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Dynamic Dazzle Distorts Speed Perception
During World War I, a zoologist proposed that British warships could use the “disruptive” camouflage of zebras and leopards to confuse enemy ships. Instead of attempting to hide from view, the idea was that “razzle dazzle” patterns would make it difficult for the enemy to accurately gauge a ship’s position -- misleading rather than hiding. Although both American and British warships were painted with psychedelic zebra-stripe patterns based on this theory, it was never conclusively shown that the razzle dazzle stripes helped the ships elude enemy fire.
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Social Media ‘Likes’ Impact Teens’ Brains and Behavior
The same brain circuits that are activated by eating chocolate and winning money are activated when teenagers see large numbers of “likes” on their own photos or the photos of peers in a social network
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New Research From Clinical Psychological Science
Read about the latest research published in Clinical Psychological Science: The Method of Loci Improves Longer-Term Retention of Self-Affirming Memories and Facilitates Access to Mood-Repairing Memories in Recurrent Depression Aliza Werner-Seidler and Tim Dalgleish Studies have shown that recalling self-affirming memories can improve negative mood. Researchers investigated whether a mnemonic technique called the method of loci, in which memories are visualized as occurring along a familiar path, might offer an effective strategy that patients in remission from depression could use to recall such self-affirming memories.
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Does Financial Insecurity Lead to More Physical Pain?
Scientific American: A research team led by public policy Professor Eileen Chou at the University of Virginia hypothesized that the confluence of these two trends – greater economic uncertainty and more physical pain – may not be entirely coincidental. Chou and her colleagues recently published a paper in Psychological Science summarizing six studies that demonstrate a direct link between financial insecurity and the experience of physical pain. The first study looked at a diverse sample of 33,720 American households and found that households in which one or more of the primary adults are unemployed spend more money on painkillers.
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A Brief Guide to Convincing Total Strangers to Do Your Bidding
New York Magazine: The worst has happened: Your phone has died. This would typically be only a minor nuisance, but, as it happens, today you need to make just one tiny but necessary phone call while you are out and about. Your options, it seems, are these: Either you don’t make the call, or you weird out a stranger by asking to borrow their phone. Most likely, you will go for the former, because the latter might actually kill you. And, anyway, who would ever agree to let you use their phone? More people than you think, probably, argues Cornell University organizational psychologist Vanessa K. Bohns. Read the whole story: New York Magazine
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Effective Apologies Include Six Elements
Whether you’re the company CEO or the summer intern, knowing how to say you’re sorry—and have people actually believe you—is an important business skill. If your subordinate is caught embezzling, or you’re the head of a company in the midst of a massive public safety scandal, simply saying “I’m sorry” probably isn’t going to cut it. New research from psychological scientists Roy Lewicki (The Ohio State University), Beth Polin (Eastern Kentucky University), and Robert Lount Jr. (The Ohio State University) confirms that not all apologies are equally effective.
