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Practice Makes Perfect: Study Shows Chinese Children Excel in Math at an Early Age
In China and other East Asian countries, parents tend to emphasize the importance of mathematics more so than parents in Western countries, such as the United States. Even before students start elementary school, parents in Asian countries encourage their children to practice simple arithmetic. But a recent experiment supports the notion that Chinese children may be more skilled than American children at mathematics, even when both groups are introduced to the same, novel concept. Psychologists Robert Siegler and Yan Mu, Carnegie Mellon University, tested the math skills of kindergarteners from a school in China and a school in the U.S.
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New Lie Detecting Technique
One of the most important abilities for solving crimes is the ability to detect lies. But despite the methods that have been developed for this purpose, they can still be sidestepped by the most seasoned criminals. The autobiographical Implicit Association Test, or aIAT, can be used to identify events that a person has directly experienced in the past. While classifying a series of statements as true, false, innocent, or guilty, the person shows what he or she has lived through by how quickly the statements are identified.
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Reflecting on Values Promotes Love, Acceptance
No one enjoys being told that their behavior is harmful to themselves or others. In fact, most people respond defensively when confronted with evidence that their behavior is irrational, irresponsible, or unhealthy. Fortunately, research has shown that just a few minutes of writing about an important value can reduce defensiveness. Previous research by David Sherman at the University of California at Santa Barbara and his collaborators have shown that coffee drinkers are more willing to accept information that drinking coffee harms their health if they first write a few sentences about their most important value.
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How Carrots Help Us See the Color Orange
How carrots help us see the color orange One of the easiest ways to identify an object is by its color—perhaps it is because children’s books encourage us to pair certain objects with their respective colors. Why else would so many of us automatically assume carrots are orange, grass is green and apples are red? In two experiments by Holger Mitterer and Jan Peter de Ruiter from the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, perception of color and color constancy (the ability to see the same color under varying light conditions) were examined using different hues of orange and yellow.
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Oh, How Wonderful! A Study on the Cognition of Verbal Irony
Irony is commonplace in everyday conversation. When you get stuck in traffic and say to yourself, “Perfect!” we know that’s not what you really mean. But how exactly are we able to hear something and label it as literal or ironic? And when do we begin to develop this ability to detect verbal irony? Previous studies suggest various explanations for how we are able to process irony. Some researchers suggest that we first consider the literal meaning of a sentence before moving on to consider irony, while others propose that we begin to process a statement as ironic as soon as we have evidence from cues such as tone of voice or facial expression to support it as such.
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Money Makes the Heart Grow Less Fond…but More Hardworking
Money is a necessity: it provides us with material objects that are important for survival and for entertainment, and it is often used as a reward. But recent studies have shown that money is not only a device for gaining wealth, but a factor in personal performance, interpersonal relations and helping behavior, as well. In a recent set of experiments, psychologists Kathleen D. Vohs of the University of Minnesota, Nicole L. Mead of Florida State University and Miranda R. Goode of the University of British Columbia found that participants’ personal performance improved, and interpersonal relationships and sensitivity towards others declined, when they were reminded of money.
