Solving a Neuroscience Riddle: How the Brain Stops Us From Jumping the Gun
Suppressing the urge to act until the time is right is a crucial, often overlooked, aspect of behavior. Just think about what might happen if…
Behavioral Science News
Better Keep the Instructions: People Aren’t That Good at Solving Complex Problems
How good are people at finding optimal solutions to complex problems? New research finds that people may not be as capable as generally assumed. Who…
When Companies’ Diversity Messages Backfire
The business case for diversity can undermine belonging for potential employees from underrepresented groups, research finds. Many companies have efforts to increase their diversity and…
The Decoy Effect: What It Is and How to Make It Work for You
Every retailer is interested in increasing their turnover or maximizing the sales of a particular product at some point or other, and one way of…
The Denomination Effect: Why You Are More Likely to Hang Onto a $100 Bill Than Five $20s
Picture this: you’re going to the office and you stop at your regular coffee shop on the way. You pick up your usual large mocha…
The Cashless Effect: Why Credit Cards Make It So Difficult to Budget
The end of the month is here again and, with it, the credit card bill. It’s higher than you thought it would be, and you…
The Endowment Effect: Why You Find It So Hard to Sell Your Used Car
What is it? The endowment effect describes our tendency to overvalue the goods in our endowment — our possessions — just because they are ours….
Predicting Hidden Intentions: Algorithm Predicts Which Students Will Drop Out of Math Courses
Social science researchers at the University of Tübingen develops a statistical method for separating different levels of influence. In the subjects of science and technology,…
This Kind of Flirting Works Best – According to Science
Some people succeed at flirting more often than others. Plenty of people are obviously more attractive than the rest of us, but it also seems…
Action Bias: Why It’s So Hard To Stay in the Same Line at the Supermarket
Many times throughout your life, you will find yourself asking the question, “Should I do something about this?” Almost as many times, you will find…
Not an Introvert or Extrovert? Perhaps You Are an Ambivert
If you are not an extrovert or introvert, you could be an ambivert. Ambiverts fall somewhere in the middle of the personality spectrum. They’re neither…
What Lies Beneath: The Surprising Power of Game Theory To Explain Odd and Irrational Human Behavior
In a new book, an MIT scholar examines how game-theory logic underpins many of our decisions that seem odd and irrational. Why do people wear…
Happiness Is a Salad: Strong Correlations Between What We Eat and How We Feel
Many of us — in the West, at least — seem to suffer from what psychologists call the “Unhealthy = Tasty Intuition”: we subconsciously assume…
Link Between Social Life and Brain Structure Discovered in Rhesus Macaques
Researchers from Penn, Inserm, and elsewhere observed that the number of grooming partners an individual animal had predicted the size of brain areas associated with…
When Is “Speciesism” Learned? Children Think Farm Animals Deserve Same Treatment as Pets
Children differ dramatically from adults in their moral views on animals, new research shows. University of Exeter researchers asked children aged 9-11 about the moral…
MIT Neuroscientists Discover Brain Cells That Encode the Outcomes of Actions
These neurons, located in the brain’s striatum, appear to help with decision-making that requires evaluating risks and benefits. When we make complex decisions, we have…
DNA Testing Exposes Tactics of International Criminal Networks Trafficking Elephant Ivory Out of Africa
A team led by scientists at the University of Washington and special agents with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has used genetic testing of…
Monkeys Play To Avoid Conflict and Reduce Group Tension
Play amongst adult howler monkeys increases during competitive foraging. New research has discovered that adult howler monkeys use play to avoid conflict and reduce group…
