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Research: Video games help with creativity in boys and girls
USA Today: Here's another reason to include The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword on those holiday shopping lists: children who play video games are more creative. That finding, thought to be the first demonstration of a relationship between technology use and creativity, comes from a new study of nearly 500 12-year-olds in Michigan, conducted by researchers at Michigan State University's Children and Technology Project. Already published online, the study is expected to be included in the March 2012 issue of the journal Computers in Human Behavior.
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Opting Out or Pushed Out?
Working Mother: Is the American myth of rugged individualism costing women advancement in the workplace? Nicole Stephens, an assistant professor of management and organizations at the Kellogg School of Management, and Cynthia S. Levine, a doctoral student at Stanford University, argue that because Americans believe that most people’s behavior comes from “personal choice,” they fail to see how real and persistent workplace barriers—including lack of flexibility, unaffordable child care and gender stereotypes—weigh on women’s successes.
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Color Yourself Happy
AARP Magazine: Having the freedom to change careers or pursue our passions makes us happier than does a hefty bank account, reports the American Psychological Association, which recently published an analysis of multiple studies. Researchers from Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand analyzed questionnaires from 420,000 people in 63 countries and found that individuals able to make their own choices to start a small business, for instance claimed the highest levels of well-being. Read the whole story: AARP Magazine
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Verstehen braucht mehr als Worte
ORF Austria: Zwei aktuelle Studien betonen die wichtige Rolle des körperlichen Kontextes, beim Begreifen von Inhalten sowie bei der Wahrnehmung von Gesichtsausdrücken. Breites Ausdrucksrepertoire Sich mitteilen und einander zu verstehen, ist das Kernziel jeglicher zwischenmenschlichen Kommunikation. Im klassischen Gespräch stehen einem dafür eine ganze Reihe von Mitteln zur Verfügung. Die Sprache ist zwar zentral, aber eben nur eines von vielen. Dazu kommen etwa der Klang der Stimme, die Mimik, die Körperhaltung und die Gestik. Neben diesen individuellen nonverbalen Kanälen kommen noch das äußere Erscheinungsbild - sprich Kleider machen Leute - und kulturell gefärbte Signale hinzu.
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People rebel when they feel there is a way out
The Economic Times: People stuck with a rule are more likely to tolerate it than people who think the rule isn't definite. And this could explain many things, from unrequited love to the uprisings in the Arab world. When people were living under dictatorships in the Arab world with power that appeared to be absolute, they may have been comfortable with it, said Kristin Laurin of the University of Waterloo who led the study, the journal Psychological Science reports.
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Mothers buy into freeze-frame parenting
Los Angeles Times: Instructed to play with my baby, Max, for 20 minutes while he sat in an infant seat, no toys allowed, I pulled out every trick in the book. Sign language ABCs. An animated version of "Itsy Bitsy Spider." All the time, a camera was trained on my face, another on his. I returned a few weeks later to see the results: Aimee Wheeler, a therapist, had synched up the footage into one split-screen video and analyzed all the tiny interactions between us, frame by frame by frame. "Great narrative. Jenny gives Max space to acclimate to the room," says one page of Wheeler's notes. "Jenny's contact turns into a gentle invitation for play with stroking of feet," says another.
