Psicologia – Note zetetiche

(via Neuroanthropology)

Lo scorso 30 luglio è stato pubblicato come Advance online publication sul sito della rivista Nature Reviews Neuroscience

Macknik, Stephen L., King, Mac, Randi, James, Robbins, Apollo, Teller, Thompson, John & Martinez-Conde, Susana (2008, July 30). Attention and awareness in stage magic: turning tricks into research. Nature Reviews Neuroscience AOP, published online.

frutto della collaborazione di due neuroscienziati (Macknik e Martinez-Conde) e diversi prestigiatori. Gli autori scrivono “studiando i prestigiatori e loro tecniche, i neuroscienziati possono imparare potenti metodi per manipolare l’attenzione e la consapevolezza in laboratorio”, metodi che possono essere utilizzati per lo studio della coscienza.

L’articolo è al momento disponibile in formato PDF al link indicato in corrispondenza del titolo. Qui sono invece disponibili alcune dimostrazioni di Thompson, Randi, Teller, Robbins, King.

Lo scorso 15 maggio un comunicato stampa della statunitense University of Missouri-Columbia ha annunciato la pubblicazione di

King, Laura A., Burton, Chad M., Hicks, Joshua A., & Drigotas, Stephen M. (2007, May). Ghosts, UFOs, and Magic: Positive Affect and the Experiential System. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 92(5), 905-919.

Abstract

Three studies examined the potential interactions of the experiential system and positive affect (PA) in predicting superstitious beliefs and sympathetic magic. In Study 1, experientiality and induced positive mood interacted to predict the emergence of belief in videos purporting to show unidentified flying objects or ghosts. In Study 2, naturally occurring PA interacted with experientiality to predict susceptibility to sympathetic magic, specifically difficulty in throwing darts at a picture of a baby (demonstrating the law of similarity). In Study 3, induced mood interacted with experientiality to predict sitting farther away from, and expressing less liking for, a partner who had stepped in excrement (demonstrating the law of contagion). Results are interpreted as indicating that PA promotes experiential processing. Implications for the psychology of nonrational beliefs and behaviors are discussed.
[2007 American Psychological Association, all rights reserved]

Il comunicato stampa è stato ripreso dal quotidiano regionale Columbia Missourian con un articolo nell’edizione di ieri:

“We were surprised by the results,” King said. “We started out with the predictions that a good mood can make people fall prey to certain things, but even I was pretty skeptical (before the study).”