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A Founder of the Cognitive Revolution
As one of the most influential cognitive psychologists of the 20th century, Jerome S. Bruner changed the public discourse - and policy - regarding education and how children learn. He is one of the founders of the "cognitive revolution" that transformed not only psychology but other fields related to the mind, such as anthropology, neuroscience, and linguistics. Many of his ideas, which may seem intuitive now, ran counter to the prevailing wisdom of the time, primarily his belief that learning is an active process.
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A Seat at the Table
Youth violence. Unemployment. Heart disease. Teen pregnancy. Climate change. Practically every challenge facing modern society is fueled in part by entrenched behaviors that science can help understand and perhaps change. Historically, the US government has relied heavily on economists to help set policies on healthcare, commerce, consumer protection, education, law enforcement, and other domains where psychological and behavioral factors play a major role. But the federal government is creating a team that will give a broader set of behavioral scientists a seat at the table in policymaking.
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For Disappointed Sports Fans, Defeats Increase Consumption of Fat and Sugar
On the Monday following a big football game, fans of the losing team seem to load up on saturated fats and sugars, whereas supporters of the winning team opt for healthier foods.
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Watch Your Language
Sometimes, the best way to foster staff cohesion is the simple step of choosing the right words. Psychological scientists Hazel Rose Markus and Alana Conner point this out in their new books, Clash!: 8 Cultural Conflicts That Make Us Who We Are (2013, Hudson Street Press). In a chapter on workplace cultures, they cite research showing how organizations can nurture interdependence by simply watching their language. Stanford psychologist Lee Ross and his colleagues, for example, randomly assigned Israeli pilots and American college students to play a game that named either the Wall Street Game or the Community Game.
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Middle-age—The Sweet Spot for Fiscal Leadership
Many of the most influential financial decision makers in our society—from business to politics— happen to be those in middle-age. The average age of Fortune 500 chief executive officers and chief financial officers is around the mid-fifties. Historically, the average appointment age of Federal Reserve Chairs and National Economic Council Directors is also in the 50s. The number is not an artifact of averaging; all current members of the Council of Economic Advisors and half of the National Economic Council members are fifty-something. Is there some sort of peak of financial reason in the 50s? Recent research in economics, psychology, and neuroscience suggests that there may be. Gregory R.
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Busting Myths on Autism, Dyslexia
Autism was once thought to be the result of detached parenting rather than a condition of the brain. Internationally renowned developmental psychologist Uta Frith was among the first scientists to debunk that myth. Frith found that autistic people have trouble understanding mental states and find it hard to intuit what others may be thinking. She has also suggested that individuals with autism are highly capable of processing details but worse than other individuals at integrating information from many sources. And Frith has been a major force in destigmatizing dyslexia, showing it to be separate from environment and intelligence.
