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New Research in Psychological Science
A sample of research on confidence and task prioritization, language patterns, eyeblinks and perception, dishonesty, negotiation, sound symbolism.
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Why Scapegoating Is A Typical Human Response To A Pandemic
First comes the disease. Then the scapegoating. Whether it's Ebola, cholera and now COVID-19, Jesse Verschuere has witnessed "a pattern of stigma against others in every disease outbreak" he has responded to as part of the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders. The objects of prejudice have included health-care workers, minorities, immigrants, indeed any outsider or other who looks or acts different from those in the local community, says the Belgium-based Verschuere, who works to improve the ability of communities to obtain health care. This bias occurs around the world. And it's not anything new.
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Why We Can’t Stop Bingeing Old Shows During The Pandemic
NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks to media psychologist Pamela Rutledge about how our brains are responding to the pandemic and driving our TV viewing choices. Hint: We're craving predicability. LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST: * You may be finding yourself watching and re-watching and then re-watching the same TV shows during your quarantine. They're cozy. They're familiar. They're predictable and usually always happy. It turns out our brain science has something to do with why we're not venturing far from our favorite shows. Dr. Pamela Rutledge is a media psychologist and the director of the Media Psychology Center, and she joins us now from Orange County. Welcome. PAMELA RUTLEDGE: Thank you.
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Getting Tight — the Psychology of Cancel Culture
The current era of cancel culture is upon us. From former Senator Al Franken, to Ellen Degeneres and Amy Cooper, people everywhere are having their lives upended because they violated the current social taboos of their community. Of course, such communal forms of control through shaming and shunning are nothing new to our shores — they were a staple of the Puritanism of our early Pilgrims — and are today quite common in many religious communities. While these tactics can serve a purpose in shepherding more individualistic societies, they can also easily descend into mob-like forms of vigilante justice.
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Coronavirus Might Worsen The College Mental Health Crisis: Can Apps Help?
Despite what many public health experts might advise, some colleges are set to open in person soon and with that comes a new round of mental health needs in an already taxed student population. Prior to the pandemic, college students had high and increasing rates of depression and suicidal ideation, and a nearly two-thirds increase in diagnosed mental health conditions (22% to 36%) from 2007 to 2017. According to Dr. Victor Schwartz, Chief Medical Officer at The Jed Foundation and Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at NYU School of Medicine, there are many reasons for these increases.
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Are You Overpraising Your Child?
“I love it!” It’s a phrase I’ve uttered countless times, typically in response to a new offering from our family’s artist-in-residence, also known as my 6-year-old daughter. I’m being honest — it’s a treat when she dedicates her work to me, rather than the parent with higher approval ratings (her mother, my wife), and I take a fatherly pride in her choice of colors and attention to detail. But it turns out, I’m also undermining her efforts, by putting myself, and my approval, at the center of the conversation. It seems like the right thing to say.
