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Halfalogue Makes the NYT Words of the Year List
“There are buzzwords and there are great words,” said Sam Sifton and Grant Barrett, writers of the The New York Times article, “The Words of the Year” article. Debuting amidst “G.T.L” and “shellacking” was a word of the year coined from a Psychological Science journal article: Halfalogue. Lauren Emberson, PhD candidate in psychology at Cornell University, coined the catchy term for her research in “Overheard Cell-Phone Conversations: When Less Speech is More Distracting.” Halfalogue is the hearing of only half of a conversation, like an overheard phone call on the bus or metro.
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Facebook and Love: Why Women Are Attracted to Guys Who Play Hard to Get
Time: As Valentine's Day approaches, it's tempting to check your wall every 10 min. to see if that cute guy from the bar last week has poked you. But a recent Psychological Science study by researchers at the University of Virginia and Harvard says you will probably like him more if he ignores you than if he posts flirty messages. Read the whole story: Time
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Injections are less painful if you don’t look away, scientists claim
The Daily Telegraph: The body naturally reduces the pain experienced if the limb or body part affected is focused on visually. Researchers found that people had a higher pain threshold if they looked at the arm or hand being treated. Read the whole story: The Daily Telegraph
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Pain reduced by changing what you look at
The BBC: What you look at can influence how much pain you feel, a study has revealed. Contrary to many people's compulsion to look away during a painful event such as an injection, scientists found that looking at your body - in this case the hand - reduces the pain experienced. The team also showed that magnifying the hand to make it appear larger cut pain levels further still. Read the whole story: The BBC
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Young Children Choose to Share Prizes After Working Together
Grownups have a good sense of what's fair. Research now shows that this is true for young children, too. In a study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, three-year-old children shared with a peer after they worked together to earn a reward, even in situations where it would be easy for one child to keep all of the spoils for himself. The new study was inspired by work in chimpanzees that found their cooperation regularly breaks down.
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Look at Your Body to Reduce Pain
When you’re getting a flu shot or touching a thorny rose stem, simply looking at your body can actually reduce the pain, researchers have discovered.