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A new study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology looked at miscalibrated expectations and how they create a barrier to deeper conversation. “In this research, we wanted to understand why people often engage in small talk in everyday life rather than initiate deeper and more intimate conversations that might strengthen their social relationships,” study author Michael Kardas told us. “We reasoned that people's decisions about what topics to discuss in conversation are guided by their expectations about the likely outcomes of the conversation.” [More]

A new study published in eNeuro examined team flow and how it is a unique brain state associated with enhanced information integration and neural synchrony. “The study is about Team flow; a psychological state experienced when a team gets ‘in the zone’ during their performance,” study author Dr. Mohammad Shehata told us. “Successful teams and their coaches or supervisors strive to reach this state. We were hoping to detect brain signals specific to team flow and understand the neural mechanisms behind this state.” [More]

A new study published in the Journal of Molecular Psychiatry looked at how genetically encoded sensors enable micro and nano-scopic decoding of transmission in healthy and diseased brains. “Our study looked at developing a method to visualize neuromodulatory communication between neurons at the nanoscale,” study author Li Lin told us. “Neuromodulatory communication is important for many high cognitive behaviors and its deficit is responsible various psychiatric, mental and neurology disorders.” [More]

In recent news on Google’s blog, they announced that, in addition to being your personal assistant, Google is taking another step to becoming an integral part of your life. LaMDA, a conversation technology, is intended to have conversations about any topic without giving the same answer twice. [More]

A 2021 study conducted by Microsoft concluded that back-to-back meetings are a “disaster” for productivity and mental health. The study was carried out by analyzing the brain activity of employees who volunteered to be hooked up to EEG, with one group sticking with consecutive meetings while the other had breaks in between. [More]

A new study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics looked at behavioral ethics and the incidence of foodborne illness outbreaks. “The study is about understanding why foodborne illness outbreaks are a persistent problem, especially given the technologies we have for processing and preserving foods,” study author Harvey S. James Jr. told us. [More]

A new study published in the Journal of Psychological Science looked at attitudes and feelings and whether they are fixed or fleeting. “We wanted to understand which opinions stick with a person for a long time and which ones fluctuate over time,” study author Matthew Rocklage told us. [More]

A new study published in the British Journal of Social Psychology looked at how people who frequently try to impress or persuade others predicts receptivity to various types of misleading information. “On a basic level, it’s investigating some of the ways that misinformation is spread (intentionally and unintentionally) and evaluated by people when they encounter it,” study author Shane Littrell told us. [More]

Even if someone that we do not know insults us, it is likely that our feelings get hurt. Why? That individual doesn’t even know you. Why grant creditability to strangers? [More]

“Zoom fatigue” is a catchphrase for 2020 as the pandemic forced in person meetings online. But is there a better alternative? A study by Ericsson, “The Dematerialized Office”, predicts that augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) would “enable the experience of collaborating in the same room with colleagues.'' If this becomes a routine solution in the business world, it will likely become commonplace for personal use, including therapy. However, is this introducing another potential solution that people will grow tired of? [More]