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Study finds women in gender-equal countries have better cognitive skills – here’s how to understand it
The Conversation: Let’s try you. Read the title above once, then cover it and write down word for word what you remember. Having difficulties? How well you do may be down to which country you live in. That’s according to a new study, published in Psychological Science, involving an impressive 200,000 women and men from 27 countries across five continents. It revealed that women from more conservative countries performed worse on memory tests than those from more egalitarian countries. Demographics expert Eric Bonsang and his colleagues analysed national survey data from individuals above the age of 50.
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Why Do Humans Talk to Animals If They Can’t Understand?
The Atlantic: “Do you think it’s weird that I tell Nermal I love her multiple times a day?” My sister’s question was muffled, her face stuffed in the fur of her six-month-old kitten (named for the cat from Garfield). We were sitting in the living room of her apartment and, as always, Nermal was vying for our attention—pawing at our hair, walking along the couch behind us, spreading across our laps and looking up at us with her big, bright eyes. She’s almost aggressively cute, and inspires the kind of love that demands to be vocalized. I’d find it weirder if my sister weren’t doing so. ... But why do we do it?
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What Happens to Creativity as We Age?
The New York Times: One day not long ago, Augie, a 4-year-old Gopnik grandchild, heard his grandfather wistfully say, “I wish I could be a kid again.” After a thoughtful pause, Augie came up with a suggestion: Grandpa should try not eating any vegetables. The logic was ingenious: Eating vegetables turns children into big strong adults, so not eating vegetables should reverse the process. No grown-up would ever come up with that idea. But anyone with a 4-year-old can tell similar stories. Young children’s creativity seems to outstrip that of even the most imaginative adults. How does the ability to come up with unusual ideas change as we grow older? Does it begin to flag in adolescence?
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Like Adults, Children Show Bias in Attributing Mental States to Others
Young children are more likely to attribute mental states to characters that belong to the same group as them relative to characters that belong to an outside group.
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People Favor Highly-Reviewed Products, Even When They Shouldn’t
We often rely on the ratings and reviews of others to help us choose a product or service, but we sometimes use this information in ways that can actually work to our disadvantage.
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Psychologists surveyed hundreds of alt-right supporters. The results are unsettling.
Vox: Recently, psychologists Patrick Forscher and Nour Kteily recruited members of the alt-right (a.k.a. the “alternative right,” the catchall political identity of white nationalists) to participate in a study to build the first psychological profile of their movement. The results, which were released on August 9, are just in working paper form, and have yet to be peer-reviewed or published in an academic journal. That said, the study uses well-established psychological measures and is clear about its limitations. (And all the researchers’ raw data and materials have been posted online for others to review.) Read the whole story: Vox
