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Cognition at the Speed of (LED) Lights
Since the 1970s, overhead fluorescent lighting has been standard in most office buildings. But, organizations may want to start swapping out their fluorescent lights for newer LED technology. Not only do LEDs use less power and last longer than conventional fluorescent lighting – new research suggests they hold benefits for mood and cognition. Breanne Hawes and colleagues from the Cognitive Science Team at the United States Army Natick Soldier Research Development and Engineering Center and Tufts University compared the effects of different types of light on mood, perception, and cognition in military personnel.
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Is ‘Grit’ Doomed To Be The New Self-Esteem?
NPR: In just a few short weeks, students in California will be taking high-stakes tests. But the tests won't just cover math, reading and science. Students will also be responding to survey statements like "I usually finish what I start," or "I can do anything if I try." A group of big-city districts there is among the first to try to measure students' self-control, empathy and other social and emotional skills — and to hold schools accountable for the answers. ... "The enthusiasm is getting ahead of the science," Angela Duckworth, the psychologist and MacArthur Fellow most associated with the concept of grit, told me in May.
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Inside Out: Behind-the-Scenes Science With Dacher Keltner, PhD
Psi Chi: Six years ago, Pete Docter (the director of Pixar’s Monsters, Inc and Up) made a phone call to explain his ideas for a film about how emotions shape people’s interior lives and relationships with others. On the other end of the call was Dacher Keltner, PhD, an emotion psychologist at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Keltner agreed that these would be great topics for a movie and became a major consultant throughout the development of Pixar’s Inside Out. Today, he discusses his interactions with Pixar, as well as some of the scientific thought that went into this highly successful and well-liked 2015 film. In his own words, Dr.
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The Brain Likes Categories. Where Should It Put Mixed-Race People?
NPR: Humans like to place things in categories and can struggle when things can't easily be categorized. That also applies to people, a study finds, and the brain's visual biases may play a role in perceptions of mixed-race people. The study, published in Psychological Science on Monday, asked people to sort images of people as either white or black, but it included multiracial faces in the mix, too. There has been much less research into attitudes about mixed-race people, even though they are the fastest-growing racial group in the United States. Read the whole story: NPR
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Why All the Violence at Donald Trump Rallies?
Pacific Standard: Video of a black protester getting sucker-punched at a Donald Trump rally in North Carolina has been widely circulating on the Internet. But it's only the most recent example of Trump opponents being roughed up at such events. What's behind this disturbing phenomenon? Let us put two and two together. ... Social psychologist Arlin James Benjamin conducted a survey of 150 university students that compared their attitudes toward violence with their level of right-wing authoritarianism. Read the whole story: Pacific Standard
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The Eternal Appeal of the Underdog
The New York Times: MOST casual college basketball fans can’t name a single player for long-shot Holy Cross, which is in the N.C.A.A. tournament this year with a losing record. We might not know who Stephen F. Austin is (known as the father of Texas, who gave his name to a university there) or that one school, ambitiously, calls its team the Governors (Austin Peay). But come March, we’re suddenly Governors fans. We want the underdog teams to beat the heavyweights like Kansas, Duke and Michigan State. We want the little guys to triumph. At least we think we do. There’s science behind this allure of the underdog.
