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Does the use of mobile phones affect short-term memory or attention?
. You can unwrap the tin foil from around your head now: The effect of acute exposure to low-level radio frequency electromagnetic fields (REF) generated by mobile phones on short-term memory and attention was assessed in two experiments. Most of the tests manipulated task difficulty or what might be termed cognitive load. This manipulation is important since previous studies have argued that exposure to mobile phones might affect cognitive functions only under conditions which tax the cognitive system. All participants…
2 minutes
Here’s What Makes A Good Gift, According To Research
you're trying to apologize to someone, expensive gifts work: The present study examined a costly signaling model of human apology. The model assumes that an unintentional transgressor is more motivated to restore the relationship with the victim than an intentional transgressor who depreciates the relationship. The model predicts the existence of a separating equilibrium, in which only sincere apologizers will pay a certain cost to restore the relationship, while dishonest apologizers will not. Accordingly, we hypothesized that the receivers…
3 minutes
A Quick And Easy Way To Relieve Stress
ew gum: The notion that chewing gum may relieve stress was investigated in a controlled setting. A multi-tasking framework which reliably evokes stress and also includes performance measures was used to induce acute stress in the laboratory. Using a randomised crossover design forty participants (mean age 21.98 years) performed on the multi-tasking framework at two intensities (on separate days) both while chewing and not chewing. Order of workload intensity and chewing conditions were counterbalanced. Before and after undergoing the platform participants…
2 minutes
Are famous people more likely to die on their birthday?
e authors assessed the relationship of mortality salience, as represented by birthdays, on the day of death. Preliminary studies considered the role of possible artifacts such as seasonality of birth and death, and time units for evaluation. On the basis of terror management theory's concept of “mortality salience,” the authors hypothesized that famous people, in this case Major League Baseball (MLB) players, would be more likely to die on or after their birthdays than would be expected by chance (the…
1 min read
Here’s How Many Guys Fake Orgasms
search shows that many women pretend or “fake” orgasm, but little is known about whether men pretend orgasm. The purpose of this study was to investigate (a) whether, how, and why men pretend orgasm and (b) what men's and women's reports of pretending orgasm reveal about their sexual scripts and the functions of orgasms within these scripts. Participants were 180 male and 101 female college students; 85% of the men and 68% of the women had experienced penile-vaginal intercourse (PVI).…
1 min read
Do we need to be afraid of killer robots?
parently, yes: In 1981, a 37-year-old Japanese employee of a motorcycle factory was killed by an artificial-intelligence robot working near him. The robot erroneously identified the employee as a threat to its mission, and calculated that the most efficient way to eliminate this threat was by pushing him into an adjacent operating machine. Using its very powerful hydraulic arm, the robot smashed the surprised worker into the operating machine, killing him instantly, and then resumed its duties with no one…
1 min read
Does youthful success mean you won’t live as long?
new precocity-longevity hypothesis that those who reach career peaks earlier tend to have shorter lives was tested with 23 samples of eminent persons (N = 1,026), including U.S. presidents, French presidents, Canadian prime ministers, British prime ministers, New Zealand prime ministers, Australian prime ministers, male British monarchs, popes, U.S. Supreme Court justices, U.S. vice presidents, Nova Scotia premiers, Nobel prize winners, Oscar winners for acting, signers of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, and distinguished American psychologists. Support was found…
2 minutes
Is insecurity self-reinforcing?
three studies, the authors tested a model positing that chronically insecure individuals often believe that their relationship partners view them as highly insecure. In turn, because of expectations regarding the social consequences of expressing insecurities, these reflected appraisals of insecurity are thought to predict suspicion of partners’ authenticity and feelings of powerlessness within relationships. Results supported these predictions. Self-esteem, attachment anxiety, neuroticism, proclivity for anger, and proclivity for hurt feelings predicted reflected appraisals of insecurity independently of whether partners…
1 min read
