-
The Psychology of Food Cravings
Swimsuit season is almost upon us. For most of us, the countdown has begun to lazy days lounging by the pool and relaxing on the beach. However, for some of us, the focus is not so much on sunglasses and beach balls, but how to quickly shed those final five or ten pounds in order to look good poolside. It is no secret that dieting can be challenging and food cravings can make it even more difficult. Why do we get intense desires to eat certain foods? Although food cravings are a common experience, researchers have only recently begun studying how food cravings emerge.
-
A Woman’s Touch: Physical Contact Increases Financial Risk Taking
A woman's touch is all it takes for people to throw caution to the wind. That's the conclusion of a new study published online in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. If a female experimenter patted a participant on the back, they'd risk more money than if she just talked to them, or if a man did the patting. The researchers think this comes from the way that mothers use touch to make their babies feel secure. When we are infants, we receive a lot of touch from our mothers. This creates a sense of attachment, which makes a baby feel secure.
-
Adult’s Gestures May Prompt Wrong Answers from Children During Critical Interviews
People who interview young children for criminal investigations and other inquiries could elicit false information through their own gestures, particularly if the child is inarticulate, research at the University of Chicago shows. The gestures the children make can also reveal important information that lawyers and police investigators may be missing by not paying attention to hand movements, said Susan Goldin-Meadow, a psychologist at the University of Chicago and an expert on gesture.
-
Looking Back Key to Moving Forward
New Research from Kellogg School of Management Finds Counterfactual Reflection is Critical to Institutional Prosperity Despite modest economic gains, gloomy unemployment numbers and low workplace morale still loom large within corporate America. Whether or not companies can capitalize on the momentum of this fragile financial revitalization is dependent on more than enhancing consumer confidence or introducing new products to the marketplace—it falls largely on employees working for organizations and their level of commitment to corporate success.
-
Measuring the Suicidal Mind
People who are contemplating killing themselves often conceal their suicidal thoughts, but scientists have adapted a widely used implicit association test to predict a person’s suicide risk.
-
Motivation by Anticipation: Expecting Rapid Feedback Enhances Performance
There are a number of factors that influence how well we do in school, including the amount of time we study and our interest in a subject. Now, according to new findings in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, how quickly we expect to receive our grades may also influence how we perform. Psychological scientists Keri L. Kettle and Gerald Häubl of the University of Alberta in Canada wanted to investigate how the timing of expected feedback impacts individuals’ performance. For this experiment, they recruited students enrolled in a class that required each student to give a 4-minute oral presentation.