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Before Crawling and Walking, Babies Need to Get the Visual Gist of Moving Forward
Infants show developmental changes in visual motion perception about one month before they first start moving around on their own, according to new research published in Psychological Science. Psychology researcher Nobu Shirai at Niigata University
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How Can Data Collection Help Psychological Science?
Technology — from smartphones to biosensors to surveillance monitors — is advancing so quickly it is almost impossible to keep up. One of the theme programs at the 2014 APS Annual Convention, to be held May 22–25 in San Francisco, California, addresses how psychological science can harness these innovations as well as how psychological scientists can help inform the work of those developing the complex technology. Five leaders in the field will discuss their methods of using technology to advance psychological science and gain insight into human behavior. They will also examine potential pros and cons of such research. Speakers include: Dr. Michael N.
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Super Rare Items Are Most Likely to Be Missed
Various jobs in security, medicine, and other fields require employees to pick out a target item in the midst of lots of distracting information. To complicate matters, the targets that are are most important to find – say, a weapon or a malignant tumor – are also incredibly rare. So, how are we at picking out these kinds of ultra-rare targets? Not very good at all, according to new research from Stephen Mitroff and Adam Biggs of Duke University. The researchers took advantage of anonymous data provided by an app called “Airport Scanner,” developed by Kedlin Co.
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Meditation May Help Us Cut Our Losses
There are certain things that are notoriously hard for us to do: Leaving the theater halfway through a terrible movie, deciding to quit a craft project that doesn't look like it ought to, pushing away a less-than-exciting home-cooked meal. We have a hard time doing these things thanks to what researchers call the “sunk cost” bias: We feel compelled to continue with something just because we've already invested money, time, and/or effort into it. In these cases, we aren't rewarded for our perseverance -- the movie will still be bad, the craft project will still be sad-looking, and the food will still taste bland.
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Register Online for the 2014 AAAS Meeting in Chicago
Registration for the 2014 AAAS Meeting, to be held February 13–17, 2014, in Chicago, is now open. Online press registration is available until January 22, 2014. The conference will include more than 160 symposia, seminars, and lectures focused on cutting-edge research from leading scientists.
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Prosocial Media Linked With Empathy Across Cultures
Media and video games that portray cooperation and caring have a positive influence on behavior, a cross-cultural study shows.
