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‘Was Doing’ Versus ‘Did’: Verbs Matter When Judging Other People’s Intentions

By Guest PostFebruary 16, 2011Cultureaction, communication, courtroom, criminal law, defense attorney, did, doing, dolores albarracín, english, grammar, gun, imagine, imperfective, innocent or guilty verdict, people, perceptions, perfective, prosecutor, report of a crime, shot, subtle variations, university of alabama, verb form, was shooting, william hart

Your English teacher wasn’t kidding: Grammar really does matter. The verb form used to describe an action can affect how the action is perceived—and these subtle variations could mean the difference between an innocent or guilty verdict in criminal law, according to a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

William Hart, of the University of Alabama, was inspired to conduct the study by research on how people think about narratives. “Research was showing that when you describe somebody’s actions in terms of what they’re ‘doing,’ that action is way more vivid in [a reader’s] mind” than if the action is described in terms of what the person ‘did.’ At the same time, other researchers had found that when people imagine action vividly, they were more likely to think the person performing the action was doing it intentionally. (more…)

Looking at a Tough Hill to Climb? Depends on Your Point of View

By Guest PostFebruary 12, 2011Scienceangle of stairs, bottom of the hill, climbing, constancy of slant perception, dennis shaffer, descending hills, fatigue, fear of falling, inclines, judgment, mariagrace flint, overestimates, people, slope of the escalator, slope of the steps, steepness of slopes

COLUMBUS, Ohio — People tend to overestimate the steepness of slopes – and psychologists studying the phenomenon have made a discovery that refutes common ideas about how we perceive inclines in general.

For more than a decade, researchers thought that our judgment was biased by our fatigue or fear of falling, explained Dennis Shaffer, associate professor of psychology at Ohio State University’s Mansfield campus. We perceive climbing or descending hills as difficult or dangerous, so when we look at an incline, our view is clouded by the expected physical exertion or danger of traversing it. (more…)

Oil and Gas Industry Sees Boom in High-Tech Collaboration

By Guest PostJanuary 18, 2011Technologyaccenture survey, area of collaboration, bharat petroleum, chevron, cost efficiency, craig hodges, geographical and demographic landscape, global energy forum, Houston, management problems, Microsoft, microsoft lync, microsoft technologies, oil and gas industry, oil and gas professionals, people, pipelines, radar screens, real time collaboration technologies, sql azure, windows phone 7

*The adoption of real-time collaboration technologies continues to grow among oil and gas professionals, according to a Microsoft and Accenture survey released today at Microsoft’s Global Energy Forum.*

HOUSTON – Jan. 18, 2011 – The oil and gas industry has realized that keeping information flowing among its workers is key to continued flow in its pipelines.

According to a survey released today at Microsoft’s Global Energy Forum in Houston, oil and gas professionals are relying more than ever on collaboration – and real-time collaboration tools like social networking – to get their jobs done and remain competitive within their industry. The survey, conducted by Microsoft and Accenture, shows that the global nature of the oil and gas industry is driving the demand for real-time information and knowledge sharing, said Craig Hodges, Microsoft’s general manager of U.S. Manufacturing and Resources. (more…)

Study Highlights Flaw In Common Approach of Public Opinion Surveys About Science

By Guest PostJanuary 15, 2011Culture, Scienceandrew binder, biofuels, biofuels survey, bottom line, bret shaw, dietram scheufele, discrepancy, flaw, journalists, michael cacciatore, Nanotechnology, people, public opinion, science issues, survey question

A new study from North Carolina State University highlights a major flaw in attempting to use a single survey question to assess public opinion on science issues. Researchers found that people who say that risks posed by new science fields outweigh benefits often actually perceive more benefits than risks when asked more detailed questions. (more…)

Why Do People Behave Badly? Maybe It’s Just Too Easy

By Guest PostNovember 26, 2010Culture, Generalbadly, behave, job application, michael inzlicht, people, psychology, rimma teper, scarborough

Many people say they wouldn’t cheat on a test, lie on a job application or refuse to help a person in need.

But what if the test answers fell into your lap and cheating didn’t require any work on your part? If you didn’t have to face the person who needed your help and refuse them? Would that change your behaviour? (more…)

Researchers Find Cancer News May Contribute to Confusion About Cancer

By Guest PostNovember 11, 2010Culture, Health, Mediaamericans, behavior, cancer, CNN, dale brashers, disease, google news, health information, kami kosenko, msnbc, north carolina state university, online, people, ryan hurley, uncertain terms, yahoo news

New research from North Carolina State University shows that most online news stories about cancer contain language that likely contributes to public uncertainty about the disease – a significant finding, given that at least one-third of Americans seek health information online.

“Previous studies show that more than 100 million Americans seek health information online, and that their findings affect their health decisions,” says Dr. Kami Kosenko, an assistant professor of communication at NC State and co-author of a paper describing the study. “But, while people facing uncertainty about cancer issues are likely to seek out additional information, we’ve found that there are features of the information they’re seeking that may actually exacerbate the uncertainty.” (more…)

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