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The psychology of why cyclists enrage car drivers
BBC: Something about cyclists seems to provoke fury in other road users. If you doubt this, try a search for the word "cyclist" on Twitter. As I write this one of the latest tweets is this: "Had enough of cyclists today! Just wanna ram them with my car." This kind of sentiment would get people locked up if directed against an ethnic minority or religion, but it seems to be fair game, in many people's minds, when directed against cyclists. Why all the rage? ... Humans seem to have evolved one way of enforcing order onto potentially chaotic social arrangements. This is known as "altruistic punishment", a term used by Ernst Fehr and Simon Gachter in a landmark paper published in 2002.
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Infants in Poverty Show Different Physiological Vulnerabilities to the Caregiving Environment
Some infants raised in poverty exhibit physical traits that make them more vulnerable to poor caregiving, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The combination of physiological vulnerability and poor caregiving may lead these children to show increased problem behaviors later in childhood. For infants growing up in poverty, the ability to adapt and regulate -- both biologically and behaviorally -- in response to various environmental pressures seems to be critical for successful development.
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Shooting in the Dark
The New York Times: The young men who opened fire at Columbine High School, at the movie theater in Aurora, Colo., and in other massacres had this in common: they were video gamers who seemed to be acting out some dark digital fantasy. It was as if all that exposure to computerized violence gave them the idea to go on a rampage — or at least fueled their urges. ... Many similar studies have found the same thing: A dose of violent gaming makes people act a little more rudely than they would otherwise, at least for a few minutes after playing. It is far harder to determine whether cumulative exposure leads to real-world hostility over the long term.
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New Research From Psychological Science
Read about the latest research published in Psychological Science. Within-Cohort Age-Related Differences in Cognitive Functioning Timothy A. Salthouse People born within the same range of birth years are often categorized as belonging to the same birth cohort. Age-related differences in cognitive functioning are assumed to be partly determined by generational influences associated with cohort membership. Individuals ranging in age from 18 to 97, born between 1907 and 1989 were assessed for five different cognitive abilities.
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10 Fresh Looks at Love
Smithsonian: It should probably tell us something that the most frequently asked question on Google last year was “What is love?” Clearly, most of us are clueless on the matter; otherwise we wouldn’t be turning to algorithms for an explanation. Which explains why scientific research on love continues unabated. We want answers. So, on the eve of Valentine’s Day, here are 10 recent studies or surveys trying to make sense of matters of the heart. According to a study soon to be published in the journal Psychological Science, people like to believe that their way of life–whether they’re single or in a couple–is the best choice for everyone. Read the whole story: Smithsonian
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Online dating sites: Can crunching data help you find love?
CBS: People are turning to online dating to find their next partner, but how realistic is finding love by crunching data? Eli Finkel, of Northwestern University, speaks to the "CBS This Morning" co-hosts about the online dating trend. Watch here: CBS See Eli J. Finkel at the 25th APS Annual Convention.
