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Better Math Skills Predict Bigger Bank Accounts
Having a head for numbers is an ability that people can bank on—quite literally. Being good with numbers gives people an edge in all kinds of jobs, from investment banking to professional poker. But the ability to quickly and intuitively crunch numbers—a skill called numeracy—doesn’t just give people an edge in math class. New research shows that it can also lead to greater personal wealth. Numeracy skills go beyond the capacity to calculate numbers, extending to other important abilities like reasoning, information processing, and accurately analyzing risk.
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With Food, Similar Substitutes Are Less Satisfying
While people tend to prefer the food option that’s most similar to the item they can’t have, they’re likely to be more satisfied with the option that diverges a bit.
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Withdrawn Children Show Predictable Brain Activity During Social Interactions
New scientific findings provide insight into the brain activity of socially withdrawn children.
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Some Vowel Sounds Pack a Punch for Brands
When naming a company or a product, marketers may want to pay extra attention to the exact syllables they’re considering. New research demonstrates that specific sounds can convey an impressive amount of symbolic meaning, which can influence the way people perceive a brand. Across five studies, a team led by University of Toronto psychological scientists Cristina Rabaglia and Sam Maglio demonstrated that people intuitively associate front vowel sounds—those produced with the tongue relatively far forward in the mouth, such as the “ee” in feet—with nearby objects. Conversely, vowel sounds produced with the tongue far back in the mouth, such as the “oo” in food, are associated with distance.
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Are Digital Billboards Dangerously Distracting?
Digital ads use bright lights, rotating images, and flashy content to get your attention, but do they take your eyes (and your mind) off the road long enough to create a hazard? Digital billboards — dynamic, electronically illuminated, light emitting diode (LED) advertisements — are a rapidly growing section of the marketing industry. One look around Times Square and you’ll understand why: The billboards are shiny, interesting, and attention-grabbing. We often can’t help but look at them. On the road, these advertising structures stand far above the ground, rotating through ads approximately every 8–10 seconds and marketing various companies, organizations, and products in a single space.
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Why “Yes” Is More Powerful Than “No”
Getting up the nerve to ask your boss for a raise or promotion can feel excruciating. Although we might dread the prospect of asking the boss—or even a colleague—for a favor, a large body of evidence suggests that we’re actually much better at influencing others than we might imagine. “Potential requesters stress about imposing on others, feel self-conscious about revealing their shortcomings, and fear the worst—rejection,” Cornell University psychological scientist Vanessa Bohns writes in a new article in Current Directions in Psychological Science.
