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Who Would Donate a Kidney to a Stranger? An ‘Anti-Psychopath’
New York Magazine: In recent decades, psychopathy is something that’s captured the attention of both academics and the mainstream. Psychopaths play big roles in movies and even occasionally on public radio, and there’s evidence that a few of them may be in your company’s boardroom right this minute. But emerging research is changing how experts understand the condition. “There was a time when people thought of psychopaths as this sort of unique group of individuals — as in, there were normal people, and there were psychopaths,” said Georgetown University psychologist Abigail Marsh. “But now we’re finding that psychopathic traits work the same as other mental-illness symptoms.
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Are You a “Pre-crastinator”?
Scientific American: Each of us, at times, can be a procrastinator, putting off something that is hard to do or that we don’t want to do. But three researchers at Pennsylvania State University think we humans may also be precrastinators—hurrying to get something done so we can cross it off our mental to-do list, even if the rush ends up being wasteful. The researchers also claim to have coined the term “precrastination.” Psychology professor David Rosenbaum and his two collaborators reached their conclusion after asking 257 students to complete a bucket challenge. Not the one in which you dump ice water on your head. Instead, they brought each student to a narrow alley in town.
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A School Lunch Tray Redesign to Trick Kids Into Making Healthy Choices
Slate: In his new book Slim by Design: Mindless Eating Solutions for Everyday Life, director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab Brian Wansink argues that 25 years of research have convinced him that “becoming slim by design works better than trying to become slim by willpower.” In the book, published this week, he outlines concrete strategies for designing homes, restaurants, grocery stores, workplaces, and schools in ways that surreptitiously encourage healthy eating habits.
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The Colbert Report: Walter Mischel
The Colbert Report: Psychological scientist Walter Mischel of Columbia University discusses his new book, "The Marshmallow Test: Mastering Self-Control" with Stephen Colbert. Watch here: The Colbert Report
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Yellow Lights Pose Particular Peril for Older Drivers
As we age, our capabilities behind the wheel change, and one of the greatest driving dangers for senior drivers appears to be traffic intersections. Older drivers are far more likely than other drivers to get into an accident at an intersection. According to data from the U.S. Federal Highway Administration, approximately 50% of accidents occur at intersections for drivers over age 50, compared to about 23% of accidents for people under age 50. A team of researchers led by psychological scientist J. K. Caird of the University of Calgary studied people of varying ages to find out how the current standards for the timing of yellow lights might be impacting driving safety at intersections.
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Uncanny Valley Not So Uncanny for Lonely People
Live Science: Loneliness breeds wishful thinking, according to a new study that finds that eerily unrealistic faces seem more realistic to people when they feel isolated and alone. People who are lonely see the"uncanny valley effect" — when a face looks almost, but not quite, lifelike — as more appealing than social butterflies do, according to the new research, detailed Sept. 5 in the journal Psychological Science. Read the whole story: Live Science
