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Under the Cortex is the podcast of the Association for Psychological Science (APS). It covers a wide range of topics from our journals, member research, policy initiatives, and the public impact of psychological science. In addition, APS hosts the Current Directions in Psychological Science Podcast, produced and hosted by journal editor Robert Goldstone, who interviews various authors to get deeper insights into the most compelling research published in the journal.
Under the Cortex is supported by Macmillan Learning Psychology: In the classroom, whether in person or on screen, content matters. But not if students are disinterested or disengaged. At Macmillan Learning Psychology, our authors are committed educators who know firsthand what teachers are facing today. That experience guides not only the books they write, but the interactive learning and assessment tools they help create. No matter how you teach, we can help you captivate your students. Macmillan Learning Psychology. Engaging Every Student. Supporting Every Instructor. Setting the New Standard for Teaching and Learning.
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Psychology’s Role in the Criminalization of Blackness
Evan Auguste and Steven Kasparek join APS’s Ludmila Nunes to examine how psychology has contributed to anti-Blackness within psychological research, criminal justice, and mental health, and what scientists and practitioners can do to interrupt the criminalization of Blackness and redefine psychology’s relationship with justice.
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Silver Linings in the Demographic Revolution
In her final column as APS President, Alison Gopnik makes the case for more effectively and creatively caring for vulnerable humans at either end of life.
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Industrialized Cheating in Academic Publishing: How to Fight “Paper Mills”
Dorothy Bishop talks with APS’s Ludmila Nunes about the metascience of fraud detection, industrial-scale fraud and why it is urgent to tackle the fake-article factories known as “paper mills.”
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Exploration vs. Exploitation: Adults Are Learning (Once Again) From Children
Why should kids have all the fun? Alison Gopnik on how science and business, too, can resolve the tension between the lure of the crazy new thing and the safe haven of the tried and true.
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Lived Experiences Can Be a Strength. So Why the Bias Against “Me-Search”?
Questions often emerge when researchers tend to engage in research on topics that are personally relevant for them. How is this type of self-relevant research—“me-search,” as it’s popularly known— perceived by the academic and scientific community? A recent study’s lead author, Andrew Devendorf of the University of South Florida, discusses this topic.
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Special Episode II: APS 2023 Spence Awardees on Sharing Minds, the Development of Learning, and Implicit Bias
Julian Jara-Ettinger, Emily Fyfe, and Calvin Lai discuss reading and sharing minds, the development of learning and its practical applications, and the importance of studying the gap between what people value and what people do.
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Special Episode I: APS 2023 Spence Awardees on Fresh Starts, Time Perception, and the Well-being of Black Families
Riana Elyse Anderson, Ed O’Brien, and Hengchen Dai discuss how to study and improve the well-being and functioning of Black families, the importance of time in how people perceive progress, and how fresh starts can feel motivating.
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Is Cheating Just a Symptom (and Not the Cause) of Declining Relationships?
Researchers found that relationship functioning starts to decline before infidelity happens. The lead author of this study, Olga Stavrova, explains these findings
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Stop Oversimplifying Mental Health Diagnoses
Diagnoses often oversimplify complex mental health problems. APS Fellow Eiko Fried, a psychologist and methodologist at Leiden University, explains new approaches to mental health research and practice.
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Top 10 Articles of 2022: Opinionated Fetuses! Cheating Spouses! And Much More
Do fetuses care about what their mothers eat? When do spouses cheat? Some of the top articles published in the APS journals in 2022 explored these questions and much more.
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A Very Human Answer to One of AI’s Deepest Dilemmas
Imagine that we designed a fully intelligent, autonomous robot that acted on the world to accomplish its goals. How could we make sure that it would want the same things we do? Alison Gopnik explores. Read or listen!
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What You Know Changes What and How You See
Can what we know about an object change the way we see it? Dick Dubbelde speaks about how quickly and how well we process different objects.
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Failure and Flourishing. Part 3 of 3 With David Myers
In the final discussion with social psychologist David Myers, APS’s Ludmila Nunes talks with him about the third section of his book, in which he applies his psychological insights to the larger world around us.
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Why Is Everyone Else Having More Fun? Part 2 of 3 With David Myers
Social psychologist David Myers joined Under the Cortex to speak about his new book and why we tend to think that everyone else is having more fun than us.
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How Do We Know Ourselves? Part 1 of 3 With David Myers
Social psychologist David Myers joined APS’s Ludmila Nunes to speak about his career, his new book, and how we really do know ourselves.
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Children, Creativity, and the Real Key to Intelligence
APS President Alison Gopnik writes that the contrast between the reasoning of creative 4-year-olds and predictable artificial intelligence may be a key to understanding how human intelligence works.
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What Music Does to Us
Amy Belfi from the Missouri University of Science and Technology joined APS’s Ludmila Nunes to speak about her career as a neuroscientist studying music perception and cognition as well as how poetry and other forms of art can impact the brain and behavior.
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Exploration and Risk-Taking: Hallmarks of Adolescence That Increase Well-Being
The role of exploration and risk taking in sustaining adolescent well-being and establishing social connectivity is the topic of a recent article published in Psychological Science. In this podcast, you’ll hear from the two authors: Natalie Saragosa-Harris and Catherine Hartley.
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Talking With Birds: The Fascinating World of Avian Intelligence
Irene Pepperberg pioneered the study of bird cognition back in the 70s and still studies the cognitive and communicative abilities of grey parrots. In this conversation with APS’s Ludmila Nunes, she speaks about research on parrots’ cognitive abilities, their conservation and preservation in the wild, and much more.
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The September Collection: New Technology Can Be Scary, Why to Stop Worrying and Love the Eco-Apocalypse, and Much More
In this episode, cognitive psychologist Ludmila Nunes and her colleague Amy Drew, APS’s Director of Publications, discuss five of the most interesting new articles from the APS journals.
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Attitudes Improve for Sex and Race. Disability and Age? Not So Much
How did attitudes about race, sexuality, age, or disability change in the last decade or so? Researchers examined more than 7 million implicit and explicit tests for an article published in Psychological Science. In this conversation, APS’s Ludmila Nunes speaks with APS member Tessa Charlesworth (Harvard University), the article’s lead author.
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Self-Injury: Can the Internet Play a Positive Role?
To speak about self-injury and how online communities might help, Emma Preston, an APS member and graduate student at the University of Southern California, joined APS’s Ludmila Nunes.
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Love Lets Us Learn: Psychological Science Makes the Case for Policies That Help Children
APS President Alison Gopnik discusses the increasing amount of scientific evidence that our experiences as children shape our adult lives.
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Underweight and Overexposed: How Women’s Perceptions of Thinness Are Distorted
Recent research suggests that women’s judgments about other women’s bodies can be biased by an overrepresentation of thinness. Sean Devine explains these findings and elaborates on their implications for policy.
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The August Collection: Attitude Changes, Cognition in Lemurs, and Much More
In this episode of Under the Cortex, APS’s Ludmila Nunes and Andy DeSoto discuss five recent articles that examined cognitive control in lemurs, ADHD, how attitudes and biases changed in the last decade, and much more.
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A Paradox in the Field: Mental-Health Disorders Among Psychologists
What do we know about the prevalence of mental health difficulties among psychological scientists? APS member Sarah Victor, a clinical psychologist and professor at the Texas Tech University, joined APS’s Ludmila Nunes to discuss mental health among psychologists.
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The July Collection: Five Research Briefs
From a cross-cultural spin on the classic “marshmallow experiment” to deceitful 911 homicide calls to what true smiles do, new research in APS journals explores a broad range of topics, including visual memory and success. In this episode of Under the Cortex, APS’s Ludmila Nunes and Andy DeSoto discuss five of our most interesting new research papers.
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Podcast Collection: Eight Early-Career Researchers on Their Inspirations, Methods, and Goals
The full collection of podcast interviews with recipients of the 2022 APS Janet Taylor Spence Award for Early Career Contributions.
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The New Riddle of the Sphinx: Life History and Psychological Science
In her inaugural column as APS President, Alison Gopnik explores how the life-history perspective is suited to the mission of APS.
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I Don’t Care If It’s Fake News, I Believe It
“Max” Bai talks about the research on misinformation he presented at the 2022 APS Annual Convention in Chicago.
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2022 Spence Award Mini Episode: Brian Anderson and Habit-Reinforcing Behavior
2022 Spence Award winner Brian Anderson talks about his research on what captures human attention and how that influences behavior.
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2022 Spence Award Mini Episode: Patricia Lockwood and the Foundations of Social Learning
2022 Spence Award winner Patricia Lockwood (University of Birmingham) talks about her research on the foundations of social learning.
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Delusion and the Uses of Not Being Rational
APS Fellow and Charter Member Stuart Vyse, talks about his new book “The Uses of Delusion: Why It’s Not Always Rational to Be Rational.”
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Much More Online
Featuring content on myths and misinformation, epidemics and public health, and upcoming events.
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2022 Spence Award Mini Episode: Neil Lewis Jr. on the Unequal Nature of Society
Neil Lewis Jr. discusses how despite living in the same country, people end up having wildly different life experiences.
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2022 Spence Award Mini Episode: Human to Nonhuman Interactions with Kai Chi (Sam) Yam
Kai Chi (Sam) Yam (National University of Singapore) tells us about his research on human-nonhuman communication.
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Traffic Stops and Race: Police Conduct May Bend to Local Biases
Pierce Ekstrom discusses new research on the relationship between countywide attitudes toward race and local policing.
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2022 Spence Award Mini Episode: Jason Okonofua and the Power of Empathy
Under the Cortex talks with 2022 Spence Award winner Jason Okonofua.
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2022 Spence Award Mini Episode: Oriel FeldmanHall on Investigating Complex Brain Processes
Under the Cortex talks with 2022 Spence Award winner Oriel FeldmanHall.
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2022 Spence Award Mini Episode: Brett Ford on How People Manage Their Emotions
2022 Spence Award winner Brett Ford talks about her research on emotions.
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2022 Spence Awards Mini Episode: Antonia Kaczkurkin on How We Internalize Disorders
Under the Cortex talks with 2022 Spence Award winner Antonia Kaczkurkin.
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Constellations Across Cultures
New research, as discussed by Charles Kemp and published in the journal Psychological Science, reveals that our visual processing system may explain the striking commonality of constellations across cultures.
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Freedom Versus Security: Can We Find the Right Balance?
A paper published in Perspectives on Psychological Science suggests that restricting freedoms may have unintended negative consequences for behavior and health, but psychological science may help strike a balance.
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Debunking Four Common Myths of Psychological Science
Under the Cortex takes a skeptical deep dive to explore some the most common myths about psychological science and the brain.
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The Grieving Brain
Renowned grief expert, neuroscientist, and psychologist Mary-Frances O’Connor shares groundbreaking discoveries about what happens in our brain when we grieve, providing a new paradigm for understanding love, loss, and learning.
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The Crossroads of Psychology and Entrepreneurship
Nikki Blacksmith and Mo McCusker, cofounders of Blackhawke Behavior Science and corecipients of a 2021 APS Psychological Science and Entrepreneurship Poster Award, discuss their research on the crossroads of business acumen and psychology.
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Under the Cortex: Top 10 in 2021
Looking back on the year that was, APS’s Charles Blue and Ludmila Nunes discuss the top stories from the world of psychological science in 2021.
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Better Behavior With Virtual Reality
Mel Stater, a researcher with the University of Barcelona and author on a paper published in the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science, explains how we might foster prosocial behavior with virtual reality.
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Recipe for Success: Entrepreneurship and Psychological Science
In this episode of Under the Cortex, we look the crossroads of business acumen and psychological science with the help of Nikki Blacksmith and Mo McCusker of Blackhawke Behavior Science.
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Toys, Tots, and Gender
Campbell Leaper with UC Santa Cruz talks about gender during childhood and the importance of play during these formative years.
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Ask the Witness Only Once
In the latest edition of PSPI, researchers look at the problems with eyewitness misidentifications in the courtroom and explain why prosecutors and law enforcement should test a witness’s memory of a suspect only once.
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The Ghastly Impact of Being Ghosted
While the fanciful frights of a Halloween ghost quickly fade, the impact of online ghosting may last much longer and have some genuinely frightening impacts later in life.
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Why Some People Won’t Get Vaccinated
Is there anything we can do to change the minds of people to follow medical advice and get vaccinated? To help us unravel these vexing questions, Under the Cortex welcomes author and psychologist Dr. Stuart Vyse.
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Psychological Interventions for the Treatment of Chronic Pain in Adults
In the latest PSPI, a team of researchers explores how psychological interventions can be part of a comprehensive plan to manage chronic pain while reducing the need for surgeries and potentially dangerous medications. Charles Blue interviews Mary Driscoll, a researcher at Yale University, and first author on the issue’s main article.
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Skeptical ‘Deep Dive’ on the Myers-Briggs Test
Perhaps the best known personality test is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. This episode takes a deep dive into the skeptical side of this topic with Dan McAdams, a professor of psychology at Northwestern University.
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Microaggressions: What We Know and Should Know
Monnica Williams, a researcher at the University of Ottawa, discusses the study and impacts of microaggressions.
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Research Roundup: What’s ‘News’ in the APS Observer
In this special episode of Under the Cortex, the entire APS communications team shares its top highlights from the September/October 2021 Issue of the Observer.
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Gender in a Nonbinary World
Thekla Morgenroth with the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom shares their research on gender, inclusion, and transgender rights.
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Can Coping With COVID Make Things Worse?
How people respond to health threats can influence their own health and, when people are facing communal risks, even their community’s health. This interview explores how reducing fear may jeopardize health behaviors.
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What Makes a Champion
What explains exceptional human performance? This podcast sheds light on the power of diversification.
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Parents Fine-Tune Their Speech to Children’s Vocabulary Knowledge
Researchers have developed a method to experimentally evaluate how parents use what they know about their children’s language when they talk to them.
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Gesturing Reduces Effect of a Classic Optical Illusion, Study Finds
New research in Psychological Science shows how gestures can help people penetrate a classic optical illusion.
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Handwriting Beats Typing and Watching Videos for Learning to Read
There is something intrinsically satisfying about crafting a handwritten thank-you letter or jotting down a thoughtful note to a friend or loved one. With the advent of electronic correspondence, handheld texting, and voice-recognition software, handwriting
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Casual Sex, Self Esteem, and the Prejudices Women Face
New research in Psychological Sciecne finds no significant correlation between a woman’s sexual behavior and her self-esteem.
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Midnight Attack of the Earworms! How Stuck Songs Sap Sleep
Michael Scullin from Baylor University talks to us about his research examining this phenomenon of sleep-disturbing earworms and how popular tunes can impact our sleep.
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From Activism to Radicalization: The Tipping Point of Unfairness
What can psychological science tell us about the causes and mental processes that push people from activism to radicalization? To shine some light on this topic, we hear from Kees van den Bos at the University of Utrecht, who is an expert on the study of radicalization.
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Out of the Box and Into the Lab, Mimes Help Us ‘See’ Objects That Don’t Exist
Chaz Firestone (Johns Hopkins University) and Pat Little (New York University) talk with Charles Blue about their Psychological Science paper on mimes and implied surface.
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Under the Cortex Special Episode: 6 Young Researchers Discuss the Forefront of Psychological Science
In this special episode of Under the Cortex, we talk with some of the most recent Spence Award winner
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Emotion and Long-Lasting Attitudes and Opinions
New research published in the journal Psychological Science reveals that attitudes based on feelings and emotions can also stand the test of time.
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Methodologies and the Evolution of Science
Reflecting on the President’s Column in the March/April issue of the Observer, NPR science correspondent Joe Palca, who earned a PhD in psychology from the University of California, Santa Cruz, offers his unique take on
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Horse Brain and the Human Brain
APS’s Charles Blue talks with APS Founding Member Dr. Janet Jones, author of the book Horse Brain, Human Brain.
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How Depression and Stress Could Dampen Efficacy of COVID-19 Vaccines
Health behaviors and emotional stressors can alter the body’s ability to develop an immune response to vaccines, including—potentially—the new COVID-19 vaccines.
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2020 Year in Review
What happens when APS Media Relations director Charles Blue chats with APS Senior Science Writer Ludmila Nunes? A fun discussion on 2020’s most interesting research, that’s what! Many of the major news stories of 2020
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The Challenges of Military Veterans in Their Transition to the Workplace
Podcast addresses the long-standing structural features of the military that have created a culture and society that is dramatically different and disconnected from civilian society.
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Primatology and Psychology, Shedding Light on Culture and Behavior
Frans de Waal explores the connection between primatology and psychology and how they intersect on issues of culture and behavior.
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A Psychologist’s View of Racism and Inequality
APS’s Charles Blue speaks with social psychologist and cultural diversity scholar Dr. James Jones of the University of Delaware.
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The Story Behind “The Future of Women in Psychological Science”
In September 2020, APS published the first-ever gender parity review of psychological science: “The Future of Women in Psychological Science.” The story behind this study, as told by some of the authors, is a compelling examination of personal experiences and observations.
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Playing With Fear: Haunted Houses and Recreation
Haunted houses, horror movies, and ghost stories can provoke chilling delights, provided the fear they evoke remains in a “Goldilocks zone” that is neither too terrifying nor too tame. New research connects this sweet spot
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COVID-19 and Its Connection to Human Behavior
Panelists discuss the remarkable resilience of many people in the face of COVID-19 and the challenges that lie ahead if we let our guard down.
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Violent Video Games and Aggression: The Connection is Dubious, at Best
If you are worried about violent video games triggering aggressive behavior in children, new research may help to alleviate your concerns.
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Days of Future Past: Concerns for the Group’s Future Prompt Longing for Its Past (and Ways to Reclaim It)
APS interviews Michael Wohl on how collective angst can influence collective nostalgia.
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Why Are There Differing Preferences for Suffixes and Prefixes Across Languages?
Interview with Alexander Martin about the preference of prefixes over suffixes in WEIRD languages.
