-
Driving With a Hangover Just as Dangerous as Driving Drunk
Driving home with a hangover may be just as dangerous as driving after too many glasses of champagne, according to a sobering new study. A team of researchers, led by Utrecht University psychopharmacologist Joris Verster, found that even when drivers’ blood alcohol levels returned to zero the morning after a night of partying, they showed the same degree of driving impairment as drivers who were intoxicated. “The hangover develops when blood alcohol concentration (BAC) returns to zero and is characterized by a feeling of general misery that may last up to 20 hours after alcohol consumption,” the researchers write.
-
Give, if You Know What’s Good for You
The New York Times: Vancouver, British Columbia — IN the classic children’s story “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!,” when the Grinch discovered the true spirit of the holiday, his “small heart grew three sizes that day.” Dr. Seuss may have been on to something — because it now appears that acts of generosity may bestow physical benefits on the donor. To be sure, there is plenty to hate about the holidays, when we endure the incessantly cheerful sounds of “Jingle Bells” spilling out of every shop and fight our way through overcrowded airports. But the holiday season can also inspire heartwarming generosity unmatched by other times of year.
-
Pupil Size: A Measure of Trust?
Scientific American Mind: Pupils are a rich source of social information. Although changes in pupil size are automatic and uncontrollable, they can convey interest, arousal, helpful or harmful intentions, and a variety of emotions. According to a new study published in Psychological Science, we even synchronize our pupil size with others—and doing so influences social decisions. Mariska Kret, a psychologist now at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, and her colleagues recruited 69 Dutch university students to take part in an investment game. Each participant decided whether to transfer zero or five euros to a virtual partner after viewing a video of their eyes for four seconds.
-
Helping Some Students Fight Stereotype Threat May Boost Classmates’ Grades, Too
Education Week: Interventions that help to immunize vulnerable students against the damage caused by negative stereotypes may convey a kind of herd immunity to their classmates as well. That's the conclusion of two studies published online this morning by the journal Psychological Science. Psychologists from Stanford, Pennsylvania State, Columbia, and Yale universities found the classmates of black 7th grade students who had participated in an earlier study of an anti-stereotype intervention saw an academic benefit as well. Read the whole story: Education Week
-
Scientists say these 2 ‘dark’ personality traits can help you succeed at work
Business Insider: Who gets further at work — nice guys or jerks? It's a question that's plagued researchers for years, and unfortunately, there's no clear answer. Now, new research suggests that jerks can sometimes be more successful, depending on the specific traits they display. For the study, cited by the Association for Psychological Science, psychologists at the University of Bern in Switzerland looked at about 800 German workers between the ages of 25 and 34. Read the whole story: Business Insider
-
Accreditation Summiteers in Agreement on Change