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Video gamers are ‘searching for their ideal selves’
The Telegraph: Scientists at the University of Essex have found that millions of people around the world enjoy playing the latest video games, as many find it the best way to try out different characteristics they would like to have. The study is part of ongoing scientific research by Dr Andy Przybylski, a visiting research fellow at Essex University, into why video games appeal to so many people, leading them to play for a combined global total of three billion hours a week. "A game can be more fun when you get the chance to act and be like your ideal self," said Dr. Przybylski.
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Baby’s Palate And Food Memories Shaped Before Birth
NPR: Want your child to love veggies? Start early. Very early. Research shows that what a woman eats during pregnancy not only nourishes her baby in the womb, but may shape food preferences later in life. At 21 weeks after conception, a developing baby weighs about as much as a can of Coke — and he or she can taste it, too. Still in the womb, the growing baby gulps down several ounces of amniotic fluid daily. That fluid surrounding the baby is actually flavored by the foods and beverages the mother has eaten in the last few hours.
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Defining Economic Interest
The New York Times: Republican resistance to raising taxes represents a distinctly minority view. The latest New York Times/CBS poll shows that only 34 percent of adults believe that taxes should not be increased on households earning $250,000 or more to lower the budget deficit. Even this modest percentage surprises me, because only about 2 percent of American households report income above this amount. Most conservative economists argue that higher tax rates at the top would hurt everyone because they would lower economic growth. I don’t buy this argument for a variety of reasons that I’ve explained elsewhere. However, the argument seems pretty easy to sell.
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Md. couponing expert teaches the art and science of saving through clipping
The Washington Post: “Do y’all know what the Clipper is?” Kimberly Pepper-Hoctor asked her class one recent night in a library meeting room about an hour south of Washington. A woman sitting near the front stirred her purse and extracted the latest edition of the Clipper, a direct-mail magazine loaded with coupons. She held it up for the 24 other mostly middle-age women who had come to learn as much as they could about paying as little as possible for their groceries and other household goods. “I like you,” Pepper-Hoctor told her new teacher’s pet, who smiled broadly.
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Study: Tweens aim for fame above all else
CNN: What do tweens value most? If you are thinking honesty or self-acceptance think again. What they value above everything else, according to a new study from the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), is fame. Other individualistic values, such as financial success and physical fitness are also high on the wish list. The study, published in the Journal of Psychology Research on Cyberspace, found children aged 9 to 11 now hold “fame” as their No. 1value. Fame ranked 15th in 1997. This raises red flags for researchers, who say the shift in values over the last 10 years may have a negative effect on the future goals and accomplishments of American youth.
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New Research From Psychological Science
Who Took the “x” Out of Expectancy-Value Theory? A Psychological Mystery, a Substantive-Methodological Synergy, and a Cross-National Generalization Benjamin Nagengast, Herbert W. Marsh, L. Francesca Scalas, Man Xu, Kit-Tai Hau, and Ulrich Trautwein The dominant theory used for predicting human motivation is expectancy-value theory (EVT), in which people respond to novel information by forming beliefs, assigning values based on the beliefs, and creating an expectation based on those beliefs and values.
