Dan Willingham

Ask the Cognitive Scientist: What Do IQ Scores Mean?

New article with Eric Turkheimer: "What Do IQ Scores Mean?" www.aft.org/ae/winter202...

'I taught an octopus piano' - the video the internet can't get enough of! In one of the most bizarre, brilliant, and unexpectedly wholesome musical experiments of the year, Swedish musician and YouTuber Mattias Krantz has done the unthinkable: he spent six months teaching a...

B. F. Skinner: *shrugs*
www.pianistmagazine.com/blogs/i-taug...

Math anxiety: meta analysis of longitudinal studies suggests a bi-directional relationship. Being bad at math makes you anxious when doing it AND being anxious about it impairs performance. psycnet.apa.org/record/2026-...

A Smartphone Before Age 12 Could Carry Health Risks, Study Says

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/01/w...

Many possible reasons...

Retractions in medical journals disproportionately less likely to include women authors. journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

Using PISA data from 73 countries, researchers estimated the extent to which growth mindset mediates the association of SES on achievement, and find results consistent w/ the picture of the last 10 years. It's a real effect. It's small. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Exercise improves academic performance in Norwegian college students (open) www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1...

Every psychologist knows this feeling: you’re not mad that these two sections are adjacent. You’re grateful that they’re separate sections.

Data from Peru: telling women they've met the exam cut-off to pursue a STEM major increases the probability they'll take it. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Although it's commonly believed that left-handedness is associated with creativity...it's not. link.springer.com/article/10.3...

Opinion | The science that extended Dick Cheney’s life was a choice The biomedical research engine will create more breakthroughs — if we keep it up and running.

Really inspiring review of five decades of cardiac medicine that almost certainly kept Dick Cheney alive, his first heart attack was at age 37...and the importance of the US scientific infrastructure--currently under existential threat--to those miracles. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

The circle of hell Dante forgot - Who Raised You - is teeming w people who put their bags on Amtrak seats. Their curse is to eternally battle NJ Transiters watching videos at full blast & those who trample tiny kids to deplane 30 sec sooner. Feels like a promising reality tv concept.

What makes PhD students happy? Good supervision Supervisors who invest in positive mentoring relationships with their PhD candidates also reap the benefits for their own research.

BREAKING: Survey by @nature.com reveals that "supervisors who make a conscious effort to support and mentor their PhD candidates have more-satisfied students."
Science marches on!
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

RCT of Montessori preschool: at end of K, significantly higher reading, short-term memory, theory of mind, and executive function scores. Intention-to-treat effect sizes > .20. www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10....

White House Moves Toward Settlement With First Public University

Not so fast…UVa rejects compact but is reportedly near a deal w the feds www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/u...

uva rejects the compact

Will Google's New AI Tool Help Teachers? "Learn Your Way" Shows Promise but Has a Way to Go

I review Google's new AI tool. Not ready, not really close to ready, but shows promise.
dtwuva.substack.com/p/will-googl...

Why do people share fake news? "While perceived message truth was the main driver of persuasion, message transmission was primarily driven by positive emotion and social engagement, indicating that social connection is prioritized during information sharing." psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/202...

That made me smile. Thank you for posting!

Arthur Samuel Reber - Moles Farewell Tributes Arthur Samuel Reber March 11, 1940, to September 2, 2025 Born in Philadelphia, PA, to parents Jacob Reber and Yetta Gluchowsky, Arthur studied psychology at the University of Pennsylvania – interrupte...

I've just learned of Art Reber's death. Art was a leader in an area of research that was my main focus early in my career. He was a great psychologist and unfailingly kind. www.molesfarewelltributes.com/obituaries/a...

Unfortunately, I think Paul's concern is warranted.

Are the Purported Causes of NAEP Score Decline Actually Symptoms? open.substack.com/pub/dtwuva/p...

Pay Attention, Kid! Has the use of digital technology impaired students’ ability to focus?

ICYMI: The effect of digital tech on children's attention...less likely affecting whether they *can* pay attention and more likely affecting whether they *choose* to. www.educationnext.org/pay-attentio...

State takeovers of districts *not* associated with improved student performance in reading or math. Especially striking as you'd at least expect regression to the mean effects. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

High Quality Research Rarely Informs Classroom Practice. Why? (Opinion) The connection between education research, policy, and practice is broken. Here’s what it would take to fix it.

Why aren't practices based on research implemented in schools? @tomdee.bsky.social has insights, and ideas for change. www.edweek.org/leadership/o...

Pay Attention, Kid! Has the use of digital technology impaired students’ ability to focus?

Have student's attention spans been decimated by digital technologies? In @educationnext.bsky.social I look at the data and conclude that's not the problem. www.educationnext.org/pay-attentio...

Preschool shows smaller advantage than observed in 1960s and 70s--why? Todays programs have too much -whole-class instruction in math & reading & kids who *don't* go have, on average better experiences. files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED6...