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Why you should always tell a woman her parking is perfect… if you want her skills to improve
Daily Mail: For some men, keeping quiet while their wife is on her 17th attempt at reversing into a parking spot would not come naturally. But research suggests that they might be better advised to bite their tongue – as lack of confidence is a factor in women’s tendency to struggle in tasks requiring spatial awareness. Tests showed that women improved in these activities when their self-belief was given a boost. Dr Estes, whose research paper is published in the journal Archives Of Sexual Behaviour, said: ‘Prior research shows that women tend to do poorly on tasks that require spatial awareness.
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How will you remember 2011?
The year 2011 was a dismal time in American public life. The nation came close to defaulting and lost its AAA credit rating for the first time ever. The do-nothing Congress did—well, nothing. The GOP seriously offered up the likes of Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain as its best and brightest for the country’s future. Policemen in riot gear pepper-sprayed peaceful protestors. And public discourse sank to an all-time low in coarseness and partisanship. So how will we recall 2011 when we look back on it? Most likely with warmth and good cheer. Say what? That’s right. We will most likely remember the end of 2011—the next couple weeks—positively, simply because it is the end of the year.
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Psychopathy: A Misunderstood Personality Disorder
Psychopathic personalities are some of the most memorable characters portrayed in popular media today. These characters, like Patrick Bateman from American Psycho, Frank Abagnale Jr. from Catch Me If You Can and Alex from A Clockwork Orange, are typically depicted as charming, intriguing, dishonest, guiltless, and in some cases, downright terrifying. But scientific research suggests that psychopathy is a personality disorder that is widely misunderstood. “Psychopathy tends to be used as a label for people we do not like, cannot understand, or construe as evil,” notes Jennifer Skeem, Professor of Psychology and Social Behavior at the University of California, Irvine.
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Mental Illness Is Brain Illness
Huffington Post: You voted, and this December, we are talking nerdy about the science of mental health. In last week's video introduction, I stated that "we now know that the mind does not exist somewhere outside of the brain. Consciousness is a function of neurobiology, and mental illness cannot be separated from biochemistry." This appears to be a point of contention for many readers. Before we can engage in a meaningful conversation about the science of mental health, we must ensure that we're operating with similar definitions of its associated terms.
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Impatient People Have Lower Credit Scores, Research Finds
LiveScience: While patience may be a virtue, a new study is showing that it can also help your credit score. According to research by two economists at Boston's Federal Reserve Center for Behavioral Economics and Decision Making, people who were willing to wait for long-term benefits had better credit scores than people who accepted immediate rewards. "Most often, the reasons economists put forward (for why people default) are, maybe there was not enough screening for mortgage applicants, or securitization, or other institutional reasons," said Stephan Meier, co-author of the study. Read the whole story: LiveScience
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The WEIRD Evolution of Human Psychology
Scientific American: Does psychology’s over-reliance on American undergraduates distort our image of the human species? Imagine that you’re in a room with 100 psychopaths. The first thing you’ll probably want to do is leave that room. However, once you do, you discover a booth installed with one-way glass where you can watch what’s taking place without anyone seeing you. Comfortably seated, you observe a strange experiment taking place. A few of the individuals have on white coats and are carrying around clipboards while most are being run through a battery of psychological tests. Slowly the frantic activity begins to make sense.
