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Transcendent Thinking May Boost Teen Brains
... These and a succession of other scholars, such as Richard Lerner of Tufts University, William Damon of Stanford and Kurt W. Fischer of Harvard, characterized adolescence as a period of emerging capacities for abstract thinking that, together with heightened social sensitivity and a propensity for strong emotion, enable teenagers to infer overarching principles or hidden personal lessons from specific experiences or events. Adolescents seem almost compelled to look for these connections and their deeper meaning, as I had seen in my Boston classroom. ...
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You Can’t Remember Being a Baby for a Reason, New Study Finds
... Dr. Simona Ghetti, a professor in the department of psychology at the University of California, Davis, whose research focuses on the development of memory in childhood, acknowledged that while many studies have already demonstrated infants’ capacity to encode memories, this latest research is unique in that it links memory encoding to hippocampal activation. Ghetti was not involved in the study. ... “One thing we have learned about memory in adults is that the information we tend to capture and encode into memory are things that are highly relevant to our experience,” said Dr.
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What Happens to Your Brain When You Retire?
For the millions of Americans who retire each year, stopping work might seem like a well-deserved break. But it can also precipitate big changes in brain health, including an increased risk of cognitive decline and depression. ... Doing something creative and novel can give you a sense of purpose and keep your brain agile. Research suggests you can practice creativity just like any other skill, said Jonathan Schooler, a distinguished professor of psychological and brain sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara. That could mean writing for a few minutes every day or attempting an adventurous new recipe for dinner.
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Patience Is a Process, Not a Virtue
You had to be really unlucky to be on the China National Highway 110 on August 14, 2010. One of the longest traffic jams on record ensued, ensnaring thousands of vehicles over more than 100 kilometers and lasting more than 10 days. The unluckiest drivers were stuck for five full days. As the days dragged out, vendors popped up along the highway to keep people fed and hydrated—often for a high fee. Would sitting in traffic for five days make you impatient? I strongly suspect that even the calmest, most zen among us would answer with a resounding “yes!” Patience fails everyone at some point or another.
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To Win Trust and Admiration, Fix Your Microphone
Like hundreds of millions of others around the world, Brian Scholl, a psychologist and cognitive scientist at Yale University, spent much of the COVID pandemic on Zoom. But during one digital faculty meeting, he found himself reacting unexpectedly to two colleagues. One was a close collaborator with whom Scholl usually saw eye-to-eye, while the other was someone he tended to have differing opinions from. On that particular day, though, he found himself siding with the latter colleague. “Everything he said was so rich and resonant,” Scholl recalls.
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Why Is Dining Alone So Difficult?
... The assumption that people need to be coupled or grouped goes beyond restaurants, said Bella DePaulo, a social psychologist in Summerland, Calif., and the author of the 2023 book “Single at Heart: The Power, Freedom and Heart-Filling Joy of Single Life.” Scientists have long examined the negative impacts of solitude, but studies on how it can be a peaceful, self-esteem-building experience are rarer, she said. The 2025 World Happiness Report, published last week by the University of Oxford’s Wellbeing Research Centre, suggests that solitary activities, including solo meals, can lead to depression and shorter life expectancies. Dr.
