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Helping the Earth Through Understanding Human Psychology
How do people take in information about how humans affect the Earth? What influences the decisions they make and the perspectives they accept? Journal articles and video of psychological scientists talking with the Dalai Lama show how psychological science can help us create a healthier planet. How Human Decisions Impact the Earth Elke Weber, Center for Research on Environmental Decisions at Columbia University, and other behavioral and environmental scientists discussed decision-making and the environment with the Dalai Lama at the 23rd Mind and Life Meeting in Dharamsala, India in November 2011.
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Does being needy in a relationship make you feel colder?
Yahoo! Canada: The next time you reach for that warm sweater, or pine for some hot comfort food, you might wonder whether you suffer from attachment anxiety. In a report called "Warm Thoughts: Attachment Anxiety and Sensitivity to Temperature Cues," published in Psychological Science, Ohio University psychology professor Matthew Vess, shows how people with attachment issues are especially sensitive to temperature cues. In the first of two studies outlined in the report, a group of 56 people tested to measure their levels of anxiety in relationships.
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Tromper son cerveau pour être meilleur au golf
Le Figaro: Des chercheurs américains en sciences cognitives ont découvert un étrange effet de perception qui peut être utile au golf. Il suffit d'imaginer que le trou sur le green est plus large qu'il ne l'est vraiment pour améliorer de 10 % les chances de faire entrer la balle dans le trou. Les golfeurs le savent bien: c'est au petit jeu que se fait la différence! L'étude qui vient d'être publiée dans Psychological Science risque donc d'intéresser plus d'un acharné du green. Elle montre en effet que l'on peut améliorer son putting par le simple jeu de l'imagination. «Les joueurs améliorent leurs putts quand ils ont l'illusion que le trou est plus large» explique Jessica K.
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The Innate Irresistibility of Film
Scientific American: When I was seven years old, my mom took me to see Curly Sue. Though I don’t remember much of the movie, two scenes made quite the impression: the first, when James Belushi asks Alisan Porter to hit him on the head with a baseball bat, and the second, when Bill, Sue, and Grey sit in the 3-D movie theater. At first glance, that second one doesn’t seem to pack quite the same punch–insert pun grimace here–as a little girl swinging a huge bat at a man’s forehead. But I found it irresistible. A wide shot of the entire movie theater, and all of the faces—in 3-D glasses, of course—moving and reacting in perfect unison. Heads swerve left. Heads swerve right. Gasps. Ducks.
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Psychological Science Convention in Chicago: Music in the Mind, Mental Health, Learning, and More
More than 4,000 psychological scientists, academics, clinicians, researchers, teachers, and administrators from 85 countries will gather in Chicago for the Association for Psychological Science’s 24th annual convention May 23-27, 2012 at the Sheraton Chicago. A concert with a former guitarist from the Black Eyed Peas and a five-time Grammy Award winning bassist will share the stage with musically talented scientists to discuss and explore music and the mind.
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Decisions! Decisions! Decisions! and How We Make Them – Insights from Psychological Science
Wouldn’t it be nice if all our decisions were the results of clear, rational, deductive reasoning? Of course they rarely are. A full range of emotions influence decision-making and experts in the field will look at fear and our transportation decisions following 9/11, psychic numbing and genocide and the effect of emotions on risky choices during the Association for Psychological Science annual convention in Chicago, from May 24-27, 2012. Ben R. Newell from the University of New South Wales will moderate the panel discussion.
