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When Can Making Medical Decisions Be Hazardous to Your Health?
Huffington Post: "Take two aspirin and call me in the morning" may be really good advice after all. That's because a doctor's decision-making abilities may be related to the time of day. Making decisions, choices, seems highly affected by what social psychologists call "decision fatigue," or the gradual deterioration in decision making as mental exhaustion sets in. A doctor's diagnosis after a stressful day may not be as well contemplated as it was first thing in the morning or after some rest, nourishment and not having plowed through a thousand decisions.
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Fact Checker: Is the U.S. a land of Haves and Have-Nots?
Reno Gazette-Journal: The claim America is increasingly becoming a land of Haves and Have-Nots. The background What do you think is a fair amount of wealth inequality? Before getting to that, an explanation of "why this question now" is needed. People on the left and right have been noting the disparity in wealth with increasing alarm. The Occupy Wall Street movement has faced mass arrests, pepper spraying and increasing attention. It has spread to Boston, Chicago, LA, Japan -- and Las Vegas and Reno.
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First Annual International Multidisciplinary Collaborative Conference on Violence Research & Evidence-Based Practice: Sexual Homicide
Dates: November 7 and 8, 2011 Location: Holiday Inn Arena & Conference Center Binghamton, NY For more information visit: http://www2.binghamton.edu/continuing-education/non-credit-programs/sexual-homicide/
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Loving the iPhone? Thank Steve Jobs and Human-Computer Interactions
iTechnologies pave the way for new fields of psychological science The late Steve Jobs is considered the Thomas Edison of our time. His innovations not only sold in a down economy, but the technology created by Jobs revolutionized the way we live our lives and interact with others. With the anticipated release of the iPhone4, a New York Times op-ed by Martin Lindstrom said that brain scans of participants who saw a vibrating iPhone “responded to the sound of their phones as they would respond to the presence or proximity of a girlfriend, boyfriend or family member. In short, the subject didn't demonstrate the classic brain-based signs of addiction.
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The Perils of Polite Misunderstandings
Your friend debuts a questionable haircut and asks what you think of it. Brutal honesty would definitely hurt his feelings, so what do you say? Most people in this situation would probably opt for a vague or evasive response, along the lines of “It’s really unique!” or “It’s so you!” Politeness helps us get through awkward social situations like these and makes it easier for us to maintain our relationships. But a new article published in the October issue of Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, suggests that this kind of politeness can have disastrous consequences, especially in high-stakes situations.
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Do programs that pay people to lose weight really work?
The Washington Post: What if someone would pay you to lose weight? Not a token amount from your meddling fitness freak brother-in-law, but serious cash, say $10,000? Would you try it? But what if you had to put some skin in the game, 60 of your hard-earned dollars for the chance to win that $10,000 or smaller prizes of $5,000 and $3,000? And what if you had to do this at the office, with a team of co-workers who would monitor your progress, or lack thereof, and whose chances at a payoff depended on you? Deal breaker or motivator?
