-
Rise in Reporting p-Values as “Marginally Significant”
A researcher collects data, runs a statistical test, and finds that the p value is approximately .07. What happens next? According to a study conducted by Laura Pritschet (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Derek Powell (University of California, Los Angeles), and Zachary Horne (also at the University of Illinois), that researcher may be likely to report that result as “marginally significant” -- not quite significant, but getting there. While it may be common, Pritschet and colleagues argue that this practice is “rooted in serious statistical misconceptions” and is likely to lead to false-positive errors (and sometimes false negatives, too).
-
Fear of Death Prompts Leaders to Look Towards the Future
Research suggests that reminding leaders of their own mortality may be one way to encourage them to make better, or at least less selfish, decisions.
-
Religion Past and Present
0:13 - How Religions Became Moral and Spiritual - Pascal R. Boyer, Washington University in St. Louis 15:17 - I'm Learning (,) God: Spirituality and Religion in African American Life - Jacqueline S. Mattis, University of Michigan 47:28 - Believers and Atheists: An Evolutionary Understanding of Individual Difference in Religiosity, Their Stability and Change - Vassilis Saroglou, Université catholique de Louvain 1:20:01 - Ritual, Community and Conflict - Harvey Whitehouse, Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Oxford 1:41:56 - Discussion
-
Repeat Drunk Drivers and the Neurobiology of Risk
"I recognize the seriousness of this mistake. I've learned from this mistake and will continue learning from this mistake for the rest of my life," said 22-time Olympic medalist Michael Phelps during his first drunk driving sentencing hearing in 2004. Phelps was convicted of drunk driving again in 2014 after police witnessed him crossing the double yellow line while driving 84 miles per hour in a 45-mph zone. According to police records, Phelps’s blood alcohol level was nearly twice the legal limit at the time of his second DUI arrest.
-
Successful Teams Get (Physiologically) in Sync
When people work together well, their physiological responses begin to sync up, according to new research from a team of psychological scientists from Aarhus University. The research showed that team members who had synchronized skin conductance and facial muscle activity tended to perform better together. “People from the same team have higher synchrony that pairs of people from different teams, and this synchrony is positively associated with a team’s cooperation and positive feeling,” the researchers explain. Previous research has shown that mimicry and synchronization between individuals often enhances prosocial behavior, cooperation, and rapport.
-
The Apple of the Mind’s Eye
With its simple design, the Apple Inc. logo is one of the most recognizable emblems in the world. But how well do people remember details of the icon? Which way does the leaf point? Is the bitten section on the right or left side? Psychological scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), under the leadership of Alan D. Castel, examined participants’ recall for these details on the ubiquitous logo, and the degree to which metamemory (i.e., confidence judgments) match memory performance. The study borrows from a classic study that showed that people often have difficulty recognizing the correct locations of features on a US penny.
