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How Intelligence Shifts With Age
The Wall Street Journal: Is the saying “older but wiser” just an old wives’ tale? We all know people who are as foolish at 60 as they were at 20 and others whose smarts have cruelly diminished with age. Meanwhile, legions of seniors who used fountain pens as children now deftly tap out texts on their tablets. So what’s the truth about old dogs and new tricks? A study of adult intelligence, published in March in the journal Psychological Science, pits these maxims against the data. The results challenge some common assumptions—including the idea that mental acuity, like athletic prowess, always declines with age. Read the whole story: The Wall Street Journal
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The Key to Creativity May be in Imagining the Details
Beyond recruiting staff that has the right skills, qualifications, and education for the job, organizations are increasingly looking for ways to boost another key component of success—creativity. In a study recently published in Psychological Science, a trio of Harvard University researchers—Kevin Madore, Donna Rose Addis, and Daniel Schacter—found an unusual link between memory and creative problem-solving. The study showed that reminiscing about the specific details of an experience, tapping into what is known as episodic memory, helped spark “divergent thinking,” or the ability to come up with many creative solutions for a problem.
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Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences
The Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) at Stanford University is now accepting applications for residential fellowships for the 2016-17 academic year. Imagine a place where great minds are brought together to confront the problems of the day, where original interdisciplinary thinking is the norm, where extraordinary collaborations become possible, where ideas can change our world. CASBS was founded as such a place in 1954 and remains so today. CASBS has hosted generations of scholars and scientists who come for a year as fellows.
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What the Law Intends Versus What the Law Delivers
Past APS Board Member Barbara A. Spellman of the University of Virginia serves as a discussant during the symposium, “Distributing Justice: What the Law Intends Versus What the Law Delivers.” Chaired by Elizabeth Gilbert, also of the University of Virginia, the symposium focused on how the legal system distributes punishment. Speaker Paul Robinson of the University of Pennsylvania discussed research on the influence of punishments that “fit the crime” compared with punishments designed to deter crime.
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How to Inspire Creative Thinking: Details, Details
Pacific Standard: Vagueness is the enemy of creativity. Beethoven didn't just come up with the idea that a symphony could express heroism; he also wrote the precise notes that conveyed that concept in sound. For ideas to be both novel and useful—a standard definition of creativity—they need to be expressed in highly specific terms. But how do you make the leap from a hazy notion to one that is spelled out in practical details? Newly published research points to one simple technique that may do the trick. ...
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Not an Introvert, Not an Extrovert? You May Be An Ambivert
The Wall Street Journal: Emeroy Bernardo enjoys spending time alone, meditating, exercising and working. When he goes out for dinner or drinks with friends, he sometimes quietly observes people’s facial expressions and body language. Often when he’s shopping or running errands, he ignores people he knows—pretending he doesn’t see them—to avoid small talk. Still, the 27-year-old dance instructor who lives in Glendale Calif., considers himself friendly and meets new people almost everywhere—at the gym, at Starbucks, waiting to board a plane. At parties, Mr. Bernando is often the guy who starts a dance circle and then shows off his break-dancing moves. Is Mr.