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Inside “60 Minutes” placebo story
CBS News: Some new scientific research is causing quite a stir in the medical community. The fight is over antidepressants, and whether they work any better than a simple placebo. In an report airing this Sunday, "60 Minutes" correspondent Lesley Stahl spoke to the psychologist behind the study, Irving Kirsch, associate director of the Placebo Studies Program at Harvard Medical School. He says that his research challenges the very effectiveness of antidepressants. Kirsch says the difference between the effect of a placebo and the effect of an antidepressant is minimal for most people.
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Something for the weekend
Financial Times: Most people are familiar with the siren call of the virtual world and the desire to check emails one more time, have a quick glance at Facebook or send a pithy tweet. But now a study of individuals’ desires through the course of a day has revealed that the lure of work and entertainment is for many harder to resist than cigarettes and alcohol. In a study of more than 200 adults, researchers have discovered that although the desires for sleep and sex were stronger, the lure of the virtual world, either for work or for entertainment and relaxation proved harder to resist.
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Our rational thinking is affected by bodily quirks
Yahoo News India: We are actually kidding ourselves when we take pride in our rational thinking - who knows when it may be hijacked by quirks. One particularly powerful influence may be our own bodies, according to new research conducted by cognitive scientist Daniel Casasanto, from the New School for Social Research, New York. He has shown that quirks of our bodies affect our thinking in predictable ways, across many different areas of life, from language to mental imagery to emotion. Read the full story: Yahoo News India
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Vodka delivers shot of creativity
Science News: Getting a buzz from booze may boost creativity. Men who drank themselves tipsy solved more problems demanding verbal resourcefulness in less time than sober guys did, a new study finds. Sudden, intuitive insights into tricky word-association problems occurred more frequently when men were intoxicated but not legally drunk, say psychology graduate student Andrew Jarosz of the University of Illinois at Chicago and his colleagues. Sober men took a more deliberative approach to this task. Read the full story: Science News
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Looking for Love in All the Web Places
Huffington Post: With Valentine's Day upon us, there are some interesting conclusions to note from soon-to-be-published research regarding that most 21st-century of romantic developments: the dating website. In this past weekend's New York Times Sunday Review, psychologists Eli Finkel and Benjamin Karney provide a preview of their article to appear in this month's issue of Psychological Science in the Public Interest. The title of the Times column tells their story succinctly: "The Dubious Science of Online Dating." Read the full story: Huffington Post See Eli J. Finkel at the 24th APS Annual Convention: Special Event and PSPI Symposium.
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Research shows sounds can influence how people taste food
Public Radio International: Oxford University psychologist Charles Spence studies human senses and how they interact. In recent studies, he had people smell wines and sample chocolate, and then match the different aromas and flavors to different musical sounds. He found that people tend to associate sweet tastes with high-pitched notes and the sounds of a piano. People match bitter flavors with low notes and brass instruments. Spence wondered if he could put his findings to use in reverse. Could he use music to influence what people smell or taste? To find out, he conducted another study. He had volunteers eat several pieces of toffee while listening to music.
