (you know this) heart [...]
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Fernandez, K., Levinson, C., & Rodebaugh, T. (2012) Profiling: Predicting Social Anxiety From Facebook Profiles. Social Psychological and Personality Science. DOI: 10.1177/1948550611434967
- January 31, 2012
- 10:30 PM
- 72 views
Human speech reconstructed from brain waves [video]
by Neurobonkers in Neurobonkers
For the first time, scientists have reconstructed human speech from an ECoG signal.... Read more »
Pasley, B. David, S. Mesgarani, N. Flinker, A. Shamma, S. Crone, N. Knight, R. Chang, E. (2012) Reconstructing Speech from Human Auditory Cortex. PLoS Biology. DOI: info:/http://www.plosbiology.org/article/10.1371/journal.pbio.1001251
- January 31, 2012
- 01:26 PM
- 64 views
What Your Cable Service Tells Us About the Buffett Rule
by erichorow in peer-reviewed by my neurons
There’s a good amount of research demonstrating the human preference for fairness (even 4th graders are on board), but many of these experiments seem too far removed from real world situations where real money is on the table. The question remains: What are people willing to give up in the name of fairness? A new [...]... Read more »
Wang, Y., & Krishna, A. (2012) Enticing for me but unfair to her: Can targeted pricing evoke socially conscious behavior?. Journal of Consumer Psychology. DOI: 10.1016/j.jcps.2011.11.004
- January 30, 2012
- 07:02 AM
- 66 views
Earlobes askew and crooked nose. Aha, it’s a transformational leader!
by Rita Handrich in The Jury Room
Most people would agree that Jeff Bezos of Amazon is a transformational leader. But many of us would likely look askance at using earlobes that are unevenly aligned as a measure of leadership potential. But according to some new research, we might want to think again! As it happens, asymmetry occurs in-utero as a result of [...]
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... Read more »
Senior, C., Martin, R., Thomas, G., Topakas, A., West, M., & M. Yeats, R. (2011) Developmental stability and leadership effectiveness. The Leadership Quarterly. DOI: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2011.08.005
Senior C, Martin R, West M, & Yeats RM. (2011) How earlobes can signify leadership potential. Harvard Business Review, 89(11), 32. PMID: 22111428
- January 30, 2012
- 03:01 AM
- 57 views
SPSP 2012: Poster Highlights
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
As Amie said in a previous post, SPSP poster sessions are like your "elementary school science fair, but all grown up and on steroids." With over 2,000 posters spanning topics ranging from the psychology of political ideology to the link between rejection and health to the dynamics of cheating behavior, it's easy to become overwhelmed. In recent years, posters in a given subject area (e.g., "Emotion") are grouped together within each session, which helps people peruse more efficiently. Though so........ Read more »
Carney, D., Cuddy, A., & Yap, A. (2010) Power Posing: Brief Nonverbal Displays Affect Neuroendocrine Levels and Risk Tolerance. Psychological Science, 21(10), 1363-1368. DOI: 10.1177/0956797610383437
Wohl, M., & Thompson, A. (2011) A dark side to self-forgiveness: Forgiving the self and its association with chronic unhealthy behaviour. British Journal of Social Psychology, 50(2), 354-364. DOI: 10.1111/j.2044-8309.2010.02010.x
NEFF, K. (2003) Self-Compassion: An Alternative Conceptualization of a Healthy Attitude Toward Oneself. Self and Identity, 2(2), 85-101. DOI: 10.1080/15298860309032
- January 29, 2012
- 10:34 PM
- 44 views
There’s More to That Red Plastic Cup Than You Thought
by Krystal D'Costa in Anthropology in Practice
Who here has not enjoyed a cold, refreshing drink from a red plastic cup? Alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages alike find themselves comfortably enclosed within the confines of the bright red vessel that has become a ubiquitous American staple at barbecues, picnics, parties, in dugouts and at minor league games, in food cars and at lunch [...]
... Read more »
Bunimovitz, S., & Greenberg, R. (2004) Revealed in Their Cups: Syrian Drinking Customs in Intermediate Bronze Age Canaan. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 19. DOI: 10.2307/4150104
Donner, W. (1994) Alcohol, Community, and Modernity: The Social Organization of Toddy Drinking in a Polynesian Society. Ethnology, 33(3), 245. DOI: 10.2307/3774009
Magennis, H. (1985) The Cup as Symbol and Metaphor in Old English Literature. Speculum, 60(3), 517. DOI: 10.2307/2848173
McAllister, P. (2003) Culture, Practice, and the Semantics of Xhosa Beer-Drinking. Ethnology, 42(3), 187. DOI: 10.2307/3773800
- January 29, 2012
- 03:31 PM
- 55 views
8 Tips for Developing Preventive Interventions for Children Exposed to Acute Medical Events
by Eva Alisic in Trauma Recovery
As a field, we have made significant progress in developing models and identifying key risk factors associated with the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in children who experience acute medical traumatic events. Additionally, we have given much attention to the evaluation of preventive interventions. However, a standard process for the development of preventive interventions is less clear.
... Read more »
Kazak AE, Kassam-Adams N, Schneider S, Zelikovsky N, Alderfer MA, & Rourke M. (2006) An integrative model of pediatric medical traumatic stress. Journal of pediatric psychology, 31(4), 343-55. PMID: 16093522
Marsac ML, Kassam-Adams N, Hildenbrand AK, Kohser KL, & Winston FK. (2011) After the injury: initial evaluation of a web-based intervention for parents of injured children. Health education research, 26(1), 1-12. PMID: 20858769
- January 29, 2012
- 03:28 AM
- 117 views
2011 Orwellian Prize for Journalistic Misrepresentation
by Dorothy Bishop in bishopblog
The Orwellian Prize was set up to identify bad science journalism. The winner for 2011 contains a spectacular number of errors in reporting on a paper about cannabinoid receptors in rats.... Read more »
Kucewicz, M., Tricklebank, M., Bogacz, R., & Jones, M. (2011) Dysfunctional Prefrontal Cortical Network Activity and Interactions following Cannabinoid Receptor Activation. Journal of Neuroscience, 31(43), 15560-15568. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2970-11.2011
- January 29, 2012
- 02:33 AM
- 88 views
SPSP 2012: How does culture change over time?
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
Today's "Cultural Change Over Time" symposium was a perfect example of why I enjoy SPSP so much: The talks involved (1) compelling research questions answered using (2) innovative methods. Anyway, the general question the researchers of this symposium attempted to answer was "How can we tell if culture is changing across time?" The answers might surprise you!
Read More->... Read more »
Cai, H., Kwan, V., & Sedikides, C. (2011) A Sociocultural Approach to Narcissism: The Case of Modern China. European Journal of Personality. DOI: 10.1002/per.852
- January 29, 2012
- 01:56 AM
- 74 views
Drunken Escape Fuels Much Male Suicide
by ultimo167 in Strong Silent Types
Many men who commit suicide could be described as impulsive and in terms of what they seemingly, actually responded to, over the top. Shniedman (1993)called it 'psychache'. Here, Coleman et al. (2011) draw from Baumeister's 'escape theory' to jam together impulsivity, alcohol misuse and lots and lots of anger to conclude that many suicidal men get stuck on a thought, that is, the thought that they must die. Supposedly, this painted into a bad corner montage was inspired ........ Read more »
Coleman, D., Kaplan, M., & Casey, J. (2011) The Social Nature of Male Suicide: A New Analytic Model. International Journal of Men's Health, 10(3), 240-252. DOI: 10.3149/jmh.1003.240
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