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Learning Strategies Outperform IQ in Predicting Achievement
Scientific American: In the 1960s, the legendary psychologist Albert Bandura rejected the view that learning is passive. Instead he emphasized the importance of the active use of learning strategies. Today, Bandura’s legacy lives on, and has been extended in exciting new directions.
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Sweating small stuff adds up: Bad reactions to daily stress raise risk of anxiety, other mental disorders: study
National Post: Getting stressed out about seemingly minor events in our daily lives may have long-term implications for mental health, a new study by researchers at the University of California, Irvine, says. And negative emotions, like a poor diet and lack of exercise, can contribute to the development of mental health problems later in life. Psychologist Susan Charles and her colleagues, writing in the March 26 issue of the journal Psychological Science, used data collected from two U.S. national surveys to examine 711 people between the ages of 25 and 74.
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Conservatism and Product Purchase
The Huffington Post: When you meet new people, there are a few things you can find out about them that seem to say a lot about them. The music people listen to, for example, seems to say a lot about their outlook on life. Political affiliation is another big dimension. In the US, knowing that someone is a Democrat or a Republication seems to tell you a lot about who they are. Do people's politics really say that much about who they are, though? Certainly, political affiliation is related to people's beliefs about social issues and the role of government in people's lives. But, does political affiliation predict other aspect of people's behavior?
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Our Futures Look Bright – Because We Reject the Possibility That Bad Things Will Happen
People believe they’ll be happy in the future, even when they imagine the many bad things that could happen, because they discount the possibility that those bad things will actually occur, scientists have found.
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The Secret to Success Is Giving, Not Taking
Scientific American: We all know what successful people look like. They are are the ones who do whatever it takes, the ones with the sharp elbows, the ones who know how to take what is theirs. But there is a different, better path to success, argues Adam Grant, in “Give and Take.” Grant, a professor of management at Wharton, shares research which suggest that some of the most successful people — not just in business, but in many realms — are in fact classic “givers,” people who genuinely try to help those around them. How could this be? He took questions from Mind Matters editor Gareth Cook. Read the whole story: Scientific American
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New Research From Psychological Science
Read about the latest research published in Psychological Science and Clinical Psychological Science. Perceived Causality Can Alter the Perceived Trajectory of Apparent Motion Sung-Ho Kim, Jacob Feldman, and Manish Singh In this study, the authors used apparent motion to examine how perceptions of causality influence people's interpretation of motion. Participants were shown a display of alternately flashing red boxes appearing at each end of a semicircular occluder. The red boxes appeared to collide with and move green boxes (also located at either end of the occluder).