Human development and learning across the lifespan, including cognitive development, social development, educational interventions, learning disabilities, and school psychology
10 papersThis editorial asserts that continuous use of phones and smart tablets causes a phenomenon dubbed "brain rot," leading to weakened perception, indifference, and various psychological issues, especially in children. It offers advice like consuming natural herbs, avoiding medications, and limiting screen time to prevent this purported condition, without providing any empirical data or research to support these claims.
This study from Norway finds that banning smartphones in middle school improves girls' mental health (fewer consultations for psychological issues), reduces bullying for both genders, and boosts girls' GPAs and math scores, especially for those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. The effects are concentrated among girls and those attending schools with strict phone bans.
This report by the American Psychological Association summarizes research on the sexualization of girls and its negative consequences. The report offers recommendations for families, schools, and the media to mitigate the harmful effects of sexualization.
This qualitative study from Spain explored how adolescents perceive OnlyFans. Teens showed a strong awareness of the platform, including its subscription model and content type, and some even admitted to accessing it despite age restrictions. Many, especially girls, viewed OnlyFans as a potentially lucrative opportunity but tended to downplay the risks involved.
The paper reviews evidence on the stability of risk preferences and concludes they are moderately stable, though not perfectly so. Risk preferences change somewhat with age, are influenced by major life events, and can fluctuate temporarily due to factors like stress or emotions. The authors propose a framework for understanding risk preference stability inspired by personality psychology, emphasizing distributional and rank-order stability rather than fixed individual values over time.
This correlational study found an association between receiving a smartphone before age 13 and poorer mental health outcomes in young adulthood (18-24 years old), especially among females. The negative impacts were most strongly correlated with earlier access to social media, poor family relationships, cyberbullying, and disrupted sleep, though causality cannot be established.
Using data from over half a million college students, this study found that philosophy majors outperform all other majors on verbal reasoning, logical reasoning, and measures of intellectual disposition, like curiosity and open-mindedness, after controlling for baseline differences. While stronger verbal abilities and intellectual curiosity predict choosing philosophy, the study finds evidence suggesting these abilities may be further cultivated through philosophical study itself.
This meta-analysis of 92 studies found that digital tools have a moderate positive effect on secondary school students' learning outcomes in mathematics and science. Providing teachers with training on how to use the digital tools significantly enhanced their effectiveness, while the type of tool (e.g., simulations, intelligent tutoring systems) also showed some influence, though not as strong statistically.
Gamification in a programming course improved learning accuracy for students with low agreeableness, openness, and introverted traits, while it did not negatively affect students with other personality traits. The study also found that introverted students engaged more with the gamified version, particularly with ranking features, than extroverted students, suggesting different motivational responses to gamification based on personality.
This review explores the role of positive psychology (PP) in second language acquisition (SLA), focusing on seven key factors: optimism, immediacy, connectedness, commitment, academic buoyancy, immunity, and mindfulness. It suggests that fostering positive emotions and characteristics in learners and teachers can significantly enhance the language learning experience but needs further research with more rigorous methodology.