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Playing Action Video Games Might Make You a Better Driver
New York Magazine: Back in the day when jocks were jocks and geeks were geeks, you could tell who spent their evenings plugged into video games by who tucked their shirts into their underwear. But in 2016, video games are everywhere; hell, one of the most successful games in recent memory comes from Kim Kardashian. But as any True Nerd will tell you, mindless mobile apps are not True Games: you need to kill monsters (or humans, gasp!) or drive real fast in order to be True Gamer. In a new small study, it looks like people who are True Gamers — or who are training to become True Gamers — are better at driving, thanks to the visuomotor training offered by continuous, badass game play. ...
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Distinct Stages of Thinking Revealed by Brain Activity Patterns
Neuroimaging data can reveal the mental stages people go through as they are solving challenging math problems, according to a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. By combining two analytical strategies, researchers were able to use functional MRI to identify patterns of brain activity that aligned with four distinct stages of problem solving.
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Police Language in Traffic Stops Shows Hidden Bias
An analysis of audio recordings from 380 traffic stops showed distinctive differences in the language that police used when speaking to White drivers compared to African American drivers. Visit Page
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Diversifying Science to Represent Diverse Populations
Despite increasing attention to issues of diversity in scientific research, participant populations in behavioral science tend to be relatively homogeneous. Understanding how people differ across various dimensions, and how those differences are driven by underlying psychological, biological, and social processes, is critical to building a rigorous and comprehensive clinical science. A special series in Clinical Psychological Science highlights the importance of broadening the traditional scope of clinical science research, advancing the field so that it can adequately address the needs and concerns of diverse populations.
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Putting Corporate Quotas to Work for Women
Men outnumber women in corporate leadership positions to such an extent that in the US that there are more top chief executives named John than there are women leading major companies. Across the world, women are underrepresented in leadership positions. One tactic to help break down barriers is for companies or governments to institute requirements or quotas designed to increase women’s representation in leadership positions. But do these well-intentioned tactics actually work?
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Overworked Americans Aren’t Taking The Vacation They’ve Earned
NPR: A majority of Americans say they're stressed at work. And it's clear the burden of stress has negative effects on health, including an increase in heart disease, liver disease and gastrointestinal problems. Still, though it's been known for years that periodically disengaging from one's everyday routine can reduce stress, most Americans don't take advantage of their days off. A recent poll conducted by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health finds about half of Americans who work 50-plus hours a week say they don't take all or most of the vacation they've earned. ... Rowan is hardly alone in his dedication to the job.
