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Why we often remember the bad better than the good
The Washington Post recently asked readers to anonymously share their most vivid memories, and these were some of the responses: “Sitting on my bathroom floor after my father died.” “My face being forced down to do something I didn’t want to do.” “The day I heard the voice of God in my head that said, ‘My son, you have another chance.’ It happened moments before I was going to commit suicide.” But they weren’t all about negative or difficult times. There was the person who remembered a peaceful Easter morning as a child, and the person who remembers the day they met their husband. But readers’ responses were largely retellings of trauma, or traumas turned silver linings.
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We Just ‘Fell Back’ An Hour. Here Are Tips To Stay Healthy During Dark Days Ahead
When it comes to turning back the clocks on our devices, technology has us covered. Our smartphones automatically adjust. But our internal clocks aren't as easy to re-program. And this means that the time shift in the fall and again in the spring can influence our health in unexpected ways. "You might not think that a one hour change is a lot," says Fred Turek, who directs the Center for Sleep & Circadian Biology at Northwestern University. "But it turns out that the master clock in our brain is pretty hard-wired, " Turek explains. It's synchronized to the 24 hour light/dark cycle. Daylight is a primary cue to reset the body's clock each day.
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Hershey’s thinks you’ll feel better about eating a thin Reese’s Cup. You’ll probably just eat (and buy) more.
When Hershey’s debuted a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup that will be 40 percent thinner than the original, the company said “consumers love Reese’s in all shapes and sizes.” To at least one chocolate and peanut butter enthusiast, the decision felt more like “cruel and unusual punishment." Hershey’s confounded candy lovers this week when it announced that come March 2019, “Reese’s Thins” will join its lineup. The slimmer peanut butter cup is geared toward those who “want something sweet with more permissibility,” in the words of Michele Buck, Hershey’s president.
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Can’t Stop Worrying? Try Tetris To Ease Your Mind
If you've ever played Tetris — whether it was at an old-school Gameboy, or just on your iPhone — then you know: It's 8-bit enchantment. "Years of my life were lost disappearing into a game of Tetris on my Nintendo system," says Kate Sweeny, a psychologist at the University of California, Riverside. But maybe the hours she spent lining those little blocks ("tetriminos") into perfect rows of 10 weren't a total waste. Her latest research suggests that Tetris can ease us through periods of anxiety by getting us to a blissfully engrossed mental state that psychologists call "flow." "The state of flow is one where you're completely absorbed or engaged in some kind of activity," Sweeny explains.
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Voters’ Preexisting Opinions Shift to Align with Political Party Positions
The views expressed by political party leaders can change how individual voters feel about an issue, according to findings from a longitudinal study of voters in New Zealand.
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New Research From Psychological Science
A sample of research exploring contingent attentional engagement, cooperation in chimpanzees, and the role of eye gaze in decision making.
