What could possibly have caused this? Investigating the difficulty of causal learning

I have a fairly straightforward relationship with dairy: I partake in its delicious fruits semi-regularly and it, in turn, completely devastates my guts. Yet despite this connection between lactose consumption and gastrointestinal distress—a correlation that I can only describe as very strong—it somehow took me several years to fully realize that, yes, I’m lactose intolerant. […]

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Interview with new science communications intern Daniel Pfaff

I’m pleased to introduce you to the Psychonomic Society’s newest Science Communication intern, Daniel Pfaff (pictured below). He’ll be joining Hannah Mechtenberg for the next six months, working with our Digital Content team and writing posts on research conducted by our members and published in the Society’s journals. We are delighted they will be part […]

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Interview with new science communications intern Hannah Mechtenberg

Last year, the Psychonomic Society launched a program, a Science Communication internship, for graduate students to gain experience writing about scientific findings for the general public. Two new interns were selected for the second term over the next six months: Hannah Mechtenberg and Daniel Pfaff. As interns, they will be part of our Digital Content team […]

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It’s five o’clock somewhere, but where? Uncovering our spatial representations of time

Close your eyes for a moment and think about the past year. Now imagine mapping out your plans for the upcoming year. If you had to point to a location that corresponds to “tomorrow” or “next month,” where would it be? What about “yesterday”? Chances are, next month is somewhere to the right of tomorrow. […]

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Color me happy: Helping visuospatial abilities develop

Imagine A Paradise Every other year, students join my co-instructor and me on a research-oriented field study down to Roatán, Honduras, in collaboration with the Dolphin Communication Project and its director, Dr. Kathleen Dudzinski. During this field-based research course, students learn about dolphin biology and behavior, the conservation of coral and sea turtles, and the […]

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Colorful shades of emotional perception

Have you ever noticed how movies often depict different places using distinct color palettes? Stories happening in Mexico and the Old West, for example, are frequently portrayed with sepia tones, evoking nostalgia or toughness, while movies set in cold places or warzones are often portrayed as being grayish – or technically speaking, with decreased color […]

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Graphic design is my passion, but it doesn’t inspire unconscious processing

Unfortunately for me, one of the first things I see most mornings is an ad. It’s largely my fault—I have the extremely terrible habit of keeping my phone next to me at night and then an arguably worse habit of checking Twitter (excuse me, X) in the morning, leading me to inevitably scroll past an […]

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Taking things at face value: How social hierarchy influences perception

You may not get a second chance to make a first impression, but how important are first impressions really? According to the authors of an article recently published in the Psychonomic Society’s journal Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, “Human beings live in a social environment that functions through the establishment of hierarchies, with individuals acting as […]

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Turn left, or was it right, at the giant donut – how do we learn to find our way along a new route?

How am I supposed to learn my way around this confusing new place? Picture the following situation: you’re on vacation, you’ve spent all day (and then some) in airports and on planes, and you’ve finally made it to your hotel. Now you’ve got to find your room, and you need to remember how to get […]

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