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You Are Probably Overconfident. (If You Skip This, Doubly So.)
When I lived in the mountains of Utah, I used to ski in the backcountry often. This is not resort skiing, and there is no patrol checking for avalanche risk, so assessing that risk becomes your own responsibility. It is an imprecise science, and there is always a chance you’ll get it wrong. But the more my friends and I skied, the more certain we were of our ability to get it right. Here’s what happened over and over again: 1. We’d get to a slope, assess the risk and decide to ski. 2. We’d get to the bottom safe and sound. 3. We’d pat ourselves on the back for being so good at judging avalanche danger. 4. Repeat.
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Fear of Being Branded Racist Increases Police Support for Excessive Force
It's a tense time for racial relations, particularly when it comes to relationships between minority communities and the police departments that patrol them. Many officers are acutely aware of the stereotype of the racist cop, and are concerned that they may be perceived as treating people differently because of the color of their skin.
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How Microexpressions Can Make Moods Contagious
It's a common experience for family members or groups of friends: One person's mood can bring the whole group's energy down— or up. But why are we so easily influenced? In 1962, the reality television show Candid Camera offered a remarkable glimpse into a psychological phenomenon that helps explain how emotions spread. They did it through a now famous comedy stunt called "Face the Rear." It goes like this: We see an unsuspecting man walk into an elevator that has been secretly rigged with cameras. Two more people walk in after him. But weirdly, they turn to face towards the back wall of the elevator.
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Finding the Right Place for a Home Office
Earlier this year, I faced a conundrum that many of us who work from home know well: Where in the house can I actually work? Unless you’re blessed with a home large enough for a dedicated office, or are a truly nomadic worker and able to set up shop on a sofa with nothing more than a cup of tea and your laptop, you’re inevitably going to have to carve out space in a room that isn’t naturally intended for work. ... Sure, it’s nice not to have to get dressed and get on the train every morning. But the arrangement can quickly lose its luster.
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New Research From Psychological Science
A sample of research exploring genetic variation and social-rejection sensitivity, judging impurity versus harm, and contextual fear learning.
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Scientists doing basic studies of human brain win longer reprieve from clinical trials reporting rule
U.S. scientists who challenged a new rule that would require them to register their basic studies of the human brain and behavior in a federal database of clinical trials have won another reprieve. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, says it now understands why some of that kind of research won’t easily fit the format of ClinicalTrials.gov, and the agency has delayed for the reporting requirements for another 2 years. ... The agency has not backed down from classifying many basic research studies with humans as clinical trials.