Articles tagged with Experimental Psychology
Exposure to body-positive content on social media broadens women's concept of ideal body weight, increasing the number of body shapes considered ideal. Body-positive content also leads to increased sense of well-being in one's body and reduces weight perception.
In a post-truth era, Americans tend to trust information sources with good intentions over those with malicious intent. When presented with claims of fact, participants classified them as true more often if the source was trying to provide an approximate account rather than a precise one.
Researchers found that people with strong mind reading abilities are more successful in cooperating to complete tasks, especially when paired with others having similar abilities. This quality, called theory of mind, can be improved through training programs.
A study led by Dartmouth College researchers found that participants' color memory improved when stimuli were meaningful and part of real-world objects. The results demonstrate that the capacity for visual working memory of colors is more continuous and flexible than previously thought, with better recall of colors in meaningful contexts.
A University of Arizona study found that creative individuals are more likely to engage with their thoughts during downtime, using association and free-flowing ideas. This allows them to generate innovative concepts and enjoy idle time without feeling bored.
Researchers from HSE Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience examine the brain's reaction to social norms violations and calculate a behavioral index to assess an individual's sensitivity to unfairness. This index can be used to develop personalized rehabilitation programs for patients with various types of behavioral disorders.
A new experimental study suggests that adding 'trust' and 'distrust' buttons to social media platforms could significantly reduce the spread of misinformation. Incentivizing accuracy led to a large reduction in the amount of false posts being shared, with users more likely to share true information to gain trust reactions.
Researchers at the University of Notre Dame found that forgetting occurs when environmental cues fail to trigger one's memory of an intention. They discovered that prospective memory errors can happen to anyone and have serious implications for exonerating parents who mistakenly forget to retrieve their children from cars.
A recent study found that workplace accidents are most likely to occur in moderately dangerous environments due to inadequate safety behaviors. Workers tend to underestimate the need for safety measures and allocate insufficient time and effort to work safely in these conditions.
Researchers found that most people perceive climate change as an important and timely issue, contrary to the assumption that it is a distant problem. The study suggests that focusing on leveraging this perception can help drive climate action.
Researchers used functional MRI scanners to monitor brains of subjects watching real-life videos, finding that different parts of the brain work together to understand and remember situations. The study suggests the brain creates mental sketches of people that can be transposed from one location to another.
A new study published in the Journal of Cognition and Development found that preschoolers aged three and five prefer learning from a competent robot over an incompetent human. The research, conducted by Concordia University researchers, used humanoid robots to teach children about unfamiliar objects. Five-year-olds were more likely to ...
A study by Karolinska Institutet found that blind individuals have a heightened ability to sense signals from their inner body, with an average accuracy of 0.78 for counting heartbeats. This enhanced sensitivity may also impact emotional processing and perception.
A recent survey experiment by Regina Bateson reveals that people with pandemic employment gaps are perceived more negatively than those who remained employed. This stigma could have long-term social and economic consequences for individuals who lost their jobs during the pandemic.
A study published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology found that Russian-speaking readers, including both children and adults, rely on orthographic information during parafoveal pre-processing. The participants were able to recognize words with incorrect letter order more easily than those with pseudohomophones.
Researchers found that dogs with anxiety have altered brain connectivity, particularly between the amygdala and hippocampus. The study used fMRI to characterize abnormal neural networks in anxious dogs, providing insight into anxiety disorders in both animals and humans.
Research finds that both conservative and liberal Americans share fake news due to a fear of exclusion from their social groups. The study suggests that pre-bunking methods and highlighting the importance of accurate news can help reduce the spread of fake news.
A study by University of Cambridge researchers found that imagining a recent meal as bigger and more filling can help reduce subsequent snacking. Participants who imagined their meal as twice as big consumed significantly fewer biscuits in a taste test.
A new study by University of Cambridge researchers found that offering tiny cash rewards for accuracy can increase people's ability to distinguish between misinformation and the truth. The study suggests that fake news thrives due to a motivational imbalance, where users have more incentive to get clicks than to spread accurate content.
Researchers have found that long-tailed macaques reject inferior rewards more frequently when provided by a human than an automatic feeder, indicating social disappointment. This behavioral pattern is consistent with frustration towards the experimenter's decision, rather than a comparison of rewards with conspecifics.
A new psychology study from the University of Sydney found that both gay men and heterosexual men prefer masculine-presenting gay men for high-status roles, suggesting feminine gay men may face implicit discrimination in the workplace. This study highlights internal bias and potential discrimination against feminine-presenting gay men.
A Tufts-led team discovered a brain region marker that indicates vulnerability to developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The study found heightened amygdala activation in response to neutral facial expressions, suggesting an acquired characteristic of PTSD. This finding may inform early intervention strategies for individual...
Researchers found that calibrating rates of information delivery to match individual brainwave cycles speeds up cognitive skill improvement. This technique, called entrainment, increases capacity to absorb and adapt new information.
A team of psychologists found that adopting a partner's perspective reduces the likelihood of infidelity and other partnership-destroying behaviors. By putting themselves in their partner's shoes, individuals can increase commitment and desire for their current partner, while decreasing interest in alternative mates.
A study by Alexandra Rosati and colleagues found that adolescent chimpanzees share risk-taking behaviors with human teens, but tend to be less impulsive. In tests involving food rewards, adolescent chimpanzees chose the riskier option more often than adults, but showed similar negative reactions to disappointing outcomes.
Research by the American Psychological Association found that male gender bias deters men from pursuing careers in early education and other fields. Men who read about male gender bias reported less interest and a lower sense of belonging, highlighting the need for recruitment and mentoring programs to address this issue.
Researchers used VR to teach language to participants, finding that those who learned in unique environments recalled more words (92%) compared to those who learned in the same environment (76%). Immersion in the VR world also played a key role in learning retention.
A UCLA study conducted by Zili Liu and Chéla R Willey found that white, Asian American, and recent Asian immigrant college students performed similarly on a well-known visual perception test, known as the rod-and-frame task. The results suggest that basic visual functions are largely independent of cultural variation.
Inhibiting imitation of others can increase understanding of others by allowing them to recognize facial expressions in others regardless of their situations. Imitation-inhibition training has been shown to enhance the ability to distinguish between oneself and others, as well as increase empathy.
A new study published in PLOS ONE suggests that different styles of social media use—passive, reactive and interactive—are related to psychological well-being. Interactive users reported greater feelings of social connectedness than passive or reactive users.
Researchers found that while humans excel at categorizing interactions between humans, dogs, and monkeys, they struggle to predict aggressive behaviors in both species. Participants performed poorly on identifying aggression in dogs and humans, suggesting a potential bias towards assuming good intentions from others.
Research suggests a universal pattern in profanity across different languages, with the lack of approximants being a common feature when perceiving swear words. Participants rated pseudo-words with and without approximants differently, indicating that approximant-free words were more likely to be considered swear words.
A recent study found that exposing Republicans to information about a common enemy increases their distrust of Democrats, while Democrats show little change. The research suggests that real-world threats can exacerbate partisanship.
A study led by Kyoto University researchers found that AI-generated haiku poems, created without human intervention, were often indistinguishable from those penned by humans. In contrast, human-AI collaboration produced more creative works.
A study by the University of Geneva finds that adopting multiple perspectives on mathematical problems enhances proportional reasoning. Students who received lessons based on this approach outperformed those in traditional classes, regardless of socio-economic background.
Researchers used 3D avatars to refine facial expressions and found substantial individual differences in interpreting emotions like happiness, fear, sadness, and anger. The study suggests people's unique understandings of facial expressions influence their responses, highlighting the need for diverse research approaches.
A recent study published in the Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition found that students who took photos of PowerPoint slides during an online presentation recalled the slide content better than those who did not. Additionally, photo-taking also improved memory for spoken-word-only content. The researchers suggest that t...
A new study by University of York researchers found that playing sound cues during sleep can be used to help people forget specific memories. The technique, which was previously used to boost memories, has been shown to induce selective forgetting in overlapping memories.
UC San Diego researchers found that providing detailed information on probabilities can make risks seem less risky. Detailed knowledge of individual probabilities reduces the subjective perception of risk and causes individuals to estimate its occurrence more accurately.
Clinical psychologists need new ways to understand and confront the fear of losing control, which is an understudied construct. Adam Radomsky's research suggests that a deeper understanding of what leads to a client's choices can help therapists make better ones in the future.
Researchers at UC Berkeley Haas School of Business found no evidence to support the theory of depressive realism, which suggests that depressed individuals are more realistic in their judgments. The study replicated a 1979 experiment and found that depressed participants overestimated their control, contradicting the original results.
Researchers found that people tend to choose familiar activities even when given the chance to try new things, especially when they feel like they don't have much time left. This preference for familiarity is driven by a desire for psychological closure and personal meaning, rather than just seeking safety.
A new study suggests that pretending to be a successful female scientist can increase young girls' persistence in science. Four- to seven-year-old girls who assumed the role of Marie Curie or another gender-matched scientist played longer and rated themselves higher than those in control groups.
Researchers discovered that humans automatically integrate extralinguistic information into grammatical processing, improving communication. The study used EEG data from 37 native Russian speakers, finding both linguistic and extralinguistic features processed simultaneously.
A new study has decoded information about how we process gazes and facial expressions, revealing that emotional expressions of faces significantly impact our attention. The results show that faces showing joy or anger attract attention when looking directly at the observer, while disgusted faces with an averted gaze do the opposite.
Despite previous assumptions, researchers found no correlation between highly superior autobiographical memory and enhanced creative thinking. Instead, they suggest that these individuals may be overly focused on consolidating autobiographical events, potentially hindering creative processes.
A new study challenges traditional stereotypes by revealing that subordinate men are most likely to engage in social sexual behavior for personal gain. The research found that these men use unwanted flirtation and harassment to appear more powerful and masculine in the workplace.
A study of 3,192 participants found that both psychedelic drugs and near-death experiences can decrease fear of death and increase feelings of spirituality. However, those with non-drug near-death experiences reported a more meaningful experience overall.
Research published by the American Psychological Association found that racially resentful white Americans are less likely to support some gun rights if they believe Black people are exercising those rights more than white people. This bias led to a quicker match of photos of white people with gun rights phrases and photos of Black peo...
Researchers found that givers underestimate the positive impact of their actions on recipients, while receivers focus on feelings of warmth. In experiments, random acts of kindness increased happiness and led to more generous behavior.
Researchers discovered that face centering, not saliency, plays a key role in guiding attention to faces in videos as people age. The findings have implications for children's television programming and the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder.
Researchers found that smells can enhance or hinder our ability to recognize emotions in others' faces. The study used a spectrum of emotions, from extreme joy to neutral, and measured participants' response times.
A new study published in Journal of Experimental Psychology: General found that using digital devices as external memory can improve memory skills. Participants who used digital devices to store information showed improved memory for both saved and unsaved information, with a notable increase in recall of less important details.
Research finds that people enjoy thinking more than expected, with benefits including problem-solving and creativity. Underestimating the enjoyment of solo thinking may lead to missed opportunities for personal growth.
Researchers found that people are less morally outraged when gender discrimination occurs due to an algorithm rather than direct human involvement. The study's findings have broader implications for efforts to combat discrimination and may affect how companies are held liable.
A study published in Psychological Science found that our brains treat some emotions as wrong and react as if there was an error. The research, conducted by Ben-Gurion University psychologists, used experiments to assess emotion responses and discovered similarities between counter-normative emotion reports and perceptual errors.
A massive global study of social distancing motivations has yielded new insights into the effectiveness of different styles of messaging. Autonomy-supportive messages that encouraged personal agency were found to be more effective in influencing individuals' behaviors than controlling or shaming messages.
Researchers found a clear tendency for people to assign idealized attributes to their online avatars, particularly regarding psychological traits. This phenomenon suggests that internet users often present an idealized version of themselves, with significant differences between actual and ideal self-representations.
A study from the University of California San Diego found that expressing gratitude between teammates improved their cardiovascular responses to stress, allowing for increased concentration and confidence. This can have long-term health impacts, including reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and cognitive impairment.
Researchers developed a new method to study alpha oscillations under stress and pain, identifying specific parts of the head where waves slow down during painful conditions. The study aims to pave the way for further research on pain generation within the brain.