Researchers have found that people wearing heavy backpacks perceive the hills they are climbing as steeper than people who aren’t wearing backpacks do. Read this article to find out more about how our perceptions can become distorted.
Tag Archives: Human behavior
How do children choose a best friend?
How important is it to have a best friend? This article explains the health benefits of having close relationships with others. It also points out some interesting differences in cultural expectations related to friendship.
Our choices may be making us more individualistic
Whether it’s picking out a box of cereal from the grocery aisle or deciding which sources to get our information from, we make all kinds of choices every day. This article suggests that having all these choices may ultimately have a negative impact on society.
City Unveils Campaign to Improve Girls’ Self-Esteem
An innovative New York City program seeks to protect girls from developing a negative body image.
The Best Tool for Helping Damaged Young People—Nature
Researchers are evaluating the effect that a dose of the wilderness can have on troubled young people.
Need to Dust Off Your Social Skills?
This article provides some advice for re-learning the social skills we may have lost during the many isolating months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
10 Surprising Ways Senses Shape Perception
Read this article to learn about some of the ways our senses can distort our perception.
Your Brain Perceives Reality By Hallucinating
Are our minds playing tricks on us all the time? Click this link to watch an animated video that explains what perception and hallucination have in common.
Many Black and Asian Americans Say They Have Experienced Discrimination Amid the COVID-19 Outbreak
According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, Asian and Black Americans are experiencing racism and discrimination more frequently than they did prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Click this link to learn more about the results of the survey.
The surprising downsides of empathy
Empathy—the ability to understand the feelings of others—is an important aspect of emotional intelligence. However, the author of this piece suggests that empathy can have negative effects. Click the link to learn more.
Emotional Intelligence
Check out this link for some information on developing emotional intelligence, which includes skills like being aware of your own emotions as well as understanding how others are feeling.
Human impact on nature ‘dates back millions of years’
Have humans ever truly lived in harmony with the natural world? According to recent research, the activities of early human ancestors may have caused animal extinctions, not unlike the way human actions threaten many species today.
‘Promiscuous treatment of nature’ will lead to more pandemics – scientists
What does cutting down trees have to do with global pandemics like the coronavirus? Click this link to find out.
How the news changes the way we think and behave
This article presents the findings of recent research that suggests the news can make us see the world in a negative light, which has a harmful impact on our mental and physical health.
6 takeaways about teen friendships in the digital age
Check out this article to see the findings of a 2015 report that examined how digital technology affects friendships between teenagers.
Accept The Awkwardness: How To Make Friends (And Keep Them)
Want to know what you can do to make new friends and keep the ones you already have? Read this article for some expert advice.
Meet the Sacrifice Generation
In Montgomery County, Maryland, Asian immigrants straddle a cultural divide.
Racist words and acts, like the El Paso shooting, harm children’s health
In July of 2019, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a policy statement warning that racism has a negative impact on the overall health of children and adolescents. Click this link to learn more.
The Calculus of Risk
According to author Mark Jenkins, modern adventure is safer than you think—once you know the difference between legitimate danger and irrational fear.
The Question We Must Keep Asking
What does it mean to be human? In this opinion piece, artist Ai Weiwei stresses the importance of asking ourselves this question. He believes it is crucial for people to examine and re-examine who they are in a rapidly changing world.