Max Planck Institute for Human Development

Ecological Rationality: Intelligence in the World explores how people can be effective decision makers by using simple heuristics that fit well into the structure of the environment. When we wield the right tool from the mind’s adaptive toolbox for a particular situation, we can make good choices with little information or computation. Thus, simple strategies excel by exploiting the reliable patterns in the world. Heuristics are not good or bad, “biased” or “unbiased,” on their own, but only in relation to the setting in which they are used. …

Frederick II of Prussia knew that it wouldn’t be sufficient for a good king to exert control over his subjects’ bodies, but that he should also conquer their hearts. In (early) modern times, monarchs had to rule in a manner that led people to obey through love, not through fear and pressure. This was dictated by the theory of state. In practice though, what about a king who had never been known to possess a mild temper or a gentle attitude? …

Recent evidence indicates experience-dependent brain volume changes in humans, but the functional and histological nature of such changes is unknown. Here, we report that adult men performing a cognitively demanding spatial navigation task every other day over 4 months display increases in hippocampal N-acetylaspartate (NAA) as measured with magnetic resonance spectroscopy. …

Young, middle-aged, and older raters (N=154) evaluated 1,026 prototypical facial poses of neutrality, happiness, anger, disgust, fear, and sadness stemming from 171 young, middle-aged, and older posers. …

Efficient health care requires informed doctors and patients. The health care system we inherited from the 20th century falls short on both counts. Most doctors and patients do not understand the available medical evidence. We identify …