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Researchers: We can watch 3-D with only one eye
CNN: Humans can see 3-D images with only one eye, according to new research, suggesting a future in which the technology could become cheaper and more accessible. Simply looking through a small hole is enough to experience 3-D, says Dhanraj Vishwanath, a psychologist at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. His research was published in the journal Psychological Science. The 3-D technology that's currently used in movies and other media relies on two visual images, one from each eye, combining in the viewer's brain to produce 3-D's extra layer of depth. But Vishwanath's research suggests that both eyes aren't needed.
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Data-Mining Our Dreams
The New York Times: ARE dreams really meaningful? Virtually every culture throughout history has developed methods to interpret dreams — most notably, in the modern era, the psychoanalytic approach. But today many people assume that this quest has failed. Science, they say, has proved that dreams are just random signals sent from primitive regions of the brain, signifying nothing, and that dream interpretation is a kind of superstition. This conclusion is premature. For many years, researchers (including me) have been using quantitative methods of analysis to study the content of dreams.
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Logging In to the Brain’s Social Network
NPR Science Friday: Does the pain we feel from rejection and loss have the same effect as physical pain? How does our brain respond to social interactions? In his new book Social: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect, social neuroscientist Matthew Lieberman describes the biology behind how our brains engage with the social world. Read the whole story: NPR Science Friday
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Looks Can Be Convincing: To Get Promoted, Just Appear Competent
Fast Company: In a perfect--or at least more rational world--the most qualified people would rise fastest. But new research suggests that just appearing to be competent is as important to getting ahead. How so? Think about why brainstorming has a loudmouth problem: The person with the best ideas isn't the one who gets heard most. Rather, it's the most assertive person--unless you find a way to correct it. Since business is done by people, and people aren't always totally rational, some irrational things happen. Like deferring to the most confident person in the room and allowing a power dynamic to develop from there. ... That is according to the work of Gavin Kilduff and Adam Galinsky.
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Teach Kids to Daydream
The Atlantic: Today’s children are exhausted, and not just because one in three kids is not getting sufficient sleep. Sleep deprivation in kids (who require at least nine hours a night, depending on age) has been found to significantly decrease academic achievement, lower standardized achievement and intelligence test scores, stunt physical growth, encourage drug and alcohol use, heighten moodiness and irritability, exacerbate symptoms of ADD, and dramatically increase the likelihood of car accidents among teens.
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Drug Ad Side Effects List Helps Sell Product
Scientific American: Medications come with long lists of potential side effects. Now a study finds that the litany of unpleasant consequences does not deter prospective purchasers. In fact, those warnings might actually increase drug sales. For the study, subjects were shown two different versions of ads for three different products: cigarettes, artificial sweeteners and medications. ... The study is in the journal Psychological Science. [Yael Steinhart, Ziv Carmon and Yaacov Trope, Warnings of Adverse Side Effects Can Backfire Over Time] Read the whole story: Scientific American
