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Clean Hands = Clean Conscience for People with OCD
Cleaning one’s hands is associated with an alleviation of anxiety from moral misconduct. But this effect is even more pronounced in people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), according to new research published in Clinical Psychological Science. Orna Reuven, Nira Liberman, and Reuven Dar of Tel Aviv University suspected that, because people with OCD are sometimes debilitated by obsessions about moral transgressions and cleanliness, the link between physical cleanliness and ethical purity might be even stronger for them.
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Advancing Science Through Critical Discussion
Recent initiatives in psychological science -- such as facilitating replication and ensuring sound methodologies -- have sparked a lively dialogue among researchers, publishers, and the general public. The July 2013 issue of Perspectives on Psychological Science builds upon these recent discussions, featuring a special section devoted exclusively to the advancement of psychological science. Perspectives Editor Barbara A. Spellman introduces this section and outlines the articles, all of which are available free to the public.
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According to Kids, the Moral Obligation Against Harm Doesn’t Apply Equally
Research shows that we tend to show an in-group bias, favoring the interests of our own social group over those of another group. But how do we perceive these biases when they occur in other people? Psychological scientists Marjorie Rhodes and Lisa Chalik of New York University hypothesized that children would view other people as morally obligated to help members of their own group, regardless of the circumstances, but they speculated that children might see the obligation as more flexible when it comes to other people’s encounters with an out-group. Their findings are published in the June 2013 issue of Psychological Science.
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Social Networking in a Graduate Industrial/Organizational Program
While social networks proliferate, insight is lacking about how graduate students, faculty, and administration collaboratively engage such networks. In early 2011, University of Phoenix rolled out what has become the world’s largest, single institution, educational social networking site, PhoenixConnect. The authors examined graduate student, faculty, and administrator contributions and interactions within this university social network. Participants from the graduate program in Industrial/Organizational (I/O) Psychology were given qualitative interviews during bimonthly face-to-face classes to investigate the ways participants from different cohorts used social networking.
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Emotional Cues Alter Perceptions of Time and Number
Emotionally charged information dilates our perception of time and interferes with our numerical intuition, though it does so in different ways. Previous findings on how we process time and numbers have been mixed -- some studies propose a common mechanism, while others suggest that the two domains are distinct. Psychological scientists Laura Young and Sara Cordes of Boston College sought to further investigate this issue by having 38 participants observe emotionally charged stimuli -- in this case, angry, happy, or neutral faces -- and then estimate either the number of dots that appeared or the amount of time that an oval was shown on a screen.
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The Cold Truth About “Heating Up” on the Court
It might seem as though some players are on a streak, with their chances of success getting better with every shot they take. But the data suggest otherwise.
