August 2010
1 post
When Did We Become Mentally Modern? →
Our ability to think in symbols — the notion that objects can represent ideas — is one of the key traits that make us human. We weren’t always symbolic thinkers, and scientists are trying to figure out when our minds evolved this ability.
July 2010
2 posts
‘The Friend of My Enemy Is My Enemy’: Virtual... →
I’m not overly interested in the study itself, but rather the method used.
A new study analyzing interactions between players in a virtual universe game has for the first time provided large-scale evidence to prove an 80 year old psychological theory called Structural Balance Theory. The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that individuals...
Predicting Relationship Breakups With a... →
There seems to be an IAT for everything these days.
Here’s a way to tell a romantic relationship is going to fall apart: find out what people really think about their partners. The researchers in a new study used a so-called implicit task, which shows how people automatically respond to words — in this case, whether they find it easier to link words referring to their partner to...
June 2010
10 posts
Does Darth Vader meet the diagnostic criteria for... →
Female Teachers’ Math Anxiety Negatively Affects... →
Young Men More Vulnerable to Relationship Ups and... →
Contrary to popular belief, the ups and downs of romantic relationships have a greater effect on the mental health of young men than women, according to a new study by a Wake Forest University sociology professor.
Contrary to Popular Models, Sugar Is Not Burned by... →
This may or may not be good for my research: Contradicting a popular model of self-control, a University of Pennsylvania psychologist says the data from a 2007 study argues against the idea that glucose is the resource used to manage self control and that humans rely on this energy source for will power.
If self-control is not reliant on glucose, my nonunitary model of executive functioning...
Personality Predicts Political Preferences →
Researchers at UofT have shown that the psychological concern for compassion and equality is associated with a liberal mindset, while the concern for order and respect of social norms is associated with a conservative mindset.
Teenagers in Lesbian Families: Healthy and Happy →
Blasphemy: Teenage children of lesbian parents in the United States exhibit healthy psychological development and have fewer behavioral problems than peers who grow up in heterosexual families
Secondhand Smoke Associated With Psychiatric... →
Exposure to secondhand smoke appears to be associated with psychological distress and the risk of future psychiatric hospitalization among healthy adults, according to a report posted online that will appear in the August print issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.
People reestablish trust only when they believe in... →
Trust is crucial in any close relationship. When you make plans with a friend, you have to trust that he will show up at the appointed place at the appointed time. When you make a business deal with someone, you have to trust that she will follow through with her end of the bargain. Not everyone lives up to their end of every bargain, though. What factors determine whether you will trust...
A Sense of Humor Helps Keep You Healthy Until... →
A sense of humor helps to keep people healthy and increases their chances of reaching retirement age. But after the age of 70, the health benefits of humor decrease, researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) have found.
Interracial marriages at an all-time high, study... →
Some seemingly good news for once. If the number interracial marriages can be used as some kind of barometer for race relations and cultural assimilation, then we are doing better than ever. The United States has the second highest rate of interracial next to Brazil.
May 2010
17 posts
Archaeo-alcohology →
The Edible Geography blog has an amusing piece about Patrick McGovern, the “Indiana Jones of Ancient Ales, Wines, and Extreme Beverages,” and his role in the production of a 3400-year-old Mesoamerican beer recreated from a chemical analysis of pottery fragments.Tasty.
Empathy: College Students Don't Have as Much as... →
Today’s college students are not as empathetic as college students of the 1980s and ’90s, a University of Michigan study shows.
Video Gamers Can Control Dreams, Study Suggests →
Playing video games before bedtime may give people an unusual level of awareness and control in their dreams, LiveScience has learned. Maybe that’s why I dreamed that I was a level 56 wizard with a staff of much exploding last night.
Defendant's Gender Affects Length of Sentence →
A study of 300 simulated court cases shows that experienced judges, lay assessors, prosecutors, police officers, and lawyers make decisions and convict defendants differently depending on whether they are men or women and what the defendant looks like. Eyewitnesses to crimes are also affected by these factors. This is especially pronounced if there is an extended period of time separating the...
In the Green of Health: Just 5 Minutes of 'Green... →
Just another reason I dislike gyms. A new study shows that exercising in outdoor “green” areas boots long term health. In addition, the presence of water, “blue,” only increases these effects. Don’t worry lazy people. These effects can be seen after only 5 minutes of green exercise. But come on, people. Let’s try to be outdoors a bit longer than that.
Is it more fun to be a scientist or an artist? →
Annoyed by cellphones? Scientists explain why →
Ever wonder why overhearing a cellphone conversation is so annoying? American researchers think they have found the answer.
Good Results of Bad Habits? Research Explains... →
When people are under chronic stress, they tend to smoke, drink, use drugs and overeat to help cope with stress. These behaviors trigger a biological cascade that helps prevent depression, but they also contribute to a host of physical problems that eventually contribute to early death.
Meditate Your Way to More Willpower →
Practicing mindfulness meditation for a few minutes each day can actually boost willpower by building up gray matter in areas of the brain that regulate emotions and govern decision making. “Paying attention to what’s happening in the moment, what’s going on in your body, your mind, and all around you, can make it easier to tune in to choices you make several hundred times a...
Virtual Humans Appear to Influence Ethical... →
Virtual humans are increasingly taking on roles that were once reserved for real humans. A study by researchers at the Indiana University School of Informatics at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis explores how appearance, motion quality and other characteristics of computer-generated characters may impact the moral and ethical decisions of their viewers.
Did That Dog Just Smile at You? →
You come home after work and the family pooch greets you, grinning ear to ear.
That’s a true expression of emotion, right? Your dog is really showing she is happy to see you? Most likely, according to new research that for the first time documents and catalogues changes in the facial expression of laboratory mice in response to a particular emotion, pain.
Technology linked to happiness, study claims →
A survey of 35,000 people around the world found that women in developing countries, and people of both sexes with low incomes or poor education, were most influenced emotionally by their access to technology.
“Our hypothesis is that women in developing countries benefit more because they are more socially constrained in society,” said researcher Paul Flatters.
Babies know the difference between good and evil... →
At the age of six months babies can barely sit up - let along take their first tottering steps, crawl or talk.
But, according to psychologists, they have already developed a sense of moral code - and can tell the difference between good and evil.
An astonishing series of experiments is challenging the views of many psychologists and social scientists that human beings are born as...
Wash Away Your Doubts When You Wash Your Hands →
Washing your hands “wipes the slate clean,” removing doubts about recent choices. The study, conducted by U-M psychologists Spike W. S. Lee and Norbert Schwarz, expands on past research by showing that hand-washing does more than remove the guilt of past misdeeds.
Cognition Accelerated by Just 4 x 20 Minutes... →
How would you like your brain to work faster? Say, a more efficient working memory, greater verbal fluency and improved visuo-spatial processing?
Body-Mind Training Lowers Stress →
Measuring the effects of meditation has been an onerous task. A new study suggests a method to measure how a high degree of body-mind awareness might improve a person’s attention and response to stress.
April 2010
17 posts
Stupid Stuff Your Smart Phone Can Do →
A surprisingly smart, interesting article on smartphone apps-
“Apple’s iTunes store — as well as the app stores for competing phones such as Android — is filled with novelty applications. They serve only one purpose, which may be silly or sometimes downright offensive. For example, they make the front of a phone look like it has a crack in it, or they make the phone...
Scientists Learn to Block Pain at Its Source: New... →
A substance similar to capsaicin, which gives chili peppers their heat, is generated at the site of pain in the human body. Scientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio have discovered how to block these capsaicin-like molecules and created a new class of non-addictive painkillers.
Human Brain Recognizes and Reacts to Race →
An article from another professor that I wanted to work with:
“The human brain fires differently when dealing with people outside of one’s own race, according to new research out of the University of Toronto Scarborough.”
To Learn Better, Take a Nap (and Don't Forget to... →
It is by now well established that sleep can be an important tool when it comes to enhancing memory and learning skills. And now, a new study sheds light on the role that dreams play in this important process.
Dating Study Says Singles With Options Go For... →
In an analysis of U.K. speed dating events, scientists found that people were more likely to choose matches based on appearance if they had a greater number of potential mates to choose from.
Materialistic People Liked Less by Peers Than... →
I stumbled upon some of Leaf’s work on Science Daily,”People who pursue happiness through material possessions are liked less by their peers than people who pursue happiness through life experiences.”
What Men And Women Say And Do In Choosing Romantic... →
When it comes to romantic attraction men primarily are motivated by good looks and women by earning power. At least that’s what men and women have been saying for a long time. Based on research that dates back several decades, the widely accepted notion permeates popular culture today.
When Social Fear Is Missing, So Are Racial... →
Children with the genetic condition known as Williams syndrome have unusually friendly natures because they lack the sense of fear that the rest of us feel in many social situations. Now, a study reported in the April 13th issue of Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, suggests that children with Williams Syndrome are missing something else the rest of us have from a very tender age: the...
Soccer Improves Health, Fitness and Social... →
Soccer is a pleasurable team sport that provides an all-round fitness and can be used as treatment for lifestyle-related diseases. Men worry less when playing soccer than when running. Women’s soccer creates we-stories and helps women stay active.
Will Ubuntu’s new look bring in the masses? →
With Ubuntu 10.4, codenamed Lucid Lynx, Ubuntu will change its look completely. Everything will be brand new; the logo, the user interface, and the color scheme (no more brown). It’s set to be released April 29th, less than a month away. Ubuntu is already the most popular desktop Linux distribution, but will this new look, this new branding, make it easier for Ubuntu to cast its net even wider...
Mental Health Providers Should Prescribe Exercise... →
Exercise is a magic drug for many people with depression and anxiety disorders, and it should be more widely prescribed by mental health care providers, according to researchers who analyzed the results of numerous published studies.
Fixing Reality with Online Games →
“Collaboration, creativity, local insight, courage… 10 missions, 10 weeks.” This could easily be a WoW quest. But it’s actually a tagline for the latest alternate reality game by Dr. Jane McGonigal of the Institute for the Future. Called EVOKE, it’s designed to be “a crash course in changing the world.”
'He Has No Armaments': Does Craig Ferguson's Robot... →
A little over a month ago, the best news in the history of television (well, if you happen to be me) broke: Grant Imahara, the robot guru of Mythbusters (who previously worked for George Lucas’ Industrial Light and Magic), agreed to build a robot sidekick for Craig Ferguson. And it was to be a robot skeleton sidekick, just as Ferguson calls his fans on Twitter the Robot Skeleton Army.
Can Science Explain Heaven? →
There are those who believe that science will eventually explain everything—including our enduring belief in heaven. The thesis here is very simple: heaven is not a real place, or even a process or a supernatural event. It’s something that happens in your brain as you die.
For Dual-Income Husbands and Wives, It's Still a... →
Decades of progress may have earned women their place at the office, but it hasn’t won them an equal partnership in the home — and that puts hard-working women at a distinct disadvantage to their male peers.
In the Face of Racism, Distress Depends on One's... →
The way people choose to cope with personal experiences of racism influences the distress caused by the encounter, according to a new study of Filipino-American men and women. Published today in the Journal of Counseling Psychology, the study finds that denying or ignoring racial discrimination leads to greater psychological distress, including anxiety and depression, and lowers self-esteem.
Smoking Is Dumb: Young Men Who Smoke Have Lower... →
A study led by Prof. Mark Weiser of Tel Aviv University’s Department of Psychiatry and the Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer Hospital has determined that young men who smoke are likely to have lower IQs than their non-smoking peers.
March 2010
25 posts
Brain Waves and Meditation →
Forget about crystals and candles, and about sitting and breathing in awkward ways. Meditation research explores how the brain works when we refrain from concentration, rumination and intentional thinking. Electrical brain waves suggest that mental activity during meditation is wakeful and relaxed.
Fatty foods may cause cocaine-like addiction →
Scientists have finally confirmed what the rest of us have suspected for years: Bacon, cheesecake, and other delicious yet fattening foods may be addictive.
-Duh
Shoes that make everyone the same height →
Berlin-based artist Hans Hemmert (famous for his work with balloons) threw a party where guests wore shoe-extenders to make them all the same height of 2 meters.