-
Psychologists argue about whether smiling makes cartoons funnier
Nature: A large, multi-lab replication study has found no evidence to validate one of psychology’s textbook findings: the idea that people find cartoons funnier if they are surreptitiously induced to smile. But an author of the original report — published nearly three decades ago — says that the new analysis has shortcomings, and may not represent a direct replication of his work. In 1988, Fritz Strack, a psychologist now at the University of Würzburg, Germany, and colleagues found that people who held a pen between their teeth, which induces a smile, rated cartoons as funnier than did those who held a pen between their lips, which induced a pout, or frown1.
-
Grammar school entrance exams undermined by study showing how children learn
Independent: A new psychological study has cast doubt both on the saying “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” and claims that entrance exams for selective schools can accurately determine a child’s “true potential”. ... They also found a greater effect of training on older adolescents than on their younger counterparts, according to a paper in the journal Psychological Science.
-
This might be why depression is rising among teen girls
CNN: There has been a significant climb in the prevalence of major depression among adolescents and young adults in recent years -- and the troubling trend may be strongest in teenage girls, according to a new study. However, the number of adolescents receiving treatment does not appear to follow that same trend, suggests the study, published in the journal Pediatrics on Monday. "Although a recent federal task force recommended screening for depression in young people 12 to 18 years of age, screening is far from universal," said Dr. Mark Olfson, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center and a co-author of the study.
-
Car Talk: Contentious Conversations Drive Distraction
Engaging in a heated, emotional discussion with a passenger can turn into a dangerous distraction for drivers.
-
Older teenagers ‘quicker to improve maths and reasoning skills’
The Guardian: Older teenagers and young adults are able to improve their fundamental maths skills and reasoning abilities more rapidly than younger teens, according to research that overturns longstanding assumptions about children’s learning. The research, published by academics from University College London’s Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, also upends ideas that tests used in grammar school selection can be made “tutor-proof” to assess potential.
-
Psychology can explain why wildly successful teams get tempted to the dark side
Quartz: A few years ago, Google conducted a massive internal study to understand how to build an effective team. Researchers concluded that the most important ingredient for good teamwork was psychological safety—in which members of a team feel comfortable expressing conflicting opinions and taking risks, knowing that their colleagues have their back. ... The news gets worse from there. According to a 2009 paper published in Psychological Science, when one individual feels safe enough to be brazenly unethical, others who identify as part of that group are tempted to go down the same road. In other words, one bad apple can rot the whole barrel.
