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Meditation Is About More Than Inner Peace, Study Says
Boston Magazine: People who practice meditation often do so for individual health benefits like reduced stress and improved mental health. But new research from Northeastern University’s Social Emotions Group says meditation also has an effect on the way we treat the people around us. David DeSteno, a psychology professor at Northeastern, set out to study the social and interpersonal benefits of meditation, specifically its impact on compassion toward others. DeSteno and his team, whose research is set to be published in the journal Psychological Science, split three dozen people into two groups: one that completed an eight-week meditation training program, and one that did not.
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Smile and the world smiles back. Can looking at faces lower aggression?
The Guardian: Before I started my PhD, I worked as a "research assistant". That's a fancy title for an academic dogsbody; well, it can be. I was lucky and had some great bosses in the five years I had that job, but sometimes it can involve menial tasks like data entry, or running experiments you think are a complete waste of time. One such experiment, that I was asked to run by my boss while we waited for ethics approval on another study, was published last week in the journal Psychological Science. Shows what I know!
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Mindfulness Could Improve College Students’ Testing Ability, Study Finds
The Huffington Post: As if the stress-relieving, healthifying effects of mindfulness weren't enough, a new study shows it could actually help students perform better on tests by boosting their memory and reading comprehension skills. The study, published in the journal Psychological Science, shows that mindfulness training could help college students do better on the verbal reasoning part of the GRE (Graduate Record Examination, an admissions test commonly used for graduate school).
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Should you ditch online dating?
Prevention: First, the good news: Looking for love (or lust) online has finally shed its negative stigma, becoming the most common strategy for singles looking to meet someone new. Now the bad news: Dating sites’ so-called “matching algorithms” may actually make it harder to find Mr. Right, according to a study published in Psychological Science in the Public Interest. But does that mean you should swear off dating sites for good? Read the whole story: Prevention
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Behind A Diagnosis of March Madness
The Wall Street Journal: From the point of view of a non-sports-fan, March Madness looks like the month when many people actually go mad. Fans parade by in crazy hats and face paint. You go to a nice cafe for lunch and some other diner screams "Go Orange!" for Syracuse University—and instead of getting escorted from the premises is joined by a dozen other fans who look up and chant in unison, "Go Orange!" Strangers on the street ask what you think about something called Florida Gulf Coast University.
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Number Of Early Childhood Vaccines Not Linked To Autism
NPR: A large new government study should reassure parents who are afraid that kids are getting autism because they receive too many vaccines too early in life. The study, by researchers at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, found no connection between the number of vaccines a child received and his or her risk of autism spectrum disorder. It also found that even though kids are getting more vaccines these days, those vaccines contain many fewer of the substances that provoke an immune response. ... Autism Speaks, a major advocacy and research group, seems ready to move beyond the vaccine issue.
