-
Want to truly know yourself? Ask a friend
Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel: How well do we know ourselves? "It's a natural tendency to think we know ourselves better than others do," says Simine Vazire, an assistant professor at Washington University in St. Louis and author of a new paper on the subject in the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science However, Vazire and colleague Erika N. Carlson report that our own self-understanding is marred by blind spots caused by our own wishes, fears and unconscious motives. Friends, the authors suggest, see things in ourselves that we do not. Hence the need to consult a friend to gain a fuller understanding of ourselves.
-
Now, to Find a Parking Spot, Drivers Look on Their Phones
The New York Times: SAN FRANCISCO — It is the urban driver’s most agonizing everyday experience: the search for an empty parking place. It is part sleuthing and part blood sport. Circling, narrowly missing a spot, outmaneuvering other motorists to finally ease into a space only to discover that it is off limits during working hours. In this city, it is also a vexing traffic problem. Drivers cruising for parking spots generate 30 percent of all downtown congestion, city officials estimate. Now San Francisco professes to have found a solution — a phone app for spot-seekers that displays information about areas with available spaces. Read the whole story: The New York Times
-
Immigrants pack on the pounds in America
OTTAWA CITIZEN: Moving to the U.S. could be bad for your waistline, according to the results of a study linking fatty foods with the desire to belong. Within 15 years of moving to the United States, immigrants approach American levels of obesity -a finding previously linked to the ubiquity of cheap, high-calorie fast food and larger portion sizes. But investigators now suggest it's not simply the presence of such dishes but also immigrants' notion that eating them somehow validates their "Americanness." Read the whole city: OTTAWA CITIZEN
-
Do Immigrant Kids Get Fat to Fit In?
TIME: Many foreign-born American citizens have said they feel that their fellow U.S. citizens question their Americanness. This spurning can be particularly difficult for immigrants' U.S.-born children: some Asian-American kids, for instance, have sought plastic surgery or blue contact lenses to give their eyes a more "American" appearance. Now comes evidence that immigrants' kids may even eat more in an effort to fit in with U.S.-born kids, which is to say they try to be fat.
-
What Makes Something Funny?
NPR: Ever wonder what makes something funny? E.B. White once wrote that "humor can be dissected, as a frog can, but the thing dies in the process and the innards are discouraging to any but the pure scientific mind." A look at an explanation behind the punch line. Read more and listen to the audio: NPR
-
New Research From Psychological Science
The Use of Definite References Signals Declarative Memory: Evidence From Patients With Hippocampal Amnesia Melissa C. Duff, Rupa Gupta, Julie A. Hengst, Daniel Tranel, and Neal J. Cohen Most people will use declarative references to save time and mental resources when they are having a conversation. For example, a person might say “the game” instead of “a game” if they know the other person is aware of what they are talking about. To test whether declarative memory was required for the use of definite references, patients with hippocampal amnesia were asked to complete a communication task with a partner they were familiar with.
