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When Voting, Political Preferences Outweigh the Evidence
Supporters of a political measure are more influenced by their initial preferences than cold, hard evidence suggesting that the measure won’t go their way, a study shows.
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Social Connections Drive the ‘Upward Spiral’ of Positive Emotions and Health
People who experience warmer, more upbeat emotions may have better physical health because they make more social connections, according to a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The research, led by Barbara Fredrickson of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Bethany Kok of the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences also found it is possible for a person to self-generate positive emotions in ways that make him or her physically healthier. “People tend to liken their emotions to the weather, viewing them as uncontrollable,” says Fredrickson.
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Perspectives Celebrates 25 Years of APS
APS is turning 25 -- to celebrate, upcoming issues of Perspectives on Psychological Science will feature special sections that look back at the last 25 years of our field. As Perspectives editor Barbara A. Spellman observes in her introduction to the first special section in the May issue, the field of psychological science has seen some huge changes since 1988: "There are now research and statistical tools that did not exist then; theoretical perspectives that have arisen or disappeared; and entire fields of inquiry that have been born, merged, split, renamed, and disbanded." According to Spellman, the special sections will include two types of articles.
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2013 Swag in DC
Attendees will be snagging APS swag in the Exhibit Hall at this year’s Convention. Visit the APS Booth for free pens, pocket buddy notebooks, hand sanitizers, experiMINTs to freshen your breath, “Risky Business” sunglasses, a variety of APS buttons, and 2014 Convention magnets for the 26th APS Annual Convention in San Francisco, California. Don’t miss APS’s “shock box” t-shirts based on Stanley Milgram’s groundbreaking experiments on obedience to authority. The t-shirts commemorate the Milgram shock box’s trip to DC.
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Early Math and Reading Ability Linked to Job and Income in Adulthood
Math and reading ability at age 7 are linked with socioeconomic status several decades later, over and above associations with intelligence, education, and childhood socioeconomic status.
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Older Adults’ Memory Lapses Linked to Problems Processing Everyday Events
Some memory problems common to older adults may stem from an inability to segment daily life into discrete experiences, according to a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The study suggests that problems processing everyday events may be the result of age-related atrophy to a part of the brain called the medial temporal lobe (MTL). “When you think back on what you did yesterday, you don’t just press ‘play’ and watch a continuous stream of 24 hours,” says psychological scientist Heather Bailey of Washington University in St. Louis, who led the study.
