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The Decision-Making Puzzle
If you’ve ever played the classic puzzle-like computer game Tetris, you know that it starts out slowly. As the seven different pieces (called “zoids” by the initiated) descend from the top of the screen, a player has to shift the pieces horizontally and rotate them so that they fit into a gap in the stack of pieces at the bottom of the screen, or “well.” In early levels, the pieces might take 10-15 seconds to fall. The speed increases at each level. In world champion Tetris matches, players often start play at Level 18—in which pieces are on the screen for about a second.
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‘It’s About Human Nature’: What Science Tells Us About Being A Bandwagon Nats Fan
We’ve all done it. We’ve jumped on the bandwagon because something became popular. Many people in the region are now jumping on the Nationals’ bandwagon as they head to the World Series this week. ... Social psychologists such as American University professor Trina Ulrich describe the desire to join trends and popular celebrations as the Bandwagon Effect. “[It’s] essentially a psychological phenomenon that happens when people are doing something because others are doing it already,” Ulrich said. It has to do with a psychology term called dispositional hope. It’s the belief that you can achieve personal goals.
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National Academy of Medicine Elects APS Fellow Ted Abel
APS Fellow Ted Abel of the University of Iowa is among four psychological scientists newly elected to the National Academy of Medicine. Abel is recognized for his work on the interplay of sleep and memory formation and storage, and the molecular basis of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders, including autism. Abel is Professor and Chair of UI’s Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology and Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine. He is director of the Iowa Neuroscience Institute at the university.
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Learn to Write Grant Proposals through Grant Writing Coaching Groups
Early-career researchers can increase their chances of success in receiving a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant by participating in a study coordinated by the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) and The University of Utah.
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Experienced Drivers Keep Their Eyes on the Road Differently
It can take years for motorists to fully develop the cognitive processes required to navigate safely, including learning to scan a wider swath of the road ahead.
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UK Research and Innovation Breaks Record for Largest Single Programmatic Investment in Mental Health
The £35 million investment is the largest single programmatic investment in mental health ever made by UK research councils and will use research expertise from a variety of disciplines to look at how our biology, environment and upbringing, shape this critical development stage, and how we can better treat, manage and prevent mental health problems.
