Psychology

The 2012 Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony Grows Nigh!

Don’t know what the Ig Nobels are? Read our coverage from last year’s ceremony. If you can’t be bothered to read it, you suck. https://gizmodo.com/and-now-the-winners-of-the-2011-ig-nobel-prizes-5845543 But here’s the distilled version: Every year, the Ig Nobels recognize science that first makes you laugh and then makes you think. It is unlike any awards ceremony you have…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Television really does make you less lonely, say scientists

It turns out that TV really does help lonely people feel like they’ve been socializing with friends. Recently psychologists have hit upon the idea of “social surrogacy” to explain how television can serve the same role as friends or family. In a study, psychologists noticed that people are more likely to watch favorite TV shows…

Television Esther Inglis-Arkell

Sexually aroused women find everything less disgusting

Let’s face it: Sex can be kinda gross. With all those body odors and fluids being traded back and forth, it’s no small miracle that humans voluntarily choose to copulate at all. But as scientists from the Netherlands have recently pointed out, our willingness to engage in sexual acts despite the yuck factor may be…

io9 George Dvorsky

The Halo Effect: Why You Won’t Believe Your Heroes Have Flaws

Why are you constantly being taken in by saviors, leaders and friends who seem like they can do no wrong — until they let you down? Blame the Halo Effect. Turns out that once you’ve given someone a halo in one area, it’s almost impossible to fit him or her for a pair of horns…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

Placebo effect can be triggered by subliminal cues

Could a placebo work even if you’re not consciously aware of it? Scientists have always believed that placebo effects rely on your conscious expectations of what a pill or therapy is supposed to accomplish. But a new study suggests that your unconscious mind can play a key role in triggering a placebo effect. Could your…

io9 George Dvorsky

The most successful presidents could be the ones who exhibit psychopath-like traits

Everybody’s been rethinking psychopaths lately. Instead of thinking of psychopathy as a highly problematic and socially dangerous personality disorder, psychologists are increasingly coming to see it as an extremely complex set of characteristics that play an important role in human diversity and experience. And in fact, as a recent study from Emory University suggests, psychopathic…

io9 George Dvorsky

Science says underpaid people enjoy their jobs more!

Why don’t doomsday cults break up when their apocalyptic predictions fail to come true? After all of that suffering and inconvenience, people want to make the best of a situation. And this same phenomenon will allow you to treat people like crap, and pay them a pittance — and they’ll thank you. We’ve all heard…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

Watch babies face the same test of courage as Indiana Jones!

Remember that scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade when, to get the Holy Grail, Indy has to step into a chasm as a leap of faith? Multiple scientists have done similar things to babies. Why would you do such a thing to a helpless baby? And does the baby get a magical cup…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

The psychological syndrome that causes you to speak with a fake foreign accent

Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS) is one of those rare psychological disorders whose name literally describes the disease. People with FAS suddenly start speaking with foreign accents. Why? And how do doctors treat such a syndrome, besides giggling hysterically behind their hands? Let’s delve into the twisted lingo of one of the strangest psychological disorders! I…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

Drinking too much too fast? Check the shape of your glass.

Here’s some barroom banter-material for the three day weekend: psychologists at the University of Bristol have shown that “young, healthy people” (students and faculty from the University) drank beer faster when it was served up in a curved flute glass (pictured on the right) than they did when it was served to them in a…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

A handy introduction to the morbidly fascinating science of autoerotic asphyxiation

Because we know you’ve always been curious, here’s a brief guide to the science and forensics of hypoxyphilia, also known as autoerotic asphyxiation. Using the death of actor David Carradine as a starting point, The Neurocritic runs through some damn interesting information behind this potentially lethal sexual practice. For instance, I had no idea that…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Watching reruns can actually help restore willpower

Time to break out the DVDs! New findings out of SUNY Buffalo suggest that watching summer repeats of your favorite TV show may actually be good for you. Ever since psychologists discovered that willpower was a finite mental resource, people have been looking for ways to tap into and restore it. Now, in a study…

Television Michael Ann Dobbs

The mass musical hysteria that predated Beatlemania

We’ve seen sixties fangirls scream and claw their faces over The Beatles but we always get the impression that before the swinging sixties, everybody behaved much more sensibly. Everybody stayed calm and expressed enthusiasm in a civilized fashion. Not so. The “mania” suffix wasn’t original to The Beatles — or even to the twentieth century.…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

Why can’t you tickle yourself?

“Solo tickle is even emptier than solo sex,” psychologist Robert Provine once wrote. After all, “you can masturbate to climax, but you cannot tickle yourself.” Why is tickling an activity reserved for two or more people? And why exactly did we evolve to be ticklish in the first place? Let’s cut right to the chase.…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Got a wicked case of the Mondays? Turns out that’s not actually a thing.

Were you a bit sluggish getting out of bed yesterday morning — you know, on account of it being the beginning of the week and all? Did you chalk it up to a case of the Mondays? Newly published research suggests you should re-evaluate your terminology. If you want to be more precise, findings published…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

They Live IRL: Australian politician calls opponent a “jerk off” in subliminal ad

Subliminal campaign advertisements are a staple of dystopian science fiction, but trust reality to send the electorate a hidden message so nefarious it’d make Orwell spin in his grave. A recent television ad for Australia’s Country Liberal Party in the Northern Territory contained a coded barb for Labor Party Chief Minister Paul Henderson. Secreted away…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar

Stress makes you sick by changing your genes

Most of us are well aware that stress dramatically heightens our susceptibility to contracting illnesses — both physical and psychological. Scientists have known about this link for decades, but have often struggled to describe the actual mechanics involved. But new research from the Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) is now indicating that genetics may be a contributing…

io9 George Dvorsky

Stop Calling Sherlock a Sociopath! Thanks, a Psychologist.

I’d like to get something off my chest. It’s been bugging me for a very, very long time. Sherlock Holmes is not a sociopath. He is not even a “high-functioning sociopath,” as the otherwise truly excellent BBC Sherlock has styled him (I take the words straight from Benedict Cumberbatch’s mouth). There. I’ve said it. Top…

io9 Maria Konnikova - CriminalElement.com

The Right Way and Wrong Way to Let Your Mind Wander

We’ve all heard stories of inspiration striking out of the blue. It seems as though the moment your mind wanders, ideas and answers spring out of the void. Sometimes you can think about a problem logically for hours, without getting anywhere — but as soon as you “zone out,” a clever solution pops into your…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

Study shows that robots suffer from sexism

Robots of the future take note: Humans will stereotype you and assign you gender roles depending on how male or female you look. We know this because a new study conducted by German psychologists demonstrated that people will continue to apply their prejudices even to those objects that are completely devoid of actual sexual traits.…

io9 George Dvorsky

The 2012 Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony Grows Nigh!

Television really does make you less lonely, say scientists

Sexually aroused women find everything less disgusting

The Halo Effect: Why You Won’t Believe Your Heroes Have Flaws

Placebo effect can be triggered by subliminal cues

The most successful presidents could be the ones who exhibit psychopath-like traits

Science says underpaid people enjoy their jobs more!

Watch babies face the same test of courage as Indiana Jones!

The psychological syndrome that causes you to speak with a fake foreign accent

Drinking too much too fast? Check the shape of your glass.

A handy introduction to the morbidly fascinating science of autoerotic asphyxiation

Watching reruns can actually help restore willpower

The mass musical hysteria that predated Beatlemania

Why can’t you tickle yourself?

Got a wicked case of the Mondays? Turns out that’s not actually a thing.

They Live IRL: Australian politician calls opponent a “jerk off” in subliminal ad

Stress makes you sick by changing your genes

Stop Calling Sherlock a Sociopath! Thanks, a Psychologist.

The Right Way and Wrong Way to Let Your Mind Wander

Study shows that robots suffer from sexism

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