The researchers asked students if this element probably linked to real news or fake news.What's the clue that tells you this story is probably not "real news"? Fake news is in the (real) news lately. Whether you're looking at Facebook, Buzzfeed, or your online newspaper, companies may try to clickbait you into reading a story that's …
Category: Chapter 01; Psychology Is a Way of Thinking
Want to get smarter? Brain games won’t help….
Playing checkers won't make you smarter in general, but it will make you smarter at checkers! Photo: Shutterstock / Jaren Jai Wicklun A variety of research methods concepts are illustrated in this NPR story, Brain Games Fail a Big Scientific Test. Let's go through the journalist's story, connecting the material to course concepts. The article starts with the …
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Evidence-based parenting interventions
ABC is an evidence-based parent-training program. Why are evidence-based interventions important? Photo: Shutterstock Here's a story about how a New York City-based organization called Power of Two is using empirical evidence to help children and families. The story begins by explaining how difficult it can be for families to handle the stresses of living in poverty. …
How fast do people talk? Depends on where you live….
How fast do people talk? How wordy are they? Do they swear a lot? Photo credit: Eugenio Marongiu/Shutterstock There's a new piece in the Atlantic summarizing some research on phone calls. The journalist's piece is tantalizing, but it doesn't provide some of the information you need to evaluate the research behind it. According to the …
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Do Animals Mourn?
This Scientific American preview piece describes the research of an anthropologist who argues that some species of animals can experience a human emotion: Grieving. The scientist, Barbara King, paid special attention to how she defined grieving in animals. Read the conditions she describes: “researchers may strongly suspect grief only when certain conditions are met: First, …
What if you meet your spouse online?
There's lots to work with in this Washington Post story, which reports on a study that polled married people about how they met their spouses. According to the Post, the study contacted about 200,000 people via email, and about 20,000 of them responded to complete the online survey. There seem to be two main results …
What is an evidence-based treatment? Why should you use one?
My textbook (and this blog) helps teach readers to become systematic, critical consumers of the information they find in the press and in journal articles. But a recent article on therapies for PTSD calls attention to another important realm: being a consumer of psychotherapies. What do I mean by this? For one, if you plan …
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Do magazine personality tests tell us anything?
Have you ever seen those magazine articles entitled, "What does your _____ say about you?" Magazines like to make us think we can use people's pets, music preferences, Saturday wardrobe, or cars as secret keys to making personality judgments about them. Is that really possible? Here's an example of this kind of article, from Men's Health, claiming to …
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When do people cheat?
[Ahem....some of Arieli's data from studies on honesty has come under suspicion for being faked. And one of the studies here, on the Ten Commandments, has not replicated. You can read about this here] Dan Arieli, a behavioral economist at Duke University, has publshed a book for popular audiences called, The (Honest) Truth about Dishonesty. …
Can ties with teachers prevent drug abuse in kids?
Some adolescents experiment early with alcohol and drugs, a behavior that puts them at later risk for substance abuse and other health problems. A recent study looked at this risky behavior. Journalistic coverage by a Yahoo! news reporter started with this encouraging headline: Caring Teachers May Help Keep Kids From Trying Alcohol, Drugs The full …
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