-
What Our Memories Tell Us About Ourselves
TIME: Do you remember the time President Obama shook hands with Iranian president Ahmadinejad? If you took part in a recent psychological study, it’s possible that you will. More than 5,000 participants were presented with doctored photographs representing fabricated political events, with around half claiming to have memories for the false scenarios (Obama has, of course, never shaken hands with the Iranian president). Part of a decades-long program of research by psychologist Elizabeth Loftus, the latest study provides a neat demonstration of how our memories are created in the present rather than being faithful records of the past.
-
A Laser Light Show in the Brain
The New Yorker: In 1992, Martin Chalfie made a spectacularly useful discovery, which I like to think of as perhaps the greatest use of cut-and-paste. Chalfie began with the fact that every gene has two parts: an encoding sequence that, using RNA as an intermediate, specifies a set of amino acids from which a cell can synthesize a protein, and a regulatory sequence that specifies, indirectly, when and where that protein should be built. ... The impact of this on understanding neuroscience is immense.
-
Thinking of Science Strengthens Moral Fiber
Pacific Standard: Want to be a better person? Spend more time thinking about science. That’s the implication of newly published research, which finds people who study science—or even are momentarily exposed to the idea of scientific research—are more likely to condemn unethical behavior, and more inclined to help others. “Thinking about science leads individuals to endorse more stringent moral norms,” report psychologists Christine Ma-Kellams of Harvard University and Jim Blascovich of the University of California, Santa Barbara. Their research is published in the online journal PLOS One.
-
Why We’re So Irrational When It Comes to Tax Refunds
TIME: Think about it: A tax refund is just that — a refund of your own hard-earned money. It’s not a gift or a stroke of good fortune. The problem is that most people don’t look at tax refunds this way. Most Americans—a full 75%—receive refunds after filing their taxes. In other words, most Americans have too much money withheld from their paychecks. More than half of Americans—58%, to be exact—say they intentionally plan to receive a refund each year. Understandably, people do so to avoid an unexpected tax payment come April 15, with the idea that it’s better to withhold a bit more to be on the safe side.
-
Scientists provide fresh insights into post-sleep paralysis distress
Toronto Telegraph: Canadian scientists have identified the factors that cause distress after sleep paralysis, a psychological phenomenon of which little was previously known, according to a study. Sleep paralysis is a distressing phenomenon often accompanied by vivid sensory or perceptual experiences, which can include complex and disturbing hallucinations and intense fear, which is often experienced by people immediately before sleeping or waking up. For some people, sleep paralysis is a once-in-a-lifetime experience; for others, it can be a frequent, even nightly, phenomenon, Science Daily reported.
-
The Stories That Bind Us
The New York Times: I hit the breaking point as a parent a few years ago. It was the week of my extended family’s annual gathering in August, and we were struggling with assorted crises. My parents were aging; my wife and I were straining under the chaos of young children; my sister was bracing to prepare her preteens for bullying, sex and cyberstalking. After a while, a surprising theme emerged. The single most important thing you can do for your family may be the simplest of all: develop a strong family narrative. I first heard this idea from Marshall Duke, a colorful psychologist at Emory University. In the mid-1990s, Dr.
