Feeling queasy? How about deceitful? New research shows feelings of disgust encourage unethical, self-interested behaviours such as lying to get more money. At first look, these findings would suggest…
Evolutionary psychology, the field that uses the process of natural selection to provide a theoretical framework to explain human behaviour, gets in the press a lot. And if there’s one thing that gets…
Protestors in Ferguson, Missouri, after the Monday evening announcement of no charges over a teenager’s killing.
EPA/Tannen Maury
The announcement Monday evening in the US that there would be no charges against a policeman over the shooting of a teenager is puzzling and already the target of critique. It’s not just the decision itself…
We know different coloured plates can affect how food ‘tastes’ … and now we know that the same applies to coffee.
Esti Alvarez/Flickr
In Australia, around a billion cups of coffee a year are consumed in cafés, restaurants and other outlets. Even Britain, a nation famous for its fondness for tea, has in recent years seen a dramatic rise…
Faced with uncertainty and unpredictability, your brain’s on its way to anxiety.
Woman image via www.shutterstock.com.
Modern life can feel defined by low-level anxiety swirling through society. Continual reports about terrorism and war. A struggle to stay on top of family finances and hold onto jobs. An onslaught of news…
Different people behave in different ways behind the wheel of a car.
Flickr/Nuno Sousa
Personality traits can be used to predict a lot about a person. They can tell about their probable career success, if they’re likely to get divorced, their risk at dying early from disease – and now, how…
You might never know that you’re hard of thinking.
Robin Zebrowski/Flickr
This is the second article in a series, How we make decisions, which explores our decision-making processes. How well do we consider all factors involved in a decision, and what helps and what holds us…
Our brains make judgements about images before we’re even aware of making a decision.
A Health Blog/Flickr
This is the first article in a series, How we make decisions, which explores our decision-making processes. How well do we consider all factors involved in a decision, and what helps and what holds us…
Go with the group on trick or treat this Halloween.
Sean Locke Photography
Halloween is upon us tonight and it’s all just a bit of harmless fun, right? Or is there truly a dark side to Halloween? What should we make of kids getting together in groups, wearing costumes that hide…
Five years on, the bush and people are recovering well from the Black Saturday fires.
AAP Image/Joe Castro
Five years on from the devastating Black Saturday fires that swept through central Victoria in February 2009, research shows that people and communities are largely recovering well. In the first major…
Soldiers face a tough time adapting after service.
Ben Birchall/PA Archive/Press Association Images
Accusations are being made that the UK government is failing to meet the very standards it set for itself when it comes to veterans. Medical experts say former military personnel are not being given the…
When we make important social decisions – which political candidate to vote for, whether to trust someone with our money, whether a person is guilty of a crime – we’d like to think we do so rationally…
Icy times for mom-to-be meant bad news for baby-on-board.
Shaun Best/Reuters
In January 1998 five days of freezing rain collapsed the electrical grid of the Canadian province of Québec. The storm left more than 3 million people without electricity for anywhere from a few hours…
Science fiction author William Gibson said: “virtual reality is like mainlining television.” Virtual reality is no longer limited to the wealthy few who can afford it. It is also becoming more common in…
Friendly or flirting? Science says you stink at telling the difference.
Cafe image via www.shutterstock.com
When you have more than one child, the importance of fairness seems to trump all other considerations, including self-interest. Give a child £1 and she will be happy. But if she finds out that her sibling…
Guns were part of Pistorius’ life at home and in public.
EPA/Phill Magakoe/Pool
South African paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius has been found not guilty of the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. The presiding judge, Thokozile Masipa, found him guilty, though, of culpable…
Justice and forgiveness can co-exist so that one may encourage the other.
Steve Calcott/Flickr
One of the inevitable things in life is that someone will do or say something to upset and hurt us. While forgiveness is a good way to overcome such hurts, we also don’t want people to get away with what…
Most of us were taught that saying “thank you” is simply the polite thing to do. But recent research in social psychology suggests that saying “thank you” goes beyond good manners – it also serves to build…
Didn’t improve their brains much.
Review of Reviews (1904)
Brain-training programmes are all the rage. They are part of a growing digital brain-health industry that earned more than US$1 billion in revenue in 2012 and is estimated to reach US$6 billion by 2020…