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Effective Mentoring Stems From Workplace Climate
Mentoring a less experienced colleague -- and doing it effectively -- can be a demanding task, especially when deadlines are looming. The relationship is a delicate one, and trying to foster a working dynamic that is productive but also engaging is a skill that requires practice. New findings suggest that how your company operates as a whole can have significant bearing on whether the mentor/protégé bond flourishes or flounders. That is, the overall tenor of the workplace environment influences the give and take of the relationship.
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Extraordinary Altruism: Who Gives A Kidney To A Stranger?
I have a colleague who would not be alive today if it were not for a complete stranger, who volunteered to give her a kidney. Her kidneys were failing, and she would not have survived for long. Now she is healthy, and has been for some years. So I understand in a personal way that living kidney donation is an extraordinary gift, a far-too-rare act of pure altruism. Yet I have not offered to make the same gift of my kidney. I have a friend who did, who donated one of her kidneys to a stranger, just out of the goodness of her heart. I admired her, but it made me nervous when she did it, for the same reason that it makes me nervous now. What if something goes wrong?
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New Research From Psychological Science
Read about the latest research from Psychological Science: Task Relevance Induces Momentary Changes in the Functional Visual Field During Reading Johanna K. Kaakinen and Jukka Hyönä Research has shown that people zoom in on task-relevant information in text. The authors examined whether a person's functional visual field changes as a function of task relevance by tracking participants' eye movements as they read a large piece of text about different countries. Before reading, participants were instructed to imagine they were going to move to one of the countries described in the text.
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Brain training can help older adults stay sharp for years
NBC: A brief course of brain exercises helped older adults hold on to improvements in reasoning skills and processing speed for 10 years after the course ended, according to results from the largest study ever done on cognitive training. Older adults who underwent a brief course of brain exercises saw improvements in reasoning skills and processing speed that could be detected as long as 10 years after the course ended, according to results from the largest study ever on cognitive training.
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Is Sugar Addiction Why So Many January Diets Fail?
NPR: We've survived the stretch between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day, when rich, sweet treats come at us non-stop. Now is the season of reform, when gym memberships, cleanse books, and weight-loss plans sell like gangbusters. The cycle has become so predictable, and disheartening, as our collective motivation to change our ways dissolves by February like a sugar cube in a glass of champagne. I've certainly done my fair share of January food-restriction experiments that fizzled at the first sign of a Valentine's Day candy heart. For me, it's refined sugar, pure and simple, that, over time, I've identified as the food I would most love to be able to resist.
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Will Mozart make my child smarter?
The Guardian: Playing Mozart and Beethoven to young children improves their listening skills, concentration and self-discipline, according to a study this week by the Institute of Education. The study was an evaluation of a programme for primary schools in the London boroughs of Hackney and Tower Hamlets. Some teachers credited the music with improving English skills. If these are the effects of listening to music, what happens if you encourage your child to play an instrument? According to Glenn Schellenberg, professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, who studied the link between music lessons and higher achievement at school, it won't make much difference.
