Psychology News Round-Up (March 14th)
By Dave Nussbaum
Photo courtesy littlelostrobot
David Pizarro (@peez) gives a talk at the Edge conference about how people misapply social and moral intuitions to objects that don’t have intentions. Some insightful follow-up questions from Daniel Kahneman, Sendhil Mullainathan, and Josh Knobe.
“…we see intentionality in agency where there is none at all. So we’re quick to think that even a machine—a vending machine that doesn’t deliver, that doesn’t dispense what I order is angering me—and in some way I am making a judgment of moral blame, when, in fact, there is absolutely no intentionality there.”
- NPR’s Shankar Vedantam (@hiddenbrain) reports on a new twist on the foot-in-the-door effect, using an unusual first request to secure later compliance. Participants who were first approached with an unusual request — will you time my shoes? — were then more likely to be helpful later on.
- Mark Brandt (@MBrandt05) writes that being rational and emotional are not (necessarily) contradictions, and that to understand people’s political behavior we have to understand their goals.
“rationality should be considered anything that is in the service of helping people pursue their goals. And so it is rational for people to support any policy that furthers their goals – whatever those goals may be.”
- Another in a series of strong posts from Simine Vazire (@siminevazire) in her rookie month of blogging draws inspiration from physicist Richard Feynman. Here are her closing thoughts:
if you cannot be happy without knowing, then i don’t think you’re cut out for science. some people need to know. that is fine. but those people should not become scientists, and especially not social scientists. predicting human behavior is not for the faint of heart. you must be prepared to be wrong, and wrong again, and again, and again. richard feynman seems to have been an extremely happy man. knowledge is not necessary for happiness.
- Brent Roberts (@BrentWRoberts) uses a Harry Potter metaphor to thoughtfully explain the challenges ahead for reform in psychology in The Deathly Hallows of Psychological Science.
Tweets
How to crush writer's block -- advice from a couple of psychologists. http://t.co/vlqhcb2CXy - by @abmarkman (on a roll!) @2GoYH
— Amy Cuddy (@amyjccuddy) March 14, 2014
I offer a few thoughts about psychology & happiness in a new interview with @TheAtlantic http://t.co/DXTakHsdch
— Daniel Gilbert (@DanTGilbert) March 11, 2014
I'm Using the New Statistics http://t.co/3Ir7Ih4RW6
— Michael W. Kraus (@mwkraus) March 14, 2014
"If a person refuses to take "no" for an answer, don't give up." @profbohns' advice in the @WSJ http://t.co/qcUFDYFRtM
— Dave Nussbaum (@davenuss79) March 11, 2014
What Can Crows and Ravens Teach People About Resisting Temptation? @jgold85 on fine form in his new io9 role http://t.co/vGfNtqXAVf
— Ed Yong (@edyong209) March 13, 2014
Important research by @DrPhilGoff on bias in perceived innocence & age of Black vs. White boys. http://t.co/zeYSY1BKEy #socialpsy @SPSPnews
— Jennifer Richeson (@jaricheson) March 14, 2014
My research featured in Atlantic: The Agony of Perfectionism http://t.co/RJuy5gmkiL
— Neal Roese (@nroese) March 11, 2014
Today SCIENCE magazine published our Letter: Obscuring Gender Bias with "Choice" » http://t.co/ieSKGegMr2
— Alana Conner (@alacon) March 14, 2014
new blog post: strong opinions about data sharing mandates, mine included http://t.co/YJOaSQ5AN4
— Tal Yarkoni (@talyarkoni) March 12, 2014
Science writer Jason Goldman (@jgold85) offers advice for sharing psychological science online http://t.co/MvwkwVUpJZ #socialnetworking
— APS (@PsychScience) March 11, 2014
A history of the social priming controversy: an intro to our series on SP and reproducibility @ the #openscience blog http://t.co/w89J0UYy8s
— OSC Bloggers (@oscbloggers) March 12, 2014
My 8 favorite ways to say no without hurting your image: http://t.co/AYr7FK9oRq
— Adam Grant (@AdamMGrant) March 11, 2014
5 Ways to Make Smarter Financial Decisions: (US News) Include a "fun" category in your budget, and your money ... http://t.co/lTM9dOSuLj
— New Paths to Purpose (@PathsToPurpose) March 12, 2014
Good read on the psychology of acting plus an argument for serious study. What do you think? http://t.co/45aQ6i8BKF #psychology #personality
— SPSP (@SPSPnews) March 11, 2014
"using money to motivate people can be a double-edged sword" @danariely on when $$ incentives undermine performance http://t.co/2UPa9O7Tcv
— Very Bad Wizards (@verybadwizards) March 12, 2014
A fascinating (and effective) twist on "foot-in-the-door" persuasion techniques: starting with quirky requests http://t.co/B2G5NpF5eY
— ideas42 (@ideas42) March 11, 2014
Dreams of Glory: How fantasies shape your future http://t.co/RUegcR6YYt @PsychToday
— Scott Barry Kaufman (@sbkaufman) March 15, 2014
