-
DO HEAD START’S MIXED-AGE CLASSES STUNT LEARNING?
Futurity: It’s common practice in Head Start classrooms to teach 3- and 4-year-old children together, but a new study finds older children make significantly smaller academic gains on average when taught with younger preschoolers. In the classrooms where the two age groups were evenly split, 4-year-olds in the study were an average of nearly five months of academic development behind their 4-year-old peers who were in classrooms without 3-year-olds. Read the whole story: Futurity
-
Taking the (Often Imprecise) Measure of Stress
The New York Times: Research has long shown that stress is bad for you, but many people are not even aware when they are feeling stressed. Now, a number of new devices are sold as stress trackers, measuring signs of stress the way fitness tracking devices monitor steps and movement. The gadgets track the biological symptoms of stress — changes in skin perspiration, breathing patterns and heart rate — in hopes of helping people become aware of their stress levels. ... Most apps and devices that claim to track or reduce stress lack scientific rigor, said Dr.
-
What’s the Best Way to Stay Motivated?
The Atlantic: At its best, work is like a semi-challenging level of Super Mario World. It’s hard enough to be engaging, easy enough that victory is within sight, and fun enough to make you want to try again if you lose—as long as you have lives left. What happens, though, when you reach the level where Bowser just keeps crushing you, or you can’t figure out the exact right way to make Yoshi jump to avoid the lava? Maybe time for a good ol’ game of pogs instead? Like with video games, behavioral economists have found that it’s a sense of progress that makes adults stay motivated at work.
-
Ask Well: The Health Benefits of Meditation
The New York Times: Meditation has long been used to induce calm and physical relaxation. But research on its potential uses for treating medical problems “is still in its very early stages,” and designing trials can be challenging, said Richard J. Davidson, a neuroscientist who founded the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at the Waisman Center, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “So it’s not surprising the scientific literature is filled with mixed findings at this point in time.” ...
-
Diversity: it’s good for your brain
The Guardian: I recall, a few years ago, being on a flight to Ancona in Italy. As we began our descent the (female) pilot came on the intercom to give the customary report on progress. As she signed off, the passenger next door smiled at me nervously and said, “Oh, a woman… that’s unusual.” It was, by the way, a textbook landing. Of course, stereotypes abound in daily life, and they’re often imbued with inherent beliefs about ability. We know there’s no scientific basis for gender differences on things like piloting ability, business acumen or midwifery skills, yet people still seem surprised when they encounter someone who doesn’t fit the expected gender profile.
-
Hillary Clinton Is an ‘Intro-Extrovert,’ and Maybe You Are, Too
New York Magazine: It is 2015, which apparently means that everyone — presidential candidates included — will at some point be subjected to this one particular question: Are you an introvert or an extrovert? On Friday, this was part of a “lightning round” in the Democratic candidates forum, hosted by MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. Hillary Clinton answered by calling herself an “intro-extrovert”: Sometimes she likes being around people, and sometimes she prefers to be alone. ...
