Physically-attractive males increase men's financial risk-taking

Prior research has examined how sexual opposite-sex stimuli impact people's choices and behaviors. However, it is largely unknown whether sexual same-sex stimuli also do so. This research reports an intriguing phenomenon: men who see attractive males take greater financial risks than those who do not. An evolution-based account is proffered and tested across four experiments. In evolutionary history, men have faced greater intrasexual competition in attracting women as a mating partner. Thus, when the average heterosexual man sees males who are more physically-attractive than he is, he is motivated to increase his desirability as a mating partner to women, prompting him to accrue money, and taking financial risks helps him to do so. This research concludes by discussing the implications of the present findings for men today who are constantly bombarded by not only sexual opposite but also same-sex others, such as images that are commonly used in advertising

Coffee, tea, and caffeinated cognition

People associate coffee with urgency and tea with relaxation due to their differing levels of caffeine. Accordingly, tea anchors thoughts in the future, boosting creativity and dampening the relevance of product-related details; coffee reverses these effects. This holds when thinking about or consuming the beverages and disappears for decaffeinated drinks

Preference reversal in risky choices under time pressure

In three studies, we examine the phenomenon that time pressure leads risky decision-making to a reversal of the usual preference. In Study 1, participants with positive (negative) affect were risk-seeking (risk-averse) when there was no time pressure, but adopted risk-averse (risk-seeking) behaviours under time pressure. In Study 2, we show that it is the salience of negative information under time pressure that mediates the preference reversal. In Study 3, participants with a promotion (prevention) focus preferred prevention- (promotion-) framed and safer (riskier) choices under time pressure. Results suggest that, under time pressure, individuals tend to reverse their risk preferences, with consequences in everyday decision-making

The tyranny of utilitarian but democracy of hedonic choices

While offering choice can meet diverse consumer tastes, it can also decrease consumers’ satisfaction or motivation to choose altogether. It is unclear under which circumstances offering choice would be detrimental or beneficial for consumers. In two experiments, we find that offering utilitarian choices decreased, but offering hedonic ones increased, choice satisfaction. Offering utilitarian choices increased difficulty and depleted consumers, while offering hedonic choices increased autonomy and vitalized them. We thus suggest that the different types of choice that consumers make likely act as a moderator for the choice overload phenomenon

Communicating climate change information – in Celsius or Fahrenheit?

This research reports an intriguing finding: when told that the average global temperature was -24º C, participants thought it was more important to limit climate change than when told that the average global temperature was -16º C. This is consistent with the notion that people associate climate change primarily with rising temperatures in the cooler parts of the Earth such as the North and South Poles, which pose commonly-portrayed problems such as melting of the ice caps. However, when told that the average global temperature was -11º F, participants thought it was less important to limit climate change than when told that the average global temperature was 3º F. These findings are not consistent since -24º C is the same as -11º F and -16º C is the same as 3º F. A theoretical explanation based on numerosity and anchoring in temperature judgments is proposed

Navigating the waters: Regulating versus using feelings toward risky choices

Do happy or sad people take more risks? In three experiments, we find that happy people who regulate (use) their feelings are risk-averse (risk-seeking); meanwhile, sad people who regulate (use) their feelings are risk-seeking (risk-averse). This distinction between affect-regulation and affect-as-input reconciles past research and makes predictions regarding consumers' incidental feelings and their risk preferences

Loss aversion attenuates under time pressure

Four experiments demonstrate that loss aversion attenuates under time pressure. We posit a value function-based explanation: the loss of time under time pressure places people on the locally-convex portion of the value function, from which they consider the hedonic impact of losses to be similar to that of gains

Extending the depth of field in a compound-eye imaging system with super-resolution reconstruction

Optical device miniaturization is highly desirable in many applications. Direct down-scaling of traditional imaging system is one approach, but the extent to which it can be minimized is limited by the effect of diffraction. Compound-eye imaging system, which utilizes multiple microlenses in image capture is a promising alternative. In this paper, we explore the possibility of an incorporation of phase masks in such a system to extend the depth of field. Simulation experiments are conducted to verify the feasibility of the system. © 2006 IEEE.published_or_final_versio

On higher ground: Moral thinking leads to abstract processing

We often describe people who do the "right" thing as "on the moral high ground". Do such people see their world from a higher distance? Four experiments find that moral thinking leads to abstract processing. This research contributes to the understanding of morality from an embodied cognition perspective

Pixel super-resolution in optical time-stretch microscopy using acousto-optic deflector

Session - Biosensing and Bio-Manipulation Techniques II (BW2A): paper BW2A.7Bio-Optics: Design and Application (BODA)We present experimental demonstration of pixel super-resolution time-stretch imaging by high-speed agile-beam-steering with the use of synchronized acousto-optic deflector--enabling high-resolution imaging rate of 1MHz whereas relaxing the stringent requirement on extreme data acquisition. © 2015 OSApostprin