Articles (page 27)

In 1968 a psychologist opened his monograph with a student who sat through classes inside a black bag. The research it started explains why a song or an advert wins people over, and when it begins…

Beauty filters, organic labels and a lecturer's warm manner all change how people judge qualities they never checked. The idea's sharpest critic argues that some of that agreement is earned.

The glow of a new purchase goes on a timetable, and simple choices change its speed. In six experiments published in 2008, a break in a pleasant experience made what followed more enjoyable…

For decades the first tests of new medicines were run largely without women who could become pregnant, and the gap left a measurable trail in side effects. The new wellness market promises to close…

Gentle parenting has almost no research under its own name, but its ingredients have plenty. Warmth and an end to smacking hold up well, and the approach stays on solid ground only while the limits…

Software now reads scans, writes up consultations and warns of sepsis, and its record differs sharply from one job to the next. Where randomised trials exist the gains are measurable, and where they…

One takeaway can end a no-takeaway month and one dinner can write off a budget. Whether the goal survives depends less on the slip than on the verdict you pass on it.

If a loyalty card has ever arrived with stamps already on it, you have met the endowed progress effect. In a car wash study, that free head start nearly doubled the share of customers who finished…

Talking to yourself as "you" or by your own name, instead of "I", is among the cheapest calming techniques psychology has tested. It helps a little, mostly for minutes, and the grammar seems to…