Does pairing this cute puppy with a photo of your partner help improve your relationship?Photo credit: Matanya/Wikimedia Commons Professor James McNulty, a social psychologist who studies relationships, was asked by the Department of Defense to develop an intervention to help couples cope with the separation of a deployment. How can couples stay close when their partner …
Category: Chapter 11; More on Experiments
Anxiously waiting? Tetris might help
Which version of Tetris helped the most? Photo: incamerastock / Alamy Stock Photo NPR's journalists covered a study that tested whether different forms of Tetris would help people feel less anxious. The journalist writes that ...research suggests that Tetris can ease us through periods of anxiety by getting us to a blissfully engrossed mental …
Claim: Standing up at your desk could make you smarter
I have a standing desk in my office. Am I getting smarter as a result? An editorial summarizes some of the evidence. I'm standing at my desk as I compose this post....could that make my writing go better? Yes, according to an editorial entitled, "Standing up at your desk could make you smarter." The editorial …
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Do broader faces signal antisocial traits?
Do people with wider faces (left) show more antisocial tendencies than those with narrow faces (right)? Photo: istockphoto According to several previous studies in psychological science, men with wider faces--a greater ratio of width to height (like in the photo on the left, compared to the right)--tend to show antisocial tendencies such as racial …
Why strive for large samples?
When the general public critiques research, I often hear them say that the samples are "too small." It's true that sample sizes (N) in psychology research should be large. One of the outcomes of the so-called "replication crisis" is that large samples are more and more important in psychology. But why? A common misconception--held by …
TOMS shoes investigates its aid-in-kind program
How does TOMS' aid-in-kind program impact communities? Photo Credit: Jackie Ellis / Alamy Stock Photo" If you have purchased a pair of TOMS shoes, you may remember a tag promising that with each pair purchased, TOMS will donate a pair to a child who needs them. This kind of charity is called "aid-in-kind." Does this kind of aid …
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Just in time for finals: Beware of distractions
Responding to texts while you are working can cause work quality to suffer. Photo credit: Amble Design/Shutterstock Do you study and write with your phone buzzing away nearby? Do you work in a location where roommates and friends can stop by to chat? Have you ever wondered what the impact of such distractions might be …
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Getting teens to eat healthier
Which snack do the big food companies want you to pick? Photo: Shutterstock Like everyone, teenagers need nutritious food to stay healthy. Most American teens probably consume too much soda, chips, and other junk food. But have you ever tried convincing a teen to eat better? Perhaps you remember back to your high school health classes: You may …
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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Kids learn through play
Do you think this was the kind of kindergarten play the authors had in mind? Photo: gmutlu/ iStockphoto Kindergarten is in the news. Specifically, teachers, parents, and school administrators are discussing how much time kids should spend in kindergarten just playing. This story tells how some schools are re-introducing water and sand tables into their …