Want to predict the result of a sporting event? Don’t even think about it:
..people with expertise in football are better at predicting match outcomes when they spend time not consciously thinking about their predictions." Via bps-research-digest.blogspot.com: Imagine you've just paid an expert good money for their verdict and they say to you: "Can you hang on a couple of minutes whilst I don't think about this". You'd be forgiven for thinking they've gone silly. They may have. But another possibility is that you've chosen a shrewd expert who's totally up-to-speed with the latest…
2 minutes
Do ethics books get stolen more frequently than other books?
a The Splintered Mind: Overdue or missing, as a percentage of those off shelf: Ethics: 21.0% Non-ethics: 10.0% Missing, as a percentage of those off shelf: Ethics: 8.2% Non-ethics: 6.4% An ethics book is more than twice as likely to be overdue, given that it is off the shelf, and about 25% more likely to be missing! Join over 320,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email here. Related posts: New Neuroscience Reveals 4 Rituals That Will Make You…
1 min read
1 in 5 country music songs refers to alcohol, 1 in 3 to tears, 1 in 7 to mama:
e odds a Top 100 country song will refer to alcohol are 1 in 5. The odds one of these songs will contain a reference to “mama” are 1 in 7.14. The odds one will contain a reference to the word “train” are 1 in 11.11 and the odds one will contain a reference to the word “prison” are 1 in 33.33. Least surprising, the odds one of the songs will contain a reference to tears or crying are 1…
1 min read
Here’s What The Research Says About Whether You Could Really Become Batman
ybe, but even if you could, you wouldn't last long. In his book Becoming Batman: The Possibility of a Superhero, E. Paul Zehr discusses what it would take to become the caped crusader as well as the practical limitations inherent in being a superhero without superpowers. He was interviewed about it in Scientific American: Keeping in mind that being Batman means never losing: If you look at consecutive events where professional fighters have to defend their titles—Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Ultimate…
1 min read
Is it really “the booze talking”?
a nytimes.com In a series of studies in the 1970s and ’80s, psychologists at the University of Washington put more than 300 students into a study room outfitted like a bar with mirrors, music and a stretch of polished pine. The researchers served alcoholic drinks, most often icy vodka tonics, to some of the students and nonalcoholic ones, usually icy tonic water, to others. The drinks looked and tasted the same, and the students typically drank five in an hour…
1 min read
This Is How Accurate Snap First Impressions Are
a eurekalert.org: First impressions do matter when it comes to communicating personality through appearance, according to new research by psychologists Laura Naumann of Sonoma State University and Sam Gosling of The University of Texas at Austin. Despite the crucial role of physical appearance in creating first impressions, until now little research has examined the accuracy of personality impressions based on appearance alone. These findings will be published in the December 2009 issue of Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, co-written with…
3 minutes
What are the best places in the U.S. to lose your wallet?
a gallup.com Utah and South Dakota residents are the most likely to express trust in their neighbors, with 85% in these states saying they would expect a neighbor who found a lost wallet or purse containing $200 to return it. Residents of Nevada and Mississippi are the least likely to express such trust, at 60% and 61%, respectively. In all states, a majority of residents would expect a lost purse or wallet to be returned. And: Trust in one's neighbors is…
1 min read
Do nice doctors heal you faster?
a scientificamerican.com Empathy Heals: Patients whose doctors show concern recover from colds faster It feels good when someone pays attention to our concerns and our feelings—and it turns out such empathy is good for our health, too. Researchers at the University Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health report in Family Medicine that patients of doctors who expressed such concern had a cold for one day fewer than patients whose physicians focused on just the facts. In randomized controlled trials…
1 min read
