Mind, features and articles | Educational Science

May 25, 2017

'Lotus Birth': What Experts Say About Cutting the Cord

The birthing practice known as lotus birth, in which parents allow a newborn's umbilical cord to remain attached to the placenta until the cord breaks naturally, is enjoying some popularity, perhaps especially among those who favor home births and assign special significance to the expelled placenta. In a lotus birth,...

Aug 5, 2017

Oh, Brother! Guys Feel More Rivalry with Siblings

WASHINGTON — Why do some siblings get along while others are at each other's throats? Gender could play a role: A new study finds that men reported having a greater sibling rivalry than women did back when they were children. However, these differences seemed to fade by adulthood, the researchers...

Aug 7, 2017

Friends with an Ex? Check Your Motives First, Science Says

WASHINGTON — Can you really stay friends with an ex? It depends on why you want to continue the relationship, a new study finds. Staying friends with an ex is a very pervasive phenomenon, said lead study author Rebecca Griffith, a master's student in psychology at the University of Kansas....

Aug 30, 2017

American Men Are Having Kids at Older Ages

American men are having children at increasingly older ages, according to a new study. Over roughly the past four decades, the average age of U.S. fathers at the time of their child's birth increased by 3.5 years, from 27.4 years in 1972 to 30.9 years in 2015, according to the...

Apr 2, 2018

How Expensive It Is to Have Kids? These 5 Charts Reveal the Hefty Price Tag

This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Today, roughly one in five women in the U.S. doesn't have children. Thanks in part to this decline in birthrate, for the first time in U.S. history, there may...

Nov 13, 2018

Why You Can Blame Your Mom If You're Still Single

If your adult life seems like a never-ending stream of breakups, your mom might be to blame. New research finds that mothers and daughters tend to have a similar number of marriages or cohabiting relationships. But the linkage isn't explained by economic factors or by the number of breakups that...

Mar 16, 2019

12 scientifically proven signs you should dump your partner

Calling it quits (Image credit: Getty Images)Should you break up with your partner? It's a difficult choice, but science may be able to help with your decision. Does your partner constantly criticize you? Did any cheating take place? Do you have different religious or political values, and you're unsure whether...

Jul 1, 2016

How Does Reverse Psychology Work?

There's good news for frustrated parents trying to get their kids to eat their vegetables (or go to sleep, or clean their rooms): Science shows that using reverse psychology can, indeed, work. Reverse psychology is part of a phenomenon of psychology called reactance, said Jeff Greenberg, a professor of social...

Jul 12, 2016

The Psychology of 'Pokémon Go': What's Fueling the Obsession?

Perhaps you've seen them: roving bands of (mostly) young people, gathering together with smartphones aloft, talking about something called Rattata or Squirtle. If not, you've probably at least seen the headlines about these folks — players of the massively popular new game Pokémon Go. The game, which uses geolocation to...

Jul 20, 2016

Is Personality an Illusion?

It is generally thought that science helps good ideas triumph over bad. The weight of evidence eventually pushes false claims aside. But some ideas march onward despite the evidence against them. The discredited link between vaccines and autism continues to cause mischief and climate change sceptics continue to resurrect dead...

Aug 4, 2016

Swipe Right for Self-Esteem? Why Tinder Users May Need It

Guys on Tinder may have more in common than an apparent love of shirtless selfies — a new study suggests that they may also have low self-esteem. Men who use Tinder appear to have lower levels of self-esteem compared with men who don't use the dating app, according to the...

Aug 5, 2016

Unseen Singles: How Science Misrepresents the Unmarried

DENVER — More than 100 million American adults are single, and science knows almost nothing about them, said one psychology researcher. The science of singles is sorely lacking, said Bella DePaulo, author of Singled Out: How Singles Are Stereotyped, Stigmatized and Ignored, and Still Live Happily Ever After (St. Martin's...

Aug 15, 2016

Brain Region Associated with Generosity Uncovered

A tiny chunk of brain may partly determine whether someone is generous or stingy, new research suggests. This particular brain region seems to makes some people quicker to learn empathy for others, the study found. A specific part of the brain called the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex was the only...

Aug 19, 2016

Glass Half Empty? Why You May Be Less Optimistic Than You Think

Psychologists have long thought that people tend to underestimate the odds of something bad happening to them and overestimate the chances of good things happening to them. Now a new study suggests this view may not be accurate. The studies that have suggested that people tend to be inherently optimistic...

Sep 1, 2016

How Meat Labels Trick Your Mind

People have strong feelings about meat — not only about how it tastes, but also how the animals that provide it are raised. In fact, those feelings are so strong that they actually influence the way people perceive the meat's taste, a new study says. In the study, people reported...