Science

Anti-smoking TV ads should use anger

Anti-smoking television advertisements that appeal to viewers' emotions are more persuasive when they use anger rather than sadness, a Dartmouth-Cornell study suggests.
The study appears in the Journal of Health Communication.
Results showed the anger-framed ad was more effective because it increased the perceived dominance of the speaker, which increased anti-smoking attitudes and predicted strong intentions not to smoke. The findings also showed participants who watched the anger-framed message didn't find the actor likable or empathetic, but those factors were not associated with the intention to quit smoking.

Experiencing letters as colours

Scientists studying the bizarre phenomenon of synesthesia -- best described as a "union of the senses" whereby two or more of the five senses that are normally experienced separately are involuntarily and automatically joined together – have made a new breakthrough in their attempts to understand the condition.
VS Ramachandran and Elizabeth Seckel from the University of San Diego studied four synesthetes who experience colour when seeing printed letters of the alphabet. Their aim was to determine at what point during sensory processing these 'colours' appeared.
To do this, the researchers asked their synesthetes – as well as a control group – to complete three children's picture puzzles in which words were printed backwards or were not immediately visible.
When the results were processed, Ramachandran and Seckel discovered that the synesthetes were able to complete the puzzles three times faster than the control subjects, and with fewer errors. The synesthetes also revealed that they saw the obscured letters in the puzzles in the same color as they would the 'normal' letters. This process effectively clued them in to what the letters were, and allowed them to read the distorted words much more quickly than the controls could.

Photo Courtesy: Mia Consalvo World Of Warcraft

Can you tell a person's gender  by their video game avatar?

A sexy wood elf with pointy ears. A hulking ogre with blue skin. An intimidating heroine with a buxom breastplate. When it comes to computer games, players can choose to be anyone or anything. But gamers don't always mask their true identities with online avatars.
According to a new study by researchers at Concordia University, Colorado State University, Syracuse University, Hofstra University and the University of Toronto, a male gamer who chooses to play as a female character will still display signs of his true gender.
"Avatars can convey a player's sense of humour, displeasure, intrigue and interest through cues like gestures, movement and language, which can reveal real-life identity," says Mia Consalvo, one of the study's authors and a professor in Concordia's Department of Communication Studies.

Photo Courtesy: Science Daily

For some, money will not buy happiness

Many shoppers, whether they buy material items or life experiences, are no happier following the purchase than they were before, according to a new study from San Francisco State University.
Although previous research has shown experiences create greater happiness for buyers, the study suggests that certain material buyers – those who tend to purchase material goods – may be an exception to this rule. The study is detailed in an article to be published in the June edition of the Journal of Research in Personality.
“Everyone has been told if you spend your money on life experiences, it will make you happier, but we found that isn't always the case," said Ryan Howell, an associate professor of psychology at SF State and co-author of the study. "Extremely material buyers, who represent about a third of the overall population, are sort of stuck. They're not really happy with either purchase.”