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Poker pros’ arms betray their hands
ScienceNews: No bluff: In high-stakes matches, a poker face may not be good enough. Players may have to develop “poker arms” as well. When shown two-second video clips of the arms and hands of top players making bets in the World Series of Poker, college students did well at judging who was playing a strong hand and who wasn’t, say psychology graduate student Michael Slepian of Tufts University in Medford, Mass., and his colleagues. But when viewing videos of only poker pros’ upper bodies or faces during bets, students couldn’t correctly predict whether players held good or bad cards, the researchers report Sept. 12 in Psychological Science. Read the whole story: ScienceNews
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Testosterone Promotes Reciprocity in the Absence of Competition
Boosting testosterone can promote generosity, but only when there is no threat of competition, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The findings show that testosterone is implicated in behaviors that help to foster and maintain social relationships, indicating that its effects are more nuanced than previously thought. “Testosterone may mediate competitive and potentially antisocial behavior when social challenges or threats need to be confronted and handled,” explains lead researcher Maarten Boksem of Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) in the Netherlands.
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Qui sont les sadiques ordinaires? (Who are the everyday sadists?)
Le Figaro: Oui, les sadiques sont bien parmi nous! Une étude menée par les Dr Delroy Paulhus et Erin Buckels, professeurs et chercheurs en psychologie à l'université de Colombie britannique (Canada), a permis d'établir que certainsindividus apparemment adaptés en société étaient animés de pulsions sadiques. Sans être des serial killers ou des déviants sexuels, ces individus se délectent davantage que d'autres lorsqu'ils font souffrir quelqu'un. On peut alors parler là d'un «sadisme ordinaire» du type de celui qui, par pur plaisir, pousse certains ados à harceler une victime sur Internet ou des employés de bureau à se moquer quotidiennement d'un collègue timide.
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Gratitude Is About the Future, Not the Past
The Huffington Post: When life's got you down, gratitude can seem like a chore. Sure, you'll go through the motions and say the right things -- you'll thank people for help they've provided or try to muster a sense of thanks that things aren't worse. But you might not truly feel grateful in your heart. It can be like saying "I'm happy for you" to someone who just got the job you wanted. The words and the feelings often don't match. This disconnect is unfortunate, though. It comes from a somewhat misguided view that gratitude is all about looking backward -- back to what has already been. But in reality, that's not how gratitude truly works.
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Fear memories can be overcome during sleep, researchers say
The Washington Post: It can take only an instant for fear to take hold in the brain: a fear of snakes after being bitten by one, or anxiety around bodies of water after witnessing a drowning. Overcoming that fear can take a long time, but now researchers are saying it can be done in your sleep. Scientists at Northwestern University say they have lowered levels of fear in people by using certain odors to trigger and rechannel frightening memories into harmless ones during a deep slumber. “Sleep sort of stamps memories in more strongly,” said neurologist Jay Gottfried, senior author of the study, which was scheduled to be published online Sunday by the journal Nature Neuroscience.
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Rethinking the Poker Face and Plans for a Cat in Space
The New York Times: In a classic work by Lady Gaga, she boasts, “No, he can’t read my poker face.” But according to a paper in the journal Psychological Science, she should be more worried about her arm and hand movements, at least when playing poker. “Even though professional players may be able to regulate their facial expressions, their motor actions could betray the quality of their poker hand,” the authors wrote. In three studies, psychologists asked undergraduates to watch clips of professional poker players placing bets; it turned out that smooth and confident arm motions while pushing the chips were the surest signal of a good hand. Read the story at: The New York Times
