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Practice necessary, but not enough to master chess
Yahoo News India: There is a theory in psychology that the more you practice; the better you'll do in areas like sports, music, and chess. But, a psychological scientist has claimed that practice is necessary, but not sufficient, for player to get to the master level. This may explain why some people achieved much higher levels even though they practiced much less than their peers. Guillermo Campitelli, a researcher at Edith Cowan University in Joondalup, Australia, came to the conclusion after studying practicing on chess. In one survey of chess players in Argentina, Campitelli and Fernand Gobet of Brunel University in the United Kingdom found that, indeed, practice is important.
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The Physical Act of Creativity
When Hollywood producer Steven Spielberg was working on his 1977 hit movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind, he spent long hours puzzling over the artistic texture of the film, trying to get just the right feel. Late one night, he decided to put his work aside and take a drive to clear his head. He headed up Hollywood Hill to one of the vistas overlooking Los Angeles and—impulsively, for no reason at all—he did a hand-stand on the roof of his car. With his perspective on the illuminated LA cityscape turned topsy-turvy, he “saw” what would become the alien visitors’ spacecraft. This Hollywood legend may be apocryphal, but creativity gurus love it anyway.
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Uomini e donne sessualmente uguali
Vanity Fair Italia: Sfatato il mito che vuole l’uomo più incline a pensare al sesso e più voglioso di approcciare la partner: uomini e donne non sono diversi, neanche sessualmente. Almeno stando alla conclusione di una ricerca dell’Universita’ del Michigan (Stati Uniti), pubblicata da Current Directions in Psychological Science in cui Terry Conley e collaboratori hanno rielaborato i dati raccolti nel corso di diversi anni di studio sull’argomento. Secondo questa ricerca, donne e uomini la pensano allo stesso modo e ciò che comunemente si crede è soltanto frutto di pregiudizi infondati, spesso distanti dalla realtà.
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How do siblings shape your personality?
The Boston Globe: Research has long established that parents play an integral role in shaping our personalities, but scientists are now finding that our siblings may contribute just as much, or perhaps even more. In an intriguing new book called The Sibling Effect, science writer Jeffrey Kluger argues that brothers and sisters leave a firm imprint, helping to determine whether we’ll become free-spirited risk takers or careful studious types; whether we’ll be shy or the family entertainer; and whether we’ll be inclined to smoke, use alcohol, or take illegal drugs.
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Laughing may help ease blood pressure, boost mood and enrich health in other ways
The Washington Post: Whenever I took a tumble or scraped my knee as a child, my mother typically assessed the situation and then promptly tickled me, counseling, “Laughter is the best medicine.” This trick remains remarkably effective with my own boys and, to this day, YouTube videos of laughing babies or cats playing with printers still have the power to make me feel a bit better when I’m under the weather. But while giggling is certainly a great distraction when you’re hurt or feeling low, I can’t help but wonder whether the old adage is true: Can laughter really have a positive impact on health?
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How your Facebook profile picture predicts future happiness
National Post: You may not be able to judge a book by its cover, but a new study suggests you can judge future happiness by a Facebook photo. Reporting in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science, researchers find that smile intensity from a single profile picture can predict how satisfied a person will be with their life nearly four years later. The insight to future well-being replicates a link revealed in earlier research with formal portraits, sparking renewed interest in the information coded in human faces.
