-
Coaching Senior Drivers
With older people facing as high a risk of car crashes as teens, some states and provinces now test older drivers with the aim of getting the riskiest motorists off the road. But the tests they use are inadequate, says cognitive psychologist Normand Teasdale of Université Laval in Québec. Some governments only test vision; others test cognition, too. In some cases, on-the-road tests also are required. But none of these tests is enough—they lack accuracy, sensitivity and specificity.
-
New Research From Psychological Science
Read about the latest research published in Psychological Science: Long-Term Temporal Tracking of Speech Rate Affects Spoken-Word Recognition Melissa M. Baese-Berk, Christopher C. Heffner, Laura C. Dilley, Mark A. Pitt, Tuuli H. Morrill, and J. Devin McAuley Past studies have indicated that the timing of speech can influence the perception of spoken words; however, many of these studies have been performed in a short-term context -- altering the timing of a single phrase, for example. In this study, participants heard a series of utterances played at one of three different global-speech rates.
-
Did Laughter Evolve to Make Us Healthy?
National Geographic: Researchers are looking into what laughter can do for our health. More than a form of communication, laughter helps people thrive. Some folks take that to heart and gather for "laughter yoga." Watch the whole story: National Geographic
-
Psychology Explains Why People Are So Easily duped
The Washington Post: True or false: “The Eiffel Tower is in France.” Most of us can quickly and accurately answer this question by relying on our general knowledge. But what if you were asked to consider the claim: “The beehive is a building in New Zealand.” Unless you have visited New Zealand or watched a documentary on the country, this is probably a difficult question. So instead of recruiting your general knowledge to answer the claim, you’ll turn to your intuition. Put another way, you’ll rely on what Stephen Colbert calls “truthiness” — truth that comes from the gut, and not books.
-
George Washington Trumps Pinocchio for Inspiring Honesty in Kids, Study Says
Boston.com: The study, published in Psychological Science, concludes positive moral tales like "George Washington and the Cherry Tree" work better at instilling a sense of honesty than "Pinocchio" or the "Boy Who Cried Wolf," in which the protagonists suffer the negative consequences of lying in the end. Stories with morals intended to guide children and instill a sense of honesty are nothing new, but studies examining their effects are few and far between. Read the whole story: Boston.com
-
How to Design an Effective Plea for Donations
Pacific Standard: You know those pleas for donations you get in the mail—the ones that prominently feature a picture of a hungry, or otherwise endangered, child? Why do you glance at some before throwing them into the recycling, while others inspire you to reach for your checkbook? Two newly published studies suggest it largely depends on how savvy the respective charities are in pushing certain psychological buttons. One finds that requests featuring a single child are more effective than those with multiple faces. A second suggests that child had better not be too attractive. Read the whole story: Pacific Standard
