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Everybody Thinks They’re Typical: Seeing Yourself in Others
The Atlantic: Who's the more typical American, Bill Clinton or Barack Obama? According to a European study, the answer depends on who's answering the question. How people see themselves is a potent force that affects how they see others. The study posed the question of what the typical European man looked like to natives of Germany and Portugal. Not surprisingly, the Germans thought that the typical European looked more German, while the Portuguese thought that the typical European had a distinctly Portuguese cast. Other studies have shown that people who belong to a group think that a typical group member has characteristics similar to their own. But those studies were done using words.
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Les babouins apprennent l’analogie
La Marseillaise: Une équipe du laboratoire de psychologie cognitive (CNRS/Université de Provence), dirigée par Joël Fagot associée au chercheur américain Roger Tompson du Franklin & Marshall College est parvenue à prouver la capacité au « raisonnement » par analogie. « Cette publication dans la revue Psychological Science est une grande avancée, puisque jusque-là cette manifestation d’intelligence abstraite n’avait pu être démontrée de manière aussi claire que chez des chimpanzés ayant auparavant appris de l’homme une forme de langage. Nous avons obtenu ce résultat avec des babouins », explique Joël Fagot.
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Newly divorced
Democrat and Chronicle: Researchers took a look at several positive characteristics people might have — self-esteem, optimism, ease with relationships. They found that self-compassion is the one that can help newly divorced people the most. Self-compassion — a combination of kindness toward oneself, recognition of common humanity and the ability to let painful emotions pass — "can promote resilience and positive outcomes in the face of divorce," say the University of Arizona researchers. "This study opens a window for how we can potentially cultivate self-compassion among recently separated adults," says David Sbarra, co-author of the study published in the journal Psychological Science.
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Brain continues learning while asleep, scientists find
The Telegraph: Even after people have gone to bed for the night their brains can carry on processing information according to the study by researchers at Michigan State University in the US. The findings are highlighted in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. "We speculate that we may be investigating a separate form of memory, distinct from traditional memory systems," said Kimberly Fenn, assistant professor of psychology and lead researcher on the project. "There is substantial evidence that during sleep, your brain is processing information without your awareness and this ability may contribute to memory in a waking state." Read the whole story: The Telegraph
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Domestic violence gets evolutionary explanation
NewScientist: What can evolution tell us about domestic violence? Two researchers in the US suggest such violence has ancient origins and that establishing evolution's role could help to better identify those at risk. Others argue that the research makes simplistic assumptions, and warn that some people will interpret the research as an excuse for violence. Each year more than 500,000 women in the US alone report to the police violent attacks by current or former male partners. There is a reason why domestic violence is so widespread, says David Buss, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Texas in Austin: it carries a selective advantage, tied with reproductive success.
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«Mi distraggo o ci ragiono?» Come si affrontano le emozioni negative
Corriere della Serra: A volte la miglior difesa è la fuga, e in questo caso si scappa un po' da se stessi. Quando siamo travolti da un'emozione molto negativa, la reazione spontanea è cercare di distrarci, non pensarci; se invece l'emozione è meno forte scegliamo di affrontarla in maniera più razionale, riflettendoci e trovando un modo per sostenerla. Siamo umani, e ci comportiamo proprio così: lo ha dimostrato una ricerca sulla rivista Psychological Science, condotta da un gruppo di psicologi dell'università di Stanford.
