-
Why People Are Confused About What Experts Really Think
The New York Times: GIVEN the complexities of the modern world, we all have to rely on expert opinion. Are G.M.O. foods safe? Is global warming real? Should children be vaccinated for measles? We don’t have the time or the training to adjudicate these questions ourselves. We defer to the professionals. And to find out what the experts think, we typically rely on the news media. This creates a challenge for journalists: There are many issues on which a large majority of experts agree but a small number hold a dissenting view. Is it possible to give voice to experts on both sides — standard journalistic practice — without distorting the public’s perception of the level of disagreement?
-
Obnoxious Sixth-Graders Grow Up to Become High Earners
A new study suggests that the personality traits we possess as middle schoolers may end up having a major impact on our career choices and lifetime earnings as adults. But, after reviewing data spanning 40 years, researchers were surprised to find that obnoxious, rule-defying behavior in childhood was a predictor of career success in adulthood. As one might expect, students who did well in school – i.e., those who got good grades and positive assessments from their teachers – tended to end up with more successful careers as adults.
-
OK, Google, Where Did I Put My Thinking Cap?
NPR: Take a look at this question: How do modern novels represent the characteristics of humanity? If you were tasked with answering it, what would your first step be? Would you scribble down your thoughts — or would you Google it? Terry Heick, a former English teacher in Kentucky, had a surprising revelation when his eighth- and ninth-grade students quickly turned to Google. "What they would do is they would start Googling the question, 'How does a novel represent humanity?' " Heick says.
-
This Is Your Memory on Love
Scientific American: The approach to Valentine's Day is a reminder that we humans are so intrigued by the idea of love that we have made it into something to celebrate in it’s own right. Love is something amazing. Love is something special. But what are the implications of love for our memories? ... If brains are generally better at making memories when they are in love, do these memories last untainted forever and ever? Of course not. Memories are never perfect, and they can even be entirely fictitious. Research on so-called false memories has shown that memory distortions can exist for highly emotional memories, including for positive events.
-
New Research From Psychological Science
Read about the latest research published in Psychological Science: The Evaluative Advantage of Novel Alternatives: An Information-Sampling Account Gaël Le Mens, Yaakov Kareev, and Judith Avrahami People often rate new items more favorably than old items. Why might this be? Theories explaining this phenomenon have suggested that new items may serve a purpose or solve a problem old items could not, or that through imitation of others use of new items, new items come into favor. The authors suggest that adaptive sampling may also account for the favoritism shown to novel alternatives. Specifically, people seek out positive experiences and avoid past negative experiences.
-
How Inequality Leads to Obesity
Pacific Standard: Everyone who has ever turned to their friends Ben and Jerry for solace following a break-up is aware that painful emotions often lead to overeating. Yet when discussing the obesity epidemic among low-income families, policymakers tend to focus on more tangible factors, such as the cost and availability of healthy food. Over the past few years, a number of researchers have begun pointing out this emotion blindness, suggesting the stress of poverty is an under appreciated underlying problem. Two new studies that confirm and refine this proposition have just been published.
