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Can Mindfulness Fill Corporate America With Better, Happier Workers?
Pacific Standard: This simple breathing exercise — you’ve probably tried some version of it at the start of an exercise class or workshop — is at the core of many mindfulness programs. Looking at what various advocates mean by mindfulness, Erik Dane, a Rice University researcher who studies cognition in the workplace, writes that it boils down to a psychological state involving full attention to whatever is happening, both inside and outside a person, right now.
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Can Slowing Down Help You Be More Creative?
NPR: Despite being a self-described 'pre-crastinator, psychologist Adam Grant says those who slow down — even procrastinate — tend to be more creative, original thinkers. Read the whole story: NPR
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Want To Study More Effectively? Sleep Between Study Sessions
The Huffington Post: Scientists already knew that getting some decent shut-eye after studying helps to consolidate learning, but new research suggests that sleeping in between study sessions is even more effective. “Our results suggest that interleaving sleep between practice sessions leads to a twofold advantage, reducing the time spent relearning and ensuring a much better long-term retention than practice alone,” explains psychological scientist Stephanie Mazza of the University of Lyon Read the whole story: The Huffington Post
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You vs. Future You; Or Why We’re Bad At Predicting Our Own Happiness
NPR: How great would it be to win a brand new car? How horrible would it be to get laid off from your job? Research by psychologist Dan Gilbert at Harvard University suggests, not that great and not that horrible (respectively). Among the many things Gilbert studies is how people make predictions about future events—specifically, how we make predictions about how we'll feel about future events. One of the most important questions we ask when making any decision is "how will this make me feel?" But no matter how much time we spend thinking about the future, we don't get any better at predicting it.
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You may think the world is falling apart. Steven Pinker is here to tell you it isn’t.
Vox: If there’s anyone who can put this moment into context, it’s the Harvard psychology professor and polymath Steven Pinker. A cognitive scientist and linguist, Pinker focused his study of human nature on our propensity for violence — and conversely, cooperation — in his 2011 book, The Better Angels of Our Nature. In the book, Pinker meticulously documented a steady decline in violence over the last several centuries, which he writes, "may be the most significant and least appreciated development in the history of our species." Read the whole story: Vox
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New Application Deadline Set for Participating in Replication Project
APS recently issued a call for contributors for the latest Registered Replication Report (RRR), which is focused on Dijksterhuis & van Knippenberg’s 1998 “Professor Priming” study on the effect of priming on intelligence, and the response has been overwhelming. The RRR editors have already received nearly 30 applications to contribute; consequently, they have decided to move up the deadline to apply to participate. Applications must be submitted by 11:59 PM EDT on Sunday, August 28th to be considered for this project.
