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New Research From Psychological Science
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Cigarette Craving Can Be Measured with a Squeeze
Craving is challenging to measure because it is visceral and difficult to express in words or numbers on a scale. To address this challenge, researcher Crewell and colleagues investigated the effectiveness of a nonverbal measure of craving in heavy smokers.
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Could Your Mindset Affect How Well A Treatment Works?
Anxiety about side effects can keep people from starting or sticking to drug regimens or medical procedures. A group of researchers at Stanford wanted to find out if a simple mindset shift could help patients tolerate an uncomfortable treatment. They learned that when physicians make the effort to reframe potentially unpleasant symptoms in a positive light, it helped patients stay calm and persevere. The researchers studied this approach with a group of families who, in a desperate search for relief from food allergies, signed their children up for a study testing the investigational treatment known as oral immunotherapy.
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Why Forgetfulness Might Actually Help You
Many people worry that forgetting names, facts or tasks on their to-do list is a sign of aging or mental decline. A growing body of research offers a more welcome excuse: Forgetting stuff can actually be a byproduct of rigorous thinking, smooth decision-making or heightened creativity. Forgetting can help us block out useless or outdated information and keep us from fixating on a single set of ideas or thoughts. And contrary to the notion that forgetfulness reflects a withering of brain cells, scientists say it can actually be driven by the growth of new neurons in the hippocampus, a brain region linked to memory. This doesn’t excuse major memory mishaps.
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Want to Close the Pay Gap? Pay Transparency Will Help
Here’s what we know about salary transparency: Workers are more motivated when salaries are transparent. They work harder, they’re more productive, and they’re better at collaborating with colleagues. Across the board, pay transparency seems to be a good thing. Transparency isn’t just about business bottom line, however. Researchers say transparency is important because keeping salaries secret reinforces discrimination. “From a worker’s perspective, without accurate information about peer compensation, they may not know when they’re being underpaid,” said Emiliano Huet-Vaughn, an economist at U.C.L.A. who ran a study in 2013 that found workers are more productive when salary is transparent.
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The Meandering Path to That ‘Aha!’ Moment
A psychological study suggests that creative professionals may have their most inventive ideas when their minds are wandering.
