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New Evidence of an Unrecognized Visual Process
We don’t see only what meets the eye. The visual system constantly takes in ambiguous stimuli, weighs its options, and decides what it perceives. This normally happens effortlessly. Sometimes, however, an ambiguity is persistent, and the visual system waffles on which perception is right. Such instances interest scientists because they help us understand how the eyes and the brain make sense of what we see. Most scientists believe rivalry occurs only when there’s “spatial conflict”—two objects striking the same place on the retina at the same time as our eyes move. But the retina isn’t the only filter or organizer of visual information.
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Holiday Haters Rejoice: Being a Grinch Might Be Good for You
TIME: We all know that Thanksgiving is a time for giving thanks. It’s right there in the name, you can’t miss it. However, the holidays can also mean spending a lot of time with your family, which, if you’re like most people, can be stressful. If your mom is constantly telling you to stop being a Grinch, now you can tell her that being negative can actually be a positive for your health. Two studies out this week indicate that negative comments can have health benefits.
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False Confessions Confuse Forensics
Scientific American: Confessing to a crime usually is not enough to throw you behind bars. Many states require independent evidence to corroborate a confession. But if a suspect confesses and forensic investigators know, it can cause them to favor evidence in support of a guilty verdict—even if the confession is coerced or false. So says a study in the journal Psychological Science. [Saul Kassin, Daniel Bogart and Jacqueline Kerner, Confessions that Corrupt: Evidence from the DNA Exoneration Case Files, January 2012 Psychological Science (no link yet)] Researchers analyzed 241 cases from the Innocence Project, which uses DNA tests to try to exonerate prisoners who are in fact not guilty.
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A Serving of Gratitude May Save the Day
The New York Times: The most psychologically correct holiday of the year is upon us. Thanksgiving may be the holiday from hell for nutritionists, and it produces plenty of war stories for psychiatrists dealing with drunken family meltdowns. But it has recently become the favorite feast of psychologists studying the consequences of giving thanks. Cultivating an “attitude of gratitude” has been linked to better health, sounder sleep, less anxiety and depression, higher long-term satisfaction with life and kinder behavior toward others, including romantic partners.
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Consistency Of A Mother’s Psychological State Vital To Child Development, New Study Shows
The Huffington Post: Developing infants can sense what their mothers are feeling, but in an unusual twist, authors of a new study suggest it isn't necessarily a woman's mental state that matters -- i.e. whether or not she's depressed -- but rather the consistency of the woman's psychological state before and after she gives birth. The new study, slated for publication in the December issue of Psychological Science, examines how maternal depression impacts babies' mental health and motor skills. Researchers from the University of California, Irvine, followed 221 pregnant women through pregnancy and for a year following birth.
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Giving thanks helps your psychological outlook
USA Today: While it seems pretty obvious that gratitude is a positive emotion, psychologists for decades rarely delved into the science of giving thanks. But in the last several years they have, learning in many experiments that it is one of humanity's most powerful emotions. It makes you happier and can change your attitude about life, like an emotional reset button. Especially in hard times, like these. Beyond proving that being grateful helps you, psychologists also are trying to figure out the brain chemistry behind gratitude and the best ways of showing it.
