Leaning to the Left Makes the Eiffel Tower Seem Smaller - Posture-Modulated Estimation

Psychological Science
December 2011 vol. 22 no. 12 1511-151
Version of Record - Dec 8, 2011

Anita Eerland, Tulio M. Guadalupe and Rolf A. Zwaan

Psychology Institute, Faculty of Social Sciences, Erasmus University Rotterdam, P.O. Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Abstract

In two experiments, we investigated whether body posture influences people’s estimation of quantities. According to the mental-number-line theory, people mentally represent numbers along a line with smaller numbers on the left and larger numbers on the right. We hypothesized that surreptitiously making people lean to the right or to the left would affect their quantitative estimates. Participants answered estimation questions while standing on a Wii Balance Board. Posture was manipulated within subjects so that participants answered some questions while they leaned slightly to the left, some questions while they leaned slightly to the right, and some questions while they stood upright. Crucially, participants were not aware of this manipulation. Estimates were significantly smaller when participants leaned to the left than when they leaned to the right.

http://pss.sagepub.com/content/22/12/1511

Devices, systems and methods using magnetic force systems affecting the tongue or hyoid muscles in the upper airway

United States Patent 8,020,560
Issue Dt: 09/20/2011

Inventors
Joe Paraschac, Ryan P. Boucher, Edward M. Gillis, Octavian Iancea, Andrew W. Kramer, Brian K. McCollum, Scott A. McGill, Lionel M. Nelson, Andres D. Tomas

Assignee   
Apneon, Inc.
20813 Stevens Creek Blvd.
Suite 100
Cupertino, California 95014

Original Assignee
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.
Groenewoudseweg 1
5621 BA Eindhoven
Netherlands

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for resisting posterior movement of the tongue during sleep, thereby keeping an airway open. The systems and methods employ a first structure that can be placed either in or on a tongue within an oral cavity and/or in a region of hyoid muscle. The first structure includes a ferromagnetic material. The systems and methods employ a second structure that can be placed either in or on external tissue outside the oral cavity and/or in or on external tissue outside the oral cavity in a desired relationship with the first structure. The second structure includes a magnetic material that magnetically interacts with the ferromagnetic material by attracting the ferromagnetic material, thereby resisting posterior movement of the tongue.

http://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?CC=US&NR=8020560B2&KC=B2&FT=D

http://assignments.uspto.gov/assignments/q?db=pat&pat=8020560

A Single Exposure to the American Flag Shifts Support Toward Republicanism up to 8 Months Later

Psychological Science
August 2011 vol. 22 no. 8 1011-1018
Version of Record - Aug 16, 2011
doi: 10.1177/0956797611414726

Travis J. Carter [1], Melissa J. Ferguson [2] and Ran R. Hassin [3]

[1] Center for Decision Research, University of Chicago Booth School of Business, C74 Harper Center, Chicago, IL 60637
[2] Department of Psychology, 230 Uris Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853
[3] Department of Psychology and The Center for the Study of Rationality, Hebrew University

Abstract

There is scant evidence that incidental cues in the environment significantly alter people’s political judgments and behavior in a durable way. We report that a brief exposure to the American flag led to a shift toward Republican beliefs, attitudes, and voting behavior among both Republican and Democratic participants, despite their overwhelming belief that exposure to the flag would not influence their behavior. In Experiment 1, which was conducted online during the 2008 U.S. presidential election, a single exposure to an American flag resulted in a significant increase in participants’ Republican voting intentions, voting behavior, political beliefs, and implicit and explicit attitudes, with some effects lasting 8 months after the exposure to the prime. In Experiment 2, we replicated the findings more than a year into the current Democratic presidential term. These results constitute the first evidence that nonconscious priming effects from exposure to a national flag can bias the citizenry toward one political party and can have considerable durability.

http://pss.sagepub.com/content/22/8/1011

No evidence of contagious yawning in the red-footed tortoise Geochelone carbonaria

Current Zoology (formerly Acta Zoologica Sinica), 2011, 57(4): 477 - 484

Anna Wilkinson [1,2], Natalie Sebanz [3], Isabella Mandl [1], Ludwig Huber [1]

[1] Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, Vienna, 1090, Austria
[2] Department of Biological Sciences, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, LN2 2LG, UK
[3] Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Centre for Cognition, Radboud, University Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Abstract:

Three hypotheses have attempted to explain the phenomenon of contagious yawning. It has been hypothesized that it is a fixed action pattern for which the releasing stimulus is the observation of another yawn, that it is the result of non-conscious mimicry emerging through close links between perception and action or that it is the result of empathy, involving the ability to engage in mental state attribution. This set of experiments sought to distinguish between these hypotheses by examining contagious yawning in a species that is unlikely to show nonconscious mimicry and empathy but does respond to social stimuli: the red-footed tortoise Geochelone carbonaria. A demonstrator tortoise was conditioned to yawn when presented with a red square-shaped stimulus. Observer tortoises were exposed to three conditions: observation of conditioned yawn, non demonstration control, and stimulus only control. We measured the number of yawns for each observer animal in each condition. There was no difference between conditions. Experiment 2 therefore increased the number of conditioned yawns presented. Again, there was no significant difference between conditions. It seemed plausible that the tortoises did not view the conditioned yawn as a real yawn and therefore a final experiment was run using video recorded stimuli. The observer tortoises were presented with three conditions: real yawn, conditioned yawns and empty background. Again there was no significant difference between conditions. We therefore conclude that the red-footed tortoise does not yawn in response to observing a conspecific yawn. This suggests that contagious yawning is not the result of a fixed action pattern but may involve more complex social processes.

Keywords:

Reptile, Contagious yawn, Empathy, Nonconscious mimicry, Fixed action pattern

http://www.currentzoology.org/paperdetail.asp?id=11922