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Researchers find better way to predict suicide attempts
USA Today: Asking a soldier about self-worth or emotional pain may be a better way of predicting suicide than inquiring whether they intend to kill themselves, researchers report. Research has shown that more than half of troops who die by suicide denied in their last medical appointment that they were contemplating the act. Scientists are concerned that they fail to admit suicidal thoughts out of worry it would harm their military career.
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And the Memory Wars Wage On
National Geographic: I was reminded of the “memory wars” of the 1990s yesterday when listening to an episode of Marc Maron’s popular WTF podcast. The guest, comedian Tom Arnold, told Maron about his traumatic childhood, which included an alcoholic mother who abandoned him and a neighbor who molested him. Arnold said he came to terms with the trauma through therapy, which culminated in him confronting the neighbor in person. The man denied it, apparently yelling at Arnold that his memories were wrong. It was a heartbreaking story, and obvious from Arnold’s telling that he deeply believes his memories are not at all wrong. ...
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The Psychology of Begging to Be Followed on Twitter
The Atlantic: “Twitter is the best and Twitter is the worst.” This was the response Dr. Marion Underwood, clinical psychologist and University of Texas at Dallas psychology professor, received from one of her 15-year-old daughter’s friends when she asked what the girl thought of the social networking juggernaut. “I can’t get off of it,” the girl elaborated. “I can’t stop getting on Twitter.” If these sound like the words of an "addict," it’s because they (at least kind of) are. Underwood was inspired to take her informal poll after watching the teen in question spend the entirety of her daughter’s birthday party glued to her phone, reading and sending tweets.
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Is Gratitude a Tool for Patience?
Recovering alcoholics who find their way into the rooms of AA are told to expect dramatic changes in attitude and outlook. Their feelings of uselessness and self-pity will disappear, they are told, as will their interest in selfish things. They will become more intuitive about life, and experience serenity and peace. Their haunting fears will diminish. They will experience a new kind of freedom. These are known as the “promises” of AA, and they are a cornerstone of 12-step recovery. But there is no timetable given. Indeed, alcoholics are told only that these results will materialize “sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly,” and only with painstaking work.
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Gesturing With Hands Is a Powerful Tool for Children’s Math Learning
Children who use their hands to gesture during a math lesson gain a deep understanding of the problems they are taught, according to research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. Previous research has found that gestures can help children learn. This study in particular was designed to answer whether abstract gesture can support generalization beyond a particular problem and whether abstract gesture is a more effective teaching tool than concrete action.
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From Failing to Fortune
A technique called systematic reflection can promote learning from our failures, but also from our successes, too.
