Tag: Psychology

Are pain tolerance levels similar among groups of friends?

Are your friends very pain tolerant? Then it is likely that you are as well, provided you are a male. A recent study, published in the Scandinavian Journal of Pain, along with an Editorial Comment by Dr. Jeffrey Mogil, published by De Gruyter, shows that there is a positive correlation between the pain tolerance of

How humans repress prejudices: Even people who would describe themselves as liberal and open-minded might not be free of unconscious racism

Bochum-based philosopher Dr Beate Krickel has used psychoanalysis to investigate why people are often not aware of their prejudices. In her accounts, she has been elaborating how prejudices can become unconscious. As researcher at the Institute of Philosophy II at Ruhr-Universität Bochum, she outlines her theory in the journal Philosophical Psychology from May 15, 2018.

During disasters, active Twitter users likely to spread falsehoods: Study examines Boston Marathon bombing, Hurricane Sandy; also finds most users fail to correct misinformation

We know that Twitter is littered with misinformation. But how good are the social media platform’s most active users at detecting these falsehoods, especially during public emergencies? Not good, according to new University at Buffalo research that examined more than 20,000 tweets during Hurricane Sandy and the Boston Marathon bombing. The study, published today (May

New movement monitoring system helping prevent falls in the elderly

Technology that allows BMW’s assembly lines to run more efficiently is now being used to accurately indicate when residents in Assisted Living Facilities (ALF) are at increased risk of falling. William Kearns, president of the International Society for Gerontechnology and associate professor at the University of South Florida College of Behavioral and Community Sciences, collected

Neuro filter sharpens visual processing: Findings provide a more comprehensive account of how we ‘see’ the world

Blurry and clear versions of an image are represented similarly in the brain, according to a neuroimaging study published in eNeuro. The research shows how the visual system fills in missing information to maintain perception when visibility is low. Vision arises from a “bottom-up” process that transduces light into neural signals and a “top-down” process

Women’s preference for masculine faces not linked with hormones

Data from almost 600 participants show that women’s perceptions of male attractiveness do not vary according to their hormone levels, in contrast with some previous research. The study findings are published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. “We found no evidence that changes in hormone levels influence the type of

Down side of being dubbed ‘class clown’

Class clowns’ off-task antics amuse and delight their classmates during first and second grades, making them the most sought-after playmates on the playground in early elementary school. But by the time these mischievous boys are promoted to third grade, they plummet to the bottom of the social circle as classmates’ disapproval of their behavior grows,

By 2040, artificial intelligence could upend nuclear stability

A new RAND Corporation paper finds that artificial intelligence has the potential to upend the foundations of nuclear deterrence by the year 2040. While AI-controlled doomsday machines are considered unlikely, the hazards of artificial intelligence for nuclear security lie instead in its potential to encourage humans to take potentially apocalyptic risks, according to the paper.

9 Signs Therapy Is Actually Working

Week after week, you may walk into your therapist’s office and pour out your anxieties, hopes and dreams, or you might cry or get angry. Does any of this mean the process is actually working? According to experts, there are definite signs that show you’re on the right track. If you are experiencing any of the

Elevation in buildings can affect the decisions we make

People rely on financial managers, doctors and lawyers to be as objective as possible when making decisions about investments, health and legal issues, but findings from a new study suggest that an unexpected factor could be influencing these choices. In a series of experiments, researchers found that people at higher elevations in an office building

The secret to being cool: Try smiling

For many people, one of the unspoken rules for being cool is maintaining an emotionally inexpressive attitude. This message is reinforced through advertisements where fashion models rarely smile and by quotes from celebrities. In an article in the Huffington Post, Kanye West said he doesn’t smile in photographs because “it just wouldn’t look as cool.”