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How Video Games Could Improve Our Vision
The New York Times: The developmental psychologist Daphne Maurer made headlines this year with research suggesting that people born with cataracts could improve their eyesight by playing Medal of Honor, the “first-person shooter” video game. But her fame goes far beyond the video screen. Dr. Maurer, 56, director of the Visual Development Lab at McMaster University in Ontario, is an author, with her husband, Charles, of the pioneering 1988 book “The World of the Newborn,” an inventory of what babies sense and experience. In recent years she has been directing a study tracking infants born with visual impairments into later life.
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Delayed Development: 20-Somethings Blame the Brain
The Wall Street Journal: Many parents of 20-somethings worry that their offspring haven't yet found a career path, gotten married or become financially independent. These parents should chill out, experts say. Recent research into how the brain develops suggests that people are better equipped to make major life decisions in their late 20s than earlier in the decade. The brain, once thought to be fully grown after puberty, is still evolving into its adult shape well into a person's third decade, pruning away unused connections and strengthening those that remain, scientists say.
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Children exposed to sex on screen ‘go on to be promiscuous’
The Daily Mail: Children who watch films with a high sexual content tend to lose their virginity earlier and have more partners, a study has found. Not only are they more promiscuous, they are also more likely to engage in risky sex by not using condoms. The six-year study of more than 1,200 teens refers to sexual content in films but campaigners against online porn say it could equally apply to videos on the internet. They point out that children can now see a lot more sexual imagery online than they ever did at the cinema – meaning that the effect will be magnified. Read the story: The Daily Mail
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School of Hard Knocks
The New York Times: Most readers of The New York Times probably subscribe to what Paul Tough calls “the cognitive hypothesis”: the belief “that success today depends primarily on cognitive skills — the kind of intelligence that gets measured on I.Q.
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Want to cut calories? Dim the lights, study suggests
TODAY: Just as music and lighting can influence what shoppers buy, toning down the tunes and dimming the lights in a fast food restaurant can help diners enjoy their meal more and eat less, according to a U.S. study. After transforming part of a fast food restaurant in Illinois with milder music and lighting, researchers found that customers ate 18 percent fewer calories than other people in the unmodified part of the restaurant.
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Too Soon? Too Late? Psychological Distance Matters When It Comes to Humor
Research has pinpointed a sweet spot in comedy – you have to get the right mix between how bad something is and how distant it is to garner laughs rather than boos.
