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Cognitive Motor Skills Start to Fall Before Age 25
Today’s college graduates may enter the workforce with a lot of naiveté about business protocol and negotiation skills, but their technical prowess is arguably unprecedented. These are individuals who grew up with the Internet and the advent of smartphones, tablets, Wi-Fi, Twitter, and online multiplayer games. They’re the people you turn to when you need to develop a social media strategy or a new app for your customers. But the technical skills that millennials bring to the office are not only generationally based, a new psychological study shows. People over 24 years of age have already reached their peak cognitive motor skills — including those used to learn new computer skills.
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Anatomy of a Memorable Lunch
It’s about 11 in the morning, and I’m already thinking about lunch. I’m at my desk in my downtown office, so I have lots of options. I could go to that new sandwich place around the corner, where I know they make a great turkey club. Or I could walk up the street and get one of those big salads, which would be satisfying and healthy. Or I could just run downstairs to the snack bar and grab a yogurt and some pretzels. It’s a tough decision. It’s also a common decision, one that many of us confront every day. Our choices have implications, not only for how much we enjoy lunch today, but also for longer term goals like fitness and health. But how do we choose?
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Wie man einen Lügner erkennt (How to recognize a liar)
ORF Austria: Haben Sie schon mal einen Profi-Pokerspieler im Moment des Turniergewinns gesehen? Bei uns Normalverbrauchern würde all die Anspannung sichtbar abfallen, und wir würden jubeln angesichts des Batzen Geldes, den man als Sieger einstreift. Doch im Gesicht der Pokerspieler passiert: nichts. Sie sind so darauf trainiert, ihre Emotionen zu verbergen, dass ihre gefrorene Mimik auch im Moment des Triumphes nicht aufzutauen vermag. Auch das Umgekehrte, das Vortäuschen von Gefühlen, ist alles andere als einfach. Wie Leanne ten Brinke von der University of California, Berkeley, herausgefunden hat, muss ein versierter Lügner seine Gesichtsmuskeln gut im Griff haben.
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Fast and slow lessons for marketers
The Guardian: The idea of consumers making fully reasoned decisions is finally being debunked. Events like the financial crisis and fresh research have successfully challenged the idea that rationality is at the heart of our choices. The most prominent thinker in this area is psychologist Daniel Kahneman. His book, "Thinking, Fast and Slow", has now sold over a million copies in the UK. He's demonstrated that our mind has two systems of thought. System 1 is a fast, automatic and intuitive process over which we have little conscious control. System 2, which corresponds with our idea of rational reasoning is slow, deliberative and effortful.
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For the Devils, Shootouts Become a No-Win Mind Game
The New York Times: The Devils have a case of the yips. Not your garden variety, as with a golfer losing his putting touch. This one runs through the whole team and has been going on all season. The Devils have lost all 11 shootouts they had been in this season and an N.H.L.-record 15 consecutive over all since March 15, 2013. “Never have I seen anything like this,” said Paul Dennis, a professor of sports psychology at York University in Toronto and formerly the Maple Leafs’ mental skills coach for 20 years. He called the Devils’ futility a debilitating “emotional contagion.” Saul L. Miller, a sports psychologist in Vancouver, British Columbia, who has worked with N.H.L.
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Four common mistakes parents make when praising their kids
The Globe and Mail: Everybody wants what’s best for their kids. We know we should be helping to build their self-esteem and boost their resilience. Problem is, our efforts might be doing more harm than good. Multiple studies have shown that certain types of praise can actually harm children, whether it makes them shrink from challenges or suffer a loss of motivation to try new things. The latest research even shows that what seems like a natural tendency to heap praise on certain kids will backfire. ... In a study to be published in the journal Psychological Science, researchers at Ohio State University found that this strategy can backfire.
