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The culture of lying
The Miami Herald: While it is not possible to say whether Notre Dame football star Manti Te’o is a victim or perpetrator in the fake girlfriend hoax, his story, paired with cyclist Lance Armstrong’s admitted doping on Oprah Winfrey’s OWN network last week, represents someone foisting a big lie into the cultural mainstream. Researchers at Zhejiana Normal University in China and at Northwestern University found that lying “becomes more automatic upon training.” When people practice deception, it is simply easier to lie, in turn making it harder to differentiate from the truth. Read the whole story: The Miami Herald
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How Effective Are Tactics Used on TV Shows to Treat Troubled Teens?
TIME: Terrifying teens by making them lie in coffins, forcing them to spend a night on a frigid street or a bare prison cell— these harsh measures are used in reality shows in an attempt to put delinquents back on the straight and narrow. But the strategies may make for better TV than treatment. ... “Time and time again, research finds these approaches to be innocuous at best and traumatizing at worst,” says John Norcross, professor of psychology at the University of Scranton who studies the effectiveness of psychological treatments.
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21 Minutes to Marital Satisfaction
Marital satisfaction generally declines over time, but a brief writing intervention that helps spouses adopt a more objective outlook on marital conflict could help prevent couples from losing that loving feeling.
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The psychology of winning – and losing
CBS News: The phrase "Win some, lose some" will be little consolation for the players and fans of whichever team loses in today's Super Bowl. Just ask somebody who's been there. Our Cover Story is reported by Susan Spencer of 48 Hours: In football-crazed Buffalo, the Bills are revered . . . and to this day, so is the number 12. Jim Kelly (whose jersey number is the only one the Bills have retired) proudly wore number 12 for eleven years, winning more than 100 games. Starting in 1990, he did something that no other quarterback in history has ever achieved: He led his team to FOUR straight Super Bowls. ...
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Study Links Cognitive Deficits, Hearing Loss
The New York Times: There’s another reason to be concerned about hearing loss — one of the most common health conditions in older adults and one of the most widely undertreated. A new study by researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine suggests that elderly people with compromised hearing are at risk of developing cognitive deficits — problems with memory and thinking — sooner than those whose hearing is intact. The study in JAMA Internal Medicine was led by Dr. Frank Lin, a hearing specialist and epidemiologist who over the past several years has documented the extent of hearing problems in older people and their association with falls and the onset of dementia.
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Highlight this Blog Post at Your Own Risk
The Huffington Post: How did you study? It's question I often find myself asking college students during office hours when they come by to talk about a disappointing exam score or ask for suggestions for improving future performance. One thing you learn when you ask this question is that people approach studying in very different ways. Flashcards for key terms. Underlining. Diagrams for major themes. Writing summaries. Re-reading before the exam. There's no shortage of study strategies available to the diligent student. And, quite often, there's no shortage of confidence that the tactics each of us chooses are effective. ...
