Brief IN
for the $50 and $55 prizes — from three
days for $50 and three weeks for $55,
to one month for $50 and nearly two
months for $55. In addition, researchers
made the third group wait for nearly a
month to even choose which lottery to
enter, before being made to then wait
again before potentially receiving its prize.
The researchers found that 31 percent
of participants in the first group and 56
percent of participants in the second
group opted to wait for the larger reward,
while 86 percent of participants in the
third group — who had waited the longest
to make their decision — opted to wait for
the larger reward (Organizational Behavior
and Human Decision Processes, July).
n Anxiety and stress can make
inoffensive odors stink, according to
research led by psychologists at the
University of Wisconsin–Madison. The
researchers asked 14 participants to
rate a series of neutral odors, including
almonds and smoke, and then used
fMRI to track their brain activity as they
were exposed to photos of car crashes
and war scenes designed to induce
anxiety. They found that activation in
two typically independent circuits of
the brain — one dedicated to olfactory
processing, the other to emotion —
became more closely connected when
people felt anxious. After viewing the
disturbing images, participants also
found the previously benign smells to
be much more unpleasant (Journal of
Neuroscience, Sept. 25).
n Stress may lead to false confessions,
according to a study led by Iowa State
University psychologists. The researchers
assigned 132 participants to tasks that
involved both individual and partner
work, setting it up so that half of the
partners asked for help with what should
have been the individual task, essentially
getting participants to break the rules. The
researchers then accused the participants
— both innocent and guilty — of
academic misconduct and asked them to
sign a confession form. They found that
while the innocent participants showed
less stress than the guilty when first
accused of misconduct — based on blood
pressure, heart rate and nervous system
For direct links to these
articles, click on the
journal names.
After viewing disturbing
images, study participants
found previously benign
smells to be unpleasant.
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