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Aiming for an A? Study habits you should adopt and avoid
USA TODAY: What are your favorite ways of preparing for an upcoming exam? Do you highlight and reread portions of text or create word associations to remember difficult concepts? According to research published in the journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest, many learning methods favored by students actually do very little to improve educational outcomes, while some of the less popular methods deserve another look. Read the whole story: USA TODAY
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The 9-to-5 workday is practically an invitation to ethical lapses. Here’s why.
The Washington Post: Do you consider yourself an ethical person? Chances are you answered "yes," but new research suggests that our ability to act honestly in a given situation is dependent, in part, on the time of day. A study forthcoming in the journal Psychological Science finds that early-risers, or "larks," are more likely to act dishonestly in the late evening hours. Night-owls, on the other hand, exhibit a tendency toward ethical lapses early in the morning. Most of us are hard-wired to go to sleep and wake up at certain times of day. Some of us are early-to-bed-and-early-to-risers, while others prefer to stay up late and wake up late. Many of us fall somewhere in between.
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New Research From Psychological Science
Read about the latest research published in Psychological Science: Are Orchids Left and Dandelions Right? Frontal Brain Activation Asymmetry and Its Sensitivity to Developmental Context Paz Fortier, Ryan J. Van Lieshout, Jordana A. Waxman, Michael H. Boyle, Saroj Saigal, and Louis A. Schmidt Does frontal asymmetry moderate the relationship between early birth environment and adult behavioral outcomes? Adults who had been of low or normal birth weight were assessed for resting EEG alpha asymmetry when they were between 22 and 26 years of age, and they completed behavioral self-report measures when they were between 30 and 35 years of age.
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Why Power in the Workplace Makes People Feel They Control Time
The Wall Street Journal: When it comes to time, people in power believe they have more of it at their disposal than others. In reality, time is a great equalizer. Minutes tick by at the same pace for all, whether the sun measures our day by lengthening shadows or an atomic clock subdivides our every second into 9 billion molecular moments. But positions of authority give people a sense they are better able to control time than subordinates, even though both groups are equally at the mercy of the clock. That conclusion is among the findings of five recent studies that measured how status and authority—the "boss effect"—shape our inner time zones. ...
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Does This Make Me Sound Insecure?
Slate: Insecurity, like blood, will out. It makes us feel so vulnerable and exposed that we eventually expose ourselves and become vulnerable. Like a scarlet sock in the load of white wash, insecurity has the irksome power to stain our speech and writing, interfering with the immaculate poise we’d like to project. Yet if you know what linguistic tics to look for, you can recognize self-doubt (and perhaps bleach the fuchsia from your pants before anyone notices). Insecurity has several linguistic calling cards, and learning to spot them may help you both assuage others and more skillfully present your self to the world.
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Do you remember more if the memory is personally relevant?
Examiner: A psychology researcher at North Carolina State University is proposing a new theory to explain why older adults show declining cognitive ability with age, but don’t necessarily show declines in the workplace or daily life. One key appears to be how motivated older adults are to maintain focus on cognitive tasks. The paper, “Selective Engagement of Cognitive Resources: Motivational Influences on Older Adults’ Cognitive Functioning,” presently appears online in the July 2014 issue of the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science. The work builds on research performed under multiple grants from the National Institute on Aging.
