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New Research From Psychological Science
A sample of research exploring creativity during mind wandering, object representation in infants’ working memory, and factors that influence cultural adaptation.
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Why the Secrets You Keep Are Hurting You
It hurts to keep secrets. Secrecy is associated with lower well-being, worse health, and less satisfying relationships. Research has linked secrecy to increased anxiety, depression, symptoms of poor health, and even the more rapid progression of disease. There is a seemingly obvious explanation for these harms: Hiding secrets is hard work. You have to watch what you say. If asked about something related to the secret, you must be careful not to slip up. This could require evasion or even deception. Constant vigilance and concealment can be exhausting. New research, however, suggests that the harm of secrets doesn’t really come from the hiding after all.
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To Encourage Girls in Science, Talk Action, Not Identity
Girls persevere longer and are more engaged in science tasks when they are asked to "do science," rather than "be scientists," finds a new study in the journal Psychological Science. It's the latest of a slew of experiments identifying small differences in a teacher's language that may improve motivation in science—particularly for students who feel threatened by stereotypes suggesting they are less likely to perform well in the subject.
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How to Stop Hating Your Least Favorite Food
Cucumbers are my nemesis. I want to fight every food in the melon family and many melon-adjacent foods, but melons avoid my primary disdain because they usually take their rightful place as easily avoidable fruit-salad filler. Cucumbers, though. Cucumbers. They hide in all kinds of things that otherwise seem safe to put in my mouth: sushi rolls, salads, sandwiches, the takeout “lunch bowls” that restaurants near my office sell for $14. As far as I can remember, I’ve never liked cucumbers, mostly because they taste bad. If they’re present, they’re the first thing I notice, and it’s like someone has sprayed a middle schooler’s eau de toilette from 2002 on my food.
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There are ways to combat racism that don’t rely on implicit bias
It would be nice if, to address racism and sexism, we could simply call on people to change their subconscious prejudicial impulses. Unfortunately, despite the hype around “implicit bias” as a psychological tool for improving workplace diversity, it doesn’t work that way. As Quartz has previously reported, there are numerous methodological flaws with the most commonly used implicit-bias test, and relying on current techniques meant to address implicit bias doesn’t product strong long-term results.
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A Tiny Reef Fish Can Recognize Itself in a Mirror
It’s something most of us do every morning without a second thought. We wake up, stumble to the bathroom and glance at ourselves in the mirror as we wipe the sleep from our eyes. It may not seem like much, but the simple act of looking at that mirror—and understanding that the eye-rubbing person staring back is really one’s own reflection—demonstrates a remarkably sophisticated level of understanding. Only a handful of the world’s other brainiest species have proved capable of this: chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, orangutans, bottlenose dolphins, killer whales, magpies and at least one Asian elephant.
