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Spoilers Can Make a Joke Funnier
Scientific American Mind: Hearing a punch line before the setup will predictably spoil a joke. But what of running gags and callbacks? Often a joke is funnier when it is familiar. An article published online
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Fathers, Daughters and the Second Shift
The Huffington Post: The phrase “the second shift” entered the popular lexicon a quarter century ago, when sociologist Arlie Hochschild and Anne Machung published a popular book by that name. Based on in-depth interviews and
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ADHD Drug May Help Preserve Our Self-Control Resources
Methylphenidate, also known as Ritalin, may prevent the depletion of self-control, according to research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. Self-control can be difficult — sticking with a diet
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Be thankful and make better long-term decisions
The Boston Globe: We are notoriously bad at foregoing instant gratification for longer-term rewards. In laboratory studies and in the real world, people frequently make impatient decisions that economists would call “suboptimal,” and, in real-life
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Speed-Reading Apps May Impair Reading Comprehension by Limiting Ability to Backtrack
To address the fact that many of us are on the go and pressed for time, app developers have devised speed-reading software that eliminates the time we supposedly waste by moving our eyes as we
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People Selectively Remember the Details of Atrocities That Absolve In-Group Members
Conversations about wartime atrocities often omit certain details. According to research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, these omissions can lead people to have different memories for the event
