-
Want to truly know yourself? Ask a friend
Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel: How well do we know ourselves? "It's a natural tendency to think we know ourselves better than others do," says Simine Vazire, an assistant professor at Washington University in St. Louis and author of a new paper on the subject in the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science However, Vazire and colleague Erika N. Carlson report that our own self-understanding is marred by blind spots caused by our own wishes, fears and unconscious motives. Friends, the authors suggest, see things in ourselves that we do not. Hence the need to consult a friend to gain a fuller understanding of ourselves.
-
Do Immigrant Kids Get Fat to Fit In?
TIME: Many foreign-born American citizens have said they feel that their fellow U.S. citizens question their Americanness. This spurning can be particularly difficult for immigrants' U.S.-born children: some Asian-American kids, for instance, have sought plastic surgery or blue contact lenses to give their eyes a more "American" appearance. Now comes evidence that immigrants' kids may even eat more in an effort to fit in with U.S.-born kids, which is to say they try to be fat.
-
What Makes Something Funny?
NPR: Ever wonder what makes something funny? E.B. White once wrote that "humor can be dissected, as a frog can, but the thing dies in the process and the innards are discouraging to any but the pure scientific mind." A look at an explanation behind the punch line. Read more and listen to the audio: NPR
-
New Research From Psychological Science
The Use of Definite References Signals Declarative Memory: Evidence From Patients With Hippocampal Amnesia Melissa C. Duff, Rupa Gupta, Julie A. Hengst, Daniel Tranel, and Neal J. Cohen Most people will use declarative references to save time and mental resources when they are having a conversation. For example, a person might say “the game” instead of “a game” if they know the other person is aware of what they are talking about. To test whether declarative memory was required for the use of definite references, patients with hippocampal amnesia were asked to complete a communication task with a partner they were familiar with.
-
Masculinity, a Delicate Flower
TIME: Real men are made, not born — so goes the conventional wisdom. In other words, manhood is a social status, something a guy earned historically, through brutal tests of physical endurance or other risky demonstrations of toughness that mark the transition from boyhood to manhood. But while that masculinity is hard-won, it can be easily lost. Once earned, men have to continue proving their worth through manly action. In modern society, that may no longer mean, say, killing the meatiest wooly mammoth, but there are equivalent displays of masculinity: earning a decent living or protecting one's family.
-
Immigrants Eat American Junk Food to Fit In: Study
U.S. News and World Report: After moving to the United States, immigrant groups trying to fit in tend to choose high-calorie, fatty foods in an attempt to appear more American, a new study finds. That's one reason why immigrants approach U.S. levels of obesity within 15 years of moving to America, according to research in the June issue of Psychological Science. Researchers surveyed Asian-American and white college students about embarrassing childhood food memories. Although 68 percent of the Asian-American respondents recalled food-related insecurities, such as awkwardness about using chopsticks, only 27 percent of white respondents recalled any embarrassing food practices.
