Consciousness : Not Exactly Rocket Science

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Come and visit Ed Yong’s blog Not Exactly Rocket Science in its new home at Discover Blogs.

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Consciousness:

Fast food logos unconsciously trigger fast behaviour

Category: Psychology

Subliminal exposure to fast food symbols, such as McDonalds' golden arches, can increase people's reading speed. Thinking about such foods can boost preferences for time-saving goods, or for immediate gratification over long-term decisions.

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Posted by Ed Yong at 8:30 AM • 23 Comments •

Will vs. Grace - are people honest because they resist temptation or because they don't feel it?

Category: Neuroscience

According to a new brain-scanning study, honest moral decisions depend more on the absence of temptation in the first place than on people wilfully resisting these lures.

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Posted by Ed Yong at 9:40 AM • 14 Comments •

Electrical stimulation produces feelings of free will

Category: Neuroscience

Do feelings of free will originate in the parietal cortex? Electrical stimulation here produces a strong desire to move parts of the body without actually doing so. Stimulating another part, the premotor cortex, and people move without realising it.

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Posted by Ed Yong at 2:05 PM • 16 Comments •