A new system for monitoring handwashing has revealed that patients in hospitals only wash their hands about 30 per cent of the time while using the washroom. The study used electronic transponders attached to hospital bracelets and soap and hand sanitizer dispensers; by picking up ultrasonic signals from these devices, researchers could track who was […]
Tag: human behaviour
Rock art of ages – cave paintings from Indonesia
Cave paintings on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi date back nearly 40,000 years, on par with the oldest known human artwork from caves in Europe. The paintings include stencils of hands that date back as far as 39,900 years ago, making them the oldest known hand stencils. The paintings also include representations of a babirusa, […]
How preschoolers choose who to trust
A new study indicates precisely when children begin to use logic instead of emotion to judge how trustworthy someone is. Children four years old and younger tend to believe information provided by a confident adults much more readily than adults who are hesitant. However, the study showed that beginning around age five, children increasingly trust […]
Roots of culture: How chimps learn from each other
It’s long been suspected that tool use in chimps is passed on socially, but a new study catches them in the act and puts a number on the impact. Researchers observing chimps in Uganda noticed that when one adult male discovered a new way of using leaves and moss to soak up water for drinking, […]
Canadian researcher wins Ig Nobel prize for explaining “Jesus toast”
Kang Lee, a professor at the University of Toronto’s Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study, has won an Ig Nobel prize for explaining why people have a tendency to see faces in ordinary objects, such as the face of Jesus in toast. In a paper published earlier this year, Lee’s team showed that the […]
Cannabis impacts on teenagers
Daily users of cannabis before age 17 are over 60% less likely to complete high school or obtain a degree compared to those who have never used the drug, a new review of literature shows. The authors reviewed 290 reports on cannabis use in teenagers published since 2004. The authors conclude that adolescent cannabis use […]
Humans and pigeons gamble in similar ways
A new study shows that when it comes to gambling and taking risks, humans and pigeons have more in common than you might think. The study had pigeons and humans choose between different coloured options to receive a reward. Through experience they learned that some colours gave guaranteed rewards, while others gave risky (probabilistic) rewards, i.e. […]
World Cup science: Goalkeepers follow predicable patterns during shootouts
Soccer goalkeepers in penalty shootouts behave in a predictable way, a new study shows. The authors analysed all 361 kicks from the 37 penalty shootouts that occurred in World Cup and Euro Cup matches over a 36-year period (1976-2012). They found out that following repeated kicks in the same direction, goalkeepers became increasingly likely to […]
Measuring anxiety with optical illusions
A classic optical illusion has provided insight into how anxiety influences our view of the world. Researchers used animated stick figures to assess participants’ perceptions. These figures have no depth, allowing them to be perceived as either walking toward the viewer (i.e. more hostile) or away (less hostile). Participants who had completed an anxiety reduction task (breathing […]
Dental plaque reveals ancient human diets
Dental plaque from ancient human burial sites in Sudan has provided clues as to what humans ate nearly 10,000 years ago. Chemical analysis of the plaque found specific substances – called terpenoids – that are unique to a plant called purple nut sedge. While considered a weed today, the analysis indicates it was an important […]
How smell can relieve shopping anxiety
Researchers have found that smelling something reminiscent of an open space can relieve anxiety among people shopping in a crowded store, and vice versa. 197 students were invited to a mock shopping space that was either crowded or arranged in a mostly empty, minimalist design. The subjects shopping in a crowded space reported that smells […]
