Are her eyes narrowed or widened? Is his mouth turned up or down? We habitually scan for such apparent signals when we look for reliable clues leading to the emotional stance or shifts of other people. In reality, facial features are not the only source of the signals that we are looking for. Researchers Zachary Witkower and Jessica Tracy (University of British Columbia) have demonstrated that we also draw social inferences from the head itself. Tilting one’s head downward would systematically change the way the face is perceived. It appears to be more domineering when the head is tilted down because it leads to the artificial appearance of lowered and V-shaped eyebrows, which in turn brings about perceptions of aggression, intimidation, and dominance. These findings suggest that a neutral face (a face with no muscle movement or distinct expression) alone could still be quite communicative. “Subtle shifts of the head can have profound effects on social perception, partly because they can have large effects on the appearance of the face”.
SNEAK PEEK
1. Side vision: One
When we take a walk, our peripheral visual input provides clues about our direction and speed. There is also a clear link between creativity and eye movements. Who discovered that people tend to blink more often when they move around, compared to being at rest?
Ans: Dr. Barbara Händel (Julius Maximilian University)
2. Side vision: Two
Our side vision is less accurate and detailed compared to the center of the visual field. We may not notice the difference as our visual system fills in some of what we “see” in the periphery. Who proposed that a large part of the periphery may become a visual illusion?
Ans: Psychologist Marte Otten (University of Amsterdam)
3. Light in the womb
Babies in the womb can detect light long before their eyes can see images. Light-sensitive cells in their retina are trying to code for many different intensities of light. This means “encoding much more information than people had previously thought”. Who figured this out?
Ans: UC Berkeley molecular biologist Marla Feller
4. Flexibility structure
In the city you’ve grown up in, you can unerringly take a shortcut even if you’ve never tried it before because your brain represents the spatial layout of the city. The flexibility with which we can apply knowledge to new tasks is likely due to such a structure. Who noted it?
Ans: Stephanie Theves (Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences)
5. As the world ends
You sit next to a stranger on a plane. You keep mum all the way, but you strike up a conversation with the stranger as the plane hits the runway, knowing the end is in sight. Who noted that people will tend to lock arms and sing in an end-of-the-world video game scenario?
Ans: Computer scientist Ah Reum Kang (University at Buffalo)
6. Over-correcting
A new study has shown that racial bias could work in an unexpected way. White people are more likely to label a Black person, than a White person, as a truth-teller. This happens through a process of “over-correcting for their anticipated racial bias”. Who led the study?
Ans: Psychologist E. Paige Lloyd (Miami University)
7. With half of the brain
People can survive after the removal of one of their brain hemispheres. In them, the remaining half-of-the-brain forms unusually strong connections between different functional networks, but a very small brain lesion can have devastating effects on them. Who found it?
Ans: Dorit Kliemann (California Institute of Technology)
8. Cognition of cooking
Did cooking evolve from our unique ability to control fire? Chimpanzees can’t control fire but have the cognitive capacity for cooking. Who suggested that, even before learning how to control fire, early hominins “could reason about the outcomes of putting food on fire”?
Ans: Yale University psychologist Alexandra Rosati
9. Bee stuck in water
When a bee accidentally lands on a pond’s surface, the water sticks to its wings. It can’t fly, but the stickiness allows the bee to drag water. The motion of the wings creates a wave that the bee’s body is able to ride forward. In short, the bee surfs. Who reported the feat?
Ans: Caltech’s aeronautics expert Mory Gharib
[ANSWERS]
1. Dr. Barbara Händel (Julius Maximilian University)
2. Psychologist Marte Otten (University of Amsterdam)
3. UC Berkeley molecular biologist Marla Feller
4. Stephanie Theves (Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences)
5. Computer scientist Ah Reum Kang (University at Buffalo)
6. Psychologist E. Paige Lloyd (Miami University)
7. Dorit Kliemann (California Institute of Technology)
8. Yale University psychologist Alexandra Rosati
9. Caltech’s aeronautics expert Mory Gharib
QUIZ No. 931
1. Who proposed that NASA astronauts’ exercise plan can help cancer patients better?
– Jessica Scott
– Herbert Spencer Gasser
– Theodore Garland
1. Jessica Scott
2. Who suggested that lichens likely evolved millions of years after the arrival of plants?
– Louis-Ovide Brunet
– Giovanni Battista Balbis
– Matthew Nelsen
2. Matthew Nelsen
3. A dragonfly’s reaction time to maneuvering prey is just 50 milliseconds. Who noted it?
– Akito Kawahara
– William Harris Ashmead
– Alfred Edwin Eaton
3. Akito Kawahara
4. Which famed sociologist has been called the “father of sociology” in another country?
– E. Digby Baltzell
– Peter Shawn Bearman
– Ulf Himmelstrand
4. Ulf Himmelstrand
5. Which politician once said that those who did not vote for his party would go to hell?
– Michael Malchieli
– Rabbi Meshulam Nahari
– Shimon Baadani
5. Shimon Baadani