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Smarter Every Year? Mystery of the Rising IQs
The Wall Street Journal: Are you smarter than your great-grandmom? If IQ really measures intelligence, the answer is probably a resounding “yes.” IQ tests are “normed”: Your score reflects how you did compared with other people, like being graded on a curve. But the test designers, who set the average in a given year at 100, have to keep “renorming” the tests, adding harder questions. That’s because absolute performance on IQ tests—the actual number of questions people get right—has greatly improved over the last 100 years. It’s called the Flynn effect, after James Flynn, a social scientist at New Zealand’s University of Otago who first noticed it in the 1980s.
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Research Confirms That Humble Bragging Doesn’t Work, It’s Just Really Annoying
The Huffington Post: Before you share the news about your recent job promotion on Facebook, consider this: Researchers have found that a little humble-bragging can backfire. In other words, your false modesty is pretty transparent, and people detest you for it. The difference between a humble brag and a traditional brag is the way in which a person presents her accomplishment...
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When Is an Educational App Classroom Worthy?
Education Week: There are over 80,000 apps in the Apple store marked as "educational." The ed-tech marketplace sometimes feels like the Wild West with no regulations or testing required for an application to be deemed appropriate for the classroom. So how should educators and schools distinguish quality applications from those that are subpar? Websites such as LearnTrials and edshelf can help educators assess the pedagogical effectiveness of an ed-tech tool. (For specific examples of top ed-tech tools recommended by teacher experts, see our earlier post.) Read the whole story: Education Week
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‘Inside Out,’ Pixar’s New Movie From Pete Docter, Goes Inside the Mind
The New York Times: John Lasseter, a notepad in hand, settled into his seat in a dimly lit screening room at Pixar headquarters here in July 2012. Mr. Lasseter, Pixar’s chief creative officer, was there to evaluate progress on “Inside Out,” a new film set inside an 11-year-old girl’s mind. Had the filmmaking team cracked the unusual concept? It did not take long for the air to frost over. “We got up and said, ‘We’re not going to show you a screening because the film is not working,’ ” recalled Pete Docter, who turned to “Inside Out” after his Oscar-winning “Up.” Talk about guts: Mr. Docter’s movie had already been in the works for more than two years at that point. “I saw John do this,” Mr.
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Career Advice From an Oldish Not-Quite Geezer
The Chronicle of Higher Education: Over the course of my career, I’ve given and received a lot of advice. Much of it was wrong. Sometimes it lacked the perspective that comes with age and experience. So now, as an official "oldster" at 65 (proof: thanks to my age, I just got $25 off upon joining a botanical society), I offer the following advice, from someone who has thought and written about academic careers for 40 years. Put your family first. Academics often have trouble doing that. I know I did.
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Impossible Knowledge: Are You an Expert?
The Huffington Post: I grew up with a habitual overclaimer. He wildly exaggerated his expertise, at times claiming knowledge of things he couldn't possibly know -- people, events, ideas that simply do not exist. Being unfamiliar with overclaiming, I just called him a liar. I couldn't have known the word "overclaimer," nor the concept. The word didn't exist and is only used today in the world of psychological science. Even so, we're all familiar with these people who feel the need to overestimate what they know about the world. What underlies such assertions of impossible knowledge?
