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Read—Don’t Just Talk—to Your Kids
Pacific Standard: It's no big surprise that young children first learn language by listening to adults talk to them. Nor is it a surprise that reading aloud to kids is important to their success, both in school and work. What might be a bit more surprising: Picture books have, on average, around 70 percent more unique words than conversations directed at kids, according to a new study, suggesting that reading to kids could help improve their vocabularies.
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Parents’ Math Anxiety Can Undermine Children’s Math Achievement
If the thought of a math test makes you break out in a cold sweat, Mom or Dad may be partly to blame, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. A team of researchers led by University of Chicago psychological scientists Sian Beilock and Susan Levine found that children of math-anxious parents learned less math over the school year and were more likely to be math-anxious themselves—but only when these parents provided frequent help on the child’s math homework. Lead study author Erin A. Maloney is a postdoctoral scholar in psychology at UChicago. Gerardo Ramirez and Elizabeth A.
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Cold Offices Linked to Lower Productivity
Companies may want to turn up the thermostat. Blasting the air conditioning doesn’t just run up energy bills, it may also be running up costs in lost worker productivity. In a small field study from 2004, Cornell University psychological scientist Alan Hedge determined that workers are more efficient when they’re warm. Hedge and colleagues carefully tracked the productivity of nine women working at an insurance office in Orlando, Florida. Their workstations were equipped with air samplers that recorded the temperature every 15 minutes. Productivity was tracked by software that measured their typing speed and errors for 20 consecutive days.
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Researchers Find That Frequent Tests Can Boost Learning
Scientific American: In schools across the U.S., multiple-choice questions such as this one provoke anxiety, even dread. Their appearance means it is testing time, and tests are big, important, excruciatingly unpleasant events. But not at Columbia Middle School in Illinois, in the classroom of eighth grade history teacher Patrice Bain. Bain has lively blue eyes, a quick smile, and spiky platinum hair that looks punkish and pixieish at the same time. After displaying the question on a smartboard, she pauses as her students enter their responses on numbered devices known as clickers. ... Then, eight years ago, she met Mark McDaniel through a mutual acquaintance.
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What Is Happiness?
The Atlantic: At this year's Aspen Ideas Festival, we asked a group of professors, psychologists, and journalists how they would define happiness. According to Eli Finkel, a professor of psychology at Northwestern University, the definition is twofold: "It seems to me that happiness is some blend of experience of pleasure and the experience of meaning and fulfillment in life," he says. "I think much more of the latter than the former." Other panelists include Tim Kasser, Susan Greenfield, Brian Grazer, Paul Bloom, Suleika Jaouad, Robert D. Putnam, and Jennifer Senior. Read the whole story: The Atlantic
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A simple choice between two gorgeous photos reveals your personality
The Washington Post: Check out the two gorgeous photos below. If you had to choose one place to go on vacation, where would you go: the beach or the mountains? If you said the beach, you’re in the majority. More people pick the beach than the mountains. And since it’s August, you may be dreaming of a dip in the ocean. But beyond the summer heat, your choice may depend on your personality. According to a new study from psychologists at the University of Virginia, introverts and extroverts prefer different landscapes for their vacations, and they may even seek out different environments for a home. Read the whole story: The Washington Post
