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Thinking about wine can help you relax, scientists claim
The Telegraph: People are so suggestive that simply believing an alcoholic drink will make us feel better or socialise more easily at a party will greatly raise the chance of making it so, researchers said. This is because of the phenomenon of "response expectancies", or the way in which we predict how we will behave in different situations. Because we expect that alcohol will make us more relaxed, for example, we automatically respond by becoming more open and chattier in a subconscious attempt to meet our expectation, psychologists explained.
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Social-class discrimination plays a role in poorer health for teens
Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel: A study of teenagers led by a University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher reports that social class discrimination can contribute to poorer health. Previous studies have linked poverty and poor health, but UW researcher Thomas Fuller-Rowell says this study is one of the first to examine the health impacts of class discrimination. The new research is detailed in the journal Psychological Science. The researchers examined 252 teenagers, all 17-year-olds from upstate New York. Most of the teens were white, so race was not one of the factors examined.
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Studies Find That Gossip Isn’t Just Loose Talk
The New York Times: GOSSIP. Almost all of us do it, most of us are embarrassed about it, and sometimes, to our horror, we get caught. But not all gossip is bad, and, in fact, gossip can be useful in maintaining social norms and keeping people in line. Maybe it sounds as if I’m just trying to rationalize the desire to sometimes spread a few juicy bits of information, but recent research looks at the good side of gossip. First, the definition of gossip is fairly neutral.
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Legacy in Mind: Why We Bother to Save the Planet
The Huffington Post: It's supposed to hit 97 degrees this week in Washington, D.C., my hometown. My plan is to stay indoors and crank up the AC, for as long as the heat wave lasts. I know that the price tag for my comfort will show up in my next utility bill, but that's a price I'm willing to pay. I also know that my choice has other, hidden costs -- costs that will be paid by future generations, including my children and their children. Global warming is an undisputed scientific fact now, and there is little doubt that this ominous trend is related to human activity, including the burning of fossil fuels.
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Formula written for math success
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Mastery of fractions and early division is a predictor of students' later success with algebra and other higher-level mathematics, based on a study done by a team of researchers led by a Carnegie Mellon University professor. That means more effective teaching of the concepts is needed to improve math scores among U.S. high school students, which have remained stagnant for more than 30 years.
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Essay mills — a coarse lesson on cheating
Los Angeles Times: Sometimes as I decide what kind of papers to assign to my students, I worry about essay mills, companies whose sole purpose is to generate essays for high school and college students (in exchange for a fee, of course). The mills claim that the papers are meant to be used as reference material to help students write their own, original papers. But with names such as echeat.com, it's pretty clear what their real purpose is. Professors in general are concerned about essay mills and their effect on learning, but not knowing exactly what they provide, I wasn't sure how concerned to be. So together with my lab manager Aline Grüneisen, I decided to check the services out.