For the first time ever, scientists in Sweden and Norway have simulated how our emotional expressions appear to the dewy eyes of a newborn — and their finding may lay to rest a longstanding debate. “We have for many years known that newborn babies have poor eyesight, they do not discriminate colors and that [they]…
Read MoreTraining Boys to Recognize Another’s Fear Reduces Violent Crime
Written by Jessica Hamzelou for New Scientist Magazine Wide eyes and mouth agape – you might think a fearful face is easy to recognize. That doesn’t seem to be the case for people who repeatedly commit antisocial offences. For the first time, training offenders to better read facial expressions has reduced violent crime. The computer-based…
Read MoreThe Trustworthiness of an Inmate’s Face May Seal His Fate
The perceived trustworthiness of an inmate’s face may determine the severity of the sentence he receives, according to new research using photos and sentencing data for inmates in the state of Florida. The research, published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, reveals that inmates whose faces were rated as low…
Read MoreDo Apes Laugh When Tickled?
Apes often make weird sounds when they’re tickled, and some researchers now say these pants and hoots truly are related to human laughter. That’s the conclusion of a new study in the journal Current Biology that analyzed the “tickle-induced vocalizations” of infant and juvenile apes as well as human infants.