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Playing With Fear: Haunted Houses and Recreation
Haunted houses, horror movies, and ghost stories can provoke chilling delights, provided the fear they evoke remains in a “Goldilocks zone” that is neither too terrifying nor too tame. New research connects this sweet spot
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Haunted House Researchers Investigate the Mystery of Playing With Fear
New research connects a sweet spot of recreational fear to a telltale range of heart rate fluctuations, shedding light on the mind-body connection between fear and fun.
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Masking America’s Fears: How Do We Get People to Take COVID-19 Seriously?
Podcast interview with APS Member Jay Van Bavel The “reopening” of America depends of slowing the spread of coronavirus, which in turns depends on Americans changing their behavior. Why do so many people refuse to
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Learning to Live With Fear
… Fear is often a lonely experience. Its intensity can isolate us and make us question ourselves—make us feel flawed, weak and foolish. But because of the pandemic, millions of people around the world are
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Back Page: Never Fear?
It may sound like he’s inducing amnesia, but psychology professor Tom Beckers is actually testing the possibility of targeting and muffling psychologically crippling memories.
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The Science Of Scary: Why It’s So Fun To Be Freaked Out
Haunted houses. Skydiving. Scary movies. Why do these horrifying things make some people delighted, and others, well, horrified? For answers, NPR’s Maddie Sofia, host of the daily science podcast Short Wave, spoke with the guy who wrote
