-
41st Annual Meeting of the Jean Piaget Society for the Study of Knowledge & Development
Please join us at the 41st Annual Meeting of the Piaget Society for the Study of Knowledge & Development! Early registration ends on April 15th. In association with the Institute of Human Development, University of California, Berkeley The meeting will take place on June 2–4, 2011 in Berkeley, California, USA (Doubletree Marina Hotel) The program theme for this year is Cultural Supports for Developing Mathematical & Scientific Reasoning Organizers: Rich Lehrer & Leona Schauble (Vanderbilt University) As always, our general program for 2011 includes a wide variety of topics on knowledge and development.
-
Is ‘enhanced interrogation’ torture? Yes, say those given small dose
The Vancouver Sun: Those who approve "enhanced interrogation techniques" probably have a flawed idea of whether this constitutes torture, because few have felt the pain these methods can cause, researchers report. A study that gave its subjects a mild taste of such interrogation methods as solitary confinement, sleep deprivation and extreme cold found most respondents characterized what they felt as torture. Those who did not experience these techniques but were told about them generally underestimated how much pain they might cause, the researchers found.
-
Why people with a European background can’t help but judge a book by its cover
The Daily Mail: It is often said that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. But it seems that some of us can’t help but do just that. A study found people from European backgrounds are more likely to be guilty of jumping to conclusions than those with an Asian heritage. And brain scans show that these cultural differences are embedded deep within people’s minds. Read the whole story: The Daily Mail
-
How a bottle of hand sanitizer can make you conservative
The Toronto Star: Just standing next to a bottle of hand sanitizer brings out the conservative in people, a Cornell University study has found. And just looking at a reminder to wash your hands can bring out the sexual puritan, according to the research in the journal Psychological Science. “It is weird,” allows study co-author Erik Helzer, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Psychology. “These results suggest that everyday reminders of cleanliness (“Employees must wash hands before returning to work” signs or hand sanitation stations) may have unintended effects on people’s social attitudes.” Read the whole story: The Toronto Star
-
Too Much Trauma
Newsweek: First Japan was hit by a triple whammy. The country of 127 million has just endured one of the largest earthquakes in recorded history, followed by a shockingly voracious tsunami. Together, these two brutes of nature wreaked havoc on the towns and villages of the northern Japanese coastline. If only the damage had stopped there. When the deadly combo of earthquake and tsunami breached the protective barriers and engulfed one of Japan’s oldest nuclear-power plants, a nuclear nightmare began, one that at this point has shown no clear signs of ending. Then last Thursday a 7.4 quake hit, knocking out power for more than 3 million, and again shaking the country to its core.
-
Play, Parents, and Children’s Stress
Like mother like daughter…unfortunately this may also apply to depression. A study published in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science found that children whose mothers had been depressed at some point and whose parents were hostile when playing with them had higher stress. Experimenters measured three-year-old children on how upset they became by stressful situations (e.g. a stranger approaching to talk to them, giving them a toy box with keys that don’t fit in the lock, or giving them an empty box wrapped up like a present). Half an hour later, the experimenter measured the children’s cortisol levels, a stress hormone.
