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Do you really need those eyeglasses?
Most of us use the numbers 20/20 unthinkingly, basically as a synonym for good vision. We take it on faith that 20/20 is an accurate measure of some biological reality. But how straightforward is visual acuity in fact? After all, those eye charts in your optometrist’s office measure not only the sharpness of the image on your eye’s retina, but also your brain’s interpretation of that information. How much liberty does the interpreting mind take with this biological reality? New research is beginning to focus on the psychological dimensions of vision—with some surprising results.
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American restlessness, American unhappiness?
Imagine you are a high school basketball player, and a pretty good one. You are a senior, and right now you are the starting point guard for the Rochester Eagles. Last year you started for the Lexington Cougars, in a different state, and the year before that you played the same position for yet another squad, the Flyers of Pottsville. Your family moves a lot because of your father’s work, but you’ve managed to win a spot on the local team wherever you land. So how do you think of yourself at the moment? Do you identify yourself as a proud Rochester Eagle? Or do you think of yourself as simply a talented point guard?
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Motivation by Anticipation: Expecting Rapid Feedback Enhances Performance
There are a number of factors that influence how well we do in school, including the amount of time we study and our interest in a subject. Now, according to new findings in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, how quickly we expect to receive our grades may also influence how we perform. Psychological scientists Keri L. Kettle and Gerald Häubl of the University of Alberta in Canada wanted to investigate how the timing of expected feedback impacts individuals’ performance. For this experiment, they recruited students enrolled in a class that required each student to give a 4-minute oral presentation.
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Fast food, racing thoughts
Fast food is unhealthy. I know, I know. Few of us need convincing of that fact any more. But as unassailable as it is, the brief against fast food has for years focused almost entirely on the food in fast food—the high fructose corn syrup and artery-busting fats and nutritional bankruptcy of burgers and French fries and soft drinks. But what about the fast in fast food? New science is now suggesting that fast food may be doubly unhealthy—not only nutritionally damaging but psychologically detrimental as well.
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Repeal health care reform? The brain says no
Republican lawmakers are understandably chagrined over this week’s historic enactment of health care reform. After all, the legislation was passed and signed over their histrionics and without any constructive input from their side of the aisle, so they’re feeling irrelevant and impotent. That explains why they’re already making blustery threats to repeal this transformative piece of social law. But it is just bluster. They won’t repeal the law—not for political reasons but for psychological reasons. Let me explain. One of the cornerstone principles of cognitive psychology—the study of how we think—is the so-called default heuristic.
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It’s the Thought That Counts: Helping Behavior in Infants May Be Determined by Previous Interactions
We are usually eager to assist people who have helped us in the past. These reciprocal relationships are an important part of adult interactions and foster cooperation in society. New findings, reported in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, suggest that this reciprocal behavior may have early beginnings and can be demonstrated in children as young as 21-months-old. Psychological scientists Kristen A. Dunfield and Valerie A. Kuhlmeier from Queen’s University in Canada wanted to examine the specificity of infants’ helping behavior — that is, if they are likelier to help one person over another.
