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Why Facebook Really, Really Doesn’t Want to Discourage Extremism
Last year, the Wall Street Journal reported Facebook executives allegedly shut down internal research showing the platform increased political polarization and declined to make changes that might make the platform less divisive. Why might Facebook be reluctant to reduce polarization on its platform? Our study, recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, might offer an answer. Polarizing posts are more likely to go viral We analyzed nearly 3 million U.S.-based tweets and Facebook posts to examine what social media posts that go “viral” have in common.
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There’s a Specific Kind of Joy We’ve Been Missing
In late June, over 15,000 vaccinated people packed in to watch the Foo Fighters reopen Madison Square Garden. When the band brought the comedian Dave Chappelle onstage to sing the Radiohead song “Creep,” the audience erupted in the closest thing I’ve seen to rapture in a solid year and a half. No one cared that Mr. Chappelle was off key. They were all participating in an experience that was unimaginable just months earlier. One day they’ll tell their grandchildren about that night, when New York City came back to life and their favorite band performed another band’s song, and they tried to carry a tune with a legendary comic doing lead vocals.
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Handwriting Beats Typing and Watching Videos for Learning to Read
New research published in the journal Psychological Science reveals that handwriting plays a valuable part in language instruction, helping people learn certain skills far faster than they can by typing or watching videos.
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Gesturing Reduces Effect of a Classic Optical Illusion, Study Finds
New research in Psychological Science shows how gestures can help people penetrate a classic optical illusion.
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Gesturing Reduces Effect of a Classic Optical Illusion, Study Finds
New research shows that certain illusions can collapse when we use our hands to describe an action.
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APS Advocates for Psychological Science’s Role in U.S. Health and Human Services
Psychological science provides information that is key to achieving the goals of nearly all HHS programs.
