Do parents know what their kid’s talking about most of the time?
a blog.newsweek.com Despite their warm relationships, the families had absolutely no clue what was going on in their each others’ heads in the moment. When asked, the families were wrong about what the spouse or kid was thinking, 76 percent of the time. And these weren't subtle degrees of difference. A third of the time, the family members weren’t even on the same topic. Only 7 percent of the families were reliably accurate in understanding each others' points of views─and…
2 minutes
Is peer pressure a good thing?
..a funny thing happened as Allen continued to follow these kids every year for the next 10 years: the kids who felt more peer pressure when they were 12 or 13 were turning out better." Via blog.newsweek.com: According to every pop theory of adolescence, peer pressure is peril. Being able to resist it should be considered a sign of character strength. But a funny thing happened as Allen continued to follow these kids every year for the next 10 years:…
2 minutes
Are women more likely to remember their first pair of shoes than their first kiss?
a telegraph.co.uk ...more than 92 per cent of women could remember the first shoes they bought with their own money. Less than two, however, in three recalled the name of the person they first kissed, the survey found. Also interesting: An overwhelming 96 per cent of women said they regretted having thrown away a pair of shoes, while only 15 per cent felt sorry at dumping a boyfriend. More than 1,000 women were questioned about their feelings towards their footwear…
1 min read
Is it good for toddlers to feel a little fear?
a newscientist.com Even at the tender age of 3, children who will go on to be convicted of a crime are less likely to learn to link fear with a certain noise than those who don't. This may mean that an insensitivity to fear could be a driving force behind criminal behaviour. Adult criminals tend to be fearless, but whether this characteristic emerges before or after they commit a crime wasn't clear, says Adrian Raine, a psychologist at the University…
1 min read
No, mommy does not love you all the same:
a nytimes.com Parents would certainly deny it, but Canadian researchers have made a startling assertion: parents take better care of pretty children than they do ugly ones. Researchers at the University of Alberta carefully observed how parents treated their children during trips to the supermarket. They found that physical attractiveness made a big difference. The researchers noted if the parents belted their youngsters into the grocery cart seat, how often the parents' attention lapsed and the number of times the…
2 minutes
Is it really “the booze talking”?
a nytimes.com In a series of studies in the 1970s and ’80s, psychologists at the University of Washington put more than 300 students into a study room outfitted like a bar with mirrors, music and a stretch of polished pine. The researchers served alcoholic drinks, most often icy vodka tonics, to some of the students and nonalcoholic ones, usually icy tonic water, to others. The drinks looked and tasted the same, and the students typically drank five in an hour…
1 min read
Can talking back lead to smarter kids?
a blog.newsweek.com Moms, dads, or caregivers who mainly talk to their offspring using commands, like Xenia, who was cited in the study, rather than reasoning may get their kids to do what they want, but they also fail to develop their children’s minds, the research out of the University of California, Berkeley, and UCLA suggests. The findings have particular significance for minority communities where do-as-I-say exchanges have long predominated over more nuanced argument. But they may also resonant with policy…
1 min read
Can you tell if a man is dangerous just by looking at his face?
a slate.com: Now some of the "new physiognomists" are resurrecting an old claim: that you can gauge a man's penchant for aggression by the cut of his jib. Last fall University of California-Santa Barbara psychologist Aaron Sell reported that college students could accurately estimate the upper body strength of unfamiliar men after viewing their faces alone. (The men's necks were obscured.) The students did equally well with fellow undergraduates and men from South American indigenous groups—all of whom had had…
2 minutes
