Music Preferences and Personality (06-15-18)
Nave, Minxha, Kosinski, Greenberg, Rentfrow, and Stillwell conducted research linking opinions about particular types of music and personality—it’s interesting to consider potential applications of their findings beyond music. The investigators found that “high-openness people . . . liked mostly sophisticated music. We define this as music that is inspiring, complex and dynamic. It comprises mostly classical, operatic, world and jazz pieces. The high-openness people, on the other hand, disliked . . . mellow music, which is defined as romantic, relaxing and slow, and comprises soft rock, R&B, and adult contemporary musical pieces. High-openness people also disliked music that we defined as contemporary, which is electric, not sad, and comprises genres such as rap, electronic dance music, Latin and Europop pieces. Extroverts, on the other hand, liked music that we called unpretentious. This represents music that is uncomplicated, relaxing and acoustic. It comprises country, folk and singer/songwriter pieces.” Some definitions of the personality dimensions used by researchers: “people who are high in openness have more intellectual curiosity, creativity and prefer novelty and variety. . . . extroverts have more energy, assertiveness, sociability [than introverts], and they tend to seek stimulus in the company of others.”
“From Bach to Rock: How Music Preferences Predict Behavior.” 2018. Knowledge@Wharton, http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/musical-preferences-and-perso...
Overheard Conversations (06-14-18)
People developing or using sound masking systems will be intrigued by Marsh and team’s research related to overheard conversations. The Marsh-lead group determined that “Overhearing a telephone conversation—whereby only one of the two speakers is heard—is subjectively more annoying and objectively more distracting than overhearing a full conversation. The present study sought to determine whether this “halfalogue” effect is attributable to unexpected offsets and onsets within the background speech (acoustic unexpectedness) or to the tendency to predict the unheard part of the conversation (semantic [un]predictability).” In experiments conducted “The halfalogue effect was only present for the meaningful speech condition. . . . The halfalogue effect is thus attributable to the semantic (un)predictability, not the acoustic unexpectedness, of background telephone conversation.”
John Marsh, Robert Ljung, Helena Jahncke, Douglas MacCutcheon, Florian Pausch, Linden Ball, and Francois Vachon. 2018. “Why Are Background Telephone Conversations Distracting?” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 222-235, http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xap0000170
More Research on Symmetry (06-13-18)
Leder and team’s research provides nuanced insights into human beings’ responses to symmetry. The investigators learned that when they had people with an expertise related to art (artists and art historians) and people without a background in art view mandala-like designs that were symmetrical or not, and simple or complex that “non-art experts evaluated the symmetrical–complex stimuli as most beautiful, followed in descending order by symmetrical–simple, asymmetrical–complex, and asymmetrical–simple stimuli. This was an expected pattern of responses that has been previously shown to be largely stable that is for non-art expert participants. What was surprising, however, was that both groups of experts showed a contrasting, even reversed, pattern of responses: Unlike the non-art experts who found symmetrical and complex stimuli to be most beautiful, the art experts found asymmetrical and simple stimuli to be most beautiful.”
Helmut Leder, Pablo Tinio, David Brieber, Tonio Kroner, Thomas Jacobsen, and Raphael Rosenberg. “Symmetry Is Not a Universal Law of Beauty.” Empirical Studies of the Arts, DOI: 10.1177/0276237418777941
Light at Night and Metabolism (06-12-18)
Mason. Zee, Grimaldi, Reid, and Malkani’s research confirms that being in a space that has much light in it at night can be bad for our health. Their findings indicate the value of black out-type curtains at night, particularly in urban areas, and shielding patients in hospitals from nighttime light, for example. The Mason-lead team determined that “nighttime light exposure during sleep may affect metabolic function. . . . ‘a single night of light exposure during sleep acutely impacts measures of insulin resistance,’ said lead author . . . Mason. . . . ‘Light exposure overnight during sleep has been shown to disrupt sleep, but these data indicate that it may also have the potential to influence metabolism.’” During the data collection period participants were assigned randomly to group “Dark-Dark (DD) or Dark-Light (DL). . . .The DL group . . . slept in the dark < 3 lux on Night 1 and slept in overhead room light of 100 lux on Night 2, while the DD group . . . slept in the dark <3 lux on both Nights 1 and 2.” Insulin resistance relates to the “ability of cells to respond to insulin action transporting glucose out of the bloodstream and [impairment] precedes the development of type 2 diabetes.” Study findings were presented at the 2018 meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies on June 4.
“Light Exposure During Sleep May Increase Insulin Resistance.” 2018. Press release, American Academy of Sleep Medicine, https://aasm.org/light-exposure-during-sleep-may-increase-insulin-resist...
Professional Signals (06-08-18)
Research completed by Petrilli, Chopra, Saint, Kuhn, Snyder, Jennings, and Carusoindicates that the clothing worn by healthcare professionals influences the impressions people form of them—it seems probable that what the Petrilli team learned applies to other professionals and also to impressions formed via workplace design. A press release from the University of Michigan related to the Petrilli-lead team study reports that “Just over half of the 4,062 patients surveyed in the clinics and hospitals of 10 major medical centers said that what physicians wear is important to them — and more than one-third said it influences their satisfaction with their care. . . . The study also asked patients to look at pictures of male and female physicians in seven different forms of attire, and to imagine them in both inpatient and outpatient clinical settings. For each photo, they rated the providers on how knowledgeable, trustworthy, caring and approachable the physician appeared, and how comfortable the attire made the patient feel.” The options presented can be viewed at the web address noted below. In short, patients “prefer physicians in business attire and a white coat, or at least scrubs and a white coat.” There was some variation in preferences based on situation and region; for example, “patients in the Northeast and Midwest were less insistent on white coats and formal attire — 38 percent and 40 percent preferred it in these regions, compared with 50 percent in the West and 51 percent in the South.”
Kara Gavin. 2018. “What Doctors Wear Really Does Matter to Patients.” Press release, University of Michigan, https://labblog.uofmhealth.org/rounds/what-doctors-wear-really-does-matt...
Circadian Lighting Insights (06-07-18)
Robert Soler’s presentation at Lightfair in Chicago (May 9) reviewed important findings from peer-reviewed research on circadian lighting. The slides he used during his session are a useful reference and are available via the web address noted below. A particularly interesting section of Soler’s presentation related to the spatial distribution of light in a space. As the notes available with Soler’s slides indicate, with interior circadian lighting, “During the Day time, light up your ‘sky’ . . . During the Night time, darken your “sky” and light your ‘fire’. . .Focus light on horizontal surfaces.”
Robert Soler. 2018. “The Truth About Circadian Light 2.0.” Lightfair, Chicago, May 9, https://bioslighting.com/downloads/
Retail/Restaurant Art (06-06-18)
Oh, Lee, Kim, and Choo investigated how people are influenced by restaurant art. The research team determined that “the effect of attitudes toward an artwork on behavioral intentions is amplified when consumers’ art knowledge and levels of openness to experience are low. . . how consumers perceive an artwork . . . is powerful in leading them to enter a store and have desirable consumption experiences. Retailers can also enhance consumer experience by selecting artworks based on target consumers’ level of art knowledge and openness to experience.” So, opinions about art in view have a larger effect on behavior among people when they know relatively little about art and their openness to experience (described here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Openness_to_experience) is low.
Hyunjoo Oh, Ha Lee, Jimin Kim, and Ho Choo. “Effects of Art in Retail Environments.” The International Review of Retail Distribution and Consumer Research, in press, https://doi.org/10.1080/09593969.2018.1441893
More Reasons Art Matters (06-05-18)
Kim and Kim learned more about how viewing art influences how we think. They found that “artistic cues lead participants to consider more abstract features than concrete features. . . . The activated abstract mindset trigged by artistic cues can provoke prosocial choice.” Prosocial thinking is focused on the welfare of other people. More information on Kim and Kim’s findings: “exposure to artistic (vs. nonartistic) cues, promotes an abstract (vs. concrete) mindset. . . . concrete thoughts [relate] to objective, observable, and subordinate information regarding the stimuli (e.g., color, composition, material, size, arrangement, and any physical traits of the stimulus) . . . abstract thoughts, [relate] to less observable and superordinate information based on participants’ interpretations of the stimuli (e.g., emotion, usage, genre, general understanding, subjective judgment, or interpretation).” During the data collection process, study participants viewed either Magritt’s painting titled “Personal Values” or Kandinsky’s painting titled “Yellow-Red-Blue.” The “nonart” presented to study participants was an image of mundane objects similar to those in the Magritt painting. They included, for example a blue glass cup as the painting does.
Dooie Kim and Sang-Hoon Kim. 2018. “Art Beyond Art’s Sake: The Influence of Artistic Cues on Prosocial Choice.” Empirical Studies of the Arts, vol. 36, no. 1, pp. 22-40, DOI: 10.1177/0276237416689663
Photos and Memories (06-01-18)
Soares and Storm investigated how taking a photo influences remembering what’s shown in that photograph. The researchers report that earlier studies have shown “A photo-taking-impairment effect . . . such that participants are less likely to remember objects they photograph than objects they only observe.” In their study, Soares and Storm determined that ”participants exhibited a significant photo-taking-impairment effect even though they did not expect to have access to the photos. In fact, the effect was just as large as when participants believed they would have access to the photos.” So, whether study participants thought they would be able to look at photographs in the future or not be able to do so did not affect memories of objects photographed. In both cases, taking the photographs was linked to degraded memories. Many professionals take photographs in the course of their work, and Soares and Storm’s findings suggest modifications in their work processes are in order. For example, when photographs are necessary, one person on a team may be designated as the group photographer and the other members may be “prohibited” from taking photos. It’s important to note that when people are wearing cameras that automatically take photographs, this memory effect is not found.
Julia Soares and Benjamin Storm. 2018. “Forget in a Flash: A Further Investigation of the Photo-Taking-Impairment Effect.” Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, vol. 7, o. 1, pp. 154-160, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2017.10.004
Anyone with a pet “companion” or who is designing a space/object that will be used by pets can apply recently completed research that provides insights into how scenes might appear to various animals. Researchers from Duke report that “Compared with many animals, human eyes aren’t particularly adept at distinguishing colors or seeing in dim light. But by one measure at least -- something called visual acuity -- human eyes can see fine details that most animals can’t. . . .A new study of animal vision [published in Trends in Ecology and Evolution] compared hundreds of species by the sharpness of their sight. . . . Researchers . . . estimate[d] visual acuity based on an animal’s eye anatomy -- such as the spacing and density of light-sensing structures -- or using behavioral tests. The limit of detail that human eyes can resolve is about 60 cycles per degree, which helps us make out road signs and recognize faces from afar. Chimpanzees and other primates can pick out similarly fine patterns. . . . Humans can resolve four to seven times more detail than dogs and cats.” Visit the web address below for images that illustrate, literally, inter-species differences identified.
“Details That Look Sharp to People May Be Blurry to Their Pets.” 2018. Press release, Duke University, https://today.duke.edu/2018/05/details-look-sharp-people-may-be-blurry-t...
Human beings’ performance levels vary in predictable ways during the day, and so do their moods. These variations are relevant to the work of design researchers trying to assess the implications of design decisions made, for example. As Weir reports “one’s cognitive performance fluctuates in predictable patterns throughout the course of a day. . . . [research by Golder and Macy indicated that] the average Twitter user had a happiness spike around breakfast, but a grumpy slump in later afternoon and perked up again after dinner. . . . ‘We found an incredibly robust pattern, across diverse cultures all over the world,’ Macy says. . . . [Chen and colleagues found that] financial executives and analysts were upbeat in the morning and became more negative as the day wore on. Those mood changes led the analysts to make more errors related to stock pricing in the afternoon.” Also, “People’s cognitive abilities fluctuate throughout the day in accordance with their personal circadian patterns. . . . tasks that require focus and analytic thought are best tackled at peak times. Creative endeavors . . . might best be undertaken at off-peak times.”
Kirsten Weir. 2018. “Good Timing.”Monitor on Psychology, vol. 49, no. 6, pp. 52-57.
Apparent Size and Visual Complexity (05-25-18)
Visual complexity influences the apparent size of objects; items seen against complex backdrops seem smaller than those seen against simpler ones. Ketron found that “high visual complexity decreases consumer size perceptions of a focal product . . . high complexity pulls consumer attention away from the focal product. This . . . leads consumers to perceptually minimize size to avoid information overload . . . when larger perceived sizes are more desirable for a product category, a reduction in the visual complexity surrounding the product would be more desirable. . . . when perceived sizes may benefit from a decrease (i.e., apparel), enhancing the visual complexity surrounding the product can help to achieve this effect. . . . decorated mirrors or visually complex reflections in those mirrors could lead to smaller body size perceptions and boosted self-esteem.”
Seth Ketron. “Perceived Product Sizes in Visually Complex Environments.” Journal of Retailing, in press, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2018.04.001
Electronic or Physical: Differences in Experiences (05-24-18)
Our experiences with electronic and physical things differ. Helm and colleagues report that “People's sense of psychological ownership [feeling that something is owned] is affected by . . . whether they feel as if they have control over the object they own, whether they use the object to define who they are, and whether the object helps give them a sense of belonging in society. . . . Participants across all age groups reported feeling a constricted sense of ownership of digital books versus physical books. . . .Participants described being more emotionally attached to physical books, and said they use physical books to establish a sense of self and belonging. . . . They also talked about experiencing physical books through multiple senses. . . . Participants also said they use their physical book collections to express their identity to others. . . .. . [Helm] said. ‘E-books . . . seem to offer a more functional or utilitarian experience. You have much more richness if you deal with a physical book, where all your senses are involved.”
“Why Your E-Book Might Not Feel Like ‘Yours.’” 2018. Press release, University of Arizona, https://uanews.arizona.edu/story/why-your-ebook-might-not-feel-yours
Women, Men, Walking (05-23-18)
Boone, Gong, and Hegarty identified differences in how men and women travel through space that can be applied, for example, when developing floor plans for areas with single gender rest rooms. The Boone group learned that among their study participants traveling to a specific location in a virtual environment “males were more likely to take shortcuts and reached their goal location faster than females, while females were more likely to follow learned routes and wander.”
Alexander Boone, Xinyi Gong, and Mary Hegarty. “Sex Differences in Navigation Strategy and Efficiency.” Memory and Cognition, in press, https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-018-0811-y
Personal Space Variability (05-22-18)
Vagnoni and colleagues’ findings are consistent with those of previous studies indicating that personal spaces desired vary based on situations. Designing flexible use options into some spaces, for example, via lighter weight, moveable furniture, supports personal space variability. The researchers report that “The distance individuals maintain between themselves and others can be defined as ‘interpersonal space’. This distance can be modulated both by situational factors and individual characteristics. . . .we investigated the influence that the interpretation of other people interaction, in which one is not directly involved, may have on a person’s interpersonal space. . . . results showed that the interpersonal space expands after listening to a conversation with aggressive content relative to a conversation with a neutral content. . . . participants tend to distance themselves from an aggressive confrontation even if they are not involved in it. These results are in line with the view of the interpersonal space as a safety zone surrounding one’s body.”
Eleonora Vagnoni, Jessica Lewis, Ana Tajadura-Jimenez, and Flavia Cardini. Listening to a conversation with aggressive content expands the interpersonal space. PLoS ONE 13(3): e0192753. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0192753
Turoman and her team confirm previously established links between shapes and tastes. They verified that “round shapes are associated with sweet taste, whereas angular shapes are associated with sour and bitter tastes. . . . A significant relationship was observed between the taste and appraisal scores of the shapes, suggesting that the affective [emotional] factors of pleasantness and threat underlie the shape-taste correspondence. These results were consistent across cultures, when we compared participants from Taiwanese and Western (UK, US, Canada) cultures.”
Nora Turoman, Carlos Velasco, Yi-Chuan Chen, Pi-Chun Huang, and Charles Spence. 2018. “Symmetry and Its Role in the Crossmodal Correspondence Between Shape and Taste.” Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics, vol. 80, no, 3, pp. 738-751, https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-017-1463-x
Coskun, Kaner, and Bostan interviewed people living in different types of households (alone or with family members, in one income or dual income families, etc.) who were classified as likely to be relatively early users of smart home technologies. The Coskun-lead team found that being able to use the same technological tool in different ways in different situations and “remote control have great potential for facilitating the widespread use of smart household appliances when they are combined with the ability to increase users’ competence in household activities through providing guidance.” In particular, the “Ability [of the appliance] to provide guidance was preferred for washing machines, fridges and stoves. This feature . . . would eventually lead to increased ability in undertaking household activities (e.g., cooking like a chef).” Coskun and colleagues report that “chores are repetitive activities that usually take too much time and physical effort. . ..pleasurable activities are the rituals they enjoy doing and included spending time with children, cooking. . . . Participants did not want technology to interfere with these pleasurable activities while wanting future household appliances to take over the full responsibility of chores. . . the real value of automation would be the time it saves.”
Aykut Coskun, Gul Kaner, and Idil Bostan. 2018. “Is Smart Home a Necessity or a Fantasy for the Mainstream User? A Study on Users’ Expectations of Smart Household Appliances.” International Journal of Design, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 7-20, http://www.ijdesign.org/index.php/IJDesign/article/view/2938/803
Unnava, Sing, and Unnava evaluated how drinking coffee affects groups. Their findings support designing to encourage coffee consumption. The researchers found that “consuming a moderate amount of caffeinated coffee prior to indulging in a group activity enhances an individual’s task-relevant participation in the group activity. In addition, subjective evaluations of the participation of other group members and oneself are also positively influenced.” So, consuming coffee enhanced actual on-task performance as well as impressions of the performance of all meeting attendees.
Vasu Unnava, Amit Singh, and H. Unnava. “Coffee with Co-Workers: Role of Caffeine on Evaluations of the Self and Others in Group Settings.” Journal of Psychopharmacology, in press, https://doi.org/10.1177/0269881118760665
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