Animals - AllPsych

Psychopaths Don’t Care About Cute Animals

Neil Petersen — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 07:41:36 +0000

Above is a picture of a very cute kitten. Surely that picture warms your heart. If you don’t look at that picture and go “aww,” what kind of person are you, a psychopath? Well, maybe so, says a new study. The authors of the study started with a premise we all know to be true:…

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Older People Are More Attentive to Positive Information. What About Older Dogs?

Neil Petersen — Tue, 31 Dec 2019 00:30:39 +0000

Being able to focus on the positive is something we can all benefit from, and it may be a skill that becomes easier with age. Psychology researchers have found that older adults tend to remember positive information better than negative information relative to younger adults. This phenomenon has become known as the “positivity effect,” a…

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The Psychological Separation Between “Meat” and “Animals”

Neil Petersen — Sat, 14 Dec 2019 02:15:54 +0000

People like animals. People also like to eat animals. This presents an obvious problem. It’s challenging to make a convincing case to yourself that you think animals are cute and want to protect their welfare in between swallowing mouthfuls of pork. You might recognize this as a classic example of cognitive dissonance, where people have…

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Who Can Read Dog Body Language?

Neil Petersen — Wed, 27 Nov 2019 23:50:38 +0000

Humans are evolved to recognize emotions in each other’s nonverbal behavior. To some extent, we apply that ability not just to other humans but to animals as well. Nowhere is this more true, perhaps, than in the case of dogs. As far as animals go, dogs can be pretty expressive in demonstrating their emotions, which…

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Rats From Enriched Environments Make Better Drivers

Neil Petersen — Mon, 21 Oct 2019 23:48:49 +0000

Have you ever wondered if it would be possible to teach a rat to drive? Well, maybe not, but this is the kind of thing psychology researchers think about. In a new study, researchers at University of Richmond let rats take to the road in special “rat-operated vehicles.” As part of the experiment, the rats…

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Your Personality Might Have Implications for Your Cat’s Wellbeing

Neil Petersen — Sat, 09 Feb 2019 00:34:27 +0000

It’s well-known that parents’ personality characteristics can influence their children. But a new study suggests that the same might also be true of cat parents. In the study, researchers in the United Kingdom surveyed 3,331 cat owners. They asked the cat owners both about their own personality traits and about the health, wellbeing and behaviors…

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