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On the Trail of the Orchid Child
Scientific papers tend to be loaded with statistics and jargon, so it’s always a delightful surprise to stumble on a nugget of poetry in an otherwise technical report. So it was with a 2005 paper in the journal Development and Psychopathology, drily titled “Biological sensitivity to context.” The authors of the research paper, human development specialists Bruce Ellis of the University of Arizona and W. Thomas Boyce of Berkeley, borrowed a bit of Swedish idiom to name a startling new concept in genetics and child development: orkidebarn.
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Is “If-Then” Insight the Key to Lasting Friendship?
I think of myself as a fairly easy-going guy—tolerant, not easily riled up. That is, unless a rude driver cuts me off in traffic. Rudeness triggers the worst in me, and I doubt anyone would describe me as congenial under those circumstances. I can also get moody when I’m tired, and I’m much more affable once I’ve had my morning coffee. I’m probably more cheerful on Sundays than on Tuesdays. Still, on balance I think most my friends would describe me as easy-going. What I’m describing here—this seeming contradiction—is the difference between my global personality and my more nuanced, situational “if-then” profile.
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When Thoughts Weigh Heavy: Outsmarting the Liars
One of my guilty pleasures is the long-running TV show NCIS, a drama focused on the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. The hero is a former Marine, now Special Agent Jethro Gibbs, a disciplined detective with an uncanny ability to observe and interrogate criminal suspects. He doesn’t say much or display much emotion in the interrogation room—indeed his cool demeanor is his trademark—yet he is a keen lie spotter. Psychological scientists are fascinated by real-life versions of the fictional Gibbs. Detecting lies and liars is essential to effective policing and prosecution of criminals, but it’s maddeningly difficult.
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Does the “Empathy Gap” Encourage Torture?
Imagine that you work for a government agency and you are trying to get information from a suspected terrorist. As part of your interrogation you lock the detainee in a “cold cell.” A cold cell is a room where the temperature is near freezing, and the procedure is to keep the detainee there for up to five hours, with little or no clothing. Now try to get inside your suspect’s mind and body. What is he feeling? How much pain is he in, physically and psychologically? Does such an interrogation technique seem okay to you? When does his pain cross the line into immoral and illegal torture?
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Parents and Science: When Desires Trump Data
Many young couples face some version of this dilemma today: They’ve decided they want to have children in the near future—they’re not on the fence about that—but the financial reality is that they both have to work. They need both their earnings, not for a fancy lifestyle but just to pay the bills and save a bit. So when the day comes that they do become parents, they will almost certainly have to send their young child to some kind of day care, so that they both can continue to work. That’s their world. But in their hearts they believe that children are better off raised at home, by a stay-at-home parent.
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“After you, please”: The ancient roots of etiquette
I was drilled in good manners growing up. I wouldn’t dare sit down at the table until guests had been seated. I always walked curbside, especially when walking with a woman. And I still to this day hold every door for whoever is following me, including complete strangers. These rules of etiquette are second nature to me, inscribed in my neurons. My parents never told me why we do these things. They are simply things one does, out of politeness and respect for others. But now I read that my motives may not be entirely noble. According to new research from Penn State scientists, etiquette may be an evolved form of cooperation.
