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Does Your Personality Drive You to Express Lanes?
At least 12 US cities now have priced managed lanes on their highways. Also known as “express lanes” or “high-occupancy lanes,” these roadways are designed to manage traffic volume by offering priced, premium access. In some cases, drivers with multiple passengers can travel the roads for free, while single drivers pay a toll. The tolls to these roads generally vary by time of day, increasing as traffic increases (e.g. morning rush hour). Travelers often have to make spur of the moment decisions on whether to pay for a relatively free-flowing trip or a free-but-congested commute. And new research reveals that extent to which our basic personality traits drive those decisions (pun intended).
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Redskin Psychology: The Origins of Cruel Caricature
On prime time TV this week, during halftime of the NBA playoff game, the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation of California ran a paid advertisement to protest cultural stereotyping of Native Americans. The 2-minute clip was a series of images, each associated with a spoken word: soldier, doctor, spiritualist, son, daughter, patriot, rancher, struggling, resilient, Sioux, Pueblo, Apache, Blackfoot, and more. The video ended with these words: “Native Americans call themselves many things. The one they don’t . . .” This sentence ended as the final image occupied the screen: the logo of the Washington Redskins.
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Where Do Eureka Moments Come From?
The New Yorker: A man in a town married twenty women. There have been no divorces or annulments, and everyone in question is still alive and well. The man is not a bigamist, and he has broken no laws. How is this possible? This is the so-called marrying-man problem, which psychologists often use to study creative insight: the process by which we suddenly figure out the answer to something that had previously stumped us. A problem makes no sense at first. But then we turn it around in our minds and, presto, the answer comes.
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Want a Better Deal? Put on Your ‘Angry Face’
TODAY: Skip the poker face. If you’re hoping to get a good deal on a car, or get people to do what you want, you should put on your best angry expression, a new study suggests. “If you come in with a scowl on your face, they’re going to take your threat more seriously,” said study co-author Lawrence Ian Reed, a researcher at Harvard University. “You might think a poker face would be better in a negotiation. But in a bargaining situation when you make threats, your facial expression could add credibility to what you are saying.” Read the whole story: TODAY
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Rethinking the Colorful Kindergarten Classroom
The New York Times: Imagine a kindergarten classroom. Picture the vividly colored scalloped borders on the walls, the dancing letters, maybe some charming cartoon barnyard animals holding up “Welcome to School!” signs. That bright, cheery look has become a familiar sight in classrooms across the country, one that has only grown over the last few decades, fed by the proliferation of educational supply stores. But to what effect? A new study looked at whether such classrooms encourage, or actually distract from, learning.
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It’s the Last Bite That Keeps You Coming Back for More
Your memory for that last bite of a steak or chocolate cake may be more influential than memory for the first bite in determining when you want to eat it again, according to research published
