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There’s a Specific Kind of Joy We’ve Been Missing
In late June, over 15,000 vaccinated people packed in to watch the Foo Fighters reopen Madison Square Garden. When the band brought the comedian Dave Chappelle onstage to sing the Radiohead song “Creep,” the audience erupted in the closest thing I’ve seen to rapture in a solid year and a half. No one cared that Mr. Chappelle was off key. They were all participating in an experience that was unimaginable just months earlier. One day they’ll tell their grandchildren about that night, when New York City came back to life and their favorite band performed another band’s song, and they tried to carry a tune with a legendary comic doing lead vocals.
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Handwriting Beats Typing and Watching Videos for Learning to Read
New research published in the journal Psychological Science reveals that handwriting plays a valuable part in language instruction, helping people learn certain skills far faster than they can by typing or watching videos.
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Gesturing Reduces Effect of a Classic Optical Illusion, Study Finds
New research in Psychological Science shows how gestures can help people penetrate a classic optical illusion.
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Gesturing Reduces Effect of a Classic Optical Illusion, Study Finds
New research shows that certain illusions can collapse when we use our hands to describe an action.
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APS Advocates for Psychological Science’s Role in U.S. Health and Human Services
Psychological science provides information that is key to achieving the goals of nearly all HHS programs.
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The Happy Patriot, the Unhappy Nationalist
"I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection,” Thomas Paine wrote in his pamphlet series The American Crisis. It was December 1776, shortly after the onset of the war for independence, and Paine was contemplating the purpose and promise of patriotism in building a new nation free of British overreach. A happy patriot, in his view, was one who drew strength and joy even from the nation—especially under adverse circumstances. Nearly 250 years later, few would argue that the United States has not recently seen adversity, including extreme political polarization, civil unrest, the coronavirus, and more.
