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Product Placement Ineffective in Violent Video Games
Pacific Standard: In spite of the many studies that suggest they increase users' aggression and hostility, violent video games continue to be extremely popular, and thus extremely profitable. Clearly, they're going to continue to proliferate as long as companies are making so much money off of them. Given that reality, a newly published study provides some interesting information. It finds one source of revenue—in-game advertisements—accomplish their intended purpose much more effectively when they're placed in non-violent, rather than violent, games.
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To Make Better Predictions, Don’t Stick With The Easy Stuff
NPR: The presidential primaries are a great opportunity to test your skills in political prediction. Who will win which states, and by what margin? And if your predictions aren't all that good, how can you do better? Two weeks ago, I wrote about how to make better predictions in domains both big (world politics) and small (your breakfast), drawing on recent work in psychological science. Today, I'm going to revisit this question from a new angle. Making good predictions isn't just about your accuracy; it's also about your calibration. ...
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Why Donald Trump Has Done Worse in Mostly White States
The New York Times: Mr. Trump’s anti-immigration language lands with force for people who fear the browning of America. Within three or four decades, several reports have indicated, non-Hispanic whites will no longer make up a majority of the United States population. The social psychology researchers Maureen Craig and Jennifer Richeson, working at Northwestern, studied whether people could become more politically conservative if they felt a threat to their status in the racial pecking order.
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How Does Sunshine Affect The Lottery?
NPR: Social science research examines how the mood of gamblers can change the way they think about risk. New Yorkers buy more lottery tickets when the weather is good and when their sports teams win games. ... Right. So Ross Otto, Stephen Fleming and Paul Glimcher recently hit upon an interesting way to test this idea. They looked at the propensity of New Yorkers to gamble based on the quality of the weather and the performance of local sports teams. GREENE: Because good weather and your teams winning generally make you happier. VEDANTAM: Exactly.
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Right-Hand Bias Is Everywhere
The Atlantic: As any left-handed person who’s ever struggled with a pair of scissors can attest, the physical world is largely built for righties, who comprise up to 90 percent of the population. But that imbalance also affects lefties in more subtle and profound ways than just unwieldy office supplies. Daniel Casasanto, a psychologist at the University of Chicago, studies the ways in which the world is mentally biased toward the right. His research has shown that politicians, for example, tend to use their non-dominant hand for negative gestures, and parents in recent decades have shown a preference for baby names typed on the right side of the keyboard.
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What Couples Who Communicate Well Do Differently
Refinery29: Countless books and articles have been written on the importance of communicating in romantic relationships, but a recent study suggests that there's one aspect of communication that stands out above the rest: empathy. The study, published last month in Psychological Science, found that feeling empathy mattered more than simply listening to what partners had to say. Read the whole story: Refinery29
