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Can’t remember the names of Beckham’s children? Then lucky you for avoiding the acquisition of trivia
The Daily Telegraph: The capital of New Zealand, the date of the Battle of Waterloo, the boiling point of water, the six wives of Henry VIII, the longest river in Africa, the names of David Beckham’s children, the colours of the rainbow, the last three winners of The X Factor... we all have that sort of tat cluttering up our brains, but how much of it do we actually need? Shouldn’t we be making a determined effort to forget the lot? That’s the intriguing question raised by new research published in the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science.
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Undeserved Compliments May Harm Kids’ Self-Esteem
LiveScience: Giving yourself undeserved pats on the back may lead to psychological distress, a new study shows. The overly positive, yet distorted, view of one's achievements could keep someone from experiencing dejection, the researchers say. But the price may be more anxiety over whether others will find out. In addition, if a person thinks they are doing such a bang-up job, there's no room for improvement. Young-Hoon Kim of the University of Pennsylvania and Chi-Yue Chiu of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore conducted four studies that included 295 U.S. college undergraduates with an average age of 19 and 2,780 Hong Kong students from grades 7 to 12.
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Scientific Freedom, False Positives and the Fountain of Youth
The Huffington Post: "Chronological rejuvenation" is psychological jargon for the Fountain of Youth, that elusive tonic that, when we find it, will reverse the aging process. Though many of us would welcome such a discovery, most of us also know it's a fantasy, a scientific impossibility. So imagine my surprise when I came across this report on chronological rejuvenation while browsing in the highly regarded journal Psychological Science.
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Narcissists’ Overconfidence May Hide Low Self-Esteem
Live Science: Narcissists may seem to love themselves, but a new study finds that narcissistic self-aggrandizement may hide deep feelings of inferiority. According to the new research, people who are narcissistic are likely to tell psychologists that they feel good about themselves. But when the psychologists trick these narcissists into thinking they're hooked up to a working lie-detector test, the truth comes out and the narcissists admit to lower self-esteem. "This suggests that individuals with high levels of narcissism may be inflating their self-esteem," study researcher Erin Myers, a psychologist at Western Carolina University, told LiveScience.
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Having a bad day? Try washing your hands
WTOP: WASHINGTON -- Washing your hands, taking a shower or even imagining cleaning up can clear away a sense of immorality, feeling unlucky or having doubts. Researchers at the University of Michigan reached this conclusion after conducting several studies showing the act of removing residue from your body corresponds to perceptions in your mind. One example of the strength of that body and mind link is how people respond to telling a lie and whether the lie is spoken or typed in an email. People voicing a lie respond better to mouthwash afterward. While people typing a lie show preference for hand sanitizer. Read the whole story: WTOP
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Psychologists Defend The Importance Of General Abilities
“What makes a great violinist, physicist, or crossword puzzle solver? Are experts born or made? The question has intrigued psychologists since psychology was born—and the rest of us, too, who may secretly fantasize playing duets with Yo Yo Ma or winning a Nobel Prize in science. It’s no wonder Malcolm Gladwell stayed atop the bestseller lists by popularizing the “10,000-hour rule” of Florida State University psychologist K. Anders Ericsson.
