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People Seem More Attractive in a Group Than They Do Apart
People tend to be rated as more attractive when they’re part of a group than when they’re alone, according to findings published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. This phenomenon -- first dubbed the “cheerleader effect” by ladykiller Barney Stinson on the popular TV show How I Met Your Mother — suggests that having a few friends around might be an easy way to boost perceived attractiveness.
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Keeping Emotions in Check May Not Always Benefit Psychological Health
Being able to regulate your emotions is important for well-being, but new research suggests that a common emotion regulation strategy called “cognitive reappraisal” may actually be harmful when it comes to stressors that are under our control. The study is published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. “Context is important,” says psychological scientist and lead researcher Allison Troy of Franklin & Marshall College.
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New Research from Clinical Psychological Science
Read about the latest research in Clinical Psychological Science: Impaired Decision Making in Alzheimer's Disease: A Deficit of Cognitive Strategy Selection? Pascal Hot, Kylee T. Ramdeen, Céline Borg, Thierry Bollon, and Pascal Couturier People with Alzheimer's disease often have trouble choosing the best decision-making strategy. Could uncertainty about their problem-solving abilities lead people with Alzheimer's to adopt poor decision-making strategies? Participants with and without Alzheimer's watched a film clip meant to induce a positive or a neutral emotional state and then completed the Iowa Gambling Task.
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Talking Directly to Toddlers Strengthens Their Language Skills
Just as young children need nourishing food to build physical strength, they also need linguistic nutrition for optimal development of language and cognitive abilities. New research from psychology researchers at Stanford University shows that by talking more to their toddler, parents help the child learn to process language more quickly, which accelerates vocabulary growth. The research is published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. It is well-known that socioeconomic status (SES) plays a role in language development.
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Learning New Skills Keeps an Aging Mind Sharp
Older adults are encouraged to stay active to keep their minds sharp. But new findings from a longitudinal study suggests that only demanding activities — such as learning photography — will benefit cognitive functioning.
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New Research From Psychological Science
Read about the latest research published in Psychological Science: Adaptation to Faces and Voices: Unimodal, Cross-Modal, and Sex-Specific Effects Anthony C. Little, David R. Feinberg, Lisa M. DeBruine, and Benedict C. Jones Past research has shown that exposure to faces can alter subsequent perceptions of novel faces. The same adaptation effect has been shown for voices. In this study, the authors examined whether there is cross-modal adaptation between sound and visual stimuli. Participants' perception of female faces was assessed by having them rate the normality of masculinized or feminized faces.
