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Wise Beyond Their Years: What Babies Really Know
The Wall Street Journal: Infants as young as 6 months are capable of making predictions based on probability, a higher level of reasoning than is commonly believed possible, researchers have found. When shown a range of facial expressions, children as young as 7 months cast the longest gaze on the fearful face, similar to adult behavior, which scientists say signals an early sign of emotional processing. ... "The baby brain is a mystery, waiting to be unpeeled. It's full of secrets waiting to be uncovered," says Patricia Kuhl, co-director of the Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, at the University of Washington in Seattle.
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With Age Comes Happiness
TIME: Wisdom may come with age, but does happiness follow suit? Some studies show that the elderly may be more prone to depression and loneliness, which can lead to higher rates of unhappiness, not a surprise given the health and emotional challenges that tend to accompany aging. But increasing, more and more studies suggest that happiness may actually rise after middle age — at least when scientists take into account some of the non-biological factors that can influence reports of contentment.
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Fear Of Cantaloupes And Crumpets? A ‘Phobia’ Rises From The Web
NPR: Four years ago, my husband revealed one of his more peculiar qualities: He's freaked out by the sight of sliced cantaloupe. The melon seeds, all clustered together, make his skin itch and his stomach churn. Then he gets obsessed and can't stop talking about it. Research psychologist Arnold Wilkins at the U.K.'s University of Essex has been investigating the phenomenon, and he thinks he might know what's going on. In images that set off this repulsion, the pattern of contrast is similar to that found in photographs of extremely poisonous animals — like box jellyfish, king cobras and Brazilian wandering spiders.
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Think extroverts make the best salespeople? Think again
The Globe and Mail: Outgoing, gregarious, good shmoozers: The people we think of as extroverts are the best people to put into sales roles, right? Wrong, according to this fascinating piece in The Washington Post. The piece, by author Daniel Pink, points to research that has found that extroversion is one of the big traits that hiring managers look for when bringing on sales staff. The only problem, it notes, is that there is no research to support the notion that extroverts do best on the sales floor. In fact, any efforts to make the connection have come up with a “flimsy” correlation, at best, the Post piece says.
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Feeling Anxious? Think Again.
The Huffington Post: Americans' number one fear is public speaking, hands down. Pollsters have reported time and again that the average person dreads public speaking more than disease or even death. These polls merely confirm what our sweaty palms and elevated heart beat make undeniable: Standing up and addressing an audience brings out our worst insecurities about performance and failure and the judgment of others. ... A team of psychological scientists has been exploring the interplay of thinking, attention and physiology in SAD.
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What You Might Be Missing
The Wall Street Journal: People lie. We tell Aunt Linda we like her new hat. We tell a creditor that the check is in the mail. And we don't just lie to others, we lie to ourselves: Those extra pounds look good on me. I can quit smoking anytime I want—I just don't want to. Because we are liars, simply asking people what their innermost thoughts are can produce inaccurate results. This is particularly true for sensitive topics such as racism and bigotry. Psychologists and pollsters have long known that people will offer self-serving answers to questions about such topics and will act in ways that reveal latent biases. ...
