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Why We Should Thank Pigeons For Our AI Breakthroughs
... If computers can do all that with just a pigeonlike brain, some animal researchers are now wondering if actual pigeons deserve more credit than they’re commonly given. “When considered in light of the accomplishments of AI, the extension of associative learning to purportedly more complicated forms of cognitive performance offers fresh prospects for understanding how biological systems may have evolved,” Ed Wasserman, a psychologist at the University of Iowa, wrote in a recent study in the journal Current Biology.
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What Many Parents Miss About the Phones-in-Schools Debate
... all of this digital social worry doesn’t seem to be helping teens become more interpersonally adept. Sitting in an airport with my 18-year-old and her friend, on the way to check out a college campus this past spring, I wondered aloud why her younger sister kept calling me from school during passing periods, even though she didn’t seem to have anything to say. My older daughter saw nothing amiss; apparently she, too, often faked an urgent need to consult her phone to avoid talking with people in the halls. “Everyone” does, she said.
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A Guide To Being Brave In Relationships
From sustaining a marriage to making new friends, forming connections requires courage. This hour, TED speakers guide us through being brave during the most difficult moments in relationships. Guests include writer and podcaster Kelly Corrigan, journalist Allison Gilbert and clinical psychologists Julie and John Gottman.
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They Put Off Relationships Until They Earned Enough Money
... Some recent surveys have indicated that young women are earning more than young men, at least in some large coastal cities. Social pressure to marry young and have children has largely diminished in recent years. Hannah Williamson, who studies low-income families at the University of Texas at Austin, said that given the trends in American society, the future of relationships was not auspicious. Policymakers could take steps to lessen pressures on younger people and encourage family formation through European-style social policies, such as extended parental leave, Dr. Williamson suggested. But there is little evidence of such efforts, especially in Washington.
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Cash Rewards Have Less Sway in Collectivistic Cultures
If you’re trying to get someone to do something, what’s the best way to achieve that? Paying them probably comes to mind, and this intuition is a basic tenet of economic theory. In a massive 2018 study, researchers tested 18 ways to motivate people to do a simple task—and found that money worked best. ... A recent study found that a nudge to change social norms about female entrepreneurship in Niger was enough to boost household income as much as giving people money—and it cost far less. Our findings suggest that psychological nudges may be most effective in the places they help people the most.
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Like Likes Like: Partner Preferences May Be Explained by Genetics
A new study suggests that assortative mating, where partners choose a mate like themselves, can be explained by looking at inheritance of traits and the corresponding preferences for those traits.
