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I tend to take risks.  Speak up (loudly) about not getting paid for an assignment.  When my son has a teacher who loses his test, then yells at him because she can't find it.  When my late mother-in-law insisted I wear a dress that made me look like a beached whale to her grandson's bar mitzvah (not). On the other hand, my husband is super-cautious.  Won't send it back when a server mistakenly places the wrong order in front of him.   Panics when a patient leaves a message (he's a dentist) and says it's urgent. Refused to get married for years because of his fear of divorce (we've been married for 22). Now a new study is asking, is risk contagious? In my house, not so much. In the study, 24 volunteers repeatedly participated in three types of trials: a "self" trial, in which the participants were asked to choose between taking a guaranteed $10 or making a risky gamble with a potentially higher payoff; an "observe" trial, in which...

Think about this.  If you saw someone in a crowd being bullied, would you try to stop it?  The startling truth is that, the more people who witness the act, the more likely it is no one will stop it.  A new study sheds light on the behavior of “bystanders” who “witness” cyberbullying. According to newswise.com, "The higher the number of 'bystanders,' the less likely intervention would occur during a cyberbullying incident." The perceived anonymity of “bystanders” also reduced the likelihood of intervention. However, the closeness that a particular “bystander” felt toward the victim was most consistently related to his or her decision to intervene. That's why cyberbullying is such a threat.  The perceived “invisibility” offered by digital communication allows for less adherence to societal standards (who hasn't blown the horn from the safety of your car at someone who turns unexpectedly without signalling, yet would never confront someone who doesn...

A program to help kids manage their behavior has also had another astounding result.  The kids do better in their academic subjects too.  According to newswise.com, a  program aimed at reducing behavior problems in order to boost academic achievement has improved performance in math and reading among low-income kindergartners and first graders, according to a study by researchers at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. “Supporting young low-income children so they can reach their potential in the classroom and beyond is of vital importance,” the Web site quotes Sandee McClowry, a professor in NYU Steinhardt’s Department of Applied Psychology and the study’s senior author. “Our findings show that learning is enhanced when it also addresses the social and emotional development of children.” Duh.  But how many programs out there do this? "Previous scholarship has shown that growing up in poverty significantly incr...