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The Feel-Good School of Philanthropy
The New York Times: THIS year, “Giving Tuesday,” Black Friday’s philanthropic cousin, kicked off our nation’s most generous calendar month. Americans punch up their charitable donations in December, to over an estimated $1 billion a day. Why do we give? Many motives drive kind actions. We might donate to impress our friends or curry favor. To at least some extent, we also give to help make the world a better place. A movement known as effective altruism (E.A.) seeks to make us better do-gooders. Often called “generosity for nerds,” effective altruism uses data science to calculate how people can ensure that each dollar they give has the greatest impact on the lives of those in need.
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Understanding and Training Attention and the Conscious Mind
00:12 - Why Are You Not Paying Attention? Attention Capacity Limits, Individual Differences and Their Neural Basis - Nilli Lavie, University College London 24:12 - The Power of Consciousness: Hypnosis, Placebo, and Suggestion - Axel N. Cleeremans, Université Libre de Bruxelles 47:03 - Pushing the Limits of Cognitive and Neuroplasticity: Assessing a Six-Week Comprehensive Training Program - Jonathan W.
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Distractibility Trait Predisposes Some to Attentional Lapses
People vary according to different personality traits, such as extraversion or conscientiousness, and new research suggests that they also vary according to a particular cognitive trait: distractibility. The findings are published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. “We all know from personal experience that some people appear to be more prone to lapses of attention than others. At the same time, we know that inattention and distractibility characterize people with a clinical diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD),” says study author Nilli Lavie of University College London.
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A Simple, Science-Backed Trick to Control Your Holiday Spending
Inc.: The comedown after the holidays can be rough. Some suffer in the grim January weather, others are shocked by the number on the scale after all the festivities, but for many folks the worst part of the post-season crash is the credit card bills. It's easy to get caught up in all the gift giving and good cheer and let your budget go totally out of control. Then the new year rolls around and shock and regret set in. Is there any way to avoid this common cycle of overindulgence and repentance? You might think that simple willpower is the answer. After all, we're all grown-ups here and know that what we buy has to be paid for. But according to psychologists things aren't that simple.
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We Infer a Speaker’s Social Identity from Subtle Linguistic Cues
When we speak, we “leak” information about our social identity through the nuanced language that we use to describe others, according to new research in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. This research shows that people can infer a speaker’s social identity (e.g., political party affiliation) from how the speaker uses abstract or concrete terms to describe someone else’s behavior. “Our findings show that language is a powerful tool for communication, not just in the traditional sense, but also in this more implicit, subtle manner,” explains lead researcher Shanette Porter of the University of Chicago.
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Proof there’s no shame in re-gifting this holiday
Fortune: You may have reservations: re-gifting is a social taboo, and it’s potentially offensive to the giver. But in a study published in Psychological Science, researchers found that when it comes to re-gifting, those who receive the gift (and re-gift it) known as “receivers” overestimate the reactions of those who give the gifts known as “givers.” The researchers conclude: “Although receivers felt that givers were entitled to have a say in what happened to their gifts, givers felt that receivers were entitled to do whatever they liked with a gift. In short, the taboo against regifting was felt more strongly by receivers than by givers.” Read the whole story: Fortune
