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The Trustworthiness of an Inmate’s Face May Seal His Fate
A criminal defendant’s face may determine the severity of the sentence he receives, a study using photos and sentencing data of inmates shows.
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Chatting Before Negotiations Benefits Men More Than Women
Psychological scientists find that a bit of schmoozing may help men—but not women—walk away from a negotiation with a better deal, as well as better long-term business relationships.
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A New You: Behavior Change May Drive Personality Change
Do you want to be more productive at work? Do you want to stop worrying so much, or to be more compassionate toward others? If so, you’re not the only one — judging, that is, by the number of self-help books and seminars that tout personality-change regimens. But what does it really take to alter your personality? In a 2014 article published in the European Journal of Personality, researchers Marie Hennecke (University of Zurich), Wiebke Bleidorn (University of California, Davis), Jaap Denissen (Humboldt-University Berlin), and Dustin Wood (Wake Forest University) presented a framework describing three preconditions for self-directed personality change.
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2015–2016 American Philosophical Society Grant & Fellowship Programs Announced
The American Philosophical Society has announced its grant and fellowship programs for the 2015–2016 year as outlined below. In collaboration with the British Academy, the APS offers an exchange postdoctoral fellowship for a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 2 months’ research in the archives and libraries of London during 2016. This award includes travel expenses between the United States and the United Kingdom and a monthly subsistence paid by the APS. Candidates should specify that they are asking for the British Academy Fellowship and apply by October 1; applicants not selected for the British Academy Fellowship will be considered for a Franklin Research Grant.
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New Research From Psychological Science
Read about the latest research published in Psychological Science: How You Get There From Here: Interaction of Visual Landmarks and Path Integration in Human Navigation Mintao Zhao and William H. Warren Humans use both a landmark-guidance system and a path-integration system to help navigate the world; however, it is not known whether people integrate cues detected by these systems during navigation or rely on cues from one system at a time. Participants performed a homing task in a virtual environment in which they had to walk a triangular path and return to a home location.
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Toddlers and Touchscreens: A Science in Development
In the last decade, smartphones and tablets have gone from being rare luxury devices to essential components of everyday life: Results of a recent survey show, for example, that family ownership of touchscreens in the UK increased from 7% in 2011 to 71% in 2014 (Ofcom, 2014). APS Board Member Annette Karmiloff-Smith and Tim Smith, psychological scientists at Birkbeck, University of London, want to know how this rise in digital technology may be affecting early child development.
