J-PAL North America launches Initiative for Effective US Crime Policy
The IECP will generate rigorous evidence for fair and effective public safety solutions.
Study links rising temperatures and declining moods
An analysis of social media in 157 countries finds hotter weather is associated with more negative sentiments.
Learning from punishment
A new computational model makes sense of the cognitive processes humans use to evaluate punishment.
How the brain solves complicated problems
Study shows humans flexibly deploy different reasoning strategies to tackle challenging mental tasks — offering insights for building machines that think more like us.
How we really judge AI
Forget optimists vs. Luddites. Most people evaluate AI based on its perceived capability and their need for personalization.
The sweet taste of a new idea
Sendhil Mullainathan brings a lifetime of unique perspectives to research in behavioral economics and machine learning.
Dopamine signals when a fear can be forgotten
Study shows how a dopamine circuit enables mice to extinguish fear after a peril has passed, opening new avenues for understanding and potentially treating fear-related disorders.
If time is money, here’s one way consumers value it
A study on ride-sharing opens a window into consumer behavior, measuring the benefits for businesses.
Response to infection highlights the nervous system’s surprising degrees of flexibility
Upon infection, the C. elegans worm reshuffles the roles of brain cells and flips the functions of some of the chemicals it uses to regulate behavior.
Credit where it’s due
MIT Sloan’s Christopher Palmer has produced new insights about household finance, thanks to razor-sharp empirical studies.
Want to climb the leadership ladder? Try debate training
Experiments find debate training boosts careers by enhancing assertiveness and communications techniques.
Why rationality can push people in different directions
Philosopher Kevin Dorst’s work examines how we apply rational thought to everyday life.
Study: Even after learning the right idea, humans and animals still seem to test other approaches
New research adds evidence that learning a successful strategy for approaching a task doesn’t prevent further exploration, even if doing so reduces performance.
Professor Emeritus Gerald Schneider, discoverer of the “two visual systems,” dies at 84
An MIT affiliate for some 60 years, Schneider was an authority on the relationships between brain structure and behavior.
Modeling complex behavior with a simple organism
By studying the roundworm C. elegans, neuroscientist Steven Flavell explores how neural circuits give rise to behavior.