-
Fast food, racing thoughts
Fast food is unhealthy. I know, I know. Few of us need convincing of that fact any more. But as unassailable as it is, the brief against fast food has for years focused almost entirely on the food in fast food—the high fructose corn syrup and artery-busting fats and nutritional bankruptcy of burgers and French fries and soft drinks. But what about the fast in fast food? New science is now suggesting that fast food may be doubly unhealthy—not only nutritionally damaging but psychologically detrimental as well.
-
Repeal health care reform? The brain says no
Republican lawmakers are understandably chagrined over this week’s historic enactment of health care reform. After all, the legislation was passed and signed over their histrionics and without any constructive input from their side of the aisle, so they’re feeling irrelevant and impotent. That explains why they’re already making blustery threats to repeal this transformative piece of social law. But it is just bluster. They won’t repeal the law—not for political reasons but for psychological reasons. Let me explain. One of the cornerstone principles of cognitive psychology—the study of how we think—is the so-called default heuristic.
-
It’s the Thought That Counts: Helping Behavior in Infants May Be Determined by Previous Interactions
We are usually eager to assist people who have helped us in the past. These reciprocal relationships are an important part of adult interactions and foster cooperation in society. New findings, reported in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, suggest that this reciprocal behavior may have early beginnings and can be demonstrated in children as young as 21-months-old. Psychological scientists Kristen A. Dunfield and Valerie A. Kuhlmeier from Queen’s University in Canada wanted to examine the specificity of infants’ helping behavior — that is, if they are likelier to help one person over another.
-
The Power of Gratitude
Like most parents, I drilled my young kids on the importance of saying “thank you” to others. Nagged them, really. After all, words of gratitude are an important social convention, a way of letting others know you value and appreciate them and their support. Plus saying “thank you” is the right thing to do. What I didn’t teach them—because I didn’t know it at the time—was how they themselves might benefit from saying “thank you.” An emerging body of research is now showing that genuine expressions of gratitude can be tonic not just for the recipient, but for those who are saying “thank you” as well.
-
Study Suggests Environment May Impact Apes’ Ability to Understand Declarative Communication
When we notice somebody pointing at something, we automatically look in the direction of the gesture. In humans, the ability to understand this type of gesturing (known as declarative communication) may seem to be an automatic response, but it is actually a sign of sophisticated communication behavior. Numerous studies have tried to determine if great apes (for example, chimpanzees and bonobos) are able to understand declarative communication, but results have been mixed.
-
A tool for predicting suicide?
Suicide is both disturbing and perplexing to survivors, in part because it is so unpredictable. People who are intent on killing themselves often conceal their thoughts or outright deny them, so family and friends are left puzzling over warning signs they might have missed. Even experienced clinical judgment often misses the mark. As a result, suicide experts have long hoped and searched for a clear behavioral marker of suicide risk. Now they may have found one.
