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Texting before bed linked to higher stress
The Boston Globe: In a study of more than 500 people, those who used technology before bedtime reported higher levels of stress than those who didn't, LiveScience reports on May 29. But the association wasn't found with all forms of technology: emailing or watching television before bed wasn't linked with greater stress. Other non-stressful pre-bed activities? Reading a book and exercising. In the study, researcher Israel Arevalo, a former psychology student at University of Texas-Pan American, recruited 500 subjects ages 18 to 73 who completed an online survey. Read the whole story: The Boston Globe
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Older Adult Clumsiness Linked to Brain Changes
Seniors use less effective reference frames to visualize nearby objects For many older adults, the aging process seems to go hand-in-hand with an annoying increase in clumsiness — difficulties dialing a phone, fumbling with keys in a lock or knocking over the occasional wine glass while reaching for a salt shaker.
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Munching Through Life’s Travails
The world is divided into Munchers and Skippers. I’m a Skipper, which means that, when living gets stressful, I stop eating. I don’t snack. I skip meals. Munchers, on the other hand, invented comfort food. It doesn’t matter whether it’s Chunky Monkey or Doritos or cheeseburgers. Calories are taken like a tonic against life’s mishaps. Traditionally, Munchers have been viewed as more pathetic than Skippers—and more of a problem. Feeding on calorie-dense foods shows lack of self-discipline, and leads to unhealthy weight gain. And given our high-stress modern lives, it’s likely that anxious munching is contributing to the nation’s obesity epidemic.
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Why teachers should present new material as stories
The Washington Post: In this post Cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham writes about how students best learn new material. Willingham is a professor and director of graduate studies in psychology at the University of Virginia and author of “Why Don’t Students Like School?” His latest book is “When Can You Trust The Experts? How to tell good science from bad in education.” This appeared on his Science and Education blog. I have written before about the potential power of narrative to help students understand and remember complex subject matter (Willingham, 2004; 2009).
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Reading Literature Makes Us Smarter and Nicer
TIME: Gregory Currie, a professor of philosophy at the University of Nottingham, recently argued in the New York Times that we ought not to claim that literature improves us as people, because there is no “compelling evidence that suggests that people are morally or socially better for reading Tolstoy” or other great books. Actually, there is such evidence.
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Tact, Tone And Timing: The Power Of Apology
NPR: An effective apology involves a delicate balance between tact, tone and timing. In high-stakes settings, when jobs and reputations are on the line, it can be even harder. The significance of an apology can vary in different settings and professions. ... So I've looked at comparing people who receive different forms of what we might call apologies, some of them more complete - the way Dr. Winch was describing - and some of them with only some of the elements, as compared to no apology at all.
