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The Makings of Our Earliest Memories
The New York Times: Like many other pediatricians, I do not wear a white coat. Many of us believe that babies and small children suffer from a special form of “white coat syndrome,” that mix of trepidation and anxiety that some adults experience — to the point of high blood pressure — in a medical setting. The pediatric version is easy to diagnose: Doctor in white coat walks into room, kid starts to cry. I worry that a child like this has recalled shots or an unpleasant ear check and has connected that memory to a particular garment, rather than to my face, or my exam room, or my stethoscope. But how realistic is that? Do babies remember past events? Starting when?
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Study of the Day: When Teamwork Isn’t Democratic, Everyone Benefits
The Atlantic: PROBLEM: Though many believe that equality within a team is important, does this flat power structure really improve a group's performance? METHODOLOGY: Researchers led by Richard Ronay randomly assigned 138 undergraduate students to one of three experimental conditions -- primed to feel high in power, low in power, and baseline or control. They organized subjects into same-sex teams of three high-power participants and three low-power participants or groups with one high-power, one low-power, and one baseline participant.
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Re: The English Wars
The New Yorker: Acocella misunderstood my essay on usage in the American Heritage Dictionary. It never declares that “there are no rules” but, rather, begins from the opposite premise: “What kind of fact are you looking up when you look up a word in the dictionary? A fact it certainly is. It is not just a matter of opinion that there is no such word as misunderestimated, that the citizens of modern Greece are Greeks and not Grecians, and that divisive policies Balkanize rather than vulcanize society.” My goal was to use the answer to this question to distinguish bogus rules of usage from defensible ones.
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Stress Turns Men Into Social Butterflies
LiveScience: When stress strikes, women are said to turn to their social ties for support, while men are supposed to become aggressive. But new research finds that these gender stereotypes don't always hold true.... In fact, men under stress are more likely to trust others, behave in a trustworthy manner and to share resources, a new study finds. Earlier research has suggested that when under stress, men take a "fight-or-flight" approach, becoming more aggressive, while women are more likely to "tend-and-befriend," reaching out to others. Read the whole story: LiveScience
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Men With Aggressive Faces Are Secretly Selfless
Gizmodo: Looks can be deceptive. If you want some proof, consider a new study which analyzes the actions of aggressive-looking males. Turns out, men with angry, violent faces are actually far more likely to makes sacrifices for their close friends. The research, carried out by a pair of psychologists at St Andrews University, Scotland and published in Psychological Science, investigated the generosity of individuals with differing face shapes. In the past, plenty of research has shown that the width-to-height ratio of the human face correlates with antisocial tendencies like aggression, exploitation, cheating, and deception. Read the whole story: Gizmodo
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Rethinking Rage in the Middle East
The Huffington Post: In September of last year, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas petitioned the United Nations for full membership in the world body. For many Palestinians this event was a potent and long-overdue symbol of their statehood, a cause for celebration. For many Jewish Israelis, the Palestinians' bid was a betrayal of the spirit of ongoing peace negotiations in the region. For many others around the world, it was just one more flash point in the seemingly endless and intractable conflict between Israel and Palestine. The event sparked intense emotions, from righteous resentment to hateful rage, and these emotions did indeed threaten the halting peace negotiations.
