Shows
Psych PapersHot / Crazy Scale of Millennial Names (Survey Results)We surveyed a thousand people on how hot and how crazy the top 20 Millennial names are (20 boy names, 20 girl names). We show where the names line up on the hot/crazy scale.Hottest Millennial Boy Names:RyanJamesNicholasChristopherMichaelHottest Millennial Girl Names:SamanthaNicoleAmberAshleyBrittanyCraziest Millennial Boy Names:JoshuaJamesRyanAndrewTylerCraziest Millennial Girl Names:AshleySamanthaKaylaMelissaAmberCheck out the video version of this episode on YouTube.
2024-10-1519 min
Psych PapersFirst Date Norms (Survey Results)We surveyed over 500 people on first date norms. Here are the questions we’ll answer:Who should pay for the first date?What’s the preferred activity for a first date?What level of physical contact is appropriate on a first date?How late is acceptable for someone to arrive on a first date?Is it appropriate to discuss ex-partners on a first date?When should you follow up after a first date?Do people believe in ‘love at first sight’?Key Takeaways:Many people (36%) expect the man to pay. Men especially believe this.Coffee (35%) and dinner a...
2024-09-1519 min
Psych PapersDating Deal Breakers (Survey Results)We surveyed over 600 people on their dating deal breakers. We provided a list of 29 potential deal breakers and asked participants to select all that would end a relationship for themQuestion’s we’ll answer:What are the most common deal breakers in dating?How does it differ by: GenderRelationship StatusSexualitySome key highlights:Heavy drinking, smoking cigarettes, and drug use were the most cited deal breakers.Women had slightly more deal breakers, on average, compared to men.Single people had A LOT more deal breakers, on average, than people in relationships.Heterosexual people had t...
2024-08-0216 min
Psych PapersBig Kiki or Big Bouba Energy? (Kiki/Bouba Effect)The Kiki-Bouba effect is a phenomenon where people tend to associate certain sounds with specific shapes. When shown a sharp, angular shape and a soft, rounded shape, and asked which is named "Kiki" and which is "Bouba," most people will label the sharp shape as "Kiki" and the rounded shape as "Bouba." This effect suggests that there is a universal, possibly innate connection between speech sounds and the visual appearance of objects.This effect is seen across multiple languages and cultures and even observed in children and people born blind.We connect the kiki/bouba...
2024-07-1920 min
Psych PapersWhat Makes a Lamp Masculine / Feminine? (Survey Results)We surveyed over 500 people on the masculinity and femininity of different table lamps. Yup…Questions we’ll answer: What’s the most masculine lamp?What’s the most feminine lamp?What makes a lamp either masculine or feminine?Some key takeaways:Lamps do have gendered associationsMasculine lamps tend to have: Straight lines / hard edges, Darker colors, Industrial or modern design elements, Materials like metal or concrete, Minimalist or functional designFeminine lamps to have: Soft or curved shapes, Lighter colors, Decorative design elements, Materials like glass or ceramicCheck out the video version of this epis...
2024-07-0518 min
Psych PapersHow Movie Theaters Trick You Into Buying Popcorn (Decoy Effect)The decoy effect is a trick used in marketing to make you choose a more expensive option by adding a third, less attractive choice. For example, if you're deciding between a small and a large popcorn, and a medium popcorn is added at a price just below the large, you'll likely go for the large because it seems like a better deal compared to the medium. The less attractive option (the medium) is the "decoy" that makes the large popcorn look like the best choice.We discuss the different environments (movie theaters, restaurants, subscription services, etc) where...
2024-06-2114 min
Psych PapersPerceptions of Anime Fans (Survey Results)What do people think about anime fans? Do people prefer subbed or dubbed? We surveyed people on their impressions of anime and whether they think being an anime fan makes you cooler or lamer.Questions We Answer:How popular is anime?Do people prefer subbed or dubbed?How’s being an anime fan affect impressions?What age groups do people think anime is intended for?Key Findings:Anime is very popular. 75% of people have at least watched anime a few times. It’s especially popular among younger crowds.More people prefer dubbed over subbed anim...
2024-06-0721 min
Psych PapersWhat Your Phone’s Background Image Says About You (Survey Results)We conducted a survey to learn whether your phone’s background image can act as a “window to the soul.” In other words, whatever is most important to your wellbeing will most likely be your phone background. So if you want to get to know someone, take a look at their phone background.Questions we answer:What are the most common phone backgrounds?What do people value most to their well-being?Does your phone’s background image predict what you find most important to your wellbeing?Key Findings:The most common phone backgrounds are (1) Family...
2024-05-2414 min
Psych PapersWhat is Beauty? (Order and Complexity)Beauty = Order and Complexity. Think of the architecture of your favorite museum versus the architecture of a mundane apartment building. Why is one beautiful and the other isn’t? For something to be beautiful, it must have the right balance of order and complexity.Order refers to the structured, organized, and predictable aspects of an object or environment. In architecture, order can be seen in the symmetry, balance, and clear organization of elements within a building. It provides a sense of coherence and stability, making it easier for our brains to process and understand what we see....
2024-05-1020 min
Psych PapersIf You Close Your Eyes at the Dentist, You Probably Prefer Sex with Lights Off (Survey Results)Is your preference for lights on/off during sex correlated with whether you keep your eyes open or closed at the dentist? How does this differ by gender? We surveyed 500 people on these topics. Psych PhD Chris Cole and cohost Joseph Tajaran discuss the results in this episode of Psych Papers.Key Findings:People are generally split on whether they keep their eyes open (52%) or closed (48%) at the dentist. Men are slightly more likely to keep their eyes open than women.Most people prefer sex with the lights off (60%) compared to on (40%). Men are more likely...
2024-04-2622 min
Psych PapersRaising a Chimp Alongside a Baby (The Ape and the Child)In the 1930’s, a baby chimpanzee was raised as a sibling to a 10-month old infant. Winthrop Kellogg treated the the ape, Gua, as similarly as possible to his own son, Donald. They were dressed, bathed, fed, and taught in the same manner; they both wore diapers and shoes, had similar play toys, and both received a kiss goodnight.Kellogg examined the effects of nature versus nurture on development. We discuss the tests and measures used to compare the cognitive and physical growth of the chimpanzee and the child. Tests ranged from harmless to unethical and dangerous....
2024-04-1230 min
Psych PapersAnalysis of Rotten Tomatoes Movie ReviewsWe analyzed Rotten Tomatoes Movie Ratings and discuss our findings. The scraped dataset has data on 1.1 million reviews from 17.7k movies from 1914–2020.Here’s a sample of our findings:Documentaries were the highest rated movie genres, followed by “Art House & International, Drama”. Horror genres were ranked lowest.“Action & Adventure, Drama” and “Comedy” movies were the only genres that audiences liked more than critics.G-rated movies had the highest median ratings. As maturity ratings increased (PG, PG-13, R) movie ratings generally decreased.Older movies (1920-1960) were rated higher than more recent movies (1990-2010).Here are some of our takeaways...
2024-03-2922 min
Psych PapersWhen Children Become Aware of Their Own Bodies (Shopping Cart Study)The Shopping Cart Study investigates how toddlers develop awareness of their own bodies. Developed by Chris Moore and colleagues in 2007, the task examine when a sense of self develops in babies. At what age do children begin to understand how their bodies interact with the world?The shopping cart task involves tying a small rug onto the back of a toy shopping cart, right by the back wheels. If you tried to push the cart, you’d be standing on the rug which would make it impossible to push the cart. In order to push the cart, yo...
2024-03-1522 min
Psych PapersWhen Do Children Recognize Themselves in a Mirror? (The Rouge Test)In developmental psychology, the Rouge Test is used to test self-recognition in children. We discuss the origins and significance of this classic test which assesses a child’s ability to identify themselves in a mirror.Developed by Gordon Gallup Jr in 1970, using rouge makeup, an experimenter discreetly puts a red dot on the child’s face. Then the child is placed in front of a mirror to see how they react. Babies between 6-12 months will typically see a “playmate” in the mirror that they try to interact with. But babies around 18 months old will look in the mirr...
2024-03-0117 min
Psych PapersWhy People Believe Horoscopes and Mediums (The Barnum Effect)The Barnum Effect is the tendency for people to accept vague and general personality descriptions as highly accurate and personally meaningful. “Barnum statements” are general characterizations that people believe to be true about themselves, even though these statements could apply to just about anyone. It’s commonly exploited in astrology / horoscopes, fortune telling, psychics, mediums, tarot card readers, palm readers, and other con artists.Bertram Forer identified the effect in 1948 with a classic psychological study which gave people personality surveys followed by bogus personality feedback. Every participant received the exact same personality feedback which they rated to be hig...
2024-02-1624 min
Psych PapersWhat Sports Do Rich Kids Play? (Survey Results)How do sports and income relate? Specifically, how do the sports you played in high school relate with your household income. Which sports do more educated parents have their kids play? We surveyed 500 US high school graduates about what sports they played in high school, their parents’ household income, and their parents’ highest education achieved.Key Findings:The rich kids played hockey. Hockey and income had the strongest correlation, meaning the wealthier your family was, the more likely you were to play hockey. This makes sense given the amount of equipment and facilities needed to play.Socc...
2024-02-0218 min
Psych PapersWhy Do Children Make Scale Errors?Scale errors refer to a hilarious phenomenon in developmental psychology where young children make errors in judging the relationship between the size of an object and the size of their own body. What this looks like is a child seriously trying to sit in a doll house chair, trying to get inside of like a hot wheels car, and trying to put doll shoes on their own feet.Psych PhD Chris Cole and cohost Joseph Tajaran discuss how scale errors were discovered and what is going on in a child’s mind when they commit these errors....
2024-01-1917 min
Psych PapersHow People Perceive Aesthetic DesignsJoseph Tajaran (Designer & Chris’s friend) and Chris Cole (Psych PhD) go over how aesthetics impact functionality in design. More specifically, they go over the aesthetic-usability effect and specific examples of how this happens in design:Contour Bias: people are biased towards curved over sharp formsOckham’s Razor: the philosophy of leveraging the smallest amount of elementsSignal-to-Noise Ratio: maximizing the most functional elements of a design.Check out the video version of this episode on YouTube.
2024-01-0523 min
Psych PapersHow do food preferences differ by gender? (Survey Results)Why do men prefer black coffee? We ran a survey of over 500 people to see how their food preferences and gender interact. Psych PhD Chris Cole and cohost Joseph Tajaran review the results in this episode of Psych Papers. The food takes we surveyed are:How do you like your coffee?Pancakes vs waffles?For buffalo wings: blue cheese vs ranch?For buffalo wings: boneless vs bone-in?Favorite type of french fry?What level of doneness for your steak?Corn vs flour tortilla?For ice cream: waffle cone, sugar cone, or cake cone?Check out the video...
2023-12-1835 min
Psych PapersAn Analysis of Joe Rogan Fans (Survey Results)Is being a Joe Rogan fan a red flag in dating? Do Democrats or Republicans like Joe Rogan more? Why do Joe Rogan haters dislike him so much?We conducted a quantitative survey of 1000 people and analyzed how people think about Joe Rogan. Psych PhD Chris Cole and cohost Joseph Tajaran discuss the results in this episode of Psych Papers. Here are some highlights:1. Most people, that have heard of him, like Joe Rogan at least a little.2. More women dislike Joe Rogan, and more men like Joe Rogan3. Republicans like...
2023-12-0426 min
Psych Papers3 Debunked Psychology Concepts (Power Posing, 10% Brain Myth, Opposites Attract)Psych PhD Chris Cole and cohost Joseph Tajaran go over 3 popular myths in psychology that have been debunked.Power posing: The idea that body language can influence confidence and behavior.10% brain myth: The misconception that we only use 10% of our brains.Opposites attract: The idea that people with contrasting personalities are drawn to each other.Check out the video version of this episode on YouTube.
2023-11-2020 min
Psych PapersWhen ethics become a luxury (Good Samaritan Study)The Good Samaritan Study shows most people forget about ethics/virtues when they’re preoccupied. Seminary students were less likely to help someone in need if they were in a rush. And it didn’t even matter if they were actively thinking about ethics and virtues.Psych PhD Chris Cole and cohost Joseph Tajaran discuss the Good Samaritan Study conducted by Batson and Darley (1973). This was a landmark study in a field within social psychology called prosocial helping.Check out the video version of this episode on YouTube.
2023-11-0622 min
Psych PapersExploring Child Development: Object Permanence, Theory of Mind, & ConservationHow do infants develop the cognitive super powers that enable them to navigate the world? Psych PhD Chris Cole and cohost Joseph Tajaran discuss our 3 favorite developmental psychology concepts.Object permanence: The understanding that objects continue to exist even when no longer visible. Develops between 7-12 months of age. Tested with the A-Not-B Task.Theory of Mind: The ability to understand that others have thoughts, beliefs, desires, and intentions that may differ from your own. Develops between 4-5 years of age. Tested with the False Belief Task.Conservation: The ability to understand that certain physical properties of objects...
2023-10-2319 min
Psych Papers5 Ways Psychologists Induce Social ExclusionHow do psychologists induce social exclusion in participants? Psych PhD Chris Cole and cohost Joseph Tajaran discuss 5 ways psychologists have induced feelings of social exclusion in participants. Methods broadly fall into 3 categories: 1) having participants interact other individuals; 2) having participants interact with computer-controlled avatars (who participants believe are real people); 3) written material manipulations (Chris’s favorite). Researchers seem like they have a fun time coming up with creative ways of making people feel awful about themselves :)Check out the video version of this episode on YouTube.
2023-10-0931 min
Psych PapersWho’s Lonelier? Liberals or Conservatives? (Survey Results)We surveyed over 600 people on their loneliness and compare their scores across personality traits and demographic groups. How does loneliness differ between men and women? Dog vs cat people? Social media users vs non-social media suers? Psych PhD Chris Cole and cohost Joseph Tajaran learn that most people are generally equally and moderately lonely.Check out the video version of this episode on YouTube.
2023-09-2528 min
Psych PapersThe Pit of Despair / Depression in Monkeys (Harlow’s Monkey Study Pt 2)Harlow created the Pit of Despair to produce an animal model of human clinical depression. Monkeys were isolated in the chambers for up to a year, having zero interaction with the outside world. Expectedly, these social animals came out quite disturbed…Psych PhD Chris Cole and cohost Joseph Tajaran discuss Harry Harlow’s early life, the multiple versions of the pit of despair he created, and we learn about the reactions to the study. This study has become one of the most infamously unethical psychology studies to date.Check out the video version of this epis...
2023-09-1127 min
Psych PapersWhich Boys’ and Girls’ Names Would Win in a Fight? (Survey Results)How important is your name to your identity? In this episode, we review the history of names and our follow-up research on how much people like their names; whether name length influences name liking; and which boys’ names and girls’ names would win in a fight.We found that people tend to like their names more when they are longer (more characters); and that names like Anthony and Brianna would be most likely to win in a fight.Check out the video version of this episode on YouTube.
2023-09-0423 min
Psych PapersThe Mouse Massacre (Carney Landis Facial Expressions Experiment)How does a study on facial expressions turn into a study on obedience to authority? It started as research to examine whether people have common facial expressions when experiencing different emotions—but then it turned into something much darker, making it one of the most unethical psychology studies. Psych PhD Chris Cole and cohost Joseph Tajaran discuss the Carney Landis experiment and the disturbing methods this researcher used to elicit emotional reactions. It was conducted in 1924 so you KNOW it was MESSED up. Check out the video version of this episode on YouTube.
2023-08-2823 min
Psych PapersTrolley Problem: All Dogs in the World vs One Person (Survey Results)If an out-of-control trolley was heading straight for a dog tied to the tracks, but you could pull a lever to divert the trolley onto a track with a person tied to the tracks, would you do it? What if it was a hundred dogs? How about all the dogs in the world? Psych PhD Chris Cole and cohost Joseph Tajaran discuss the follow-up research we conducted where we surveyed over 300 people to examine these questions.This research was inspired by the previous Psych Papers episode on the bystander effect: https://youtu.be/pCA9fdwaTdU...
2023-08-2116 min
Psych PapersPsychology of why people don’t help in emergencies (Bystander Effect)If you witness an emergency, would you intervene? What if other people were present? Research shows most people wouldn’t help if others are around. Psych PhD Chris Cole and cohost Joseph Tajaran discuss the bystander effect, Kitty Genovese, and the research surrounding these topics conducted by Darley and Latané in 1968. Researchers were interested in why people are less likely to intervene in an emergency if other people are present, and it has to do with the diffusion of responsibility.Follow-Up Research: This episode’s follow-up research will be released in a separate episode! It’ll be on the...
2023-08-1425 min
Psych Papers8 Ways Psychologists Have Manipulated AggressionHow is aggression induced and measured in psychology research? Psych PhD Chris Cole and cohost Joseph Tajaran discuss 5 ways psychologists have measured aggression and 3 ways they’ve induced aggression. From pouring hot sauce on a victim’s meal to sticking pins in a voodoo doll of your significant other, researchers have gotten creative in measuring how much somebody wants to harm another person.Check out the video version of this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/XAJNcZO60IE
2023-08-0725 min
Psych PapersJudges’ verdicts can be swayed by lunch (Hungry Judge Effect)Are judicial rulings based solely on laws and facts? While judges are supposed to be rational, mechanical, and deliberative, they are also humans and are prone to being “hangry”. Psych PhD Chris Cole and cohost Joseph Tajaran discuss the “The Hungry Judge Effect” where researchers Danziger, Levav, and Avnaim-Pesso tested this idea in the context of parole decisions made by experienced judges. They wanted to see how extraneous factors, such as lunch or a snack break, can sway a judge’s decision on whether a prisoner receives parole or not.Follow-Up Research: We surveyed over 300 people to learn what...
2023-07-3124 min
Psych PapersLeading questions can alter your memory (Car Crash Experiment)How reliable are our memories of past events? Are there situations in which we can’t trust our own memories? Psych PhD Chris Cole and cohost Joseph Tajaran discuss the Car Crash Memory Experiment (Loftus & Primer, 1974) which tested whether a leading question can influence a person’s memory of an event. Can you implant memories based on how you ask somebody about a past event? Participants watched a video of a car crash and then answered questions about their memory of the car crash. Depending on how questions were worded (e.g., “How fast was the car going when it [bu...
2023-07-2424 min
Psych PapersChildren will imitate aggressive adults (Bandura’s Bobo Doll Study)How do children learn aggressive behaviors? How much do we imitate the behaviors of others? Psych PhD Chris Cole and cohost Joseph Tajaran discuss Bandura’s Bobo Doll Experiment (1961) which tested whether children will imitate an adult physically abusing a “Bobo Doll.”Follow-Up Research: How much does physical resemblance matter when it comes to positive role models? Our follow-up research explored people’s favorite fictional characters and their physical resemblance to them. Turns out, people look up to positive role models that look like them!Check out the video version of this episode on YouTube.
2023-07-1725 min
Psych PapersShe taught third graders what racism feels like (Blue Eyes Brown Eyes Study)How do we learn how to treat others? Can prejudice be learned? Can it be unlearned? What would that look like in a third grade classroom? Psych PhD Chris Cole and cohost Joseph Tajaran discuss educator and activist Jane Elliot's "Blue Eyes Brown Eyes" study. Elliot wanted to identify if prejudice could be learned by dividing her class into 2 arbitrary groups and subjecting one group to discrimination.Follow-Up Research: Examining the Influence of Disney Fandom on Attitudes towards Diversity in Traditional Fairy Tales. Our study surveyed over 300 individuals to investigate the potential association between Disney fandom and...
2023-07-1035 minPsych PapersThe nature of love… in monkeys (Harlow’s Monkey Study)What is the nature of love? How does love develop between an infant and a caregiver? Psych PhD Chris Cole and cohost Joseph Tajaran discuss Harlow’s Monkey Experiment (1958). Harlow tested monkeys on cloth and wire mothers to examine what are the precise ingredients needed for a loving infant-caregiver bond to form. And what is thei r relative importance?Follow-Up Research: Which species of monkey is most likely to do hard drugs? Most likely to be a flat-earther? We paid over 300 people to answer these questions. Yes, we know this follow-up research was a bit… different. Sometimes it’s...
2023-07-0335 min
Psych PapersHumans conform to obviously wrong answers (Asch Line Conformity Test)In what situations do humans conform to the group? When will we change our attitudes and behaviors merely to fit in? We go over the "Asch Conformity Test." Conducted in 1951, it explored whether people will conform to an obviously incorrect response when the group is an agreement of the obviously incorrect response. Follow-Up Research: We facilitated follow-up research that explored how conformity differs between personality types (e.g., dog vs cat people; coffee vs tea lovers; early birds vs night owls). Check out the video version of this episode on YouTube.
2023-06-2631 min
Psych PapersHow do you know when you’re full? (Bottomless Soup Bowl Study)How do people know when they're full? It might be more complicated than simply listening to your body. Visual cues, such as seeing the number of bowls of soup you've eaten, may contribute to this phenomenon. We review the "Bottomless Soup Bowl" study (Wansink et al., 2005).Follow-Up Research: What does the sound of a flute taste like? We surveyed people on what they thought the sounds of different instruments would taste like and present the results of our research.It should be noted that much of the research conducted by Brian Wansink has either been...
2023-06-1937 min
Psych PapersThey conditioned FEAR into an infant (Little Albert Study)How do we develop fears? Are they innate or do we learn them? We talk about Watson's dubious Little Albert study (1920). Watson and his team tested if they could condition fear into an infant named Albert using classical conditioning (e.g., Pavlov's dog). Homeboy basically bangs on loud sounds to make a baby cry. Messed up stuff.Follow-Up Research: Are liberals more scared of zombies than conservatives? Are women more scared of drowning than men? We discuss our own follow-up research about how common are different fears and how they differ between groups (gender, political affiliation, temperament...
2023-06-1238 min
Psych PapersPeople obeyed orders to shock an innocent person (Milgram Obedience to Authority)Would the average person commit a heinous act if they were ordered by an authority figure? Psych PhD Chris Cole and cohost Joseph Tajaran discuss the infamous "Milgram obedience to authority experiment (1963)." In this study, psychologist Stanley Milgram wanted to learn about whether the average person would commit an immoral act if an authority figure ordered them to. Follow-Up Research: Does "following orders" mitigate any blame for an immoral act? Does it matter if we're evaluating ourselves versus a coworker? How does age influence perceptions of responsibility? We discuss our own follow-up research on whether people accept...
2023-06-0546 min