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L’ansia da matematica non porta brutti voti (math anxiety does not bring bad grades)
La Stampa: L’ansia da matematica, quel nervosismo e disagio che spesso si traduce in una morsa allo stomaco e in sudori freddi, specie nel caso di compiti in classe e interrogazioni, non fa sempre rima con brutti voti. Certo, compromette le prestazioni di alcuni studenti, ma secondo una nuova ricerca questa sensazione è collegata addirittura a prestazioni migliori per altri alunni. Lo studio, che offre una speranza agli «ansiosi», è pubblicato su Psychological Science.
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Is Fat Stigma Making Us Miserable?
The New York Times: Being overweight doesn’t necessarily make a person distraught, researchers are learning. Rather, it’s the teasing, judgment and unsolicited advice directed at overweight people that can cause the greatest psychological harm. “People assume there is a direct relationship between how much people weigh and their psychological health,” said Jeffrey Hunger, a doctoral candidate in social psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. “Our research and other research is showing that no, it’s not about their weight, it’s the treatment they faced and what they worry they will face.” ...
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How Stereotypes Can Threaten Your Driving
In 1995, Stanford University psychologists Claude Steele and Joshua Aronson completed a series of groundbreaking experiments showing that evoking negative stereotypes about a group can actually undermine the performance of people in that group — a phenomenon known as stereotype threat. Steele and Aronson’s research demonstrated that even subtle reminders of negative stereotypes about race and intelligence could derail students’ performance on standardized tests. Similarly, new research published in Applied Cognitive Psychology shows that negative stereotypes about older drivers may hinder their performance behind the wheel.
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How To Get Students To Stop Using Their Cellphones In Class
NPR: Our Ideas series is exploring how innovation happens in education. Almost all college students have a cellphone. They use them an average of eight to 10 hours a day and check them an average of every 15 to 20 minutes while they're awake. Heavier smartphone use has been linked to lower-quality sleep and lower GPAs — oh, are you getting a text right now? I'll wait. Anyway, as I was saying, one professor at the University of Colorado Boulder has come up with a solution to smartphone distraction in one of his astronomy classes. "I was stunned how well it worked," Doug Duncan wrote in an email to fellow astronomy professors, which he shared with NPR Ed. ...
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Think You’re Thinking for Yourself? Think Again.
Big Think: "There’s no more central message of psychology than the fact that most of what goes on in our heads we have no access to," explains social psychologist Richard Nisbett, who offers some smart thinking tools in this video interview. He also delves into the science of influence, in particular the power some parties enjoy by influencing the behavior of others. We have no idea that it’s going on. And that becomes clearer and clearer in every passing year. There’s more and more research showing we perceive things that have an influence on us. We have no idea. We don’t even notice that they’re there to have an impact. Read the whole story: Big Think
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The one thing about ‘matching’ algorithms that dating sites don’t want you to know
The Washington Post: Tinder released an updated version of its matching algorithm today, a “big change” that CEO Sean Rad has been hyping for the past week. In a blog post, Tinder offered few details on the new algorithm — but basically promised that it would revolutionize the quantity and quality of matches each user receives. “Just open Tinder to check it out,” they encourage. “We’re sure these updates will make swiping even better and will lead to more meaningful matches.” ...
