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Better Teamwork Comes From Facing Challenges
From basketball to brain surgery, people can accomplish more working together as a team than they ever could by themselves. As Aristotle famously put it, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” In an article recently published in Current Directions in Psychological Science, psychological scientist Jamie C. Gorman of Texas Tech University outlined new research that is improving our understanding of the cognitive and environmental factors that allow people to work together effectively in teams. Previous studies have shown that shared knowledge between individuals enhances coordination within a team. These improvements in coordination, in turn, boost the team’s performance.
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What if Age Is Nothing but a Mind-Set?
The New York Times: One day in the fall of 1981, eight men in their 70s stepped out of a van in front of a converted monastery in New Hampshire. They shuffled forward, a few of them arthritically stooped, a couple with canes. Then they passed through the door and entered a time warp. Perry Como crooned on a vintage radio. Ed Sullivan welcomed guests on a black-and-white TV. Everything inside — including the books on the shelves and the magazines lying around — were designed to conjure 1959. This was to be the men’s home for five days as they participated in a radical experiment, cooked up by a young psychologist named Ellen Langer.
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The Dangers of Talking to Your Car
Inc.: Just because you can talk to your car doesn't mean you should. Two new studies have found that voice-activated smartphones and dashboard infotainment systems may be making the distracted-driving problem worse instead of better. The systems let drivers do things like tune the radio, send a text message, or make a phone call while keeping their eyes on the road and their hands on the wheel, but many of these systems are so error-prone or complex that they require more concentration from drivers rather than less, according to studies released Tuesday by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and the University of Utah.
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The Introverted Face
The Atlantic: People whose faces are perceived to look more "competent" are more likely to be CEOs of large, successful companies. Having a face that people deem "dominant" is a predictor of rank advancement in the military. People are more likely to invest money with people who look "trustworthy." These sorts of findings go on and on in recent studies that claim people can accurately guess a variety of personality traits and behavioral tendencies from portraits alone. The findings seem to elucidate either canny human intuition or absurd, misguided bias.
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Kids Get Better Grades When They Share Similarities With Teachers
The Atlantic: The teacher-student relationship impacts every aspect of the educational experience. When students don’t feel safe, respected, or truly known by their teacher, they are less likely to invest and engage in their education. Conversely, when teachers feel distanced from or distrusted by their students, it’s nearly impossible to muster the enthusiasm to walk into the classroom each day, let alone instill motivation or investment in our students. During my own teaching career I’ve been fortunate enough to have the time and opportunity to get to know my students and their educational needs well.
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How attractive is Barack Obama? That depends on your party affiliation.
The Washington Post: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder -- particularly when that beholder is into politics. Partisanship can be so powerful that it influences how attractive people find politicians, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal the Leadership Quarterly. Take a look above, for example. Are you a Democrat? Then you're likely to view President Obama as better looking than a Republican does. Or are you a Republican? Then former Alaska governor Sarah Palin is more physically appealing to you than she is to a Democrat. That's what happened when researchers showed Wisconsin legislative aides and Midwest voters photos of the two politicians in 2010.
