Psychology

The psychological principle every parent has already discovered

Some of the most powerful observations in science, the ones that grand theories are built on, are the ones that cause people to say, “I could have told you that!” The Premack Principle is undoubtedly one of these observations. It’s a simple idea that’s been used forever, but was only spelled out in the 1950s.…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

Latest science shows that size really does matter to women

A new study by Australian researchers shows that well-endowed guys are more attractive to women — but only to a point. Like other physical characteristics, male genitalia are subject to sexual selection. And in fact, penises have been known to evolve quickly, owing to strong selectional preferences at play. And indeed, human males are not…

io9 George Dvorsky

Why Have We Stopped Seeing UFOs in the Skies?

One late evening in the early summer of 1981, lying sleepless in my student bedsit at the top of a house in Manchester, I became aware of a pattern of bright flashing lights on the wall. All I could see through the curtainless window on the opposite side of the room was a strip of…

Tech News Stuart Walton - Aeon Magazine

Curse Me Like You Mean It: Using Psychology to Make Your Curses Actually Work

Perhaps you have been crossed by a friend or loved one. Perhaps you’ve burned to see justice dealt out to the wicked. Perhaps you’ve just decided to start a small business in cursing people and you’re having trouble getting off the ground. Don’t worry. We’re here for you. And we’re going to show you how…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

The psychological test that Darwin first invented

An idle idea of Darwin’s has turned, over the years, into a rather controversial psychological test. A seemingly random list of animals “pass” this test, but some recent results call into question what a passing result means. And it’s all what what you see when you look in a mirror. If you pass a mirror…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

Can Music Be More Effective Than Drugs?

According to a new analysis of 400 published scientific papers, the old adage that “music is medicine” may literally be true. Canadian psychologists from McGill University have shown that the neurochemical benefits of music can boost the body’s immune system, reduce anxiety, and help regulate mood. The time has come, say the researchers, for doctors…

io9 George Dvorsky

Was a famous patient who believed he lived on other planets actually novelist Cordwainer Smith?

Psychologist Robert Lindner’s 1955 book The Fifty-Minute Hour details the case of a man who believed he was “living part of the time in another world—on another planet.” And many people now believe this famous case study was actually Norstrilia author Paul Linebarger, aka Cordwainer Smith. Over at The Alantic, there’s a fascinating rundown of…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

Are men who pay for sex normal, or just weird?

Paying for sex has long been characterized as an inevitable behavior among men, but newly published research suggests it’s far less common than recent media attention would suggest. This raises interesting questions relating to sexuality and deviance in men who do solicit prostitutes. Are these men “normal”? Is there anything that sets them apart from…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Autistic children are 28 times more likely to be suicidal

A recent study conducted by Penn State researchers has revealed that children with autism are significantly more prone to suicidal thoughts and attempts than typical children. The question now is, why? For the study, researchers looked at the frequency of suicide ideation and attempts in over 1,000 children ranging in age from 1 to 16.…

io9 George Dvorsky

Are you unhappy and a poet? You may be suffering from the Sylvia Plath Effect

Sylvia Plath was an iconic American poet who had a very unhappy life. Hence the same of this condition, which describes the association between female poets and mental illness. Sylvia Plath was, without doubt, a gifted artist, but she didn’t attain iconic status until her much-publicized suicide at the age of thirty. Ariel, her posthumously-published…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

Having trouble focusing? Try chewing gum.

The longer the task, the more difficult it is to avoid drifting off. But as a new study from the University of Cardiff has shown, people who chew gum have an enhanced ability to concentrate over extended periods of time, along with the added benefit of quicker reaction times. Chewing gum has been much maligned…

io9 George Dvorsky

Read Timothy Leary’s brain-melting comic about space migration and the future of human consciousness

In his 1977 book Exo-Psychology, psychologist and psychedelic drug advocate Timothy Leary revealed his eight-circuit model of consciousness, his theory about the workings of the human mind and the future neurological “circuits” that humanity might someday access and utilize in our travels beyond Earth. In 1979, the theory was adapted into Neurocomics, a trippy comic…

Books & Comics Lauren Davis

This optical illusion will smash every last one of your heebie-jeebie buttons

Swedish artist Sandra “psychosandra” Holmbom pulls off some pretty remarkable optical illusions with makeup, but holy crap does this one take the cake — with an eldritch emphasis on “optical.” This right here is registering at Pale Man levels of weird. If you need us, we’ll be over here drowning ourselves in eye-bleach. [Sandra Holbom…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

If you can make it through this video without yawning, you’re probably a wizard

We’re really loving this yawn compilation exercise in sympathetic yawn repression. It’s a video by filmmaker Daniel Mercadante (titled “Yawns,” naturally). Assembled from clips of the best yawn footage the internet has to offer, it may be the most definitive proof ever that yawns are contagious. Seriously — we defy you to sit through this…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

How do you get someone to lose interest in their hobby? Pay them to do it

Think a little money would make you more interested in your hobbies? Think again. The overjustification effect says that paying someone for a task they enjoy is a sure way to get them to drop it. All it takes is a little money and a little planning to ruin anyone’s pleasures. One of the time-honored…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

How to Fall Out of Love With Somebody

Love is supposed to be this ultra-great emotion that leads to throbbing feelings of happiness, moments of unforgettable togetherness, and maybe flowers and jewelry, too. Unfortunately, the reality is that love often sucks. You fall in love with people who don’t love you back, you get rejected by your idealized romantic partner, or you find…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Alfred Hitchcock is haunting the River Charles

You’re looking at a photograph of the frozen Charles River, taken this morning at 9:35 local time from the Mass Ave bridge connecting Cambridge to Boston. Call us crazy, but we couldn’t help but notice the profile of a certain Master of Suspense taking shape in the cracks between the river’s ice floes. What say…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you jump too?

As XKCD’s Randall Munroe recently pointed out, it’s a question worth considering. Psychologists and sociologists agree with him. Here’s why. When we hear about the psychology of crowds, it’s often in an unsavory context. “Group-Think Makes Killers,” reads the title of this article by social psychologist Bernd Simon, who cites the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Radiologists fail miserably on the “Invisible Gorilla Test” when screening for cancer

Notice anything weird about this lung scan? If you look carefully you’ll notice there’s A FREAKIN’ GORILLA SHAKING HIS FIST in the top right-hand corner! The scan is a play on the famous invisible gorilla experiment, where the most blatantly obvious of things — including those in plain sight — are simply ignored when our…

io9 George Dvorsky

83 Percent of Radiologists Didn’t Spot the Gorilla Hiding in This CT Scan

You’ve almost certainly seen the dancing gorilla video which demonstrates the theory of change blindness—a phenomenon which means we don’t see changes we’re not expecting. Now, an updated experiment shows that the same may be true of radiologists analyzing CT images. A team of psychological scientists from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston wanted to…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe

The psychological principle every parent has already discovered

Latest science shows that size really does matter to women

Why Have We Stopped Seeing UFOs in the Skies?

Curse Me Like You Mean It: Using Psychology to Make Your Curses Actually Work

The psychological test that Darwin first invented

Can Music Be More Effective Than Drugs?

Was a famous patient who believed he lived on other planets actually novelist Cordwainer Smith?

Are men who pay for sex normal, or just weird?

Autistic children are 28 times more likely to be suicidal

Are you unhappy and a poet? You may be suffering from the Sylvia Plath Effect

Having trouble focusing? Try chewing gum.

Read Timothy Leary’s brain-melting comic about space migration and the future of human consciousness

This optical illusion will smash every last one of your heebie-jeebie buttons

If you can make it through this video without yawning, you’re probably a wizard

How do you get someone to lose interest in their hobby? Pay them to do it

How to Fall Out of Love With Somebody

Alfred Hitchcock is haunting the River Charles

If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you jump too?

Radiologists fail miserably on the “Invisible Gorilla Test” when screening for cancer

83 Percent of Radiologists Didn’t Spot the Gorilla Hiding in This CT Scan

NASA Rover Finds Glowing, Ruby-Like Crystals on Mars for the First Time

Anker Prime Docking Station Hits Its Lowest Price as Amazon’s Spring Sale Winds Down (14 Ports With 160W Output)

Google TV Streamer 4K Drops to an All-Time Low, Final Hours in Amazon Spring Sale to Turn Any TV Smart on a Budget

The New ‘Masters of the Universe’ Trailer Brings Eternia to Life

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

UGREEN Bluetooth Tracker 4-Pack Now Just $7 Each With iOS and Android Support, While AirTag Stays at Full Price

Trump Posts Concept Art of His Presidential Library, and It’s AI Slop

Forget Tower Desktop, GMKtec Mini PC Drops to a Record Low as Amazon Clears Out Final Spring Sale Stock

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

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