Stories tagged psychology
Do you often find yourself watching those prime-time crime dramas on TV asking yourself, "Wow! I didn't know they could figure out whom the killer is based on a single carpet fiber sample found on the sidewalk outside of a crime scene! Can they really do that?!?" Well, some of the processes we see on TV may not be quick as quick and easy, or even possible compared to real life crime investigation.
Lisa Smith, of the University of Leicester School of Psychology, is doing some research to see how these portrayals of forensics on TV are affecting how jurors view forensic evidence in actual court cases. Jurors make their decisions based upon their knowledge, perceived understanding, and beliefs regarding forensic evidence. So the next time you are watching some evening television or even hear a news story regarding some forensic evidence, think twice about the validity of what you see!
Oh, and if you like, there is an online questionnaire for the study!
Tags : 
This man is a professional: And his yelling can make anybody learn.
Courtesy xiangdianSo, it turns out that kids aren’t able to learn from their mistakes, at least not until they’re about 12 years old.
That is to say, negative feedback don’t mean a thing to an 8-year-old, as far as learning goes.
Now, don’t start worrying yet. All that time you’ve spent hollering at little children hasn’t been a total waste of time, it’s just been a waste of their time. And kids have time to waste—they’ll be alive for decades, while you could go any day now. With your days as numbered as they are, it’s important that you spend your remaining time living life to the fullest, and part of that involves yelling at young children, doesn’t it? Everybody needs a good yell now and again, and if you were to go around yelling at grown-ups all the time, you’d probably get punched in the mouth all the time. Because yelling at people is disrespectful.
And I don’t want you to walk away from this thinking that you should only yell at young kids. In fact, yelling at kids after they’re about 12, but before they’re old enough to crash your car on purpose, is particularly effective, because those kids can actually learn from negative feedback. This means that they’ll probably learn to provide you with fewer excuses to yell at them—and that makes each rarified yell that much sweeter.
See, it just so happens that kids develop a dramatically different learning style between the ages of 8 and 12. An 8-year-old (and younger kids) will only learn from positive reinforcement—so saying to them “Hey, JGordon Jr, good job bringing me my cigarettes!” is a good strategy, but yelling, “These aren’t my cigarettes, you accident, these are Darla’s!” at them is just going to go over their heads. You may have enjoyed yelling, but that’s not necessarily going to help you get the right cigarettes in the future.
Once they reach the age of twelve, your productive yelling options really open up. So, if you really wanted to, you could probably praise your 12-year-old for the stuff they do right, and they’ll learn. But you could also yell at them, with just as effective results. “Two and a Half Men season 3? What am I supposed to do with this? I wanted Three Men and a Baby! Three Men and a Baby! Charlie Sheen is a kitten killer!” is going to make sure you get what you want next Christmas.
Researchers are still unsure as to whether this change in learning styles is a result of the brain maturing, or if it simply comes from experience. But, as I see it, there’s only one good way to find out.
Don't do it, Narcissus: You can't fox around with your own reflection! And you shouldn't try!
Courtesy Wikimedia Commons“Crazy,” I suppose, might be too strong a word. I generally reserve the “c-word” (not that one) for nighttime bicyclists and anyone who offers me any sort of advice at all. So instead we’ll say that Facebook is good for finding out which of your friends has a potentially harmful psychiatric condition.
Which condition? Well, we’re talking about Web 2.0, so what else could it be but… Narcissism!
Narcissism, for those of you behind on your isms, is a psychiatric condition characterized by a person who is overly self-centered and self-admiring. A narcissist is, more or less, someone a little too in love with themselves. Or way too in love with themselves—it’s a continuum. Narcissists will often use others for their own advantage, instead of focusing on fostering quality relationships. It’s ultimately harmful the associates of narcissists, as well as for the narcissist his- or herself.
The term “Narcissist” comes from an ancient Greek story about a really hot male supermodel named Narcissus. Narcissus was, as they say, fit, and he knew it, and he loved to spend time staring at himself. But this was before they had invented mirrors, so when Narcissus wanted to spend time staring at his face, instead of just the rest of his body, he’d have to go down to the stream to catch his own reflection. At some point, Narcissus found that just looking at his reflection no longer cranked his gears—he needed a little action. But, as the rest of us are no doubt aware, you can’t get any sugar from your own reflection, especially if it’s in the water. And so poor, hot Narcissus fell in and drowned his old self. Or maybe he didn’t drown, maybe he just got Giardia. Whatever. It wasn’t pretty. Such is the case with all narcissism.
So, anyway, a recent study suggests that Facebook profiles can be used to detect narcissism. The study found that people untrained in psychology could easily identify narcissism on profile pages, which is why these findings may not come as a huge surprise to you.
130 Facebook users were given personality questionnaires (to determine their degree of narcissism) and then their profiles were shown to untrained strangers. The viewers’ responses correlated strongly with the professional evaluation of the questionnaires.
So what did people look for in identifying narcissists? Three main things: a large number of “friends,” lots of displayed wallposts, and profile pictures that were more glamorous and self-promoting (as opposed to snapshots).
Narcissists, the study seems to demonstrate, use social networking sites like Facebook in the same way they use personal relationships: “for self-promotion with an emphasis on quantity over quality.” They have a large number of shallow friendships, and focus on self-promotion.
Also, because narcissists have a large number of online friends, you’re average non-narcissist is more likely to be “friends” with a narcissist on a social networking site than in real life (if you will).
So… which of your friends seems to fit the bill? Or, even better, do you? Or do you think that a hot profile picture, and lots of friends and wallposts aren’t good indicators of narcissim—would they give too many false positives and ignore true narcissists?
Defend yourselves or expose yourselves!
Marijuana skin: I guess this explains the thumb sucking.
There's actually not enough there to...: Oh, whatever. Have at it.
Courtesy CayusaMothers! Quick! Smack yer little babies’ thumbs out of their mouths and replace them with something a little more legal, like cigarettes! Now! It’s for their own good!
See, apparently our skin is constantly producing “endocannaboids,” substances not unlike the active ingredients in marijuana.
“Wait,” you say. “My skin is covered in the dank? I need… I need… a carrot peeler!”
No! Chill out! That would be super gross, and I can’t believe you even thought of that! If anything, what you need is a hole-cutting drill bit and a melon baller, because it’s your brain that produces the most endocannaboids.
A new study examines the function of endocannaboids in the skin, and how that might be linked to their presence in the brain.
The skin seems to produce these marijuana-like chemicals as a response to environmental stresses like wind and sun. Endocannaboids help glands in the skin produce the oily substances that protect us from the elements, and which also contribute to pimples and hair loss.
The brain produces similar chemicals in response to stressors and rewards, and they make us feel anxious, or pleased, or whatever. Psychological stress, however, may prompt the skin—as well as the brain—to start producing these chemicals, which lends credence to the thought that stress can cause acne and influence baldness.
As far as getting high from licking your arm goes…well it’s theoretically possible that endocannaboids could do the trick, but even if you were to, say, eat your whole arm, there wouldn’t be enough there to give you any psychological effect. Except whatever psychological effect would come from eating your own arm, I suppose.
Forget this cubicle, I’m becoming a drug dealer. Of babies.
Low-grade baby: but she seems to be enjoying it.
Courtesy ocadotonyI hope I don’t look like a chump. Because I’m no chump. I’m no chump, and I’m leaving this chump job. Goodbye, Chump Inc. Goodbye, Chumville. I’m starting an exciting new life, effective immediately, as a drug dealer.
And what poison will I peddle? What do I plan to sling on street corners and playgrounds? The worst and most deadly drug: pure, uncut baby.
Trust me; it’s the next big thing. I accept that my baby dealing operation will probably start out small (baby manufacturing is notoriously time-consuming), but before you know it gossip pages will be swimming in photos of starlets with babies peaking out of their handbags, or smeared on their upper lips. Why?
Because babies get you hiiigghhh!
Or at least they get mothers high, and that’s a market somewhat neglected by dealers. Cha-ching!
Research has shown that mothers, when shown pictures of their babies, experience strong brain activity in regions associated with reward and addiction—a natural high.
The strength of a mother’s reaction seems to depend partly on her baby’s expression. A crying baby, for instance, evokes a reaction little different from a mother seeing a stranger’s baby (ha!), whereas a smiling baby is like a spoonful of hot heroin. Relatively speaking.
That’s something I’ll have to factor into my operation—happy babies are the most potent, and I surely want to offer a high quality product. How do you make babies happy? It’s never really been my thing. Like…rattles, maybe? Cigarettes? I have the feeling that it’ll be a trial and error sort of thing.
Aside from inspiring a whole new career path for me, the research promises to be valuable in understanding some of the most basic elements of mother-child bonding, and why, in some cases, this bonding fails to occur. Neglect and abuse sometimes arises from such cases, and so, as a baby dealer, I think I would only be helping society by fixing up moms already jonesing for some baby, and encouraging the habit in others.
Watch out for cars with bumper stickers. A social psychologist in Colorado has found that the more bumper stickers a car has, the more aggressive the driver will be, and the more likely to succumb to road rage.
All I’m sayin’ is “Forget about world peace – visualize using your turn signal.”
Do you remember us?: "I'm Ringo." "I'm Paul." "I'm George." "And I'm John, and we're the Beatles."
Courtesy biggeststarsScientific studies, for the most part, aren’t all that much fun, right? We get poked and prodded by high tech equipment, injected with foreign substances and shaken or stirred about
But how about recalling your favorite memories related to Beatles music? Yes, there is such a study going on right now and you can get involved at absolutely no cost.
More precisely, the Magical Memory Tour wants to analyze the dynamics of human memory using Beatles songs, movies, concerts and news clips as the focal point. By visiting the research project website, you can include your own specific Beatles memories, read and rate other peoples memories and learn about human memory works.
The researchers will be analyzing which types of experiences evoked from Beatles moments create the most intense memories. More specifically, they want to see how experiences from our lives can be associated with music, personality and public perception of the Beatles.
FYI: Here is a list of the top 10 topic areas of memories associated with the Beatles that the project has amassed through the website so far:
1. John Lennon - in memoriam
2. Help!
3. Television appearances
4. Yellow Submarine
5. The White Album
6. Revolver
7. Magical Mystery Tour
8. Yesterday
9. The Beatles Songbook
10. Octopuses Garden
And of course, you’re always welcome to share your favorite Beatles memories here with other Science Buzz readers.
Best. Research. Ever.
in Chemical Reactions, Scientific Inquiry, Forces of Nature, and Human Organism
Why, I’m feeling improved cognition and creativity already!: Now we have scientific proof -- looking at scantily-clad young women makes men smarter. And hungrier, somehow.
Courtesy Roro Fernandez
So, what’s the opposite of “the dismal science”?
A new study published in the Journal of Consumer Research finds that men, after receiving a sexual stimulus – touching lingerie or even just seeing a woman in a bikini – seek immediate gratification.
Why can’t I ever get chosen for research like this?
(The lingerie, the report is quick to point out, was “not being worn during the test.” Still – dude – awesome methodology!)
Now, what’s all this about “immediate gratification”? I mean, we’ve all seen There’s Something About Mary, right? Well, get your minds out of the gutter, people. What they mean is, aroused men are more likely to try to satisfy any appetite – food, alcohol, money, whatever is at hand. So to speak.
To which men everywhere are saying “You paid how much to figure that out?”
It all has to do with the appetite centers in the brain. Seems it’s all one big giant Id. Once it’s aroused by some stimulus, the man seeks to satisfy it any way he can.
To which women everywhere are saying, “No duh.”
Apparently, the smell of fresh baked bread has the same effect, which would explain why you see so many pie shops right next door to strip clubs.
A group of test subjects tragically misinterprets the research findings: All in the name of science, I'm sure.
Courtesy avlxyz
But, most interesting of all, we find, buried in the article, never explained, never elaborated upon, this little gem:
It wasn't that the men were simply distracted by their sexual arousal, which caused them to choose more impulsively. On the contrary, they exhibited improved cognition and creativity after exposure to sexy stimuli.
While this does not comport with the stupid pick-up lines one hears in bars every night of the week, nevertheless, there it is. I mean, this is science, right? Looking at pretty girls actually makes men smarter! Therefore, we should view beer commercials and the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, not as crass attempts to move product by appealing to hard-wired neurological instincts, but rather as a public service, a selfless effort to increase intellectual activity and creative achievement by stimulating men’s brains.
But no. That’s not what the liberal media wants you to hear. Men bad. Men can’t control urges. Men barely better than animals. So what we get are prurient headlines, lascivious photos, and sly innuendo like “seek immediate gratification,” wink wink. Why, it’s enough to…
Gutter. Out. Now!
Superstition is logical
Let a smile be your umbrella, and you’ll get a mouth full of rain.: Better safe than sorry, doncha’ know.
Courtesy Christiane Michaud
Up is down. Black is white. Ignorance is double-plus ungood. But a new study shows why this one actually makes a bit of sense.
Professors at Cornell University had groups of students read various different stories. In some, a character acts prudently; in others, the character tempts fate – for instance, failing to bring an umbrella when there’s rain in the forecast. The stories end with something bad happening – it rains – and the students were asked whether or not the conclusion made sense.
The correct answer is “yes,” no matter which story a student reads. But those who read about the person tempting fate responded more quickly.
The professors call this reflexive thinking. An action which “tempts fate” causes out minds, by reflex, to think of the negative possibilities. And while there is no connection between carrying an umbrella and “making” it rain, the superstition does have several benefits:
- By focusing our attention on the possible negative outcome, we are ready for it and better able to respond.
- The actions used to ward off the negative outcome – such as carrying an umbrella to “prevent” rain – often leave us better prepared in the event of the bad thing actually happening.
No word on how this relates to horseshoes and rabbit’s feet.
Um... if you say so: Well, no, not even then.
Courtesy echovein.comRemember how you said that grapes are good in pasta salad, and I said, no, they’re not, it’s like eating soggy little cat eyeballs?
I was right about that. You were wrong. Grapes in pasta salad are gross. You just like pasta salad so much that you can’t tell that you’re eating something like cold, swollen lymph nodes and bloated, dead wood ticks. Deal with it.
And you know how you’re all about Natalie Portman? Well you’re wrong about her too. You saw her in Star Wars, and you’ve got a weird space fetish thing brewing, and that’s cool, but don’t be telling me that this passably attractive actress is Venus on Earth (or whatever planet). No, I’m right, and you’re wrong on this one buddy.
Oh, also, the rest of the world and I had a talk, and we think you should shut up about Dane Cook. And we don’t want to see the superfinger anymore. It’s clear that you like him, yes, but you’re the only one now, and if you put that album on in the car again, I’m afraid that the citizens of earth and I will have to throw you into a volcano. We’re very sorry, it’s not that we don’t like you (you’re great!), it’s just that he isn’t funny at all.
How can I be so sure of all this? Why is it that I’m so frighteningly accurate here, while you’re shredding your fingernails as you scramble for a grip on reality? Simple—because I don’t like these things, I’m able to use a little power I like to call objectivity. Because you’re all about this garbage, you are unable to recognize the many inherent flaws in the things you like. Not only that, but you think that we should like them too.
Oh? Home Improvement reruns are on? Sure, we can watch that. Do you have any liquor?
Remember the time your dog chewed up one of my mittens? You said she was just playing, and that it was cute. As it happens, it wasn’t cute, and you have an awful dog. An awful, bad dog. I needed two mittens. Two hands, two mittens. Easy. Even a dog should be able to figure that out—well, a good dog should.
At the time, I was surprised that you didn’t realize that about your dog (what a horrible, horrible creature she is). But that was my fault. Thankfully, science—as it tends to do—has done me a favor by removing the surprise from such situations. A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research has shown that when a person likes a thing, even just some small part of it, they are unable to recognize its faults, and are likely to think most other people will like it as well. On the other hand, when a person dislikes something, they are able to look at the thing more objectively, and predict much more accurately both who might like or dislike said thing.
Now this might all seem a little obvious—anecdotal evidence has suggested as much for as long as there have been both people and things people might like. But, then again, if it’s so obvious, why did you keep wearing that Hooters shirt. What? No, actually, it’s not ironic. It’s obnoxious.
Recent comments
What's going on with science careers?
Are Midwestern winters getting warmer? Why or why not? Share your thoughts on local climate change.
Write your own label for the plant pathogens
Are Midwestern winters getting warmer? Why or why not? Share your thoughts on local climate change.
Subscribe
I want to learn about
Science Buzz and all related activities
Science Museum of Minnesota, 2004-2008,
except where otherwise noted.
Copyright Information
Add a new comment