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Food Craving Is Stronger, but Controllable, for Kids
Children show stronger food craving than adolescents and adults, but they are also able to use a cognitive strategy that reduces craving, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association
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The Science of Truthiness
Slate: A bumper sticker was popular in the city where I went to college. It was yellow, with large black print that read: “Mopeds are dangerous.” Beneath the text was the blocky silhouette of a moped and nothing else. The sticker didn’t illustrate the claim that mopeds were dangerous—it didn’t show a moped crumpled against a tree or running someone over—but it was eye-catching, the yellow contrasting sharply with the black, and on message. I believed that bumper sticker, and still do, for all that I’ve rarely encountered a moped or read about a moped accident or even really grasped the difference between a moped and a Segway.
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Adverts on the road could be a distraction for drivers
The Conversation: People have to take in a lot of information when driving, including the locations of other road users, lane markings, signals, speed limits, directions and the dashboard display. It only takes a second to be distracted, so what if drivers now have to contend with adverts on the actual road surface? Councillors in Parramatta, New South Wales, recently approved a plan to allow just that – painted advertisements on the surfaces of roadways. Who could deny the appeal of the potential influx of funds that could be channelled back into the local community?
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Why You Shouldn’t Race Through Those Thank-You Notes
New York Magazine: Thank-you notes are the bane of newlyweds ever — they take forever, are drenched in overly saccharine language, and seem to serve little point other than adhering to an established social more. But a new study led by Lisa Williams of the University of New South Wales and published in the journalEmotion suggests that simple expressions of gratitude can help make others — even those who barely know you (those weird distant cousins of your significant other, for example) — feel more warmly toward you.
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The Positive Effects of Sports-Themed Video Games
Pacific Standard: It’s widely believed that video games are partially responsible for the childhood obesity epidemic, since they encourage kids to sit in front of screens rather than go outside and play. If that’s your worry, you might want to … buy your kid a new video game. Just make sure its title contains the acronym NFL, NBA, or MLB. Newly published research suggests adolescents who play more sports-themed video games are more likely to get involved in real-life sports activities over time. What’s more, playing these games appears to enhance kids’ self-esteem by allowing them to develop and master sports-related skills and knowledge.
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Work less, do more, live better
Times of Higher Education: You may worry that with the myriad demands of your work, if you try to constrain your workweek, including research, to 40 hours or less, you’ll never get anything done. There’s a book for you. In How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing (2007), psychologist Paul J. Silvia offers evidence-based advice about how to be productive as an academic writer without giving up on leisure time.