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Ways to Inflate Your IQ
The Wall Street Journal: Many people think of IQ as a genetic trait, like brown eyes or short legs: You're born with it and you're stuck with it. Now, a growing body of research is showing that a person's IQ can rise—and even fall—over the years. Scores can change gradually or quickly, after as little as a few weeks of cognitive training, research shows. The increases are usually so incremental that they're not immediately perceptible to individuals, and the intelligence-boosting effects of cognitive training can fade after a few months.
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Le 20éme Prix de Neuropsychologie Jean-Louis Signoret de la Fondation Ipsen est attribué au Pr. Patricia K. Kuhl
Yahoo! France: Le jury international, présidé par le Pr. Albert Galaburda (Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA), a décerné le 29 novembre 2011 le 20ème Prix de Neuropsychologie Jean-Louis Signoret de la Fondation Ipsen (20.000€) au Pr. Patricia K. Kuhl (Université de Washington, Seattle, États-Unis). Elle a été récompensée pour ses travaux qui ont joué un rôle majeur dans la compréhension de l’acquisition du langage et de son système neuronal. Les nourrissons peuvent distinguer tous les sons de toutes les langues, mais vers la fin de la première année, leurs capacités linguistiques commencent à diminuer.
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New Interdisciplinary PhD Program in Cognitive Science at Tufts University
Tufts University is proud to announce the launch of a new multi- and interdisciplinary joint PhD program in cognitive science. Applications for the inaugural Fall 2012 class are accepted immediately. In recent years, Tufts has built up a world-renowned faculty in Cognitive Science, some of whom have been prominent since the beginnings of the field.
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Why Do Some Like It Hot?
Scientific American: Why do some like what hot? Well, peanuts, of course. Spicy peanuts What did you think I was talking about? Spicy peanuts, and really, all sorts of spicy foods. Why do some people like and prefer spicy foods to the point where they consume mouth scorching dishes—and ask for more? This was the question posed to me by a coworker, as he reached for the can of spicy peanuts sitting in the communal kitchen area at work. The peanuts are roasted with Habanero peppers and then dusted with those scorchers for good measure. They’re hot for my coworkers, except for the one who found himself snacking throughout the day. I think they’re tingly.
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New questions about the integrity of psychological research
Minneapolis Post: The integrity of psychological research (like medical research) has come increasingly under fire. Earlier this year, a scandal erupted about the work of a prominent and extensively published psychologist, Diederik Stapel, most recently of Tilburg University in the Netherlands. He was found to have committed widespread academic fraud, which called into question his well-publicized findings on a variety of psychological topics, including racial stereotyping and advertising and identity.
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Even Unconsciously, Sound Helps Us See
"Imagine you are playing ping-pong with a friend. Your friend makes a serve. Information about where and when the ball hit the table is provided by both vision and hearing. Scientists have believed that each of the senses produces an estimate relevant for the task (in this example, about the location or time of the ball's impact) and then these votes get combined subconsciously according to rules that take into account which sense is more reliable. And this is how the senses interact in how we perceive the world.
