-
A Million First Dates
The Atlantic: Psychologists who study relationships say that three ingredients generally determine the strength of commitment: overall satisfaction with the relationship; the investment one has put into it (time and effort, shared experiences and emotions, etc.); and the quality of perceived alternatives. Two of the three—satisfaction and quality of alternatives—could be directly affected by the larger mating pool that the Internet offers. At the selection stage, researchers have seen that as the range of options grows larger, mate-seekers are liable to become “cognitively overwhelmed,” and deal with the overload by adopting lazy comparison strategies and examining fewer cues.
-
When I was your age…: Or, what is it with kids these days?
Scientific American: When I was your age, children knew to respect their parents. We didn’t give anyone any lip. We owned up to our responsibilities. We took advantage of our opportunities. We knew what was what. Kids these days have gotten everything all messed up. Kids these days just aren’t what they used to be. Kids these days. Or, this version, if you’d prefer. When I was your age, we had to walk to school ten miles. In the snow. Uphill. Both ways. And let me tell you a thing or two about the meaning of hard work. You think what you’re doing is working hard? Well, you just take a good listen. ...
-
Scanning the Brain: Scientists Examine the Impact of fMRI Over the Past 20 Years
Understanding the human brain is one of the greatest scientific quests of all time, but the available methods have been very limited until recently. The development of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) -- a tool used to gauge real-time brain activity by measuring changes in blood flow -- opened up an exciting new landscape for exploration. Now, twenty years after the first fMRI study was published, a group of distinguished psychological scientists reflect on the contributions fMRI has made to our understanding of human thought.
-
All In The Mind
Australian Broadcasting Radio: Memory – it’s the thread that runs through our lives, but how are our early memories formed? Psychologists are finding that the way we talk with our young children and tell them family stories affects their early memories and their sense of themselves when they become teenagers. And, why we forget most of what we learn when we cram for an exam. Research suggests that repeated study is not as effective for enduring learning, as regular testing of newly acquired knowledge. Read the whole story: Australian Broadcasting Radio
-
This Was Supposed to Be My Column for New Year’s Day
The New York Times: For the past 5 years, or maybe it’s more like 10, I’ve been meaning to publish a New Year’s Day column offering a bold resolution for the coming year: “The Power of Positive Procrastination.” Well, Jan. 15 is close enough, especially if you still haven’t gotten around to dealing with this year’s resolutions. And you can stop feeling guilty for procrastinating. Science has come up with a defense of your condition. ... “The secret of my incredible energy and efficiency in getting work done is a simple one,” he wrote.
-
Being Bored At Work Could Boost Creativity, Study Suggests
The Huffington Post: We've got some surprising news, workers of the world: Being bored at work could actually be . New research presented at the annual meeting of the British Psychological Society Division of Occupational Psychology shows that being bored at work means more daydreaming time -- leading to an increase in creativity. However, more research is needed to see how exactly this creativity manifests. ... The findings have yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal, so they should be regarded as preliminary. But still, this is hardly the first time the benefits of daydreaming have been revealed in a study.
