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A Guide to Overcoming COVID-19 Misinformation
IF ANY GROUP understands the toll misinformation can take on the public understanding of science, it’s climate scientists. For years, they have been trying to convey the findings from a ceaseless stream of studies showing the world is warming, while combating misinterpretations and outright fake news. A similar infodemic—a surplus of information both legitimate and misinformed—now plagues the COVID-19 outbreak. In the internet era, when research papers are readily available, everyone can become an expert on COVID-19 or climate change. But pundits can also cherry-pick the data that matches their beliefs and seem to speak with authority.
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Vulnerable Yet Vital
APS Member/Author: Alison Gopnik Human beings need special care while we are young and when we become old. The 2020 pandemic has made this vivid: millions of people across the world have taken care of children at home, and millions more have tried to care for grandparents, even when they couldn’t be physically close to them. COVID-19 has reminded us how much we need to take care of the young and the old. But it’s also reminded us how much we care for and about them, and how important the relations between the generations are. I have missed restaurants and theatres and haircuts, but I would easily give them all up to be able to hug my grandchildren without fear.
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When so Many School Children Can’t Read, It’s Time To Do Something Different
APS Member/Author: Angeline Lillard More than half of Texas third graders cannot read at grade level. Might they do better with an entirely different educational approach? Typically we teach children to read, beginning in preschool, and take up writing later. But over 100 years ago, physician-educator Maria Montessori came up with a radically different approach to literacy that makes far more sense based on the last 50 years of research. It turns the typical approach to literacy on its head by teaching writing before reading, cursive before print, and silent reading before reading aloud.
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When We Can Hug Again, Will We Remember How It Works?
... As the weeks of coronavirus quarantine stretched into months, hugs are among the many things isolated people found themselves aching for. Hugs are good for humans — perhaps more valuable than many of us realized, until we found ourselves missing them. Research has shown that hugs can lower our cortisol levels during stressful situations, and can raise oxytocin levels and maybe even lower our blood pressure. A 2015 paper published in Psychological Scienceeven found that study subjects who got more hugs were less likely to get sick when exposed to a cold virus than those who weren’t hugged as often. ...
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Yes, You Should Smile Behind Your Mask. Here’s Why.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, I always smiled at other runners as we crossed paths. Now that we’re wearing masks, I rarely bother. And when I do, I have no idea whether the intended recipient even notices. ... This sense of connection supports our well-being, whether we realize it or not.
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New Content From Perspectives on Psychological Science
A sample of articles on construct validation, regulation of thoughts and behaviors, cognitive-intervention research, psychopathology and “better-safe-than-sorry” processing, differences in status, power, and self-esteem, and visuospatial short-term memory.
