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Tweak The World
NPR: There are lots of big problems in the world: climate change, poverty, war. We have done shows about those problems. And we will do more. But today's show is about really, really small things. We ask some of the smartest people we know what little thing they would change to improve the world. Listen to the whole story: NPR
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Do You Know What Your Time Is Really Worth?
The Wall Street Journal: What is your time really worth? It is a day-to-day trade-off. We are constantly confronted with opportunities to save time by paying more money, and vice versa. Should you send out your laundry? Take the faster, more expensive flight or train? Do additional freelancing or consulting work? Now, more than ever, with the creation of TaskRabbit and virtual concierge services, there are opportunities to outsource every task for a fee. But putting a dollar value on your time requires more than dividing your pay by hours worked. It requires thinking deeply about the trade-offs you are willing to make.
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Strangers to Ourselves
The study of self-knowledge—how well people know their own attitudes‚ beliefs‚ feelings‚ motives‚ and traits—has had a checkered history in psychology but has become a well-researched topic with important theoretical and practical implications. Researchers have examined three types of self-knowledge: recalling one’s past self (e.g.‚ past attitudes and beliefs)‚ knowing one’s present self (e.g.‚ current internal states)‚ and predicting one’s future self (e.g.‚ emotional reactions to future events). I will discuss the limits of each type of self-knowledge‚ why people sometimes fail to know themselves‚ and the consequences (good and bad) of poor self-knowledge.
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Bringing Intelligence to Life
This talk will address (1) which factors in the life course contribute to intelligence differences in older age, and (2) how and why intelligence in childhood associates with life-course health, illness, and longevity. Many of the results are based on our follow-up studies of the Scottish Mental Surveys of 1932 and 1947, in which Scotland’s Council for Research in Education tested the intelligence of the whole nation, twice. We have used the data for two programs of work, in cognitive ageing and in cognitive epidemiology.
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Suicide: Where We Are, Where We’re Going, and What’s Keeping Us From Getting There
There is no area of research that brings a complex array of ethical issues into sharp focus more than conducting treatment trials when the focus is on decreasing suicidal behavior and preventing suicide. Historically, suicidal individuals have been excluded from treatment studies because their inclusion was thought to be unethical, unsafe, or too difficult to manage clinically. This presentation will discuss where the field of suicide intervention research started, the successes and failures we have encountered thus far, as well as the critical issues that still need to be addressed in order to move the field forward.
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Living in Pasteur’s Quadrant
How can psychological researchers balance the need to do basic science with their desire to be relevant to the questions and issues of their time? In his classic book‚ Pasteur’s Quadrant: Basic Science and Technological Innovation‚ Daniel Stokes proposes an answer. Cross-cutting two dimensions — a quest for understanding and considerations of use — Stokes offers four quadrants that capture the areas of scientific progress. Pasteur’s quadrant contains “use-inspired” research that enhances our basic understanding of scientific phenomena at the same time that it offers answers to practical‚ real-world problems.