Picture yourself sitting in front of a seemingly endless stack of exams to grade, full of open-ended questions, with responses demonstrating varying levels of understanding. Now imagine your joy when you flip open an exam with a first response that just gets it. An exceptional answer that demonstrates a true mastery of the material. Did […]
Have you ever seen someone who, after being wronged, seems more concerned about a way to get revenge than in stopping to think about what happened and whether revenge is even worth it? Reacting to aggressions without thinking can lead to bad consequences, ranging from relatively mild, such as a heated discussion where impoliteness escalates […]
In this episode of All Things Cognition, I interviewed Michelle Rivers and Steven Pan (pictured below) about their recent Psychonomic Society journal Memory & Cognition paper called “Metacognitive Awareness of the Pretesting Effect Improves with Self-Regulation Support.” In addition to talking about the benefits of pretesting (or prequestions) on learning, we also talked about other effective […]
Are your decisions tied to your gender? Prior research has shown gender differences in financial and career-related decisions, like choosing what to invest in or entrepreneurship. Research has suggested that this may be related to the greater risk sensitivity in women compared to men. But is this true in all situations? “Do men and women […]
A few paces into a walk one day, my friend’s dog found, nestled under a pile of autumn leaves, the most wonderful treasure the world could offer: a discarded box of half-eaten chicken wings. Before my friend could pull her dog away, the wings were gone—inhaled with the speed of an opportunist who knows better […]
Which of these is more common in the English language: A) words that end in “ing” B) words with “n” as the second to last letter? It might be tempting to pick A. There are lots of verbs that come easily to mind that end in “ing” (racing, baking, typing, etc.)—not to mention nouns like […]
Sports have been part of my life since I was a kid, with team sports like basketball, volleyball, and softball being some of my favorites. When I no longer played competitively, I stayed with my favorite sports by refereeing – youth, high school, collegiate, and even a brief foray into professional leagues. And when my […]
Do you ever have trouble recognizing a familiar face? I do from time to time. But frankly, I was surprised to know that there are individuals for whom this is beyond an occasional nuisance, and it profoundly affects their social and emotional lives because of a neurological condition called prosopagnosia. I first heard of prosopagnosia […]
Here’s a challenge. While you read this post, I want you to stay completely focused. Don’t let your attention drift – no checking emails, thinking about your lunch plans, or petting your dog. Sounds easy enough, right? Sometimes, it’s hard to pay attention. Sometimes the task is too difficult, sometimes other things distract you, or […]
There are some memories you wish you could forget. I wish I could forget the time in high school when, during the finals of a debate tournament, I accidentally spent an entire speech in front of an auditorium packed with people making arguments in favor of the opposing team’s side. While the loss of this […]