Mind Matters — More Gleanings from Psychological Research

Sometimes common sense is quite inaccurate and sometimes it’s spot on. What I enjoy about rigorous research is that while it can sometimes support “common sense” perceptions it often does not. For eons, remember the common sense view was that sunrises and sunsets proved that the earth was the center of the universe and the sun revolved around it. When this “obvious” notion was displaced by the proof that the sun was the center of our solar system and the earth was its satellite, humans had a rude awakening. We were no longer the center of the universe. So it goes when we learn that there are larger truths than the fabrications we live by.

So check out the following research briefs and see if you think your common sense views are being challenged or not.

• What about those one-sided cell phone calls? A University of San Diego study notes that research subjects were far more distracted when they overheard only one side of a phone conversation as opposed to a conversation between two people in a room with them. In addition to being more distracting, the single-sided cell phone conversation was remembered and recalled better.
• And sound in sleep? At the University of Tübingen in Germany, researchers found that certain sounds can enhance memory. Light rhythmic noise during sleep that was in sync with the brain’s electrical readings appeared to boost retention of what was learned the previous night.
• And what about sounds babies hear in their sleep? According to a University of Oregon study, infants may be adversely affected by high conflict home environments even while asleep. Researchers observed the fMRI scans of sleeping infants while a male spoke “gibberish” with various emotional tones. The babies from high conflict homes had a higher response to the angry voice in the stress/emotional regulation brain areas than did babies from low conflict homes.
• Is there prejudice against those who are obese? What about physicians? And their patients? In a study at Johns Hopkins University it was found that patients questioned the credibility of the advice of an obese physician. Meanwhile, another Johns Hopkins study reported findings that physicians were prejudiced against obese patients as well. While physicians may have asked the same questions and given similar medical advice to both normal weight and obese patients, they were not likely to be as empathetic or understanding with the obese patients as they were with normal weight patients.

So where did the research converge with common sense for you? For more research stories you can go to www.apa.org/monitor/digital/in-brief-june-2013.aspx. See also APA Monitor, June 2013, “In Brief” by Amy Novotney.