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Solving The Conundrum Of Multiple Choice Tests
NPR: According to just published in Current Directions in Psychological Science, the answer — perhaps surprisingly — can sometimes be choice D. But it depends on how multiple choice questions are designed and deployed. Here's a hint: they shouldn't just appear on the final exam. Researchers have known for a long time that — by, for example, answering multiple choice or free-response questions — is more effective than repeatedly reviewing that material when it comes to remembering it one week later. They've also known that it's better to spread out studying over a long period of time rather than cramming right before an exam.
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Even When Test Scores Go Up, Some Cognitive Abilities Don’t
Schools whose students have the highest gains on standardized test scores do not produce similar gains in tests that measure abstract and logical thinking, a data analysis shows.
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It’s Not That Easy Being Mean
An impatient commuter shoves us out of the way to get onto the subway train. The bullying boss enjoys berating us in front of colleagues. We routinely deal with people who seem socially reckless, quick to retaliate at any perceived slight, and unremorseful if not downright sadistic. And some of us ourselves can spew misery on our colleagues, friends, and family members. In truth, though, the modern mantra “mean people suck” fails to capture many underlying drivers of aggression, cruelty, and hostility — traits that often fire up rampant conflict in the workplace.
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Tiny Foragers: How Do We Know What’s Safe To Eat?
It’s the holiday season, and we’ll soon be decorating our home with greenery—holly sprigs, poinsettia, maybe a mistletoe, and of course the tree, probably some kind of spruce. We’ll have young kids around, and most of this greenery is benign. But some of these plants are toxic, possibly even deadly, if eaten. So what we are doing in effect is creating a treacherous world for our youngest revelers to explore. Re-creating really. Our holiday home will be a microcosm of the ancient world in which our early ancestors lived, and died. Throughout evolutionary history, humans have gathered leaves and berries to eat, but they have done this with little information to guide their choices.
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Money May Corrupt, but Thinking About Time Can Strengthen Morality
Experimenters have found that implicitly activating the concept of time seems to reduce cheating behavior by encouraging people to engage in self-reflection.
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Luxury Shopping, from the Other Side of the Register
The New Yorker: This holiday season, I’m working in sales at a store in a giant luxury mall, just outside Philadelphia and near one of the richest Zip Codes in the United States. Major employers in the area include defense contractors and pharmacy conglomerates. Every day, I park my run-down car among BMWs and hybrids. The mall’s interior is decked out for Christmas: light-studded garlands are strung in the eaves; colossal reindeer grace the entrances like sphinxes; security officers zoom by on Segways. The mall rats who hover around the doors smoking cigarettes wear brands of designer jeans I’ve only ever heard about in songs.
