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An argument for roughhousing
The Washington Post: With Father’s Day just ahead, two dads are honoring the beloved tradition of roughhousing. Anthony T. DeBenedet and Lawrence J. Cohen have just published "The Art of Roughousing: Good Old-Fashioned Horseplay and Why Every Kid Needs It," (Quirk, May 2011). It’s part how-to, part polemic. Roughhousing, according to the authors who are a doctor and a psychologist, will make kids smart, more likeable, more moral and ethical. It will teach them emotional intelligence, bring them joy and make them fit. Read more: The Washington Post
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Most Americans See Cancer as a Death Sentence
My Heath News Daily: The death rate from cancer has gone down in recent years, but the majority of Americans still view cancer as a death sentence, a new survey says. Of the nearly 7,500 Americans surveyed, more than 61 percent said when they think of cancer, they automatically think of death. The findings are troubling because many types of cancer are preventable or treatable, said study researcher Richard Moser, a research psychologist at the National Cancer Institute. For instance, a healthy diet, frequent exercise and appropriate screening tests can prevent or detect many cancers in their early stages, Moser said.
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Testing Improves Memory
“We’ve known for over 100 years that testing is good for memory,” says Kent State University psychology graduate student Kalif Vaughn. Psychologists have proven in a myriad of experiments that “retrieval practice”—correctly producing a studied item—increases the likelihood that you’ll get it right the next time. “But we didn’t know why.” In the past, many researchers have believed that testing is good for memory, but only for the exact thing you are trying to remember: so-called “target memory.” If you’re asked to recall the Lithuanian equivalent of an English word, say, you will get good at remembering the Lithuanian, but you won’t necessarily remember the English.
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In the Hole! Golfing in the Mind’s Eye
When the world’s finest golfers descend this week on Maryland’s Congressional Country Club for the 111th U.S. Open, there will be no hands-down favorite for the crowds to follow. Bubba Watson will bring his monstrous drives, KJ Choi his intense focus, and Luke Donald his consistency. Veterans Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson will have experience on their side, and Graeme McDowell his status as defending champion. That's the great thing about golf. Golfers may have different strengths, but at the end of the day each of them faces the identical challenge: Putting a sphere measuring 42.67 mm in diameter into a hole measuring 108 mm in diameter. Or maybe not.
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Nodding Off First May Leave Your Partner Wanting
LiveScience: Falling asleep first after having sex may leave your partner longing for attention and more bonding time, new research finds. "The time the couple spends together after sex is prime time for bonding and the commitment conversation," said Daniel Kruger of the University of Michigan School of Public Health. "Your oxytocin and the hormones related to affective relationships are raging, so it's prime time for bonding." This after-sex bonding period could be evolutionarily derived, since in the case of a pregnancy, the female would desire a commitment from her sexual partner. Spending this time bonding could be an important way to secure that commitment. Read more: LiveScience
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Chinese-English Speakers Translate English into Chinese Automatically
Over half the world’s population speaks more than one language. But it’s not clear how these languages interact in the brain. A new study, which will be published in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, finds that Chinese people who are fluent in English translate English words into Chinese automatically and quickly, without thinking about it. Like her research subjects, Taoli Zhang of the University of Nottingham is originally from China, but she lives in the UK and is fluent in English. She co wrote the new paper with her colleagues, Walter J.B. van Heuven and Kathy Conklin.
