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How to Get the Rich to Share the Marbles
The New York Times: Suppose scientists discovered a clump of neurons in the brain that, when stimulated, turned people into egalitarians. This would be good news for Democratic strategists and speechwriters, who could now get to work framing arguments about wealth and taxation in ways that might activate the relevant section of cerebral cortex. This “share-the-spoils” button has been discovered, in a sense, but it may turn out to be harder to press than Democrats might think. Pretend you’re a three-year-old, exploring an exciting new room full of toys.
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Brain scans in infants shed light on autism onset
CNN: New research provides evidence that wiring in the brains of children with autism differs from typically developing children as early as six months of age, according to a study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry on Friday. "This is the earliest study of brain development using neuro-imaging," says Geraldine Dawson, Ph.D.
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Girls’ Verbal Skills Make Them Better At Arithmetic
While boys generally do better than girls in science and math, some studies have found that girls do better in arithmetic. A new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, finds that the advantage comes from girls’ superior verbal skills. “People have always thought that males’ advantage is in math and spatial skills, and girls’ advantage is in language,” says Xinlin Zhou of Beijing Normal University, who cowrote the study with Wei Wei, Hao Lu, Hui Zhao, and Qi Dong of Beijing Normal University and Chuansheng Chen of the University of California-Irvine.
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Lin-Sanity: What’s Behind the Phenom?
Discovery News: Apart from his proven skills, Jeremy Lin, the remarkable young point guard for the New York Knicks, is benefiting from a combination of psychological factors that have conspired to help him obtain dizzying success on the court. Since he came off the bench earlier this month, Lin has scored 136 points in his first five games with the Knicks, more than anybody since the NBA and ABA merged back in 1976. He’s also helped his struggling team put together a seven-game winning streak that has the whole city talking about the Knicks in the playoffs.
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Even Babies Can Recognize What’s Fair
TIME: When your preschooler declares, “That’s not fair!” after her brother receives an imperceptibly larger piece of cake, she’s not just being selfish. Kids have a keen sense of fairness, a characteristic that research increasingly shows is an innate part of human morality. Indeed, the latest study, published in Psychological Science, finds that even babies are disturbed by displays of injustice — and even when it doesn’t apply to them. “We found that 19- and 21-month-old infants have a general expectation of fairness, and they can apply it appropriately to different situations,” said study co-author Stephanie Sloane, a graduate student at the University of Illinois, in a statement.
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A Gesture of Authority: What’s the Point?
My very first classroom teacher had a long wooden pointer, and she wielded it like a weapon. At least that’s my gauzy recollection. Many of the lessons were written on the blackboard, and she would use her pointer to direct our attention to this or that bit of information. She was an absolute and unquestioned authority in my small world, and her ubiquitous pointer served to reinforce that perception. Pointing remains a basic tool of instruction, both in the classroom and beyond. Elementary school teachers still use pointers, though these days most of them are plastic and colorful, with clownish hands attached.
