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The Psychology of Fact-Checking
APS Fellow/Author: Stephen J. Ceci Distortions and outright lies by politicians and pundits have become so common that major news outlets like the Associated Press, CNN, BBC, Fox News,and Washington Post routinely assign journalists and fact-checkers to verify claims made during stump speeches and press briefings. The motivation to uncover falsehoods and misleading statements taken out of context is laudable. But when it comes to real-world complexities, the trouble is that people often see different things when looking at the same event, a phenomenon repeatedly documented by psychologists.
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What If Friendship, Not Marriage, Was at the Center of Life?
... In the past few decades, Americans have broadened their image of what constitutes a legitimate romantic relationship: Courthouses now issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, Americans are getting married later in life than ever before, and more and more young adults are opting to share a home rather than a marriage license with a partner. Despite these transformations, what hasn’t shifted much is the expectation that a monogamous romantic relationship is the planet around which all other relationships should orbit. ... A few decades after the erosion of romantic friendship began, Americans’ conception of marriage shifted.
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Forget Halloween. Children Are Frightening Year-Round.
Some parents don’t need spooky stories or horror movies. The real terror already lives within the walls of their homes. To be clear, I’m talking about little children. Kids can be incredibly eerie. They seem innocent but sometimes appear highly sophisticated. And when they communicate, it’s often in such a simple, uninhibited way that many adults find it unnerving. Especially when their children are talking about something unpleasant. ...
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Psychological Science and Entrepreneurship: News and Events
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation supports the Psychological Science and Entrepreneurship Award at the APS Convention. The award seeks to recognize the work of psychological scientists doing research at the intersection of psychological science and entrepreneurship. The 2020 APS Virtual Poster Showcase awarded the first Psychological Science and Entrepreneurship poster awards. Descriptions of the 2020 award winners projects can be found in the July/August Observer story titled, Award-Winning Ideas from the APS Virtual Poster Showcase.
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Fear-Related Research for Halloween Week
APS’s Research Topic on Fear explores why we are scared of some things and not others.
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Playing With Fear: Haunted Houses and Recreation
Haunted houses, horror movies, and ghost stories can provoke chilling delights, provided the fear they evoke remains in a “Goldilocks zone” that is neither too terrifying nor too tame. New research connects this sweet spot
