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Study of the Day: Why That Last Piece of Chocolate Tastes the Best
The Atlantic: PROBLEM: Our fondest memories usually involve the last of something, be it a farewell kiss or the final day of school. Does this last-is-best bias extend to more trivial events in everyday life? METHODOLOGY: University of Michigan psychologists Ed O'Brien and Phoebe C. Ellsworth recruited 52 students for a taste test of Hershey's Kisses to see if even the smallest of endings have a "positivity effect." The experimenters drew five chocolates -- milk, dark, crème, caramel, and almond -- in random order from a hidden pocket inside a bag without sharing to the participants how many chocolates there would be.
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Hungry people ‘have clearer picture of food-related words’
Yahoo! India: Famished people tend to see food-related words more clearly than people who've just eaten, a new study has revealed. The study finds that this change in vision happens at the earliest, perceptual stages, before higher parts of the brain have a chance to change the messages coming from the eyes. Psychologists have known for decades that what's going on inside our head affects our senses. For example, poorer children think coins are larger than they are, and hungry people think pictures of food are brighter.
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Red Dress Effect: Women In Red Deemed Open To Sexual Advances, Study Of Men Shows
Huffington Post: Red dresses muddle men's minds, just ask The Matrix's Neo. In a scene from the 1999 sci-fi film, the hero is famously ambushed after becoming distracted by a woman on the street wearing a slinky red outfit. Now, a new study shows how such duds attain their sway. Men rate women wearing red clothing as being more interested in sex, hinting that humans may be conditioned to associate the color with fertility. The pull of red is nothing new. Women have donned pinkish blush and bright lipstick for nearly 12,000 years. And, if you're lucky enough to get a Valentine's Day card, it will probably come decorated in tiny red hearts.
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Stress turns men into risk-takers, while women play it safe
Toronto Star: Stress increases the differences in how men and women think about risk, according to a newly published article in Current Directions in Psychological Science. The article reviewed a number of previous studies that looked at how stress affects people when they’re making a decision. It seems that stress affects the way people assess risk and reward. When it comes to stress and gender there are some surprising differences, said Mara Mather, a professor of gerontology and psychology at the University of Southern California who co-wrote the paper with Nichole R. Lighthall, a PhD student in her lab.
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Bad Habits? My Future Self Will Deal With That
The New York Times: I’VE been wanting to change some of my longstanding habits that I’m not so fond of. But I think I’ve discovered why this can be so difficult. It’s how we think of our future selves. Now, I know this sounds kind of weird, but I’ve found some research showing that many of us don’t have the incentive to eat healthy or save money or add to our retirement accounts because we think of ourselves in the future as someone different altogether. In fact, a future self can seem to be this annoying other person who wants to prevent you from having fun in the present.
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Two Heads Are Not Always Better Than One
From the corporate boardroom to the kitchen table, important decisions are often made in collaboration. But are two—or three or five—heads better than one? Not always, according to new research from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. “People who make judgments by working with someone else are more confident in those judgments. As a result they take less input from other people”—and this myopia wipes out any advantage a pair may have over an individual, says psychologist Julia A. Minson, who conducted the study with Jennifer S. Mueller.
