-
Smells From the Past: The Fulton Fish Market
Scientific American: It’s been a very hot summer here in New York City. And the city smells. It’s more than the smell of baking asphalt, exhaust fumes, and lack of deodorant—these smells are around all year. The heat has awakened older smells. Around midday, if you happen to stroll down by the South Street Seaport you can pick up on the smell of fish in the air. If you can manage to follow your nose—which really isn’t all that hard to do—it will lead you right to the old site of the Fulton Fish Market.
-
Why are we so bad at predicting what will make us happy? (Pt.2)
Business Insider: I previously posted about why we're awful at predicting what will make us happy: we're lousy at remembering our predictions so we don't learn how to correct our errors. There are some others reasons: When you're emotional, you're a different person. That's not an excuse but there is science to back it up. Calm people were terrible at predicting how moral they would be once emotional: Can people accurately predict how they will act in a moral dilemma? Our research suggests that in some situations, they cannot, and that emotions play a pivotal role in this dissociation between behavior and forecasting.
-
Research: Pain meds can affect emotional distress
ABC KGO-TV: Many of us take an over-the-counter medication to treat a headache or muscle pain, but new research says the active ingredient appears to have an effect on emotional distress as well. If you're suffering emotionally, the pain can almost feel physical, but can emotional pain be treated in the same way as physical pain? Researchers at the University of Florida measured brain activity in people who were experiencing social rejection -- even something as minor as an unreturned phone call. "Emotional pain hurts physically because, as research has shown, it targets the same neurological pathways," said clinical psychiatrist Clara Lora, MD.
-
Spoilers actually enhance your enjoyment
The Guardian: Yes! Vindication! I am one of those people who can't read a book without flicking to the end to check what's going to happen, and it turns out that, rather than being an "impatient idiot who is spoiling it for myself", actually I am very wise. Scientists say so, so it must be true. A study by Nicholas Christenfeld and Jonathan Leavitt of UC San Diego's psychology department, due to be published in the journal Psychological Science, gave subjects 12 short stories, by authors including Agatha Christie, Roald Dahl and John Updike. Some were presented in their classic form, others with spoiler paragraphs, with each version read by at least 30 people. And you know what?
-
In Future Math Whizzes, Signs of ‘Number Sense’
The New York Times: Children as young as 3 have a “number sense” that may be correlated with mathematical aptitude, according to a new study. Melissa Libertus, a psychologist at Johns Hopkins University, and colleagues looked at something called “number sense,” an intuition — not involving counting — about the concepts of more and less. It exists in all people, Dr. Libertus said, including infants and indigenous peoples who have had no formal education. The researchers measured this intuition in preschoolers by displaying flashing groups of blue and yellow dots on a computer screen. The children had to estimate which group of dots was larger in number.
-
Love, money and suspicion
Alfred Hitchcock’s 1941 film Suspicion is a masterful psychological study of love and money. Cary Grant plays the charming but irresponsible Johnnie Aysgarth, who dazzles the frumpy Lina McLaidlaw, played by Joan Fontaine. Only after their elopement does Lina begin piecing together the truth about her husband: He is broke, a habitual gambler, a liar, an embezzler—and possibly a killer. Indeed, everywhere Lina looks she sees signs that Johnnie is plotting her murder to secure his fortune. What makes this thriller so powerful is that it plays off two of our most potent human impulses.
