Bruce Bower

Bruce Bower

Behavioral Sciences Writer

Bruce Bower has written about the behavioral sciences since 1984. He often writes about psychology, anthropology, archaeology and mental health issues. Bruce has a master's degree in psychology from Pepperdine University and a master's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri. Following an internship at Science News in 1981, he worked as a reporter at Psychiatric News, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association, until joining Science News as a staff writer. In 1996, the American Psychological Association appointed Bruce a Science Writer Fellow, with a grant to visit psychological scientists of his own choosing. Early stints as an aide in a day school for children and teenagers with severe psychological problems and as a counselor in a drug diversion center provided Bruce with a surprisingly good background for a career in science journalism.

All Stories by Bruce Bower

  1. Psychology

    Babies’ flexible squeals may enable them to talk later

    Language evolution might have fed off infants’ ability to use certain sounds to express various emotions.

  2. Psychology

    Competition brings out autism’s social side

    Given motivation, kids with autism can appreciate what other people think and believe.

  3. Psychology

    Early malnutrition bodes ill for adult personality

    Undernourishment in first year of life may destabilize personality decades later.

  4. Humans

    Disputed finds put humans in South America 22,000 years ago

    Brazilian site may have been home to people before the Clovis hunters.

  5. Humans

    Ancient people and Neandertals were extreme travelers

    Stone Age folk were built for journeying farther than even the most active individuals today.

  6. Psychology

    Video games take aim at dyslexia

    Playing action video games gives a literacy boost to dyslexic children who read poorly, a disputed study suggests.

  7. Humans

    Radial routes ran outside Mesopotamia

    Cold War–era imagery reveals transportation networks extended throughout Middle East.

  8. Humans

    Tackling women’s pro football

    Tackling women’s pro football.

  9. Humans

    Ancient human DNA suggests minimal interbreeding

    Genetic analysis indicates Stone Age people mated infrequently with Neandertals and other close relatives.

  10. Animals

    Claims of fairness in apes have critics crying foul

    A report that chimps divvy up rewards much as people do draws criticism.

  11. Humans

    Wrist bones said to distinguish hobbits

    New fossils enter the debate over tiny humanlike species that lived in Indonesia.

  12. Humans

    Language learning may begin before birth

    Newborns show signs of having tracked moms’ speech while still in the womb.