As we approach the ninth anniversary of 9/11, researchers writing in Psychological Science this week analyzed 85,000 text pages sent through pagers during the 2 hours before and 18 hours after 9/11 took place. (You do remember what a pager is, don’t you?) WikiLeaks, the website in the news lately for other reasons, has made the 573,000 lines consisting of 6.4 million words freely available
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September 9, 2010
An Emotional Timeline of 9/11
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Why are overheard phone conversations so distracting?
Psychological Science has a brilliantly conceived study that explains why overhearing someone talk on a mobile phone is so much more annoying than simply overhearing two people in conversation. It turns out that a one-sided conversation (brilliantly named a ‘half-a-logue’) draws in more of our mental resources because the information is less predictable – like [...]
16 Vote(s)
16 Vote(s)
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August 17, 2010
Special Issue Of Current Directions In Psychological Science Focuses On Schizophrenia Research
It has been nearly a century since the term "schizophrenia" was first used to describe what was then considered a hopeless and incurable disorder of thought and emotion. Schizophrenia is still baffling to both scientists and the general public, but it is no longer considered hopeless...
14 Vote(s)
14 Vote(s)
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August 10, 2010
Baby, Remember My Claim
If you want to make the findings of your scientific study seem more important, simply give the effect a catchy name to help people remember. A study just published online in Psychological Science found that naming research findings boosted their perceived importance, but only if people assume the name is to aid memory. On the [...]
7 Vote(s)
7 Vote(s)
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August 7, 2010
DeepBrain Study Shows That Thinking About God Reduces Distress - But Only For Believers
Thinking about God may make you less upset about making errors, according to a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The researchers measured brain waves for a particular kind of distress-response while participants made mistakes on a test...
11 Vote(s)
11 Vote(s)
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August 5, 2010
Social ecology: Lost and found in psychological science
Various aspects of our environment -- including political systems, economic systems and even climate and geography -- can affect our thinking and behavior, a field of study known as socioecological psychology.
15 Vote(s)
15 Vote(s)
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August 2, 2010
Money Buys Unhappiness
In a new study, published in the current issue of Psychological Science, Jordi Quoidbach and three colleagues demonstrate that money-even the thought of it-undermines life's simple pleasures. Specifically, the authors found that wealthier people were less able than poorer ones to savor, to enhance and prolong positive emotional feelings such as joy, awe, excitement, contentment, pride, and gratit
7 Vote(s)
7 Vote(s)
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June 17, 2010
June 15, 2010
What are Parents Really Juggling?
Parents experience wide variety of emotions ranging from love and happiness to anger and frustration. Learn 3 practical implications to help you balance the extreme emotions of parenting.... Gorchoff SM, John OP, & Helson R. (2008) Contextualizing change in marital satisfaction during middle age: an 18-year longitudinal study. Psychological Science, 19(11), 1194-200. PMID: 19076493&
21 Vote(s)
21 Vote(s)
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May 31, 2010
College Students Lack Empathy
Today's college students are not as empathetic as college students of the 1980s and '90s, a University of Michigan study shows. The study, presented in Boston at the annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, analyzes data on empathy among almost 14,000 college students over the last 30 years...
11 Vote(s)
11 Vote(s)
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