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New Insights Into Cognitive Control From Psychological Science
Read about new insights into cognitive control from Psychological Science and Current Directions in Psychological Science. Memory and Cognitive Control in Task Switching Franziska R. Richter and Nick Yeung Although researchers know that cognitive control affects memory and vice versa, the interconnections between these two have only recently been examined. Participants performed a classification task in which they were shown displays that contained task-relevant and task-irrelevant stimuli. Participants then performed a surprise recognition test that evaluated their memory for the previously presented stimuli.
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Taking Early Exits Off Wall Street
The Wall Street Journal: After five years in investment banking, Matt Wolf decided he'd had enough. While the 35-year-old vice president enjoyed his close-knit team of colleagues at Morgan Stanley MS +0.91% in Manhattan, he had reached a breaking point: Too many takeout-fueled late nights, too many canceled trips with his wife and too many judgmental looks at social gatherings. His pay—still generous, but lower than he had expected before the financial crisis—was no longer worth the sacrifices. So last month, he left.
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Political beliefs rooted in childhood, study shows
Detroit Free Press: A person’s temperament in childhood and the type of parenting they received have a major effect on their political beliefs, according to a new study. Children with authoritarian parents were more likely to have conservative political beliefs when they were 18, while those with egalitarian parents were more likely to have liberal beliefs, according to a study of more than 700 children who took part in earlier research from the U.S. National Institute on Child Health and Human Development.
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Pounds of Personality
The Huffington Post: It's November, which means that Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching -- and with it the season of temptation. Beginning with the giblet gravy and ending with the New Year's Eve champagne toast, the weeks ahead will add a pound of weight to the typical American -- a pound that will rarely be lost. That means steadily expanding waistlines as we move from young adulthood into middle age and beyond. But some people won't follow this trend. Some are conscientious and disciplined and know where to draw the line on indulging, while others seem to lack control of their impulses and desires.
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Glucose Mouth Rinse Really Does Enhance Self-Control
Pacific Standard: Undoubtedly the oddest piece of research we’ve reported on in a while is an Australian study that found gargling with a glucose solution helps people renew their self-control. Even as I wrote the piece, I could hear the sarcastic voice of Paula Poundstone in my head, making fun of it on Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me. Well, guess what? A group of American researchers has come to the same conclusion. Writing in the journal Psychological Science, a research team led by University of Georgia psychologist Matthew Sanders describes an experiment featuring 51 students.
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Do Sandy’s storm clouds have a silver lining?
This morning I heard a radio interview with a resident of one of New York’s storm-ravaged towns. It’s been more than a week since Sandy swept through the eastern seaboard, and locals are just starting to process the long-term implications of this natural disaster. It will be months and months before many homes and businesses are restored, and some communities will never again be the same. Yet this man concluded the interview with this thought: New Yorkers will learn from this experience, he said, and it will make us stronger. Make us stronger.
