Imagine this: study suggests power of imagination is more than just a metaphor

We’ve heard it before: “Imagine yourself passing the exam or scoring a goal and it will happen.” We may roll our eyes and think that’s easier said than done, but a new study from psychologists at Washington University in St. Louis suggests imagination may be more effective than we think in helping us reach our goals. “The imagination has the extraordinary capacity to shape reality,” say co-authors of a study suggesting that merely imagining something close to our hands will cause us to pay more attention to it.

Businesses increase innovation spending in recession

SawyerEven as the United States faces the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, businesses are spending more money on innovation, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report. Keith Sawyer, Ph.D., assistant professor of education and psychology in Arts & Sciences and one of the country’s leading experts on the science of creativity, says that investing in innovation is one of the best ways to beat the recession.

Mexico’s health insurance success offers lessons for U.S. reforms, Lancet study suggests

As America considers major healthcare reforms, it may have lessons to learn from Seguro Popular, Mexico’s ambitious plan to improve healthcare for its estimated 50 million uninsured citizens, suggests Ryan Moore, co-author of a new evaluation of the program. Conducted through a partnership of Mexican health officials and researchers from leading American universities, the study offers a model U.S. policymakers might use to scientifically explore solutions to America’s own looming healthcare crisis.

Conference to focus on art, aging

The Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging is hosting the 2009 Friedman Conference April 21 at the Eric P. Newman Education Center from 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m. The conference, titled “In the Words of the Artist: The Influence of Age on Creativity and Expression,” focuses on the ways artists experience the aging process and how it affects creativity and expression.

Study finds students with Experience Corps tutors make 60% more progress in critical reading skills than students without tutors

Tutoring children in and after school isn’t new, but how much does it really help in critical areas like reading? Rigorous new research from Washington University in St. Louis shows significant gains from a national service program that trains experienced Americans to help low-income children one-on-one in urban public schools. The central finding: Over a single school year, students with Experience Corps tutors made over 60 percent more progress in learning two critical reading skills — sounding out new words and reading comprehension — than similar students not served by the program.
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