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Walter Mischel Remembrances
Walter Mischel, Psychologist Who Created ‘Marshmallow Test,’ Dies at 88 The Washington Post The experiment was “simplicity itself,” its creator, psychologist Walter Mischel, would later recall. The principal ingredient was a cookie or a pretzel stick or — most intriguingly to the popular imagination — a marshmallow. In what became known as “the marshmallow test,” a child was placed in a room with a treat and presented with a choice. She could eat the treat right away. Or she could wait unaccompanied in the room, for up to 20 minutes, and then receive two treats in reward for her forbearance. Conducting their work at a nursery school on the campus of Stanford University in the 1960s, Dr.
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Psychological Scientists Win NSF Grants Supporting Integrative Research on Cognition, Neuroscience
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced plans to fund the research of psychological scientists on cognitive science and neuroscience. APS Fellow Ralph Adolphs (California Institute of Technology) has won an award for his proposal titled “Using fMRI to Revise Psychological Variables.” Psychological scientist Peter Tse (Dartmouth College) and colleagues are receiving support to develop underwater EEG electrodes for octopus research, and psychological scientist Carolyn M. Parkinson (University of California, Los Angeles) is being funded for her work to examine how real-world interaction networks shape neural information processing.
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People Like You More Than You Know
As a young child, I was painfully shy. I’d watch other children at play in the park, wishing I could join their ranks for a game of tag, hide-and-seek, or jump rope, but too scared to approach them. Eventually, my mother would come to the rescue. She’d get up from the bench where she was sitting with the other moms, take my hand, and ask the other kids if I could play too. The answer was always yes (I’m sure the other children didn’t want to get in trouble with their own moms), and then I’d be all set for the rest of the afternoon… until the pattern repeated itself the next day.
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How to Be Better at Parties
Whether you love them or hate them, parties are important. They are where people meet future business and romantic partners and friends, where small talk becomes the stuff of life. Who among us, save the most self-sufficient and confident partygoer (and who is that insufferable person, anyway?), wouldn’t like to party better? This guide will teach you how to make seamless, beautiful small talk that leads to important conversations and connections. It will ease you into mingling effortlessly, and it will even demonstrate the right way to leave (without ruining your life). Go forth and party.
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Is Hypnosis Real? Here’s What Science Says
Look into my eyes. The phrase calls to mind images of a psychotherapist swinging a pocket watch. Or maybe you picture Catherine Keener in the film Get Out, tapping her teacup and sending an unwilling man into a state of hypnotic limbo. “There are many myths about hypnosis, mostly coming from media presentations,” like fictional films and novels, says Irving Kirsch, a lecturer and director of the Program in Placebo Studies at Harvard Medical School. But setting aside pop culture clichés, Kirsch says hypnosis is a well-studied and legitimate form of adjunct treatment for conditions ranging from obesity and pain after surgery to anxiety and stress.
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Why Do People Stay When a Hurricane Comes?
Hurricane Florence is currently battering the Carolina coast. A weakened yet still severe storm, experts expect flooding, high winds and torrential rains in the area, possibly for days. After issuing a mandatory evacuation order, Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina warned, “If you wait until conditions get bad, it may be too late to get out safely.” Tens of thousands of Carolinians scrambled to leave. Others, however, stayed put and are weathering the storm. One local fisherman told television reporters: “I was born and raised right here. I’m a local and it takes a little more than a storm to run us out.” He continued, “I’m going to stick it out.
