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Memory Athletes and Researchers Collaborate to Dissect Feats of Memory
Some of us have a gift for memorization and recall — think Sherlock Holmes. The fictional Holmes was portrayed as having a natural gift, but others train their memories using mnemonic techniques. Although the general principles have been known for hundreds of years, modern mnemonists refine them and adapt them. What cognitive abilities and training permit people to recall 80 random numbers after studying them for less than 60 seconds or to memorize the order of a shuffled deck of cards in under 30 seconds? Over the weekend of May 2–3, 24 memory athletes gathered at the 2nd Annual Extreme Memory Tournament (XMT) in San Diego as part of a contest sponsored by Washington University in St.
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Four ways to tell if an educational app will actually help your child learn
The Conversation: Imagine someone telling you that a new technology would be available in five years that has the potential to revolutionise childhood and early education. But the downside is that you will have to choose from among 80,000 possible options. This is the problem currently facing many parents. Following the invention of the iPad in 2010, by January 2015 there were 80,000 apps marketed as “educational” in the Apple App Store alone. We recently published a large-scale review of more than 200 articles on the question of how we can put the education back in educational apps.
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As We Age, Keys to Remembering Where the Keys Are
The New York Times: I recently told my 70s-something walking group that I wanted to write about “retrieval disorder,” our shared problem with remembering names and dates, what we had just read and where, even what we had for dinner last night. Or, in my case, the subject of the column I wrote the day before. One walking buddy suggested I call it delayed retrieval disorder. “It’s not that we can’t remember,” she said. “It just takes us longer, sometimes a lot longer, than it used to.” Then she wondered, “Is it really a disorder? Since it seems to happen to all of us, isn’t this just normal aging?” ... Denise C.
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Educational App or Digital Candy? Helping Parents Choose Quality Apps for Kids
There are now over 80,000 apps marketed as “educational” in the Apple app store, the majority of which are targeted towards children and even babies. Parents are led to believe that these apps provide real learning opportunities for their children, but scientific research suggests that many of the apps are nothing more than digital candy. “Many apps marketed as ‘educational’ are basically the equivalent of sugary foods,” says Kathy Hirsh-Pasek of Temple University, co-author on a new report investigating educational apps.
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A touch of evil
Aeon: Malevolent personalities come in flavours, says Del Paulhus, the University of British Columbia psychologist who coined the term ‘dark triad’ to describe a trifecta of human evil: the Machiavellian plotter strategising the downfall of others, smiling all the while; the impulsive psychopath, pouncing to steal a friends’ last penny; the self-entitled narcissist, seizing the corner office and the choicest cut of steak. These nasty personalities have remained entrenched in the gene pool because they sometimes confer advantage. ...
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Better Get to Work: Procrastination May Harm Heart Health
Stress caused by chronic procrastination may increase people’s vulnerability for developing life-threatening health issues.
