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

    Newborns nurse long-term memories of smells

    Newborn babies readily link specific scents to breast-feeding and favor those smells as toddlers.

  2. Archaeology

    Ancient hominids may have been seafarers

    Researchers have discovered hundreds of African-style stone hand axes on Crete, suggesting that sea-going hominids reached the island hundreds of thousands of years ago en route to Europe.

  3. Evolution’s Bad Girl

    Ardi shakes up the fossil record.

  4. Anthropology

    Stone Age campers set up separate activity areas

    Hominids displayed advanced organizational thinking almost 800,000 years ago

  5. Anthropology

    Ancient Maya king shows his foreign roots

    Copán’s first king may have been part of a colonial expansion by another, distant Maya kingdom.

  6. Psychology

    Depression medication may offer mood lift via personality shift

    A new study suggests that commonly used antidepressants may work after first altering personality traits.

  7. Anthropology

    Contested signs of mass cannibalism

    A new study yields controversial evidence of mass cannibalism in central Europe 7,000 years ago.

  8. Humans

    A timely touch transforms speech perception

    New research indicates that what people hear others saying depends on their skin, not just their ears.

  9. Humans

    Visual illusion stumps adults but not kids

    Finding suggests that sensitivity to visual context develops slowly.

  10. Anthropology

    For Hadza, build and brawn don’t matter for choosing mates

    Study of hunter-gatherer community in Tanzania shows that, across human groups, mating criteria vary.

  11. Anthropology

    Macaws bred far from tropics during pre-Columbian times

    Colorful birds possibly raised for ceremonial and trade purposes long before Spanish arrival

  12. Aping the Stone Age

    Chimp chasers join artifact extractors to probe the roots of stone tools.