Grace Browne, Author at żěè¶ĚĘÓƵ Science news and science articles from żěè¶ĚĘÓƵ Wed, 07 Oct 2020 16:29:08 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.1 242057827 We may be able to tell someone’s heart rate just by looking at them /article/2255776-we-may-be-able-to-tell-someones-heart-rate-just-by-looking-at-them/?utm_campaign=RSS|NSNS&utm_content=currents&utm_medium=RSS&utm_source=NSNS Wed, 30 Sep 2020 09:11:31 +0000 /?post_type=article&p=2255776 2255776 Some women feel fetal kicks years after they’ve given birth /article/2224235-some-women-feel-fetal-kicks-years-after-theyve-given-birth/?utm_campaign=RSS|NSNS&utm_content=currents&utm_medium=RSS&utm_source=NSNS Thu, 21 Nov 2019 12:01:52 +0000 /?post_type=article&p=2224235 Shot of a young woman suffering from stomach cramps in her bedroom
40 per cent of women surveyed felt kicking after they had given birth
Getty Images

Many women feel a fetus-like kicking in their abdomen even after they have given birth. These phantom fetal kicks can last for years and in some cases decades after the pregnancy has ended.

Disha Sasan at Monash University in Australia and colleagues conducted an online survey in which they asked 197 Australian women who had been through pregnancy about whether they had experienced these sensations.

The team found that 40 per cent of the women had experienced phantom fetal kicks after their pregnancy and that the experience continued for an average of 6.8 years after giving birth. For one woman they persisted for 28 years. Almost 20 per cent of the women who experienced the kicks said they felt them daily, and double that proportion said they felt them more than once a week.

Read more: Pregnancy changes how hundreds of genes work in a woman’s body

Many women described phantom fetal kicks as emotionally positive, making them feel nostalgic or comforted. However, others, particularly those who experienced traumatic births, abortion, miscarriage or stillbirth, said they were left confused or upset by them. “These sensations may have implications for a mother’s mental health during a vulnerable time,” wrote the team.

Susan Ayers at City, University of London says the study may not give a full reflection of the number of women affected by phantom fetal kicks as people are more likely to opt to do the survey if they have something to report.

It isn’t known why phantom fetal kicks occur. It may be down to how our brains perceives our body, says Philip Corlett at Yale School of Medicine. After pregnancy, a woman’s brain could still be expecting those sensations to occur, causing some change in the body, he says.

“It underlines the role of expectations in perception — not just to the outside world, but of your body too. And I think that’s exciting,” says Corlett.

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]]> 2224235 Bystander effect: Famous psychology result could be completely wrong /article/2207693-bystander-effect-famous-psychology-result-could-be-completely-wrong/?utm_campaign=RSS|NSNS&utm_content=currents&utm_medium=RSS&utm_source=NSNS Wed, 26 Jun 2019 11:16:47 +0000 /?post_type=article&p=2207693 Boy attacks girl while others watch
Won’t somebody stop him?
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If you were being attacked, would anyone stop to help you? A famous result in psychology known as the bystander effect says probably not, but now a review of real-life violent situations says this commonly held view may be wrong. The bystander effect purports that in situations such as a robbery or a stabbing, bystanders are less likely to step in if there are a large number of people in the area, so the likelihood of intervention decreases. The idea has its roots in the 1964 case of Kitty Genovese, a 28-year-old woman who was raped and murdered in the early morning in her quiet neighbourhood in Queens, New York. The New York Times that 38 people had watched for more than half an hour as she was attacked. It turns out that the number of observers in that case was an exaggeration, but the incident has become part of psychology legend. The bystander effect, first proposed by social psychologists Bibb Latané and John Darley, has been replicated in numerous experimental studies. Potential explanations for the phenomenon include that individuals may feel less responsibility to intervene when many other people are around, as well as fear acting inadequately when being observed. It may also be that if no one else seems to be reacting or taking action, then we may fail to perceive the situation as an emergency.

Read more: Why so much science research is flawed – and what to do about it

Now, Richard Philpot at Lancaster University in the UK and his colleagues say the effect might not actually be real. They looked at surveillance footage of violent situations in the UK, South Africa and the Netherlands, and found that, in 90 per cent of cases, at least one person (but typically several) intervened and tried to help. In addition, they found that the likelihood of intervention increased in accordance with the number of bystanders – which directly contradicts the bystander effect. Philpot says he hopes that the general public will find the results of the paper reassuring. “The more people around, the greater number of people who have the potential or the willingness to do something.” The researchers were surprised to find that the likelihood of intervention was similar across all three nations, despite South Africa having on record significantly lower perceptions of public safety, as well as higher levels of violence, on average. Philpot says it shows that people have a natural inclination to help when they see someone in need.
Why smart people make stupid mistakes:
Jay Van Bavel of New York University says the results are “very striking”. The Kitty Genovese case is one of the core studies taught in undergraduate psychology classes, and the fact that this study contradicts a lot of the previous research is shocking, but exciting for the field. Philpot and his colleagues are interested in looking at how specific factors such as the size of the perpetrator or whether they have a weapon influence people’s likelihood of intervening. “I wouldn’t say in every single situation it’s a 90 per cent likelihood, but as a base rate, it’s something new that we didn’t have before,” he says.

American Psychologist

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