28 APR 2015 by ideonexus
Standing Desks Improve Student Engagement
The research looked at the results of an experiment in which 282 participants in grades 2-4 were observed in the fall and spring during one school year. Student engagement was monitored by actions such as answering a question, raising a hand, or participating in discussion, while off-task behaviors included talking out of turn.
Engagement of the "treatment" classrooms was compared with the engagement of "control" classrooms. The researchers noted that both groups showed "general increases in... 1 
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notes24 JUN 2013 by ideonexus
The Brain is Too Expensive for Survival Purposes
My interest is in the psychological adaptations that are uniquely
human, the 10 percent or so of the brain's capacities that are not shared with other apes. This is where we find puzzling abilities like creative intelligence and complex language that show these great individual differences, these ridiculously high heritabilities, and these absurd wastes of time, energy, and effort. To accept these abilities as legitimate biological adaptations worthy of study, evolutionary psychology must bro... 1 notes
notesIt makes more sense that our capability for complex thought, music, and socialization are adaptations to prove our genetic fitness to a potential mate.
28 MAR 2012 by ideonexus
The Myth of Church-Goer Charity
That churchgoers do the lion’s share of the charitable work in our communities is simply untrue. They get credit for it because they do a better job of tying the good works they do to their creed. But according to a 1998 study, 82 percent of volunteerism by churchgoers falls under the rubric of “church maintenance” activities—volunteerism entirely within, and for the benefit of, the church building and immediate church community. As a result of this siphoning of volunteer energy into the care... 1 notes
notesMost of their charity is within their own congregation.
21 SEP 2011 by ideonexus
There Are Human Races
In response to these distasteful episodes of racism, some scientists
have overreacted, arguing that human races have no biological reality
and are merely sociopolitical “constructs” that don’t merit scientific
study. But to biologists, race—so long as it doesn’t apply to humans!—
has always been a perfectly respectable term. Races (also called “subspecies”
or “ecotypes”) are simply populations of a species that are both
geographically separated and differ genetically in one or more traits.
Th... 1 notes
notesIt is wrong to pretend they do not exist, but we should remember that the differences between human races are minor compared to the genetic differences between individuals within a race.
21 JUL 2011 by ideonexus
Challenging Inhibited Behavior in Children
But with the right balance, parents can modify even the most difficult side of their children's temperaments. As an example, consider those 15 percent or so of toddlers who are very inhibited—kids like Andrew, whose right frontal lobe explodes with anxiety whenever he's confronted by new people or a new environment. While many of these children don't change, about 40 percent do lose their extreme timidity by kindergarten. Researchers have observed that these are the youngsters whose parents, ...
1 It is important to encourage inhibited children to challenge their fears and adventure into the world.
08 JUN 2011 by ideonexus
A Flu Pandemic Reduces Quality of Life for Babies
Initially, Almond doubted that the intrauterine conditions provided by a pregnant woman, even one sick with a virulent strain of the flu, could exert any lasting influence on her offspring. “When I started looking at the influenza pandemic, I was skeptical of the fetal origins hypothesis. I didn’t think I’d find any long-term effects,” Almond says. “But the evidence was the opposite of what I expected.” Through an analysis of census data, Almond discovered that those individuals gestated duri...Folksonomies: pregnancy fetal development
Folksonomies: pregnancy fetal development
Children born during the flu pandemic grew up to have a poorer socioeconomic status than those born at other times.
