Slamming political rivals may be the most effective way to go viral
22 Jun 2021Study of almost 3 million Facebook and Twitter posts from US media and politicians shows divisive posts dunking on opponents drive engagement on social media.
News from the Department of Psychology.
The power of touch
17 Jun 2021As a major Fitzwilliam Museum exhibition explores human touch through 4,000 years of art, Cambridge researchers explain why this sense is so important in their own work.
People more afraid of catching COVID-19 are more judgemental, study finds
09 Jun 2021Researchers studying how we make moral judgements found that people more concerned about catching COVID-19 were more disapproving of the wrong-doings of others, whatever they were doing wrong.
Mind Over Chatter: What is the future?
Have you ever wondered how time works? It turns out, the answer is a lot more complicated than we thought. We’ll be talking about everything from physics to linguistics… and from broken eggs to Einstein’s theory of relativity.
Mind Over Chatter: What is the future of wellbeing?
Our wellbeing is essential to our overall quality of life. But what is wellbeing? Why is it so hard to pin down? How is it different from mental health, and what can we do to understand, measure and improve it?
‘Pre-bunk’ tactics reduce public susceptibility to COVID-19 conspiracies and falsehoods, study finds
12 May 2021Latest research on digital interventions deployed by UK government and UNESCO suggests that exposing people to a “microdose” of techniques used by misinformation merchants helps “inoculate” them against fake news about the pandemic.
The Royal Society announces election of new Fellows 2021
06 May 2021Cambridge scientists are among the new Fellows announced today by the Royal Society.
Loan applications processed around midday more likely to be rejected
05 May 2021Bank credit officers are more likely to approve loan applications earlier and later in the day, while ‘decision fatigue’ around midday is associated with defaulting to the safer option of saying no.
Cuttlefish show their intelligence by snubbing sub-standard snacks
03 Mar 2021A study has found that cuttlefish can pass a fishy version of the ‘marshmallow test’ – and those that can delay gratification the longest are the most intelligent.
‘Overwhelming’ international support for more government action on environment
01 Mar 2021Ahead of COP26, a survey experiment taking in the UK, US, Brazil, India, China, Indonesia and Poland finds huge support for more action from governments to protect the environment.
