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100 million Americans have chronic pain. Very few use one of the best tools to treat it.
When pain settled into Blair Golson’s hands, it didn’t let go. What started off as light throbbing in one wrist 10 years ago quickly engulfed the other. The discomfort then spread, producing a pain much “like slapping your hands against a concrete wall,” he says. He was constantly stretching them, constantly shaking them, while looking for hot or cold surfaces to lay them on for relief. But worse was the deep sense of catastrophe that accompanied the pain. Working in tech-related startups, he depended on his hands to type.
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Chasing the ‘Holy Grail’ of Baseball Performance
In the final regular-season game for the 1977 Los Angeles Dodgers, Dusty Baker hit a home run, giving him 30 for the season and making him the fourth Dodger to reach that milestone that year, a Major League Baseball record. As Baker rounded third, a rookie who had recently entered the game, Glenn Burke, approached the plate from the on-deck circle and, seized by joy, raised his hand high above his head. Baker was taken aback by the gesture and, in a mix of celebration and confusion, decided to smack Burke’s hand. Their high five was clumsy, but then again it had every right to be: Reportedly, it was the first one ever. Baseball has always been a strange mix of social and solo.
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APS Fellow Carsten de Dreu Receives Spinoza Prize
The Spinoza Prize recognizes Carsten de Dreu’s groundbreaking research exploring conflict, negotiation, decision making, and innovation in groups.
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Graphic Warning Labels Linked to Reduced Sugary Drink Purchases
Warning labels that include photos linking sugary drink consumption with obesity, type 2 diabetes, and tooth decay may reduce purchases of the drinks, a field study shows.
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New Research From Psychological Science
Read about the latest research published in Psychological Science: Revisiting the Marshmallow Test: A Conceptual Replication Investigating Links Between Early Delay of Gratification and Later Outcomes Tyler W. Watts, Greg J. Duncan, and Haonan Quan In 1990, Shoda, Mischel, and Peake showed that preschoolers’ ability to wait to eat a marshmallow or other treat (i.e., to delay gratification) was related to their later cognitive and social achievements and development.
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Why You Should Stop Being So Hard on Yourself
“We’re all our own worst critics.” Ever heard that one before? Yes, it’s an obnoxious cliché, but it’s not just self-help fluff. Evolutionary psychologists have studied our natural “negativity bias,” which is that instinct in us all that makes negative experiences seem more significant than they really are. In other words: We’ve evolved to give more weight to our flaws, mistakes and shortcomings than our successes. “Self-criticism can take a toll on our minds and bodies,” said Dr. Richard Davidson, founder and director of the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he also teaches psychology and psychiatry.
