The Education Gender Gap: APA Task Force looks at How to Help Boys Succeed in School

The April/May, 2023 edition of the Monitor on Psychology, the bimonthly magazine of the American Psychological Association, led with a cover story about helping boys and young men succeed in the classroom (Abrams, 2023). The article was introduced with a bold statement: “At school, by almost every metric, boys of all ages are doing worse…

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School Cafeteria Setup Can Promote Healthy Eating Habits

The idea of “nudges” often comes up in research on the psychology of dietary choices. The theory being that certain cues can “nudge” people toward healthier eating habits. I wrote about this topic a few months ago in relation to a study suggesting that using certain types of plates might encourage children to eat more…

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A Lunchtime Nap Can Boost Children’s Academic Performance

We typically think of it as a bad thing to “fall asleep on the job.” But when your job is learning, a midday nap might be just what the psychologist ordered. A new study of 3,819 elementary school children in China suggests that lunchtime naps are associated with better performance in school. As it turns…

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