The science of shaking Christmas presents

Researchers at the University of Michigan have been studying people shaking boxes in order to shed light on "epistemic action understanding." Or rather, "Can one person tell, just by observing another person’s movements, what they are trying to learn?"

In other words, as you watch someone shake a box, can you figure out what information they're trying to gather about the contents of the box (i.e. the shape or quantity of things in it)?

More info: "Seeing and understanding epistemic actions"

Posted By: Alex - Sat Dec 30, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Science, Experiments, Psychology, Christmas

Twin Telepathy

1965: Two eye doctors published an article in the journal Science detailing what appeared to be a form of telepathy found in two sets of twins. The brainwaves of the twins seemed to be linked. When the brainwaves of one changed (by having him close his eyes), the brainwaves of the other twin would change also, even though the two were in separate rooms.

The doctors examined 16 sets of twins, but only found the linked brainwave phenomenon in two of them. Why these two? The doctors speculated that they were "serene" whereas the other twins demonstrated "impatient anxiety and apprehension about the testing procedure."

It's surprising the doctors got their article published in Science, since that journal doesn't usually consider anything that smacks too much of parapsychology.

You can find a copy of their Science article ("Extrasensory Electroencephalographic Induction between Identical Twins") here.

More info about twin telepathy at Psi Encyclopedia.

Los Angeles Times - Dec 22, 1965

Science - Oct 15, 1965

Posted By: Alex - Sun Nov 12, 2023 - Comments (5)
Category: Paranormal, Science, Psychology, Twins, Lookalikes & Doppelgangers, 1960s

Cigarette Psychology

Dr. William Neutra claimed that he could know a person's personality simply by observing the way they held a cigarette. At least, a man's personality. Women, he believed, were too "affected and unnatural" as smokers, and so didn't reveal much of their true personality.

The two illustrated articles below were published twenty years apart. Note that some of the interpretations differ, such as the gesture that he believes indicates a "hail fellow."

Life - May 8, 1939

Harrisburg Telegraph - Sep 6, 1939

Caper Magazine - May 1959

Posted By: Alex - Fri Oct 20, 2023 - Comments (8)
Category: Psychology, Smoking and Tobacco

Hoover Dam music soothes mentally ill

I've visited the Hoover Dam a number of times but had never heard about its unusual acoustic properties that produce "a soothing effect on violently ill mental patients when they listen to musical recordings made at the dam site."

I searched in vain for copies of these Hoover Dam sound recordings.

Los Angeles Times - Sep 22, 1955

Posted By: Alex - Mon Sep 11, 2023 - Comments (3)
Category: Music, Psychology, 1950s

Whole brain not needed for handling money

Mention to any friends who are bankers or accountants that science has shown they could have a frontal lobotomy and still do their job, and see how they react.

Click to enlarge

Posted By: Alex - Mon Sep 04, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Money, Experiments, Psychology, 1930s

Cash Amnesia

The term "cash amnesia" describes using cash for purchases you don't want to be reminded of later (such as "guilty pleasures and other hard-to-justify purchases"). As opposed to using a credit card, where you'll see the purchases on your statement later.

Researchers at the Stanford Graduate School of Business studied whether people really now use cash in this way by analyzing purchases at the Stanford Bookstore. They concluded that "customers were more likely to pay in cash for harder-to-justify items like stuffed plush mascots and Christmas ornaments."

Makes sense to me. I don't often carry cash in my wallet, but when I do it always feels like I've got free money to spend — because anything I buy with it won't bump up that month's credit card bill.

More info: stanford.edu

Posted By: Alex - Sun Aug 06, 2023 - Comments (2)
Category: Money, Psychology

Model of the year

I'm sure some psychologist must have conducted a study to see how much pain people would suffer in order to avoid embarrassment. If not, the case of Marcy Kwapil, chosen as "1975 model of the year" in Racine, Wisconsin, would offer an example. Rather than risk the embarrassment of disrupting a parade to get off the burning hot hood of a car, she suffered through to the end, incurring third-degree burns.

Roanoke Times - Aug 19, 1975

Below is the only picture I could find of Marcy Kwapil. She's the second from the right.

Racine Journal Times - Oct 25, 1973

Posted By: Alex - Wed May 03, 2023 - Comments (2)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Psychology, 1970s

The influence of odors on creative thinking

There have been a variety of studies examining how psychoactive drugs affect behavior and creative output. But could smells also have a psychoactive effect? That was the question posed in a 1958 experiment conducted by scientist Leo H. Narodny — published in an obscure trade journal, The Perfumery & Essential Oil Record. Narodny wrote: "It may be possible, by inhaling certain odours, to influence creative imagination without endangering the whole brain by an excessive dosage of drugs."

He used a textile designer as his test subject. Every day, for two weeks, he had her draw a design while breathing unscented air. Then, after breathing in air saturated with an odorous essential oil (such as bergamot, vanilla, peppermint, or cedarwood), she drew a second design. Some of the results are below.







It was hard to draw conclusions based on such a small sample size, but Narodny felt that the designer tended to draw more abstract patterns when exposed to the essential oils.

Nadia Berenstein offers more details about the experiment on her "Flavor Added" blog.

Posted By: Alex - Sat Mar 25, 2023 - Comments (2)
Category: Art, Experiments, Psychology, Smells and Odors

The taste of food in dark isolation

Beatrice Finkelstein, a nutrition researcher at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, conducted a series of "dark-isolation studies" during the 1950s. Subjects were placed for periods of 6 to 72 hours in a totally dark, sound proof chamber furnished with a bed, chair, refrigerator, and chemical toilet.



The purpose of this was to find out how astronauts might react to being confined in a small, dark space for a prolonged period of time. And in particular how their responses to food might change.

Some of her results:



But the stranger result was how the lack of visual input completely changed the flavor of the food:


More info: "Feeding crews in air vehicles of the future"

Beatrice Finkelstein (source)

Posted By: Alex - Mon Jan 30, 2023 - Comments (4)
Category: Food, Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy, Experiments, Psychology

Noses

Read it here.

Posted By: Paul - Fri Jan 20, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Body, Science, Psychology, Self-help Schemes, 1950s