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Language Lessons From Babies
The New York Times: In today’s 18 and Under column, Dr. Perri Klass writes about new science of bilingualism and how scientists are teasing out the earliest differences between brains exposed to one language and brains exposed to two. The learning of language — and the effects on the brain of the language we hear — may begin even earlier than 6 months of age. Janet Werker, a professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia, studies how babies perceive language and how that shapes their learning.
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Grope Cases Set Special Challenges
The Wall Street Journal: The attacks were seemingly random and almost assuredly frightening: In a dozen instances this summer, women on the Upper East Side were violently groped by an assailant, at times in their buildings or the subway. On Aug. 9, police said they had found the man responsible, Jose Alfredo Perez Hernandez, an 18-year-old salad preparer at a local restaurant. But several months later, Mr. Hernandez, who denies the attacks, stands charged in connection with just three of them. As police search for one or more assailants behind a similar pattern of sexual attacks in Brooklyn, Mr. Hernandez's case underscores the challenges ... Read the whole story: The Wall Street Journal
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Study of the Day: The Personality Trait for Post-Divorce Resilience
The Atlantic: PROBLEM: The end of a marriage is a painful experience. Still, why do some divorcees recover easily while others flounder? METHODOLOGY: The researchers enlisted 105 divorcees who were married for over 13 years for the study. They were asked to think about their former partner for 30 seconds and then to talk for four minutes about their separation. Four trained coders listened to the audio recordings of these sessions and rated the participants' levels of self-compassion -- a combination of kindness toward oneself, recognition of common humanity, and the ability to let painful emotions pass.
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How politeness can have disastrous consequences
Zee News: Washington: Politeness helps us get through awkward social situations and makes it easier for us to maintain our relationships. But a new study suggests that politeness can have disastrous consequences, especially in high-stakes situations. According to authors Jean-François Bonnefon and Wim de Neys of CNRS and Université de Toulouse and Aidan Feeney of Queen’s University, we resort to politeness strategies when we have to share information that might offend or embarrass someone or information that suggests someone has made a mistake or a bad choice. The more sensitive an issue is, the more likely we are to use these kinds of politeness strategies.
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How Our Brains Turn Women Into Objects
Scientific American: Recent reports of a mountain lion or cougar stalking the campus of the University of Iowa prompted campus jokesters to tweet their surprise that Michelle Bachman was in town. A cougar, colloquially, is an attractive older woman who seeks out trysts with younger men, and to some, it seems that Bachmann fits the bill. This emphasis on appearance is nothing new for high-profile women who are anything but homely, and feminist scholars are quick to point out its potential detrimental effects on perceptions of female competence. Of course, we don’t need to consider reactions to political candidates to understand this idea.
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Pain At The Plate: Heat Increases Pitcher Retaliation
NPR: Richard Larrick has been bothered by something for two decades. "Twenty years ago, I'd done a paper with some graduate students just showing that in hotter temperatures, pitchers are more likely to hit batters with pitches," says Larrick, a professor at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. Was it because they would sweat more, and the ball might get slippery and hard to control? Or was it something intentional? "Laboratory research has shown that if you put people in a hotter room, they're more likely to act aggressively toward someone else," sometimes without even being aware of it, he says.
