A few moons ago I participated in some research for (then) PhD student Richard Ronay. Soon afterwards, I appeared as a student in a filmed report documenting some of his research for the science-themed news programme – Catalyst. I post about it here and here. At the time of filming I was fairly unimpressed with [...]... Ronay, R., & Hippel, W. (2010) The Presence of an Attractive Wo
18 Vote(s)
August 2, 2010
…Who awards the ‘No Duh’s'?
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July 26, 2010
Mindfulness and exercise?
Now I know this might seem a strange heading when we think of mindfulness practice normally, but this isn’t ‘treatment as usual’. The definition of mindfulness in this study is ‘The body scan practice involves systematically moving awareness through each part of the body and noticing the presence of sensation in a detailed and precise … Read more...
17 Vote(s)
17 Vote(s)
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August 4, 2009
Friendship Influences Eating Behavior, Particularly When Friends Are Overweight
A new study of childhood obesity in the United States has found that some social factors, such as the presence of friends, may put overweight youths at greater risk of overeating.
13 Vote(s)
13 Vote(s)
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July 9, 2009
Smells we can't detect affect judgments we make about people
[Originally posted in December, 2007]Do smells have an impact on how we judge people? Certainly if someone smells bad, we may have a negative impression of the person. But what if the smell is so subtle we don't consciously notice it? Research results have been mixed, with some studies actually reporting that we like people more when in the presence of undetectable amounts of bad-smelling stuff.
8 Vote(s)
8 Vote(s)
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Michael Jackson’s Memorial: Love is for the living
People were shocked (read the comments) when I said that many people - including those who claimed to be closest to him - found Michael Jackson's death a relief. At Jackson's memorial, they could have the perfect relationship they wanted with him, but which they were denied by his actual presence on earth. This is a standard reaction of people to the deaths of "loved ones" from whom t
7 Vote(s)
7 Vote(s)
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