How to make yourself happier in just a few seconds: - Barking up the wrong tree

How to make yourself happier in just a few seconds: - Barking up the wrong tree: "thinking about the absence of a positive event from one's life would improve affective states more than thinking about the presence of a positive event"

Schneier on Security: The Psychology of Being Scammed

Schneier on Security: The Psychology of Being Scammed

The paper describes a dozen different con scenarios -- entertaining in itself -- and then lists and explains six general psychological principles that con artists use

Does darkness increase dishonesty?: - Barking up the wrong tree

Does darkness increase dishonesty?: - Barking up the wrong tree: "In several experiments, researchers found that light levels influence selfish behavior. People who were placed in a dimly lit room were significantly more likely to cheat than people placed in a well-lit room. Likewise, people who were asked to wear sunglasses were less generous in a sharing game than people who were asked to wear clear glasses. This pattern appears to be the result of an increased sense of anonymity in lower light levels, even though light levels did not confer any actual increase in anonymity"

How to tell if somebody is lying: - Barking up the wrong tree

How to tell if somebody is lying: - Barking up the wrong tree: "'Lying taxes the mind,' Wiseman explains. 'It involves thinking about what is plausible. People tend to repeat phrases, give shorter answers, and hesitate more. They will try to distance themselves from the lie, so use far more impersonal language. Liars often reduce the number of times that they say words like 'I', 'me', and 'mine'. To detect deception, look for aural signs associated with having to think hard.'

According to the Canadian Journal of Police and Security Services, another side-effect of lying that forensic interrogators will look for is the avoidance of verbal contractions - using 'I am' instead of 'I'm' and so on. Nature reported another study by Ioannis Pavlidis of Honeywell Laboratories in Minnesota. He established that many people blush when they are telling a lie - a subtle, but detectable, phenomenon. Pavlidis has developed a thermal-imaging technique that he says detects deceit by recording thermal patterns in people's faces. He's shown this technique to have an accuracy rate comparable to that of polygraph examination by experts, and says his method has vast potential for application in rapid or remote security screening (at airports and border crossings, for example), without the need for skilled staff or physical contact."

The Truth About Lie-Detection – What Works And What Doesn't: - Barking up the wrong tree

The Truth About Lie-Detection – What Works And What Doesn't: - Barking up the wrong tree

German scholars have pioneered Criteria Based Content Analysis (CBCA). Armed with a 19-point list of identifiers, analysts ask if the story was incoherent or disorganized. They count the number of details, how frequently the storyteller self-corrected wrong facts, or admitted not knowing something about his own story.

According to CBCA proponents, liars tell stories in chronological order to keep the facts straight. They rarely correct a misstatement, and they're less willing to say, “I don’t know.” Some scholars using CBCA can accurately predict lying as high as 78 percent of the time. But that's nowhere near perfect, and it’s not a method easily used in real-time conversation.

Another intriguing lie-detection test is Reality Monitoring. The idea behind Reality Monitoring is that a truth-teller will, without prompting, relay spatial and sensory details. They won't just say where the man stood in the room: they'll include if the man was near or far from the window, how the room smelled, the sudden bang of door slamming. Liars are creating a story intended to make sense, so they rely on logic to supply the details. For example, a truth-teller might say, “I remember he had an umbrella, because it was dripping on the floor,” while the liar would say, “Well, he must have had an umbrella with him because it rained earlier.” The liar’s story is based in a rational inference, compared to the truth-teller’s sensation. Reality Monitoring, like CBCA, has shown some surprising success.

How Vacations Affect Your Happiness - Well Blog - NYTimes.com

How Vacations Affect Your Happiness - Well Blog - NYTimes.com: "The study, published in the journal Applied Research in Quality of Life, showed that the largest boost in happiness comes from the simple act of planning a vacation. In the study, the effect of vacation anticipation boosted happiness for eight weeks."