The popular view that music enhances creativity has been challenged by researchers who say it has the opposite effect. Psychologists from the University of Central Lancashire, University of Gävle in Sweden and Lancaster University investigated the impact of background musicon performance by presenting people with verbal insight problems that are believed to tap creativity. They found that background music “significantly impaired” …
Many of the world’s most charismatic animal species — those that attract the largest interest and deepest empathy from the public — are at high risk of extinction in part because many people believe their iconic stature guarantees their survival. A new international study published today in PLOS Biology suggests that the popularity of tigers, …
Living abroad can clarify your sense of self, according to new research by a team of social scientists at Rice University, Columbia University and the University of North Carolina. They found living abroad increases “self-concept clarity,” the extent to which individuals’ beliefs about themselves are clearly and confidently defined and consistent and stable over time. …
New research has revealed how people’s intelligence, rather than their personality traits, leads to success. Researchers at the Universities of Bristol, Minnesota and Heidelberg devised a series of games to find out which factors lead to cooperative behaviour when people interact in social and workplace situations. Their findings, due to be published in the Journal of Political Economy, showed that …
More than 500 genes linked to intelligence have been identified in the largest study of its kind. Scientists compared variation in DNA in more than 240,000 people from around the world, to discover which genes are associated with intelligence. Researchers identified 538 genes that play a role in intellectual ability. They also found 187 regions …
Psychopaths exhibit callous disregard for the welfare of others, suggesting an inability to understand the perspective of people around them. Yet they can also be extremely charming and manipulative, seemingly indicating an awareness of the thoughts of others. This paradox has perplexed researchers, clinicians, legal authorities, and the lay public. A new Yale study shows …
A new study published today suggests that how empathic we are is not just a result of our upbringing and experience but also partly a result of our genes. Empathy has two parts: the ability to recognize another person’s thoughts and feelings, and the ability to respond with an appropriate emotion to someone else’s thoughts …
In a new study in Nature Neuroscience, Jaideep Bains, PhD, and his team at the Cumming School of Medicine’s Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI), at the University of Calgary have discovered that stress transmitted from others can change the brain in the same way as a real stress does. The study, in mice, also shows that the …
Easy as 1, 2, 3! Such claims have touted the ease of use of a new gadget, although a closer look would reveal that it would take dozens of steps to make it work. Just ask School of Psychology Professor Richard Catrambone. In his research, Catrambone often undertakes a task analysis. It involves recording in excruciating …
When you look at the two images below, what do you see? Maybe you see two ducks, sitting side by side. Perhaps instead you see two rabbits. Maybe you see a duck and a rabbit. Now look at the image, and imagine a duck eating a rabbit. Can you see it now? You’re not the only one …
