Psychology

Why People Vote Strategically When Their Candidate Can't Win

Strategic voting is an important factor in Canadian electoral campaigns. "People vote strategically when they think neither their first nor their second choice has any chance of winning in their electorate. They vote for their third choice party in t ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 7 2015 - 11:09am

Language About Climate Change Differs Between Proponents And Skeptics

Proponents of climate change tend to use more conservative, tentative language to report on the science behind it, while skeptics use more emotional and assertive language when reinterpreting scientific studies, says research from the University of Waterl ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 6 2015 - 11:10am

'Greenwashing' Perception Sullies Eco-Friendly Reputation

If you have walked into a hotel room in Hawaii where you are paying $400 a night and been met with a card telling you they aren't going to give you towels and sheets because they are "conserving' water, and you snorted derisively, you would ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 4 2015 - 1:42pm

Coincidence Or Conspiracy? Investigating If Believers Really See So Much Secret Design

In pop culture, conspiracy believers like FBI agent Fox Mulder on The X Files or professor Robert Langdon in The Da Vinci Code tend to reject the notion of coincidence or chance; even the most random-seeming events are thought to result from some sort of ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 8 2015 - 6:30am

Brain Response To Good News For Others Linked To Empathy

The way our brain responds to others' good fortune is linked to how empathetic people report themselves to be, according to a paper in the Journal of Neuroscience which suggests that a part of the brain called the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) seem ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 9 2015 - 6:30am

How To Reduce Transgender Suicides

The likelihood of a transgender person attempting suicide is very high and a new study examined factors that may prevent them. Its conclusions also inform medical and mental health professionals who work with transgender clients.  For a survey of "su ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 16 2015 - 9:30am

When It Comes To Prosthetics, Those Who Can Do, Teach

New research suggests that upper limb amputees, who typically struggle to learn how to use a new prosthesis, would be more successful if fellow amputees taught them. Most usually learn by watching a non-amputee demonstrate the device during physical thera ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 10 2015 - 3:46pm

Teens Value Results Of Genetic Tests And How They Inform Future Life Decisions

The majority of adolescents in grades 7-12 would prefer to know the results of unanticipated findings found in whole exome sequencing genetic testing, even if the findings are not medically actionable until adulthood, according to survey data presented at ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 10 2015 - 11:52am

Climate Debate Needs More Psychology

By Joel Shurkin, Inside Science-- The notion that Earth’s climate is changing—and that the threat to the world is serious—goes back to the 1980s, when a consensus began to form among climate scientists as temperatures began to rise noticeably. Thirty year ...

Article - Joel Shurkin - Oct 12 2015 - 9:42am

Psychologists Claim To Reduce Belief In God And Distrust Of Immigrants Using Magnetism

Psychologists writing in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience claim that both belief in God and prejudice towards immigrants can be reduced by directing magnetic energy into the brain. The team used transcranial magnetic stimulation, a way of tempo ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 14 2015 - 7:33am