Psychology

Almost everyone who has had an arm or leg amputated experiences a phantom limb, a vivid sensation that the missing limb is still present, like having an itch. Neuroscientists at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have shown that it isn't just for amputees - the sensation of having a physical body is not as self-evident as we might think and have evoked the illusion of having a phantom hand in non-amputated individuals. In their Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience article the researchers describe a perceptual illusion in which healthy volunteers experience having an invisible hand. The…

I recently watched a program on the Science Channel entitled "Human Nature: Born to Kill".  In this episode, part of the objective was to explore humans killing other humans.  Of course, the usual array of topics were raised, from evolutionary psychology to genes [i.e. the "warrior gene"] and even the "nature vs nurture debate". However, there were a few points that I felt were muddled and confused. In the first place, it is important to distinguish general human violence from the specific case of human violence against other humans.  There is little doubt that most animals…

"Organic" food and products is a $29 billion big business and its marketing power is very strong: studies have shown that this simple label can lead us to think that a food is healthier, what is known as the 'health halo effect'.  Marketing attempts to penalize conventional food would also capitalize on that bias, making genetically modified food seem less healthy.   A new paper by Cornell University's Food and Brand Lab out to to determine if an organic label can influence much more than health views: they found hat perceptions of taste, calories and value can be significantly…

I recently came across some articles, again, that were focusing on human adaptive behaviors regarding our concept of beauty and attractiveness.  All manner of considerations are mentioned from facial symmetry to female hip-to-waist ratios, etc. However, I would argue that these are precisely the wrong questions to be asking.   There is no doubt that humans have a certain concept of what is considered beautiful, but it is hardly adaptive.  In fact, one would be hard pressed to claim that it is much more than an abstraction.  Anyone spending more than a few minutes in public…

A new psychology paper evolution and basic survival techniques adapted by early humans influence the decisions gamblers make when placing bets.  So if current counseling options for problem gamblers don't work, we can blame biology. The scholars examined how gamblers made decision after they won or lost. They found that  gamblers relied on their past experiences to predict what might happen in the future. But in games of chance where the outcome is completely random, this strategy doesn't work. "If you are tossing a coin and it turns up heads five times in a row, we have this strong…

Familiarity with the unknown, even the scary unknown, reduces anxiety about everyday life, according to surveys of over 800 children ages 8 to 17 conducted by the  Mayo Clinic Department of Psychiatry and Psychology. The scholars developed two eight-question surveys: the Children's Avoidance Measure Parent Report and the Children's Avoidance Measure Self Report. The questionnaires ask details about children's avoidance tendencies, for instance, in addressing parents, "When your child is scared or worried about something, does he or she ask to do it later?" It also asks children to…

Video games can be difficult, even frustrating at the harder levels. That is part of their appeal. It turns out that frustrated people are attracted to video games also. The temptation to steal or cheat is greater if the risk of being caught is low and a new psychology paper suggests that denying people the opportunity to engage in these taboo behaviors may lead them to seek out violent video games as a way of managing their frustration. Yes, says the article in Psychological Science, thwarting cheats and criminals drives them to video games as a cathartic outlet. The psychologists want…

Everyday, we hear about tragedies, some that hit too close to home for comfort, and our reactions range from "That just shouldn't happen!" to the belief that when it does happen, it must be someone's fault. If we can blame someone, then we can reassure ourselves we can protect ourselves from that situation ever happening to us. When we do this, though, like our nation collectively holding Adam Lanza's mother to blame for his mass killing, we can pat ourselves on the back, feel good about ourselves, certain our parenting skills are so much better that we'll never be in that place. In the…

The presence of an animal can significantly increase positive social behaviors in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), according to a new paper. The authors compared how 5-13 year old children with ASD interacted with adults and typically-developing peers in the presence of two guinea pigs compared to toys. They found that in the presence of animals, children with ASD demonstrated more social behaviors like talking, looking at faces and making physical contact. They were also more receptive to social advances from their peers in the presence of the animals than they were when…

Trust fools you into remembering that your partner was more considerate and less hurtful than they actually were, say psychologists who examined the role of trust in biasing memories of transgressions in romantic partnerships.  People who are highly trusting tended to remember transgressions in a way that benefits the relationship, remembering partner transgressions as less severe than they originally reported them to be. People low on trust demonstrated the opposite pattern, remembering partner transgressions as being more severe than how they originally reported them to be, they…