Would babies benefit if their families received extra cash every month? Photo: Cavan Images/Alamy Stock Photo When psychologists and sociologists take a big-picture view of early childhood development, they almost always notice a correlation between income and child behavior. Specifically, children being raised in poverty tend to perform worse than higher-income children on language development, …
Continue reading Does extra cash help low-income babies’ development?
The study correlated cuddling style with stress and attachment. Photo: LightField Studios/Shutterstock If you share a bed with your sweetheart, you might be interested in this example of correlational research summarized by PsyPost. Their headline reads, "Study finds couples who cuddle at bedtime feel more secure and less stressed." Here are some introductory statements: Study …
The study used a cross-lag panel design to establish temporal precedence. Photo: Roman Samborskyi/Shutterstock People who are socially anxious are often lonely, too. But which comes first? Loneliness is a perceived lack of social connection. Loneliness arises when there is a mismatch between the social relationships a person desires and those they actually have. It …
Continue reading Social anxiety and loneliness over time (cross-lag design)
This is a joint blog post by two W.W. Norton & Co. authors (and pals): Beth Morling and Jess Hartnett. We first “met” through our blogs and social media years ago (Beth's blog on teaching RM, which you are reading now, and Jess's blog on teaching stats, notawfulandboring, here). Our friendship love language is DMing each …
Continue reading Repairing past research injustices (a joint post with Jess Hartnett!)
The study found that people who use their smartphone on the toilet are more likely to have hemorrhoids. How strong is their evidence? Photo: Svitlana Hulko/Shutterstock Is there any relationship between using your smartphone on the toilet and your hemorrhoid risk? Let's get into it. A study on this topic did find an association. …
Continue reading Claim: Using smartphones on the toilet increases hemorrhoid risk
Many public health officials raise ethical concerns about requiring placebocontrolled tests of slight revisions to existing vaccines. Photo: PeopleImages.com - Yuri A/Shutterstock Placebo effects have been in the news lately because the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), Robert F. Kennedy Jr., announced a new policy requiring placebo controlled studies for vaccines before …
Continue reading Placebo controls: When are they necessary? When are they ethical?
Survey, observational, and qualitative research can all support carmakers' decisions about how to design a dashboard. Photo: insta_photos/Shutterstock Here's a story about automobile dashboards! After leaning in to designing cars with touchscreen dashboard controls, automakers seem to be heading back to basic buttons. This summary, from the website PopSci.com, discusses the variety of research that …
Continue reading Touchscreens, buttons, and dials: What’s best for drivers?
Were all the variables in this study measured? Were any manipulated? Photo: Caftor/Shutterstock Psychology Today columnist Sebastian Ocklenburg summarized a recent study under the headline, The Dark Side of Emojis: A Surprising Link to Narcissism. Let's take a look. It's a recent correlational study that tested the link between various personality traits and emoji use. …
The article reported three evidence-based techniques for changing people's minds. Photo: Caftor/Shutterstock In our era of extreme political polarization, people's attitudes seem entrenched. However, a new BBC article proposes some ideas for changing others' minds, under the headline "The Simple Trick to Change Other People's Minds." The author's essay focuses on three simple tricks. One …
Although optimism feels good, it's more effective to also anticipate what might go wrong. Photo: Jacob Lund/Shutterstock This article, entitled "the problem with optimism," discusses one of my favorite theories of psychological motivation and goal pursuit--Gabrielle Oettingen's theory of "mental contrasting with implementation intentions" (or MCII). (The popular press article might be paywalled, so try …