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Young versus old
BBC: A new study shows it’s more that we have bad moments than bad days. There’s some good news if you’re older. Although people, on average, do worse on memory tests as they age, it turns out that they perform more consistently. … “We were able to show that good and bad days of performance actually exist, but that the variability of those days is not as large as one would expect,” says Florian Schmiedek of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin. … In all nine cognitive tasks assessed, the older group actually showed less performance variability from day to day than the younger group.
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The New Science of Mind
One of the greatest challenges facing the 21st century is to better understand the vast reaches and workings of the human mind. Together, neuroscientists and psychologists have made groundbreaking discoveries about the brain that will have far-reaching public policy implications. During his State of the Union address, President Obama recognized the importance of this progress when he outlined a decade-long program aimed at supporting a better understanding of the human brain.
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Food for Thought
What you eat each meal impacts your body — and your brain. March is National Nutrition Month, and psychological science can help us understand the social, mental, and behavioral factors that impact how we choose food on a daily basis. Here are a few psychological scientists at the forefront of food research: Neal D. Barnard is a clinical researcher and an adjunct associate professor at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. He has been featured in popular documentaries such as Forks Over Knives and Super Size Me.
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Beware of ‘Neuromyths’
The Wall Street Journal: No, you do not, in fact, use just 10% of your brain, and "learning styles" make no difference in the classroom. Psychology professor Christopher Chabris discusses these and other "neuromyths" Read the whole story: The Wall Street Journal
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What Are Animals Thinking?
PBS: We humans have long wondered how animals see the world—and us. Does your dog really feel shame when it gives you that famous "guilty look?" What is behind the "swarm intelligence" of slime mold or a honeybee hive? How can pigeons possibly find their way home across hundreds of miles of unfamiliar terrain? In this episode of NOVA scienceNOW, David Pogue meets—and competes—with a menagerie of smart critters that challenge preconceived notions about what makes "us" different from "them," expanding our understanding of how animals really think. Read the whole story: PBS
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How Smart Can We Get?
PBS: How do you get a genius brain? Is it all in your genes? Or is it hard work? Is it possible that everyone’s brain has untapped genius–just waiting for the right circumstances so it can be unleashed? From a man who can immediately name the day of the week of any date in history to a “memory athlete” who can remember strings of hundreds of random numbers, David Pogue meets people stretching the boundaries of what the human mind can do. Read the whole story: PBS
