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The Political Effects Of Existential Fear
Why did the approval ratings of President George W. Bush— who was perceived as indecisive before September 11, 2001—soar over 90 percent after the terrorist attacks? Because Americans were acutely aware of their own deaths. That is one lesson from the psychological literature on “mortality salience” reviewed in a new article called “The Politics of Mortal Terror.” The paper, by psychologists Florette Cohen of the City University of New York’s College of Staten Island and Sheldon Solomon of Skidmore College, appears in October’s Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal published by the Association for Psychological Science.
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Forgetting Is Part Of Remembering
It's time for forgetting to get some respect, says Ben Storm, author of a new article on memory in Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. “We need to rethink how we're talking about forgetting and realize that under some conditions it actually does play an important role in the function of memory,” says Storm, who is a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. “Memory is difficult. Thinking is difficult,” Storm says. Memories and associations accumulate rapidly.
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Whether We Know It Or Not, We Can “See” Through One Eye At A Time
Although portions of the visible world come in through one eye only, the brain instantaneously takes all that information and creates a coherent image. As far as we know, we “see” with both eyes at once. Now a new study suggests that the brain may know which eye is receiving information—and can turn around and tell that eye to work even harder. “We have demonstrated for the first time that you can pay attention through one eye, even when you have no idea where the image is coming from,” says Peng Zhang, who conducted the study with University of Minnesota colleagues Yi Jiang and Sheng He.
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Women, Men and the Bedroom
In the racy television hit show, Sex and the City, Carrie, one of the main characters tells her best girlfriends that “Men who are too good looking are never good in bed because they never had to be.” This is just one of the many gender stereotypes that audiences were exposed to in this show. The show challenged many stereotypes about sex and gender and refrained from the gender caricatures that typify so much television fare.
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Earlier Autism Diagnosis Could Mean Earlier Interventions
Autism historically was diagnosed between the ages of 2 and 3, but new research is finding symptoms of autism spectrum disorders in babies during their first years of life.
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The Perils of Polite Misunderstandings
Your friend debuts a questionable haircut and asks what you think of it. Brutal honesty would definitely hurt his feelings, so what do you say? Most people in this situation would probably opt for a vague or evasive response, along the lines of “It’s really unique!” or “It’s so you!” Politeness helps us get through awkward social situations like these and makes it easier for us to maintain our relationships. But a new article published in the October issue of Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, suggests that this kind of politeness can have disastrous consequences, especially in high-stakes situations.
