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New Research From Psychological Science
Read about the latest research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. Edward Gibson, Steven T. Piantadosi, Kimberly Brink, Leon Bergen, Eunice Lim, and Rebecca Saxe Research has suggested that the default word order across languages is subject, object, then verb (SOV), so why have so many languages developed with a subject-verb-object (SVO) order? One explanation is the noisy-channel hypothesis, which supposes that individuals choose a speech pattern that gives the listener the best chance of understanding the original meaning of a message.
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Don’t Hurt That Robot! How Morality Muddles Perception of a Mind
LiveScience: Although people can't directly experience the consciousness of another, they take for granted that other people have minds — that others can think, remember, experience pleasure and feel pain. People, however, don't typically attribute such minds to robots, corpses and other beings with no apparent consciousness, except if these beings are put in harm's way, new research suggests. In a series of experiments by Harvard University researchers, people were more likely to ascribe the characteristics of an active mind to non-conscious beings when they were intentionally victimized than when they were unharmed.
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You’re Probably Not as Conservative as You Think
Pacific Standard: Conservatism the brand seems to be faring better than conservatism the philosophy. That’s the conclusion of new research that finds a serious disconnect between the way people under 30 identify themselves politically, and their actual stands on the issues.
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Don’t let retirement stress marriage: Plan to be busy
USA Today: Author and former financial planner Frank Maselli tells a story of a man who retired and went home to spend his days with his wife. It didn't take long for him to become a major intrusion in his wife's world. He told her the way she did everything was wrong, even the garden she had tended for 25 years. "She had to kick him out of the house," he said. "She made him get involved with a charity group and start going to the gym." It's a huge adjustment to shift from spending two or three hours a night to spending all day together, says author and psychologist Robert Bornstein. "It happens all at once.
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Food aversions: why they occur and how you can tackle them
The Guardian: Like favourite childhood scars, food aversions are deeply personal, often come with a backstory, and are ripe for comparing with others. This is classic ice-breaking conversation territory in the west, where there is no shortage of foods to happily loathe without risk of malnutrition. When I was little, being the only one in nursery who didn't partake in the free milk (yuck!) made me feel special. Taking refuge under my aunt's dining table, during a particularly smelly cheese course, gained me so much attention that the event has become family lore. ... Part of the fun of food-aversions chat is trying to explain them.
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Hong Kong Skyscrapers Appear to Fall in Real-World Illusion
No matter how we jump, roll, sit, or lie down, our brain manages to maintain a visual representation of the world that stays upright relative to the pull of gravity. But a new study of rider experiences on the Hong Kong Peak Tram, a popular tourist attraction, shows that specific features of the environment can dominate our perception of verticality, making skyscrapers appear to fall. The study is published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The Hong Kong Peak Tram to Victoria Peak is a popular way to survey the Hong Kong skyline and millions of people ride the tram every year.
