-
Männer überschätzen ihre Anziehungskraft
Sueddeutsche Zeitung: Die Geschichte von Mann und Frau ist eine Geschichte voller Missverständnisse und Fehlinterpretationen. Einen möglichen Grund für die Kommunikationspannen zwischen den Geschlechter gibt nun eine neue Studie der US-Psychologin Carin Perilloux: Demnach neigen Männer oft dazu, ihre Anziehungskraft auf Frauen zu überschätzen. Die Wissenschaftlerin vom Williams College im US-Staat Massachusetts untersuchte mit Kollegen 96 Studenten und 103 Studentinnen beim Speed-Dating. Den Studienteilnehmern wurden jeweils fünf Personen des anderen Geschlechts als Gesprächspartner zugeteilt, die Begegnungen dauerten drei Minuten.
-
Researchers: video games won’t make you smarter
The Miami Herald: Video games that'll be under millions of Christmas trees may be loads of fun. But three researchers say you shouldn't expect them to help kids get better grades, improve their concentration or become better drivers. Florida State University psychologist Walter Boot said they found that earlier studies claiming cognitive benefits from video games were flawed and the results couldn't be replicated. He and two colleagues at Florida State and the University of Illinois published their findings in the journal Frontiers in Psychology earlier this year. Boot, who grew up playing video games, said he hasn't given up entirely on the potential for benefits.
-
Savio Wong
Hong Kong Institute of Education, Hong Kong http://www.ied.edu.hk/ps/view.php?m=646&secid=1701 What does your research focus on? My research focuses on examining body and brain interaction and its role in decision making. My studies integrate psychophysiological measurements with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the cortical modulation of the autonomic nervous system during decision making. Recently, I expanded my research into educational neuroscience. My recent study examines the role of education in shaping the development of the neural substrate that is involved in decision making.
-
Essi Viding
University College London, UK www.ucl.ac.uk/psychlangsci/staff/cehp-staff/e_viding What does your research focus on? My research focuses on understanding different developmental pathways to persistent antisocial behavior. I have a particular interest in a subgroup of children who not only have behavioral problems, but also have callous-unemotional traits. What drew you to this line of research? Why is it exciting to you? It is puzzling to meet children with callous-unemotional traits. They seem to lack empathy for others and do not appear to care much about social affiliation. I want to understand what makes them that way and what could be done to help their social integration.
-
Self-affirmation May Break Down Resistance to Medical Screening
People resist medical screening, or don’t call back for the results, because they don’t want to know they’re sick or at risk for a disease. But many illnesses, such as HIV/AIDS and cancer, have a far a better prognosis if they’re caught early. How can health care providers break down that resistance? Have people think about what they value most, finds a new study by University of Florida psychologists Jennifer L. Howell and James A. Shepperd. “If you can get people to refocus their attention from a threat to their overall sense of wellbeing, they are less likely to avoid threatening information,” says Howell.
-
The Goldilocks Principle of Stress: Too Little Is Almost As Bad as Too Much
TIME: A life free of stress and adversity sounds blissful. But, in fact, the happiest and healthiest people are those who have had at least some early exposure to negative experiences, according to a new research review. Despite the popular notion, stress isn’t all bad. In fact, low to moderate amounts of stress are necessary for healthy growth. What’s harmful is large doses of uncontrollable stress — experiencing a natural disaster, for instance, or living in extreme poverty — particularly in early life. Also harmful, it turns out, is having experienced no stress at all.
