-
Framing Spatial Tasks as Social Eliminates Gender Differences
Women underperform on spatial tests when they don’t expect to do as well as men, but framing the tests as social tasks eliminates the gender gap in performance, according to new findings published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The results show that women performed just as well as their male peers when the spatial tests included human-like figures. “Our research suggests that we may be underestimating the abilities of women in how we measure spatial thinking,” says postdoctoral researcher Margaret Tarampi of the University of California, Santa Barbara.
-
Brain Exercises Don’t Live Up to the Hype, Researchers Say
The Wall Street Journal: Computerized brain-training exercises and games, touted for their ability to improve overall cognitive function, may actually only help you get better at the specific game you’re playing. That’s the conclusion of a wide-ranging review of nearly 400 studies of brain training published last week in the journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest. The review found that none of the studies followed scientific best practices for comparing a group of people practicing an intervention against a control group not getting the intervention.
-
How ‘Daycare’ Became ‘School’
The Atlantic: Chelsea Clinton made headlines recently as she campaigned for her mother—not for the policy proposals she defended, but for the fact that she did not accompany her not-quite-2-year-old daughter Charlotte to the first day of her Manhattan "school." While detractors were quick to berate her for missing this defining event in her child's life, supporters rushed to her defense by noting that the child’s father, who took Charlotte to school together with the family nanny, is perfectly capable of taking the lead. But what's missing from the discussion is an objection to the controversy’s premise—since when has "school" started at age 2? ...
-
Using the Wisdom of Crowds to Improve Hiring
The British statistician Francis Galton applied statistical methods to many different subjects during the 1800s, including the use of fingerprinting for identification, correlational calculus, twins, blood transfusions, criminality, meteorology and, perhaps most famously, human intelligence. Galton, who was an ardent eugenicist, believed that intelligence was a trait that only a minority of elite individuals possessed. The majority of common people, he believed, were not very competent decision-makers. To put his theories to the test, Galton ran a famous experiment designed to analyze whether groups of common people were capable of making accurate choices.
-
Police Lineups: The Science of Getting It Right
Discover: One night in 1984, a man broke into Jennifer Thompson’s apartment and raped her at knifepoint. Throughout the attack, the college student memorized every detail of her rapist’s face, promising herself that when she took the witness stand against him, “he was going to rot” in prison. Thompson hurried to police the morning after the attack, giving them a detailed description of her rapist, filling in all the characteristics she’d memorized so carefully. The police put together a photographic lineup – the standard lineup technique in the modern U.S. – and Thompson selected a man named Ronald Junior Cotton. “I had picked the right guy,” she said. “I was sure. I knew it.” ...
-
A Happy Spouse May Be Good for Your Health
The New York Times: A happy spouse may be good for your health. Previous studies have found that mental well-being — feeling happy and satisfied — is closely linked to good physical health. But a new study, published in Health Psychology, suggests that physical health may also be linked to the happiness of one’s husband or wife. ... The lead author, William J. Chopik, an assistant professor of psychology at Michigan State University, said that a happy spouse provided social support and encouraged you to eat a healthful diet and to get exercise, all of which can contribute to good health. Read the whole story: The New York Times
