-
Buying Behavior Can Be Swayed by Cultural Mindset
There are some combinations that just go well together: Milk and cookies, eggs and bacon, pancakes and maple syrup. But new research reveals that people with individualistic mindsets differ from their collectivist counterparts in ascribing value to those perfect combinations. The collection of new studies, published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, demonstrate that people with collectivist mindsets tend to value the relationships between items more than the particular items themselves.
-
Advancing Science Through Critical Discussion
Recent initiatives in psychological science -- such as facilitating replication and ensuring sound methodologies -- have sparked a lively dialogue among researchers, publishers, and the general public. The July 2013 issue of Perspectives on Psychological Science builds upon these recent discussions, featuring a special section devoted exclusively to the advancement of psychological science. Perspectives Editor Barbara A. Spellman introduces this section and outlines the articles, all of which are available free to the public.
-
Intelligence Agents May Be Prone to Irrational Decision Making
Research suggests that intelligence agents may be more prone to irrational inconsistencies in decision making compared to college students and post-college adults.
-
Placebo Effect Largely Ignored in Psychological Intervention Studies
Many brain-training companies tout the scientific backing of their products -- the laboratory studies that reveal how their programs improve your brainpower. But according to a new report, most intervention studies like these have a critical flaw: They do not adequately account for the placebo effect. The new analysis appears in the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
-
How the Brain Creates the ‘Buzz’ That Helps Ideas Spread
How do ideas spread? Are we able to predict what messages will go viral on social media? New research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, takes a significant step towards answering these questions, identifying for the first time a brain region associated with the successful spread of ideas, or viral “buzz.” "Our study suggests that people are regularly attuned to how the things they're seeing will be useful and interesting, not just to themselves but to other people," says the study's senior author Matthew Lieberman, a UCLA professor of psychology and of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences.
-
According to Kids, the Moral Obligation Against Harm Doesn’t Apply Equally
Research shows that we tend to show an in-group bias, favoring the interests of our own social group over those of another group. But how do we perceive these biases when they occur in other people? Psychological scientists Marjorie Rhodes and Lisa Chalik of New York University hypothesized that children would view other people as morally obligated to help members of their own group, regardless of the circumstances, but they speculated that children might see the obligation as more flexible when it comes to other people’s encounters with an out-group. Their findings are published in the June 2013 issue of Psychological Science.
