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Jerome S. Bruner, influential psychologist of perception, dies at 100
The Washington Post: Jerome S. Bruner, who was born blind and, after having his sight restored, spent the rest of his life trying to understand how the human mind perceives the world, leading to influential advances in education and the development of the field of cognitive psychology, died June 5 at his home in New York City. He was 100. He had an aortic aneurysm several months ago, said his son, Whitley Bruner, but the exact cause of death was not known. In the 1950s, when Dr. Bruner was at Harvard University, he was a key figure in advancing the study of psychology beyond the behaviorist theories of B.F.
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As Suicide Rates Rise, Scientists Find New Warning Signs
The Wall Street Journal: Scientists are making headway in the search for solutions to one of the most vexing problems in mental health: How to predict who is at risk for suicide. Researchers are hunting for so-called biomarkers, such as patterns of brain activity on fMRI scans or levels of stress hormones in the blood, linked to suicidal thoughts and acts. They are creating computer algorithms, fed with tens of thousands of pieces of data, to come up with measures of risk. They are looking at sleep patterns and even responses to specialized computer tasks that can reveal unconscious biases toward self-harm. The need is great.
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Can’t Stand Your Commute? It’s All in Your Head.
The Wall Street Journal: Hate your morning commute? There is no need to move, or switch jobs. A recent study suggests an easy way to turn that lost time into found opportunity. The Wall Street Journal spoke with one of the authors of the working paper, Jon M. Jachimowicz, a doctoral student at Columbia Business School, about the study’s findings and how morning attitude adjustments can help with careers and commutes. Read the whole story: The Wall Street Journal
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Loneliness is an essential human feeling that rises and falls throughout our lives
Vox: Loneliness is epidemic, and in the coming years it could explode. Forty percent of people age 65 and older report being lonely at times. And the percentage of people living alone has been rising steadily since the 1960s. Look at this GIF of how America will age until 2050. It's a wave of increasing old age, but it may also represent a soul-crushing wave of loneliness as baby boomers age into their 70s. ... "What studies also show is that [loneliness] has real physiological consequences," says Maike Luhmann, a psychologist at the University of Cologne in Germany. "Blood pressure goes up, and it can go up permanently.
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Four easy tricks to make your memory work harder for you
The Washington Post: It’s pretty amazing that the same brain that stores our favorite moments, the names and faces of our loved ones, and what our favorite foods taste like can also make room for cocktail chatter, PowerPoint presentations and whatever your boss’s dog’s name is. Keeping memory sharp is key for life. Recent studies have shed light on some surprisingly simple ways for ramping up your recall. ...
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Is Gossip Good at Work?
Talking about co-workers or bosses while they’re not around can be nefarious, but new research suggests that gossip also can have positive effects on group behavior and cooperation at work. Psychological scientists Junhui Wu and Paul A. M. Van Lange of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the Netherlands and Daniel Balliet of Wesleyan University compared the effects of gossip and punishment on group behavior in a computer-based experiment. According to Wu and colleagues, knowing that their reputation is on the line tends to make people more cooperative.
