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Mental Health Minute: Never Forget a Name Again
Glamour: Are you suffer from chronic name forgetfulness? Maybe you're not doing this... If you've ever faced someone and completely spaced out on her name, it could be because you didn't focus on a single feature of a person's face. In a new study published in the journal Psychological Science, researchers learned that people are more likely to remember someone's name if they remember a key feature on their face (their beautiful eyes, or great smile, for instance), rather than just the overall picture of their face. Read the whole story: Glamour
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The Gifts We Keep On Giving
With so many holidays and celebrations, who can blame someone for doing a little recycling, or as it is commonly known, regifting? Not the person who actually gave the original gift, despite what a regifter may think.
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Let Us Eat Cake: The Paradox of Scarcity
Huffington Post: Everyone knows by now that the U.S. is in the midst of an obesity epidemic, but for all the hand wringing, nobody really knows why. Experts have offered many theories about why Americans eat too much, especially too much fattening food, but these remain theories. It's because Americans are ill-informed about diet and nutrition and simply do not understand that double cheeseburgers are loaded with fat and calories. Or it's because we're constantly bombarded with stimulating ads for tempting but unhealthful snacks. Or it's because we simply lack the self-discipline of earlier generations. Or all of the above. Or perhaps something else entirely.
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How Protective Parents Imperil Kids at the Playground
ABC News: For parents who hover, a playground can look like a very dangerous place for their kids. But medical experts warn that parental efforts to keep their young children safe often backfire -- and end up harming them instead. Nora Abularach of New York keeps her impulses in check. On Wednesday she watched as her 2-year-old son, Sam, scurried up the ladder to a big yellow slide at a Central Park playground. Abularach remained a few feet away near the foot of the slide. Sam paused at the top for a moment, looking to his mom for reassurance. A few encouraging words later, Sam was zipping down the slide, all by himself.
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‘Weapons of persuasion’ from Robert Cialdini
Los Angeles Times: Mitt Romney on the stump, singles at the bar, car salesmen on the lot: All sorts of people are practicing the art of persuasion, with varying degrees of success. We like to think that we make our own decisions, that we're in control. But we're all open to persuasion by others, says Robert Cialdini, professor emeritus of psychology at Arizona State University and author of "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion." Humans have been testing their own trial-and-error persuasion techniques forever, Cialdini says. Now, for better or worse, the professionals are moving in.
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Turned off: Families come together in unplugging technology
Green Bay Press Gazette: Imagine what you could accomplish if you stopped using the Internet, other forms of social media or the television for a short period of time or even a summer. There’d be time to focus on family, get involved in outdoor activities or just maybe write a book. That’s exactly what happened last summer when Kathy and Jason Schipper and their four children decided to unplug for four months. The decision came after a night of social media overload in their Town of Center home. “One night in the family room, Jason and I looked at each other and every single person was in the family room. The TV was on and Jason was watching it,” Kathy Schipper said.
