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Your Brain ‘Sees’ Things Even When You Don’t
The brain processes visual input to the level of understanding its meaning even if we never consciously perceive that input, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The research, led by Jay Sanguinetti of the University of Arizona, challenges currently accepted models about how the brain processes visual information. Sanguinetti, a doctoral candidate in the UA’s department of psychology in the College of Science, showed study participants a series of black silhouettes, some of which contained recognizable, real-world objects hidden in the white spaces on the outsides.
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Study: Grandiose narcissism can be beneficial for U.S. presidents
Raw Story: Narcissism isn’t all bad if you’re living in the White House, according to research published in Psychological Science in October. Though the trait is considered a personality flaw, it tends to help presidents — as well as hurt them. Ashley L. Watts, a doctoral student at Emory University and the lead author of the study, told PsyPost the findings “suggest that the relations between grandiose narcissism and indicators of successful narcissism are much more nuanced than previous literature suggests.” Narcissists tend to have fantasies of extraordinary success, heightened feelings of entitlement, and a lack of empathy.
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People Support Social Welfare When They’re Hungry Themselves
The Atlantic: It’s hard to know how to feel about Obamacare right now. One one hand, there’s outrage at stories that like that of San Francisco resident Lee Hammack and his wife, JoEllen Brothers, two middle-income people who had their affordable, comprehensive Kaiser plan cancelled and can only obtain a much less generous policy on the exchange, and without the help of the much-touted subsidies. At the same time, it’s heartening that people like Kentucky resident David Elson, who can’t afford to refill his diabetes prescriptions, keeps his unpaid medical bills in a cardboard box, and suffers from severe eye bleeding, can finally get some treatment. ...
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Gun violence in PG-13 movies has tripled
CNN: When was the last time you saw a blockbuster film that didn't include a gun? It might be hard to remember. Americans love movies that depict violence, a new study shows; 94% of the most popular movies since 1985 contain at least one violent scene, and half of those involve a gun. For the study, published this week in the scientific journal Pediatrics, researchers analyzed the 30 top-grossing films every year from 1950 to 2012. They identified violent sequences in each movie and noted whether the scenes included a character carrying a gun with the intention of harming or killing a living target. Since 1950, violence in films has more than doubled, the study authors concluded.
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Is the Antidote to Embarrassment in a Jar?
The Wall Street Journal: Feeling embarrassed can motivate people to want to save face—literally. A study published in the journal Psychological Science found people recalling embarrassing events tended to want to apply face creams that promise to restore skin. These people also were more likely to want to hide their face with large, dark sunglasses than people not feeling embarrassed. In the study, researchers at the Rotman School of Management in Toronto explored symbolic ways people cope with embarrassment in experiments involving more than 200 Hong Kong students, about 21 years old. Two-thirds were women.
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What Kind Of Stress Eater Are You?
The Huffington Post: What are your eating habits in the face of stress? Do you eat more under duress, or are you the sort of person who loses your appetite? A new study shows that stress eaters tend to eat more when stressed, but actually eat less after a positive experience, while "skippers" -- those who don't eat during stressful moments -- tend to consume more after a positive experience. "These findings challenge the simplistic view that stress eaters need to regulate their eating behavior to prevent weight gain," study researcher Gudrun Sproesser, of the University of Konstanz in Germany, said in a statement.
