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What Most American Schools Do Wrong
Which country has the best education system? Since 2000, every three years, 15-year-olds in dozens of countries have taken the Program for International Student Assessment — a standardized test of math, reading and science skills. On the inaugural test, which focused on reading, the top country came as a big surprise: tiny Finland. Finnish students claimed victory again in 2003 (when the focus was on math) and 2006 (when it was on science), all while spending about the same time on homework per week as the typical teenager in Shanghai does in a single day. Just over a decade later, Europe had a new champion.
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The Pandemic Disrupted Adolescent Brain Development
Before COVID, American teenagers’ psychological health was already in decline. The pandemic, with its sudden lockdowns, school closures and other jolts to normal life, made that downward slope steeper. The ensuing mental health crisis has given researchers a rare opportunity to gauge how an extraordinary event such as a public health catastrophe can physically affect the brains of teenagers. Preliminary results for some of these studies are starting to be reported—and they are sobering.
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Yes, Messy People Can Learn to Be Tidier. Here’s How.
It may seem like some people are natural born neatniks and others are hardwired to create clutter. But experts say that’s just not true. Far from innate, these tendencies are largely acquired over time. “We are the products of our learning environments — you’re not born to be tidy or messy,” says Joseph R. Ferrari, a professor of psychology at DePaul University in Chicago who researches procrastination and clutter. “Tidiness can be learned or unlearned, just like messiness can be learned or unlearned.” So, if your messy spouse or kid thinks they simply weren’t born with the neatness gene — or if you think that about yourself — it might be time to reconsider. ...
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How Sexist Is Science?
When it comes to women and science, portrayals in the elite science media agree: The academy is sexist. Journal and grant reviewers, tenure-track hiring committees, teaching evaluators, salary committees, and letter writers all favor men.
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NIDCR “Building Bridges” Travel Award
This recognition is meant to forge connections between research in psychological science and dental, oral, and craniofacial health at the 2023 APS Annual Convention.
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I Was Trying to Build My Son’s Resilience, Not Scar Him for Life
... Resilience is a popular term in modern psychology that, put simply, refers to the ability to recover and move on from adverse events, failure or change. “We don’t call it ‘character’ anymore,” said Jelena Kecmanovic, director of Arlington/DC Behavior Therapy Institute. “We call it the ability to tolerate distress, the ability to tolerate uncertainty.” Studies suggest that resilience in kids is associated with things like empathy, coping skills and problem-solving, though this research is often done on children in extreme circumstances and may not apply to everybody.