-
Practice Doesn’t Make Perfect When it Comes to Understanding Risk
People aren't very good at making decisions that involve risk. Many people are afraid of airplanes, although accidents are extremely rare; some people even drive to avoid flying, putting themselves at more risk. A new study, which will be published in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, examines how people learn about risk and finds that practice does not make perfect.
-
What Is Classical Conditioning? (And Why Does It Matter?)
Scientific American: Classical conditioning is one of those introductory psychology terms that gets thrown around. Many people have a general idea that it is one of the most basic forms of associative learning, and people often know that Ivan Pavlov’s 1927 experiment with dogs has something to do with it, but that is often where it ends. The most important thing to remember is that classical conditioning involves automatic or reflexive responses, and not voluntary behavior (that’s operant conditioning, and that is a different post). What does this mean?
-
Why do older people view life in a sunnier light than the young?
Examiner: Why do older people view life in a sunnier light than the young? Have older folks come to terms with loss, change, and the ability to let it go--at least when it comes to body images and family attachments? Are young people more or less attached to family than older people? Is it really the opportunities that existed with lower unemployment statistics between 1945 and 1965 and the cheaper prices of homes, cars, and college education or vocational training that makes the silent generation so much more happier than today's twenty-somethings?
-
Seven Steps for Reinvention in 2012
The Huffington Post: I decided not to make any New Year's resolutions for 2012. Resolutions are changes we make based on what hasn't worked. Why not focus on what has worked and create from there? Clinical psychologist John Norcross agrees with this strategy in order to increase the odds for success. For example, if you want to double your first quarter sales compared to last year's first quarter, don't focus on the sales you didn't make. Instead, focus on the sales you did make and why you made them. From there, create action steps based on realistic, attainable goals.
-
Law and Disorder: The Psychology of False Confessions
At 9:45 PM on November 10, 1984, 16-year-old Theresa Fusco finished up her shift at the roller skating rink in the Long Island village of Lynbrook. She never made it home that night. She was reported missing, but nearly a month passed before her body was found, naked, in a wooded area not far from the rink. She had been strangled and covered up with leaves and debris. There was semen in her vagina. Fusco was not the first young woman to disappear in the vicinity, and police were under tremendous public pressure to make an arrest.
-
Liking yourself just the way you are
Los Angeles Times: You know it's tough out there when fashion and beauty executives think that even a model's body isn't good enough to sell clothes or that a celebrity's natural face isn't up to par, even with makeup. The website Jezebel reported in early December that Swedish retailing giant H&M featured images on its website of lingerie shown on "completely virtual" computer-generated bodies with real models' heads superimposed on top. Meanwhile the British Advertising Standards Authority banned two makeup ads in 2011 featuring Christy Turlington and Julia Roberts because they thought too much airbrushing made the ads misleading, and CoverGirl pulled a mascara ad after a U.S.
