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Looks Overshadow Reputation When Deciding Who To Trust
LiveScience: When faced with a decision of who to trust with money, people will often choose the face that looks the most trustworthy, shunning those who they deem look sketchy. Interestingly, a new study shows that the person's track record doesn't impact this choice — people will still choose the most trustworthy face, even if they are told that the owner of that face has a bad reputation. "The temptation to judge strangers by their faces is hard to resist.
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Borderline Personality Pathology and Sleep Problems in Later Middle-Age
Borderline personality pathology includes symptoms such as intense anger and mood swings, stormy relationships, impulsivity, and stress-related disassociation. Previous research shows that borderline pathology and sleep problems are associated with each other; they are also associated with depression. Josh Oltmanns, who presented his research at the 24th APS Annual Convention, in Chicago, used a study to examine whether borderline personality disorder and sleep problems are related to each other independently of depressive symptoms. Oltmanns works in the St. Louis Personality and Aging Network (SPAN Study) lab at Washington University in St. Louis.
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Training People to Inhibit Movements Can Reduce Risk-Taking
New research from psychological scientists at the Universities of Exeter and Cardiff shows that people can be trained to become less impulsive, resulting in less risk-taking during gambling. The research could pave the way for new treatments for people with addictions to gambling, drugs or alcohol as well as impulse-control disorders, such as ADHD. Recently published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, the study assessed whether asking people to stop making simple movements while in a simulated gambling situation affected how risky or cautious they were when betting.
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History of Non-Suicidal Self-Injury and Emotion Regulation Problems
Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is the deliberate damage of body tissue without a conscious desire to commit suicide. This behavior most frequently functions to regulate negative emotions (Favazza, 1998; Klonsky & Glenn, 2009; Laye-Gindhu, & Schonert-Reichl, 2005; Swanell et al., 2008, Whitlock, Eckenrode, & Silverman, 2006). The purpose of the present study was to examine differences between individuals who have engaged in relatively few episodes of NSSI and individuals who have engaged in a greater number of lifetime NSSI episodes. Specifically, we hypothesized greater problems in emotion regulation among individuals with more lifetime episodes of NSSI.
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The Best Swag at Convention
CHICAGO -- Who had the best swag at the 24th APS Annual Convention? As APS attendees sought out exhibitor trail markers in their Scavenger Hunt quest to win a collection of APS prizes, their journey led them to some of the best giveaways in Chicago. Dozens of book publishers, software companies, device manufacturers and non-profits showcased their products at the biggest APS Convention ever! Some of the best swag included: OVERALL WINNER: The butterfly imprinted screen cleaner from Jones & Bartlett Learning, promoting their Learning Series’ Psychology course. WHY IT’S GREAT: Can clean your smartphone. Folds up really, really small. It’s a great visual reminder of the product.
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Training and Development in Organizations: What Matters, What Works
Each year in the United States about $135 billion is spent in training employees -- but those billions do not always improve the workplace because the skills often do not transfer to the actual job. “Learning is a way of life in organizations,” says Eduardo Salas, a psychological scientist from the University of Central Florida. “Everyone gets training. But what matters? What works?
