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People Likely Aren’t as Susceptible to False Memories as Researchers Thought
How much can we trust our memories? We know that our mind keeps an imperfect record of the past. We can forget or misremember details with frustrating consequences. Our attention can be diverted in ways that make it all too easy to miss key events. But a particularly disturbing idea suggests that we readily form false memories—that is, we can become convinced we experienced something that never actually occurred. This concept is often used to cast doubt on the reliability of a plaintiff’s testimony in a court case, suggesting it is easy to create false memories of entire events.
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Have We Been Thinking About A.D.H.D. All Wrong?
... In the years since the consensus statement was published, however, the evidence for each of these A.D.H.D. biomarkers has faltered. Attempts to replicate the studies that showed differences in brain electrical activity came up empty. And though scientists have identified complex collections of genes that together may be signs of greater risk for A.D.H.D., they have failed to find a specific gene that predicts the disorder. “There is no single-gene story,” John Gabrieli, an M.I.T. neuroscientist, told me recently.
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Technology Use May Be Associated with a Lower Risk for Dementia, Study Finds
With the first generation of people exposed widely to technology now approaching old age, how has its use affected their risk of cognitive decline? ... None of the 136 studies the authors reviewed overall reported an increased risk of cognitive impairment correlated with technology use — a consistency that is “really quite rare,” said co-lead study author Dr. Michael Scullin, professor of psychology and neuroscience at Baylor University, via email.
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Image-Based Memory May Heighten Symptoms of PTSD
Using imagery can help people keep their memories vivid for longer, but for those with PTSD, a strong sense of imagery could be harmful.
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How I Realized AI Was Making Me Stupid—and What I Do Now
... “With creativity, if you don’t use it, it starts to go away,” Robert Sternberg, a Cornell University professor of psychology, told me. Sternberg, who studies human creativity and intelligence, argues that AI has already taken a toll on both. Smartphones are already blamed for what some researchers call “digital dementia.” In study after study, scientists have shown that people who regularly rely on digital help for some tasks can lose capacity to do them alone.
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The Simple Trick to Change Other People’s Minds
"The growth of knowledge depends entirely upon disagreement," claimed the philosopher Karl Popper. He was writing about the dangers of dogma in science – but his words could equally apply to anyone's worldview. And if you want a disagreement to end by changing someone's mind, you have to do it in the right way. ... Research by Jeremy Frimer at the University of Winnipeg and Linda Skitka at the University of Illinois at Chicago has shown that rude behaviour is far more likely to alienate the person you wish to persuade than change their opinion, and it may even disaffect people who were already coming around to your point of view.
