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How to Fat Into American Life
Baseball and democracy – two things we’re proud to call American. Unfortunately, to immigrants, eating junk food is also associated with being a typical American. A study published in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science found that immigrants will eat more fatty foods to fit in as Americans. To show this, scientists measured Asian Americans’ food preferences. To trigger the threat of not being identified as an American, some were asked “Do you speak English?” before the experiment. Seventy-five percent of those in the threat group mentioned a typical American food as their favorite food as opposed to only 25 percent who did in the non-threat group.
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Study links willingness to cheat, viewpoint on God
Los Angeles Times: A new study on the link between one's view of God and willingness to cheat on a test is the latest example of social scientists wading into the highly charged field of religion and morality. The study, titled "Mean Gods Make Good People: Different Views of God Predict Cheating Behavior" was peer reviewed and published earlier this month in the International Journal for the Psychology of Religion. In line with many previous studies, it found no difference between the ethical behavior of believers and nonbelievers. But those who believed in a loving, compassionate God were more likely to cheat than those who believed in an angry, punitive God.
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Hazy Recall as a Signal Foretelling Depression
The New York Times: OXFORD, England — The task given to participants in an Oxford University depression study sounds straightforward. After investigators read them a cue word, they have 30 seconds to recount a single specific memory, meaning an event that lasted less than one day. Cues may be positive (“loved”), negative (“heartless”) or neutral (“green”). For “rejected,” one participant answered, “A few weeks ago, I had a meeting with my boss, and my ideas were rejected.” Another said, “My brothers are always talking about going on holiday without me.” The second answer was wrong — it is not specific, and it refers to something that took place on several occasions.
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The Tricky Chemistry of Attraction
The Wall Street Journal: Much of the attraction between the sexes is chemistry. New studies suggest that when women use hormonal contraceptives, such as birth-control pills, it disrupts some of these chemical signals, affecting their attractiveness to men and women's own preferences for romantic partners. The type of man a woman is drawn to is known to change during her monthly cycle—when a woman is fertile, for instance, she might look for a man with more masculine features. Taking the pill or another type of hormonal contraceptive upends this natural dynamic, making less-masculine men seem more attractive, according to a small but growing body of evidence.
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To Eat or Not to Eat (Yet)
Check out this humorous rendition of APS Past-President Walter Mischel's 1972 Stanford Marshmallow Test. Could you be as patient as some of these kids? Mischel will be speaking at the Connected Theme Program at the 2011 Convention.
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Miracle Fruit: The Results Are In!
Magical Miracle Fruit The Results Are In! At Convention last year APS Past-President Linda Bartoshuk led a miracle fruit experiment with the audience during the Presidential Symposium in Boston, MA. Audience members tasted 'miracle fruit,' a freeze-dried West African berry, that changed the way they tasted fruit they ate afterwards. Check out last year's video below and be sure to swing by Poster Session VIII, Board 132 to see the results of the experiment on display.
