Many social sciences experiments couldn't be reproduced in a new study, thus calling into question their findings. The field of social science is pushing hard to improve its scientific rigor.
How can we succeed in creating and perpetuating a culture that values and promotes truth? Cognitive scientist Tania Lombrozo considers the science of fake news — and how to protect ourselves.
Despite my skepticism at the outset, for a light and amusing TV sitcom "The Good Place" does a pretty good job with philosophy — and a pretty good job with human psychology, too, says Tania Lombrozo.
Helping teenagers develop cognitive empathy, the ability to understand another person's perspective, can allow them to cope with stress better. But whether they accept help can be all in the phrasing.
Researchers were able to dial down painful recollections of a car crash by having people play the video game Tetris while in the emergency room. The technique makes use of the malleability of memory.
Sibling relationships are usually the longest-lived family ties, and most adults say they're close to their siblings. That closeness can shelter and sustain us through life's perils and joys.
You may love or hate "the wave" as it sweeps through spectators at baseball, football and soccer games. But physicists say the synchronized action shows how humans are like particles.
A shy woman becomes a brave warrior princess. A man calls on Captain America to help him lose 45 pounds. In costume role play they become part of a community where they can transform themselves.
When we invented shoes, we slipped a surface between ourselves and the world. Ever wonder if this is the moment mankind fell from grace? No? Well, for better or worse, NPR's Colin Dwyer has.
Cass Frankenstein started wearing sunglasses to protect himself from bullies. Decades later, he still wears them. Some friends and relatives say that holds people at bay. But he says it's worth it.
When someone's angry we tend to get angry in return. But responding in an unexpected way is a valid tool in psychotherapy, and it can help make everyday relationships work better, too.
NPR's Alix Spiegel, co-host of the podcast and program Invisibilia, tells the story of a robbery that was halted when a woman decided to respond to the threat in an unexpected way — with kindness.
Muslim youths in Denmark were leaving to join ISIS in Syria, feeling they were being persecuted in Europe. Then the police in Aarhus responded in a completely unexpected way: They apologized.
Why is it so hard to connect people with therapists? Insurance bureaucracy cuts both ways, it turns out. Patients have trouble finding therapists in networks. And therapists have trouble joining them.
Good intentions are great, but they'll only take you so far. There are some research-backed techniques you can use to increase your odds of following through on living better, however.
Psychologists have been arguing for decades over whether personality traits are real or a myth. More recent research shows that traits are real, a scientist says, and have a big effect on behavior.
More than half of prisoners released from prison are rearrested within a year. Cognitive therapy can help prisoners change the thinking that gets them in trouble, like "I'll never back down."
It can be a lot of fun taking those back-of-the-magazine personality tests. But tests may be less fun when they are used by employers to make big life decisions on hiring and job performance.
A man committed a horrible crime. Then he decided he no longer wanted to be a bad person. It is possible to change our personalities, psychologists say, even though we like to think they're innate.
NPR's Lulu Miller tells the story of one runner who always believed he could break the four-minute mile. Then a terrible accident made him question if he would ever be the same runner.
We may be more accepting of boys who cry, but only if they cry in the right way, Hanna Rosin suggests. The norm for male behavior may be stuck in a place that isn't doing boys much good.
