-
A List of Reasons Why Our Brains Love Lists
The New Yorker: “6 TITANIC SURVIVORS WHO SHOULD HAVE DIED.” “THESE 9 NAZI ATROCITIES WILL MAKE YOU LOSE FAITH IN HUMANITY.” “5 INSANE PLANS FOR FEEDING WEST BERLIN YOU WON’T BELIEVE ARE REAL.” These are just some of the lists that the comic strip “XKCD” recently joked would result from retrofitting the twentieth century’s most newsworthy events with modern, Internet-style headlines. Despite the growing derision of listicles exemplified by the comic, numbered lists—a venerable media format—have become one of the most ubiquitous ways to package content on the Web. Why do we find them so appealing?
-
Oxytocin Found to Stimulate Social Brain Regions in Children With Autism
The New York Times: The hormone oxytocin has been generating excitement — and caution — among people who care about autism. Scientists have been eager to see if oxytocin, which plays a role in emotional bonding, trust and many biological processes, can improve social behavior in people with autism. Some parents of children with autism have asked doctors to prescribe it, although it is not an approved treatment for autism, or have purchased lower-dose versions of the drug over the counter. Scientifically, the jury is out, and experts say parents should wait until more is known.
-
Why Companies Are Terrible At Spotting Creative Ideas
Fast Company: In business, a creative idea is only worth as much as the manager who can recognize it. Malcolm Gladwell once told the story of Xerox engineer Gary Starkweather, who conceived of a laser printer circa 1970 but was forbidden to pursue it by a boss. Starkweather developed a prototype in his spare time and forced the company to transfer him so he could finish it. He basically begged Xerox to let him work on an idea it should have been begging him to work on. That story ended just fine for Xerox, but no doubt many other creative ideas stall in the conception phase for lack of encouragement.
-
For women, sex in ads may not sell
The Globe and Mail: That’s the message researchers are drawing from a new study, published in the journal Psychological Science, which demonstrates women’s negative reactions toward advertising that uses sexual imagery. “Just a quick exposure to an ad was enough for theories of sexual economics to kick in,” researcher Kathleen Vohs, a marketing professor at the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota, said in a statement. Professor Darren Dahl of the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business, was one of the researchers on the study. Read the whole story: The Globe and Mail
-
Scientists and Practitioners Don’t See Eye to Eye on Repressed Memory
Skepticism about repressed traumatic memories has increased over time, but new research shows that psychology researchers and practitioners still tend to hold different beliefs about whether such memories occur and whether they can be accurately retrieved. The findings are published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. “Whether repressed memories are accurate or not, and whether they should be pursued by therapists, or not, is probably the single most practically important topic in clinical psychology since the days of Freud and the hypnotists who came before him,” says researcher Lawrence Patihis of the University of California, Irvine.
-
Bad Eating Habits Start in the Womb
The New York Times: THE solution to one of America’s most vexing problems — our soaring rates of obesity and diet-related diseases — may have its roots in early childhood, and even in utero. Researchers at the Monell Chemical Senses Center, a nonprofit research organization in Philadelphia, have found that babies born to mothers who eat a diverse and varied diet while pregnant and breast-feeding are more open to a wide range of flavors. They’ve also found that babies who follow that diet after weaning carry those preferences into childhood and adulthood. Researchers believe that the taste preferences that develop at crucial periods in infancy have lasting effects for life.
