Alix Spiegel

Big Sibling's Big Influence: Some Behaviors Run In The Family

Alix Spiegel — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 21:00:00 +0000

Patricia East is a developmental psychologist who began her career working at an OB-GYN clinic in California.

Boston Blasts Remind Us Of Fragility Of Life

Alix Spiegel — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 14:18:00 +0000

From the first explosion in Boston on Monday to the second, just 15 seconds elapsed. And in those 15 seconds, three people were mortally wounded, including an 8-year-old boy.

Would Angry Teens Chill Out If They Saw More Happy Faces?

Alix Spiegel — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 21:55:00 +0000

All day long we're surrounded by faces. We see them on the subway sitting two by two, pass them on the sidewalk as we make our way to work, then nod to them in the elevator.

But most of those faces don't tell us much about the emotional life of the person behind the face.

"People don't just go around the world smiling or grimacing or frowning," says psychologist Marcus Munafo of the University of Bristol.

Mining Books To Map Emotions Through A Century

Alix Spiegel — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 19:41:00 +0000

Were people happier in the 1950s than they are today? Or were they more frustrated, repressed and sad?

To find out, you'd have to compare the emotions of one generation to another.

New Voices For The Voiceless: Synthetic Speech Gets An Upgrade

Alix Spiegel — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 08:41:00 +0000

Ever since she was a small child, Samantha Grimaldo has had to carry her voice with her.

Grimaldo was born with a rare disorder, Perisylvian syndrome, which means that though she's physically capable in many ways, she's never been able to speak. Instead, she's used a device to speak. She types in what she wants to say, and the device says those words out loud.