Cognitive Psychology
Practicing Music Is Associated With a Sharper Brain Later in Life
If you want your brain to stay in good form as the years add up, be sure to keep a healthy diet, exercise frequently, and … play a musical instrument? A new meta-analysis of studies on the link between music and cognitive health has concluded that regularly practicing a musical instrument correlates with enhanced cognitive…
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Do Early Developmental Milestones Predict Intelligence in Middle Age?
Will a baby who says their first words at a precocious age go on to have a sharp mind at 50? The idea that signs of future intelligence can be spotted in toddlerhood sounds logical enough, but the strength of the correlation between infant behavior and adulthood intelligence remains up for scientific debate. Recently, a…
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How Much of Life Is Spent Mind-Wandering?
The human mind is hard to pin down. It goes where it wants, not necessarily where it’s supposed to, and it’s averse to sitting still. But how much does the mind wander? How much of our time do we spend focused on something other than what’s in front of us? The most commonly cited answer…
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Can Natural Sounds Recharge the Brain?
Buy a CD of music for relaxation, and there’s a good chance it’ll feature running water, chirping birds and rustling leaves. Instinctively, it makes sense to us that the sounds of nature should be refreshing for the mind. This idea hasn’t been lost on psychology researchers. A range of studies have investigated whether natural sounds…
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What Sets Adults With Autism Who Have Savant Skills Apart?
Occasionally, people with autism have special abilities where they are able to far outperform others. They might be able to perform feats of memory, create incredibly realistic works of art, or tell you without hesitating that January 31, 2021 will be a Sunday. Of course, the majority of people with autism don’t have savant syndrome,…
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Repetition Makes Fake News More Believable
If you want something to be believable, just repeat it. Let me say that again: if you want something to be believable, just repeat it. A new study by researchers at Yale University shows that blatantly false “news” articles become easier to believe when people have been exposed to them before. The study also suggests…
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Going Gluten-Free Changes What Potential Romantic Partners Think of You
It’s unclear whether going gluten-free has any health benefits for people without celiac disease, but that hasn’t stopped the diet from catching on. Last month, a Gallup poll found that one in five Americans make a point of including at least some gluten-free food in their diet. Those who opt for a gluten-free diet are…
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Is Creationism the Ultimate Conspiracy Theory?
I’ve got one heck of a conspiracy theory for you. It goes like this: contrary to what scientists say, everything in the natural world exists because someone created it that way, not because it’s the result of evolution. The idea that the natural world was deliberately designed to function the way it does is an…
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Ability to Feel Awe May Drive Scientific Thinking
Thinking scientifically involves putting forward logical explanations and dispassionately considering the evidence. But underlying scientific inquiry might be a more profound emotion: awe. Evidence for this idea comes from a study published this month in the journal Cognitive Science. The study, by researchers at University of California, Berkeley, found that a more scientific way of…
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Gender-Neutral Language Makes a Difference
If I tell you that a person is a specialist, does that person have to be male? The answer, of course, is no. “Specialist” is not a word with any gender connotation. Yet it turns out that many people associate being a “specialist” with being male. This can be demonstrated using the “specialist riddle.” Here’s…
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