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The ‘Rocky’ in Relationships
In 2008, a massive earthquake shook the Chinese province of Sichuan. Measuring 8.0, the quake killed more than 69,000, injured countless more, and left 4.8 million homeless. The Chinese government has spent billions on the region’s recovery, which even now is incomplete. The immediate devastation in Sichuan was also followed by a dramatic spike in the divorce rate, a phenomenon that captured international attention—and sparked widespread speculation—at the time. Did the deadly earthquake actually cause the jump in marital breakups? The spike might have been a coincidence, though that’s unlikely.
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Painkillers Might Also Dull Your Emotions
Smithsonian Magazine: Headaches, cramps and other painful twinges in your body can be relieved by popping an over-the-counter painkiller, but the aches of the soul are harder to treat. Yet studies show that the acetaminophen (sold as Tylenol) can actually dull emotional pain. However, don’t reach for the glass of water and the pills when you feel down—the painkiller can also dampen your feelings of happiness, reports Isha Aran for Fusion. A study just published in Psychological Science had 82 people look at pictures meant to elicit an emotional response. Half took acetaminophen, and half took a placebo pill.
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New Research From Psychological Science
Read about the latest research published in Psychological Science: Bilingualism Modulates Infants' Selective Attention to the Mouth of a Talking Face Ferran Pons, Laura Bosch, and David J. Lewkowicz Children who grow up in a bilingual environment have the task of learning two languages rather than just one. What processes might help children during the dual-language acquisition process? Four-, 8-, and 12-month-old infants, either Spanish monolingual or Catalan monolingual (Experiment 1) or Spanish-Catalan bilingual (Experiment 2) watched a video of a woman speaking in their dominant native language or in a non-native language.
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This is your brain on fencing: How certain sports may aid the aging brain
The Washington Post: The two fencers pull on their mesh-front masks and face each other behind two “en garde” lines. At their coach’s signal, they raise their sabres and the practice bout begins in a flurry. Michael DeManche, 69, is fencing his son Devin, 20, who not only has youth on his side but at 6-foot-5 also has a much longer reach. Father and son move rapidly, advancing, retreating and attacking with precision. The skirmish continues until the score is tied at four points. Then in a flash, Devin prevails with a swift hit on his dad’s mask. ...
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A Sniff of Happiness: Chemicals in Sweat May Convey Positive Emotion
Humans may communicate positive emotions like happiness through the smell of our sweat.
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Mental Health for the Masses
The Huffington Post: Ricardo Muñoz thinks that MOOCs get a bad rap. MOOC stands for Massive Open Online Courses, Internet-based higher education available to anyone in the world, regardless of age or qualifications, and usually for free. MOOCs have become very popular in recent years, and now attract millions of students who want to learn art history or calculus or abnormal psychology with some of the world's best professors. Critics focus on MOOCs' dismal attrition rates. While millions of eager students may sign up, they say, most of these drop out. They point to examples, including one MIT MOOC, in which 155,000 enrolled but only 7,157 passed the course.
