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.
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All Stories by Bruce Bower
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Psychology
World of hurt
Treatments shown to diminish psychological problems in traumatized youngsters often don’t get used, an exhaustive research review concludes.
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Psychology
Undecided voters not so undecided
A measure of unconscious attitudes predicts the opinions that undecided people eventually reach on a controversial issue.
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Archaeology
Saharan surprise
A chance discovery in the Sahara leads to the excavation of a Stone Age cemetery containing remains from two lakeside cultures.
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Psychology
Core calculations
Number words may serve as mental tools for expanding on basic, nonverbal numerical knowledge rather than as determinants of such knowledge.
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Humans
Toddlers triumphant
In new studies, toddlers display dramatic advances in object recognition that may underlie verbal and symbolic achievements.
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Good mood gone bad
Feeling happy may lessen children’s ability to perform tasks that require attention to detail, a new study suggests.
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Psychology
Lie defectives
A new analysis challenges the view that a few people with special experience can detect others’ lies with great accuracy.
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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.
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Psychology
Wave of resilience
Indian survivors of the devastating Asian tsunami employed spiritual and community coping strategies to regain emotional balance