Why learning a new language is like an illicit love affair

Many renowned writers have revelled in the gifts of their non-native tongues.

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Learning a new language is a lot like entering a new relationship. Some will become fast friends.

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Using fidget spinners may actually impede learning

Are the concentration benefits just a marketing ploy?

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Though fidget spinners have been around since the early 1990s, it was 2017 when they really started to make a stir, becoming a seemingly overnight sensation and starting to appear in offices, classrooms, public transport and pretty much anywhere else they were permitted.

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The 'kids these days' effect: Why adults have criticized kids for millennia

When it comes to remembering the kids of your generation, don't always trust your memory.

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  • Since at least 624 BCE, adults have been complaining about the "kids these days."
  • A recent study examined the "kids these days" effect, finding two broad mechanisms that seem to contribute to adults' negative perception of kids.
  • Interestingly, adults seem to maintain their biases about the younger generations even when they're made aware of those biases.
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What is free will, really? Steven Pinker explains.

The processes behind our ability to make decisions are complex, but they're not miracles.

  • Free will exists, but by no means is it a miracle.
  • We use "free will" to describe the more complex processes by which behavior is selected in the brain. These neurological steps taken to make decisions respect all laws of physics.
  • "Free will wouldn't be worth having or extolling, in moral discussions, if it didn't respond to expectations of reward, punishment, praise, blame," Pinker says.
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Does digital technology make students stupid?

Conventional wisdom believes "screen time" disrupts mental development, but research hints at a more complicated relationship between our minds and digital technology.

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  • Worry over test scores has led many to blame digital technology for waning educational achievement.
  • New studies show that the persistent effects of "screen time" are not yet understood and may be short-lived.
  • Many experts argue the best approach is to teach students the strategic and selective use of digital technology.
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