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Rethinking the Classic ‘Obedience’ Studies
Pacific Standard: They are among the most famous of all psychological studies, and together they paint a dark portrait of human nature. Widely disseminated in the media, they spread the belief that people are prone to blindly follow authority figures—and will quickly become cruel and abusive when placed in positions of power. It’s hard to overstate the impact of Stanley Milgram’s obedience experiments of 1961, or the Stanford Prison Experiment of 1971. Yet in recent years, the conclusions derived from those studies have been, if not debunked, radically reinterpreted.
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Negative Thoughts? Toss ’em
Discovery News: If you've ever been told to imagine releasing negative thoughts, only to find the same thoughts popping into your head minutes later, quit imagining and start physically throwing those thoughts away, researchers recommend following a new study published in Psychological Science. "At some level, it can sound silly," study co-author Richard Petty of Ohio State University said in a press release. "But we found that it really works -- by physically throwing away or protecting your thoughts, you influence how you end up using those thoughts.
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What Makes Dickens a Lousy Running Buddy?
The Wall Street Journal: While it's true that a Stephen King book can make hearts race, churning through "The Shining" generally doesn't qualify as a cardiovascular workout. Not in print, anyway. So what about listening to an audiobook version of the horror classic during a run? Joe Flood, for one, says the spoken word imbues him with an inexplicable desire to keep going. ... Some scientists are leaning into the idea that running and reading don't necessarily mix well. "When you do two things at once there is always a cost," says Daniel Willingham, a psychologist at the University of Virginia who researches the impact of multi-taking on the brain.
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Republican and Lesbian, and Fighting for Acceptance of Both Identities
The New York Times: In 1996, Kathryn Lehman was a soon-to-be married lawyer working for Republicans in the House of Representatives. One of her major accomplishments: helping to write the law that bans federal recognition of same-sex marriages. Today, Ms. Lehman, 53, no longer has a husband, and no longer identifies as straight. And she is a lobbyist for Freedom to Marry, which is devoted to overturning the very law she helped write, the Defense of Marriage Act. But Ms. Lehman is still a fervent Republican. “I’m trying to break the stereotype that all gays and lesbians, especially lesbians, are Democrats,” she said.
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Messages That Speak to Conservatives’ Morals Narrow Partisan Gap on Environment
Public opinion on environmental issues such as climate change, deforestation, and toxic waste seems to fall along increasingly partisan lines. But new research suggests that environmental messages framed in terms of conservative morals -- describing environmental stewardship in terms of fending off threats to the “purity” and “sanctity” of Earth and our bodies -- may help to narrow the partisan gap.
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Experts call for mental illness screening for children
Chicago Tribune: Leading mental health experts are calling for school children to be screened for risk of mental illnesses such as depression and have devised a test that reliably identifies those at high risk. The test can be done on a computer and could be used to alert doctors and psychologists to intervene early, said Barbara Sahakian a professor of clinical neuropsychology at Britain's Cambridge University. Ian Goodyer, a child and adolescent psychiatrist who worked with Sahakian on a study published on Wednesday, said screening 11- to 12-year-old children could reveal those who have "low resilience" - putting them at higher risk of developing mental illnesses such as depression.
