During a long holiday period like the one we just went through, many parents spend more time with their teenagers and monitor their screen time in the hope that they will get outside. They will be keeping an eye on one type of behavior in particular: time spent scrolling . In particular, doomscrolling , which involves scrolling endlessly across […] … learn more→
Blog Archives
Teens’ strategies for limiting time spent surfing
Logging off life but living on: How AI is redefining death, memory and immortality
Imagine attending a funeral where the person who has died speaks directly to you, answering your questions and sharing memories. This happened at the funeral of Marina Smith, a Holocaust educator who died in 2022. Thanks to an AI technology company called StoryFile, Smith seemed to interact naturally with her family and friends. The system used prerecorded […] … learn more→
Very simple ways to train working memory and attention
We all have different ways of understanding and processing information and, beyond our intellectual capacity, people develop executive skills from childhood that allow us to adapt to the environment. These are the skills that come into play when we learn. In fact, learning styles and executive functions are intrinsically related, as both influence how people […] … learn more→
Is the American Dream achievable? These students are examining its promises and pitfalls
Title of course: “Economic Realities of the American Dream” What prompted the idea for the course? One of us – Steve Fazzari – was trained as an economist, and the other – Mark Rank – as a sociologist. We’ve shared scholarly interests over the years as colleagues at Washington University in St. Louis. But our teaching partnership really began […] … learn more→
How young people get information: on social media, although they have little confidence in it
In the context of competent digital citizenship, it is essential to understand how young people consume news and the degree of trust they place in sources in order to act critically and responsibly in the abundant flow of information on the networks. A recent study published in Media & Journalism , based on data from more than […] … learn more→
Time expansion experiences: why time slows down in altered states of consciousness
We all know that time seems to pass at different speeds in different situations. For example, time appears to go slowly when we travel to unfamiliar places. A week in a foreign country seems much longer than week at home. Time also seems to pass slowly when we are bored, or in pain. It seems […] … learn more→
People who are good at reading have different brains
The number of people who read for fun appears to be steadily dropping. Fifty percent of UK adults say they don’t read regularly (up from 42% in 2015) and almost one in four young people aged 16-24 say they’ve never been readers, according to research by The Reading Agency. But what are the implications? Will people’s […] … learn more→
‘Atomic habits’: how building small habits can change our lives
Could a cyclist’s seat pad determine his performance? Enough to win a Tour and exponentially improve his sporting results? The answer is yes, if this tiny change is combined with many others, such as redesigning the seats, applying alcohol to the wheels to increase their traction, using tights with electrical heating systems to maintain ideal […] … learn more→
Scroll less, connect more: A new study shows how to make social media work for you
We all know using social media is considered bad for you. A high social media diet is linked to anxiety, depression and FOMO (the fear of missing out). Even internal research data from Meta, the company behind Instagram and Facebook, agrees. However, over the last decade, social media has become woven into the fabric of our […] … learn more→
Strength training: from what age?
Although body worship never goes out of fashion, the idealisation of one’s own image has become a global phenomenon in recent years, mainly due to the abuse of social networks such as Facebook, Instagram or TikTok. This obsession with aesthetics has been particularly deep-rooted among the so-called Generation Z (born between 1997 and 2012) and […] … learn more→