Psych Lite

Scientists Use Functional MRI to Read Peoples’ Minds

fMRI

Scientists are using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to reconstruct images seen by people and read their thoughts. This technology, which is relatively new compared to x-ray imaging techniques, uses the nuclear spin of hydrogen nuclei to construct an image. This makes the technology especially well suited to the imaging of soft tissues, and if [...]

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Two heads actually ARE better than one, if both are competent and communicate!

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We may assume or generally believe that collaborating with others helps us to solve problems more effectively and make better decisions, but is it really true? Scientists at University College London and Aarhus University, Denmark did a study that showed that two heads can definitely be better than one, if both partners are competent and [...]

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It’s official: On Facebook, people enjoy actively searching more than just browsing

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In a study of 36 Facebook users, it turns out that the participants spent most of their time on social browsing and social searching, but the physiological data indicated that participants experienced more pleasure during the course of social searching than they experienced during social browsing.

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Study: Your confidence in your own thoughts is affected by your posture!

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We all know that sometimes other people’s confidence in what we say is affected by our body language, but scientists have now shown that our confidence in our own thoughts is affected the same way! When we sit up straight with great posture, we are more convinced of what we are saying, according to a [...]

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Gut feelings

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Have you ever just known which choice you want to make even though there was a long list of rational reasons why that should not be your choice? I read Gut Feelings: The Intelligence of the Unconscious lately and found it fascinating. I’m very aware that my unconscious mind knows exactly what I want to [...]

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Facebook makes jealousy and snooping worse

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In a blend of fun internet use and scientific method, we have a study from the peer-reviewed journal Cyberpsychology & Behavior which actually proves that spending more time on Facebook can make jealousy worse, and that then leads to a cycle of obsessively looking at your partner’s Facebook page and finding more evidence for jealousy. [...]

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Study: For women, feelings of closeness to a friend improves mood due to increase in progesterone

Women have always known that time spent with a close friend indulging in girl talk really improves our mood, but a University of Michigan study has identified one physical reason: feeling emotionally close to a friend increases levels of progesterone, helping to boost the sense of well-being and reduce stress.

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