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A host of extraneous factors have been known to affect the sentencing decisions of judges in the United States. New research shows that having children and being seen to be good providers for them benefits most defendants and earns them lighter prison sentences.
I recently posted this puzzle on The Hidden Brain’s Facebook fan page.
Which of [...]

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A significant component of food craving involves mentally “seeing” the tempting food, and food cravings can be countered by distracting the mind with unrelated imagery, according to new research.
Let’s say you crave a cookie. The best way to fight the temptation is to
A) Think about the cardiovascular risks that come with obesity
B) Remind yourself about [...]

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When the person you are talking to blinks a lot, it probably means he or she has tuned you out, according to new research that links increased blinking with reduced attention.
So, if you are talking with a manager/colleague/spouse, the unconscious signal that best tells you that the person has tuned you out?
A) He/she blinks a [...]

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President Barack Obama’s nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court highlights the power of frames in politics. In recent years, conservative presidents have appointed conservative justices, whereas liberal presidents have appointed moderates.
Supreme Court Justice nominee Elena Kagan herself once noted the irony inherent in this process. In the University of Chicago Law Review, she [...]

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The recent British elections highlight why the rules — not candidates, parties, issues or ideologies — are the real kingmakers in democracies. The graphic shows the percentage of votes and percentage of seats won by the three major British parties. Look at the disparities! If the Tories and Labour had stuffed ballot boxes so they [...]

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Aggressive individuals raise the metabolism of groups, but do they increase or reduce the effectiveness of teams? New research suggests aggressive individuals reduce the effectiveness of teams, and also hinder the ability of teams to learn new things.
Imagine you are the coach of a sports team. A young player wants to join your team. He [...]

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The Southern Legal Resource Center wants people to list their race as “Confederate Southern American” on their U.S. Census form. I think all Americans should list their race as BLACK — because humans are all descended from African ancestors.
If you agree, TELL YOUR FRIENDS about this idea. Census workers are currently visiting [...]

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Restaurant patrons are subtly influenced by the size of their servers to order different kinds of food and different quantities of food, according to new research into the hidden brain’s effects on our food habits.
So which of these statements do you think is true? (More than one answer is correct.)
A) Dieters consume more calories when [...]