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Revisiting the Marshmallow Test
Remember the marshmallow test? Stanford University researchers in the early 1960s offered young children a choice between one sweet treat they could immediately eat, or two they could enjoy after a short wait. They found those who took the second option ultimately got higher test scores, and generally had more successful lives. That ability to delay gratification is usually described as an internal trait, perhaps enhanced by proper parenting. But new research suggests another element is also at play. It reports kids faced with this now-or-later dilemma are strongly influenced by their peers' pattern of behavior.
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Postdoctoral Fellowship in Global Health Research for African Psychological Scientists
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) are partnering with the African Academy of Sciences (AAS), and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to establish the African Postdoctoral Training Initiative (APTI), a program that recruits and trains early-career African scientists at an intramural lab at NIH in a global health research area priority of their home institutions/countries.
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Balancing Speaking and Listening for Language Learning
The second language learning literature emphasizes comprehension for language learning, but memory research suggests that producing the language is just as important for learning.
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NSF Funding for Smart and Connected Health
The National Science Foundation invites proposals for the interagency “Smart and Connected Health (SCH): Connecting Data, People, and Systems” program, which funds high-risk/high-reward research, including behavioral and cognitive projects, on the development of technologies and analytical models in health and medicine.
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The Powerful Motivation of Paying Upfront
Dear Dan, I know that you’ve often written about money as a motivator. This semester, I would like to join a yoga class that requires a substantial one-time registration fee. Will paying this amount in advance motivate me to attend regularly to make up for the money I’ve spent? —Jeff Yes, we’re much more likely to do things when we commit to them in advance and have sunk costs. One challenge with this approach is that, over time, you might forget that you have paid that large initial fee. I would recommend that you print the receipt from your one-time registration fee, laminate it and attach it to the door of your refrigerator.
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What Americans Can Learn About Happiness From Denmark
Research shows "hygge," or intentional intimacy, is the driving force behind the Danes' generally positive attitude, something largely absent in the U.S. The new World Happiness Report again ranks Denmark among the top three happiest of 155 countries surveyed—a distinction that the country has earned for seven consecutive years. The United States, on the other hand, ranked 18th in this year's World Happiness Report, a four-spot drop from last year's report. Denmark's place among the world's happiest countries is consistent with many other national surveys of happiness (or, as psychologists call it, "subjective well-being"). Scientists like to study and argue about how to measure things.
