Psychology

Kids Trust Written Words More Than Spoken Ones

Learning to read seems to make information conveyed in written form seem more authoritative

When People Are Stressed Financially, Their Racial Biases Escalate

White study participants view biracial faces as "more black" when times are tough

Daughters Who See Their Dad Doing Chores Aspire to Less Stereotypically Female Careers

Seeing a man do the household chores seems to reassure girls that it's no longer 1950

Too Many Classroom Decorations Can Distract Young Students

Elementary students perform better when walls are left relatively bare

Ordinary People Respond More Strongly to "Global Warming" Than to "Climate Change"

Americans respond differently to the same scientific concept depending on the terminology being used

What Discrimination Actually Looks Like: We Give Preferential Treatment to People Like Us

Discrimination isn't just about exclusion

When We're Threatened, We Try to Show What Good People We Are

Outside observers, however, tend to see through flimsy claims of innocence

In an Emergency, We Act Like Ants

Like many animals, we tend to clump together when danger presents itself

Hurricanes Katrina And Rita Caused At Least 117 Uncounted Deaths, of Stillborn Babies

Higher rates of stillbirths overlapped with the most devastated areas in the aftermath of those 2005 natural disasters

This City in California Voted in Favor of Making Bullying a Crime

Bullying can seriously harm kids, for years. But should it really be punished by law?

Society Doesn’t Quite Know What to Make of Professional Snugglers

One snuggling operation in Wisconsin recently shut down when authorities thought it was a front for a brothel

For 100 Years, Female Students Have Gotten Better Grades in Every Subject

Yes, that includes math and science

Computers Can Tell If You're Really in Pain—Even Better Than People Can

As computers become better at reading people's expressions, their potential as lie detectors and diagnostic aids increases

Facebook Users Most Often Unfriend People They Knew From High School

And how does that make the victim of the unfriending feel? Surprised, usually

Phoenix glows even after 10 p.m. one April night in this image made with a camera sensitive to infrared light, which is generated by heat and invisible to the naked eye. Researchers call the city an “urban heat island.”

The Reality of a Hotter World is Already Here

As global warming makes sizzling temperatures more common, will human beings be able to keep their cool? New research suggests not

An Iraq war veteran with PTSD has trouble with motivation.

Will Scientists Soon be Able to Erase Our Most Traumatic Memories?

PTSD treatments could soon extend beyond therapy

Scientists Confirm That Cats a) Are Pretty Smart, b) Don't Really Care What You Want

Cats' impressive individuality makes it hard to study their smarts

Sound Experts Want to Record One Full Day of Human Noise From All Over the Earth

The project could help scientists better understand the human soundscape and quantify how it changes over time

We Might Hit Our Cognitive Peak Before 24

As we age beyond about 24, we become mentally slower and slower

Online Food Reviews Say As Much About the Author As the Restaurant

These brief write-ups are surprisingly personal

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