-
Dressing for Success: From Lucky Socks to the Red Sneaker Effect
Making a fashion statement at the office – a tie with an unusual pattern or some snazzy red sneakers paired with a suit – may actually provide a bit of a career boost. Under most circumstances, not conforming to etiquette rules tends to garner social disapproval; showing up to a business lunch in your gym clothes, for example, is not likely to impress your clients. However, Harvard psychological scientists Silvia Bellezza, Francesca Gino, and Anat Keinan hypothesized that intentionally standing out from the crowd could also send a positive message conveying status, confidence, and power.
-
Why We Fall Prey to Misinformation
Even when we know better, we often rely on inaccurate or misleading information to make future decisions. A review of scientific research explores the reasons why.
-
Sleep Makes Relearning Faster and Longer-Lasting
Sleeping between study sessions may make it easier to recall what you studied and relearn what you forgot, with lasting results.
-
What Is Preregistration, Anyway?
The Editors of Psychological Science have been encouraging research psychologists to preregister their research plans before they begin collecting data (or, at least, before they see their data). But what does preregistration actually entail? As
-
Scientists Challenge Magazine Feature on Historic Brain Research
A group of 200 psychological researchers and other scientists from around the globe have slammed The New York Times’ publication of a recent book excerpt that they say unfairly tarnishes the late memory researcher Suzanne Corkin, who died of cancer in May at the age of 79. Scientists say the article, titled “The Brain That Could Not Remember” and appearing August 7 in the newspaper’s Sunday magazine, paints an unfair and inaccurate picture of Corkin and her work. The article, which was actually an excerpt from a new book, focused on Corkin’s historic research involving Henry Molaison, an amnesiac who is widely considered to be among the most famous brain patients ever studied.
-
Babies’ Spatial Reasoning Predicts Later Math Skills
Spatial reasoning measured in infancy predicts how children do at math at four years of age, according to findings from a longitudinal study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. “We’ve provided the earliest documented evidence for a relationship between spatial reasoning and math ability,” says Emory University psychological scientist Stella Lourenco, whose lab conducted the research. “We’ve shown that spatial reasoning beginning early in life, as young as six months of age, predicts both the continuity of this ability and mathematical development.” Emory graduate student Jillian Lauer is co-author of the study.