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. Good mood gone bad

    Feeling happy may lessen children’s ability to perform tasks that require attention to detail, a new study suggests.

  2. Psychology

    Lie defectives

    A new analysis challenges the view that a few people with special experience can detect others’ lies with great accuracy.

  3. Psychology

    Woman knob twists

    People nonverbally impose a specific order on descriptions of witnessed events, a tendency that may influence the structure of new languages, a new study suggests.

  4. Psychology

    Wave of resilience

    Indian survivors of the devastating Asian tsunami employed spiritual and community coping strategies to regain emotional balance

  5. Humans

    Schooling the vote

    Where you cast your ballot can affect how you cast your ballot.

  6. Psychology

    Simpleminded Voters

    An innovative research technique has led researchers to conclude that well-informed voters often use simple rules of thumb to sift through mountains of campaign information and pick the candidate who best reflects their own political views.

  7. Humans

    Worth the cooties

    Boys who attend preschool classes with a majority of girls do better developmentally than other boys.

  8. Anthropology

    Numbers beyond words

    New research with Amazonian villagers suggests that their language lacks number words but that they still comprehend precise quantities of objects.

  9. Archaeology

    Green reapers

    Agriculture's rise sparked widespread use of green stone beads as fertility charms and as protection against supernatural forces, scientists propose.

  10. Humans

    Symbolic snacks

    Capuchin monkeys can reason with tokens as they do with different foods, demonstrating a basic capacity for thinking symbolically.

  11. Archaeology

    Acrobat’s last tumble

    Sacrificial offerings in an ancient Mesopotamian building included a beheaded acrobat, a new skeletal analysis suggests.

  12. Humans

    Fostering gains

    New studies indicate that abused and neglected kids benefit from living with relatives and from high-quality foster care services.