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SEPA New Orleans 2012
The annual conference of the Southeastern Psychological Association will be held February 15-18, 2012 in New Orleans, LA. For more information visit: http://www.sepaonline.com/annualmeeting-info.htm
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2012 Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior Meeting
The 2012 Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior Meeting will be held July 10-July 14, 2012 in Zurich, Switzerland. For more information visit: http://www.ssib.org/SSIB_2012/
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Society for Research in Child Development 2012 Meetings
The Society for Research in Child Development will be holding three themed meetings in Tampa, FL in 2012. Two will be held simultaneously February 2-11, and the third will be held October 18-20, 2012. For more information visit: http://www.srcd.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=585&Itemid=690
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New Evidence of an Unrecognized Visual Process
We don’t see only what meets the eye. The visual system constantly takes in ambiguous stimuli, weighs its options, and decides what it perceives. This normally happens effortlessly. Sometimes, however, an ambiguity is persistent, and the visual system waffles on which perception is right. Such instances interest scientists because they help us understand how the eyes and the brain make sense of what we see. Most scientists believe rivalry occurs only when there’s “spatial conflict”—two objects striking the same place on the retina at the same time as our eyes move. But the retina isn’t the only filter or organizer of visual information.
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Holiday Haters Rejoice: Being a Grinch Might Be Good for You
TIME: We all know that Thanksgiving is a time for giving thanks. It’s right there in the name, you can’t miss it. However, the holidays can also mean spending a lot of time with your family, which, if you’re like most people, can be stressful. If your mom is constantly telling you to stop being a Grinch, now you can tell her that being negative can actually be a positive for your health. Two studies out this week indicate that negative comments can have health benefits.
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False Confessions Confuse Forensics
Scientific American: Confessing to a crime usually is not enough to throw you behind bars. Many states require independent evidence to corroborate a confession. But if a suspect confesses and forensic investigators know, it can cause them to favor evidence in support of a guilty verdict—even if the confession is coerced or false. So says a study in the journal Psychological Science. [Saul Kassin, Daniel Bogart and Jacqueline Kerner, Confessions that Corrupt: Evidence from the DNA Exoneration Case Files, January 2012 Psychological Science (no link yet)] Researchers analyzed 241 cases from the Innocence Project, which uses DNA tests to try to exonerate prisoners who are in fact not guilty.
