-
Expand Pre-K, Not A.D.H.D.
The New York Times: THE writing is on the chalkboard. Over the next few years, America can count on a major expansion of early childhood education. We embrace this trend, but as health policy researchers, we want to raise a major caveat: Unless we’re careful, today’s preschool bandwagon could lead straight to an epidemic of 4- and 5-year-olds wrongfully being told that they have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Introducing millions of 3- to 5-year-olds to classrooms and preacademic demands means that many more distracted kids will undoubtedly catch the attention of their teachers.
-
Spatial Imagery Improves With Sight
Imagine a square box about the size of a soccer ball. Now imagine turning it over with your hands. It’s a task that’s easy for most people to do -- indeed, we use spatial imagery all the time to handle objects, plan movements, and navigate through various environments. Different sensory modalities, including vision, audition, and touch, provide information about our environment. So how can we figure out the relative importance of each modality in contributing to spatial imagery?
-
Marriage Quality May Influence Heart Disease Risk
Chicago Tribune: Ambivalent hearts may be at higher risk for heart disease, according to a new study of married couples with mixed feelings for one another. "The most intriguing finding was that within a couple, only if both of them felt ambivalent towards their partner did you see this elevated (heart disease) risk," said Bert Uchino, a psychologist at the University of Utah and lead author of the study. The health of both spouses "is interdependent - it isn't what one says or does; it's what both do within the relationship that matters" when it comes to heart health, Uchino told Reuters Health.
-
Now! Later. No, Right Now! Maybe in a Bit.
The Huffington Post: Procrastination and impulsivity are both bad habits. They cause problems in school, at work, in life. But psychologically, they would seem to have little in common. Impulsivity, after all, is all about now -- wanting and needing something immediately, urgently -- and not waiting for later. Later is the province of procrastinators, who will happily delay until tomorrow what could -- or should -- be done today. Yet these two character traits do coexist, and that has long puzzled psychological scientists.
-
Should Obesity Be a ‘Disease’?
The New York Times: IN June 2013, millions of Americans contracted a disease. They developed it not because of some pathogen or illness, but thanks to the American Medical Association’s decision to label obesity a “multi-metabolic and hormonal disease state.” On its surface, this seemed like a good move: Calling obesity a disease provides a clear warning of the significant health risks associated with excessive weight. And the obesity-is-a-disease message sparked attention, funding and research aimed at finding medically driven remedies. We wondered, however, if there also might be psychological ramifications inherent in that message.
-
Hole-y Phobia May Have Evolutionary Origins
Scientific American: If the sight of Swiss cheese makes you melt or the thought of a honeycomb gets you buzzing, you may suffer from trypophobia, the most common phobia that you've probably never heard of. Trypophobia is the fear of holes. People with the phobia experience panic attacks, increased heart rate and hot sweats when they see clusters of holes. A visual scientist who suffers from trypophobia decided to investigate the phenomenon with his colleague. They performed spectral analysis on images that induce trypophobia and found that the fear-inducing images all had similar characteristics related to luminescence, contrast and light wavelengths.
