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Want To Study More Effectively? Sleep Between Study Sessions
The Huffington Post: Scientists already knew that getting some decent shut-eye after studying helps to consolidate learning, but new research suggests that sleeping in between study sessions is even more effective. “Our results suggest that interleaving sleep between practice sessions leads to a twofold advantage, reducing the time spent relearning and ensuring a much better long-term retention than practice alone,” explains psychological scientist Stephanie Mazza of the University of Lyon Read the whole story: The Huffington Post
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You vs. Future You; Or Why We’re Bad At Predicting Our Own Happiness
NPR: How great would it be to win a brand new car? How horrible would it be to get laid off from your job? Research by psychologist Dan Gilbert at Harvard University suggests, not that great and not that horrible (respectively). Among the many things Gilbert studies is how people make predictions about future events—specifically, how we make predictions about how we'll feel about future events. One of the most important questions we ask when making any decision is "how will this make me feel?" But no matter how much time we spend thinking about the future, we don't get any better at predicting it.
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The Most Effective Way to Get Revenge on a Terrible Boss
New York Magazine: An employee, sick of her new boss’s verbally abusive behavior, hatches a plan to exact her revenge: She lies in wait until the next time said boss goes on one of his screaming tears, then calls a friend outside the office; that friend, in turn, calls the abusive boss’s boss, posing as building security, and says there’s an emergency that requires immediate attention. Lo and behold, the higher-ups rush on to the scene, catch the screamer mid-rant, and fire him on the spot. Read the whole story: New York Magazine
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Conquering the Freshman Fear of Failure
The New York Times: Although it’s been a long time, I vividly recall my reaction when I learned that I had been admitted to Amherst College: The admissions office must have made a terrible mistake. I had graduated from a Long Island high school where most students didn’t go to college, so I was convinced that at Amherst I would be overmatched by my better-educated, more sophisticated classmates and sliced to ribbons by my brilliant professors. To my surprise, I fared well academically, but I never entirely got over the feeling of being an impostor. Only decades later, at a class reunion, did I discover that many of my peers had felt exactly the same way.
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The Charisma Effect
The Atlantic: In tough times, people want more in a leader than intelligence, integrity, or the ability to build really tall walls. They want someone who can make a compelling pitch and inspire a sense of urgency—someone with charisma. For decades, scholars have struggled to define this X factor, but they are developing a better idea of how it works. Read the whole story: The Atlantic
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Dressing for Success: From Lucky Socks to the Red Sneaker Effect
Making a fashion statement at the office – a tie with an unusual pattern or some snazzy red sneakers paired with a suit – may actually provide a bit of a career boost. Under most circumstances, not conforming to etiquette rules tends to garner social disapproval; showing up to a business lunch in your gym clothes, for example, is not likely to impress your clients. However, Harvard psychological scientists Silvia Bellezza, Francesca Gino, and Anat Keinan hypothesized that intentionally standing out from the crowd could also send a positive message conveying status, confidence, and power.
