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Mothers and Lovers: From Parenting To Romance
Most of us would probably agree that our early childhood experiences influence who we become as adults. But this is actually a fairly provocative notion. And especially provocative is the idea that our upbringing—the quality of the parenting we get—has long-term implications for how we later interact with other adults, including our intimate partners. This is not an easy connection to study for a couple of reasons. It takes a lot of time and planning to study people from childhood into adulthood, and what’s more, neither parenting quality nor the quality of romantic relationships is easily and objectively analyzed.
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Stressed at Work? Blame Your Email.
The Wall Street Journal: A new lexicon is emerging to describe the unique stresses of work in the 21st century. Researchers have coined a term, “telepressure,” to describe our urge to respond immediately to emails. The definition also includes those who find themselves repeatedly thinking about how they need to return a note to their colleague or jot an email back to their boss. “You have trouble cognitively letting it go,” said Larissa K. Barber, an assistant professor of psychology at Northern Illinois University. Barber and a colleague recently authored a paper that links this preoccupation with work communication – it can also apply to texts, she said – to burnout.
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Why YouTube Videos Go Viral
New York Magazine: Half of all YouTube videos have fewer than 500 views, but a tiny fraction of the 100 hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute garner millions of hits, turning amateur filmmakers into stars or launching viral marketing campaigns. Recently, a video of a New York woman getting catcalled posted by the advocacy group Hollaback! became an internet sensation. A video of men trying to lure a drunk woman home went viral last week, before it was revealed to be a hoax. A few days ago, a clip of a man singing “Blackbird” to his dying son started making the rounds. ...
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When Thankfulness Can Hurt Us
U.S. News & World Report: Todd Kashdan, a psychology professor at George Mason University, is one of those guys. The good kind. The type who, when the waiter brings the check, doesn’t miss a beat and offers his credit card before his friends do. But sometimes, one of Kashdan’s friends takes the gesture as a challenge and insists on paying the bill himself. That’s where things can go wrong. Instead of “thank you” and “you're welcome,” it’s “I got it” and “no, no, no, I got it.” Instead of warmth and appreciation, it’s discomfort and confusion.
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Complex jobs ‘may protect memory’
BBC: A study of more than 1,000 Scottish 70-year-olds found that those who had had complex jobs scored better on memory and thinking tests. One theory is a more stimulating environment helps build up a "cognitive reserve" to help buffer the brain against age-related decline, The research was reported in Neurology. The team, from Heriot-Watt University, in Edinburgh, is now planning more work to look at how lifestyle and work interact to affect memory loss. Those taking part in the study took tests designed to assess memory, processing speed and general thinking ability, as well as filling in a questionnaire about their working life.
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6th FPR–UCLA Interdisciplinary Conference
A Critical Moment: Sex/Gender Research at the Intersection of Culture, Brain, & Behavior October 23-24, 2015 UCLA This conference occurs at a critical juncture in sex/gender research in neuroscience, anthropology, psychology, and related disciplines. New theories are utilizing a conception of the brain as dynamic, plastic, and adaptable, and of sex/gender brain and behavioral differences as subject to the influence of a broad range of biological, cultural, and social or environmental factors. In organizing this conference, our aim is to bring the neuro- and social sciences together to consider three cross-cutting questions on sex/gender: Why now? what’s fixed/changing/changeable?
