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Living in History: How Some Historical Events Shape Our Memory
If you are resident of New Orleans, how would you describe personal events that occurred shortly before August 2005? Would you refer to them as happening “back in July of 2005” or would you describe them as happening “just before Hurricane Katrina”? If you live in Oregon, would you make reference to Hurricane Katrina? A team of researchers, led by psychologist Norman R. Brown from the University of Alberta, investigated how public events (e.g., war, natural disaster, terrorism) shape our personal memories. The experiment was conducted in two parts and included participants from ten cities around the world.
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I Feel Like a Different Person: Study Suggests Link Between How We Feel, Our Culture, and How We Behave
Scientists have long been interested in the interplay of emotions and identity, and some have recently focused on cultural identity. One’s heritage would seem to be especially stable and impervious to change, simply because it’s been passed down generation after generation and is deeply ingrained in the collective psyche. But how deeply, exactly? Psychologists Claire Ashton-James of the University of British Columbia, William W. Maddux from INSEAD, Adam Galinsky of Northwestern University, and Tanya Chartrand from Duke University decided to explore this intriguing question in the laboratory, to see if even something as potent as culture might be tied to normal mood swings.
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What I Was Doing vs. What I Did: How Verb Aspect Influences Memory and Behavior
If you want to perform at your peak, you should carefully consider how you discuss your past actions. In a new study in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, psychologists William Hart of the University of Florida and Dolores Albarracín from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign reveal that the way a statement is phrased (and specifically, how the verbs are used), affects our memory of an event being described and may also influence our behavior.
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Is That Your Final Answer? Study Suggests Method For Improving Individual Decisions
Herd mentality. Angry mob. Mass hysteria. As these phrases suggest, we are not always confident that a large group of people will come up with the smartest decisions. So it may be surprising to learn that numerous studies have shown that a crowd of people usually gives more accurate responses to questions compared to a mere individual. Averaging the responses provided from a group increases accuracy by canceling out a number of errors made across the board (such as over- and under-estimating the answer). What happens when we are on our own? What if there is no one else around to consult with before making a judgment—how can we be confident that we are giving a good answer?
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The Perils of Ageism
Ageism is still rampant in America, and many old people themselves trade in unflattering stereotypes of the elderly, including helplessness and incompetence. Such caricatures are not only false and cruel, they are also unhealthy. Research has shown that old people who believe in negative age stereotypes tend to fulfill them. And it may not just be the elderly who are harmed by ageism. A new study in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, suggests that young, healthy people who stereotype old people may themselves be at risk of heart disease many years down the road. Researchers Becca Levy and Martin D.
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The Genetics of Fear: Study Suggests Specific Genetic Variations Contribute to Anxiety Disorders
Researchers have identified a genetic variation that may explain why Individuals diagnosed with anxiety disorders are quick to learn to fear a stimulus but have a difficult time getting rid of that fear.
