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Meena, featured on Google’s AI blog, is a chatbot trained in a conversational model. The concept is that it conducts conversations that are more sensible and specific than existing chatbots. This chatbot, trained with 2.6 billion parameters, is designed to offer more humanlike conversations. [More]

As a society, many have lost sight of what is just right or adequate, or enough. Now that retailers are closing stores and the citizenry has been asked to gather in groups of no more than ten at one time (more on that later), the time has arrived to focus on the strengths within. [More]

We're in a volatile political climate in the United States and are heading into what will be an interesting election. Whether it’s a twitter storm or fake news, there’s plenty of ammunition for social media fights over political beliefs. And recent research found that general social media use has a negative effect on political knowledge, which may only fuel the fire in upcoming months. [More]

Facebook rolled out new photo filters and stickers to “act as an invitation for friends who might be struggling to reach out for support through Messenger.” This is meant to be a tool to encourage users to connect with friends online about mental health. But there are concerns about passive data collection on different platforms, such as Facebook, so it is debatable whether this will help or hurt mental health. [More]

A recent study published in the Journal of Early Intervention looked at the feasibility and effectiveness of Responsive Teaching (RT) with Saudi Arabian mothers and their children diagnosed with autism. RT is a relationship-based early intervention curriculum that was developed by study author, Gerald Mahoney. [More]

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in children is 1 in 59 and boys are four times more likely to be diagnosed with autism than girls. Research has shown that early intervention can help improve communication skills and the most well known autism therapy is Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). A new study looked at a type of ABA which is showing great promise in helping children with autism. [More]

Few experiences sting quite as much as being misunderstood. Why is that? Two reasons come to mind: 1. Feeling judged in a way that is uncomplimentary and unfair, 2. A sense of betrayal. [More]

Although connecting with others increases happiness, strangers tend to ignore each other. It is could be a preference for solitude, assuming that’s the norm, are “too busy” or feel anxious about speaking to a stranger. But these weak ties can have a more positive impact on well-being than people expect and short conversations with strangers can lift our moods. So why don’t we do it? [More]

Is it helpful to classify personality types or does it put people into a box? A review of taxometric studies of personality concluded: “Whether personality attributes are best understood as dimensions or categories (types) is the subject of some debate.” Yet another recent study stated that “information is lost when personality facets are overlooked”. Experts weighed in on the usefulness of classifying personality types. [More]

Though the divorce rate in the United States is 50 per cent and growing, and higher for second and third marriages, over 90 per cent of people in Western cultures still decide to get married by the age of 50. Why is the divorce rate so high? The influences on marital success are varied and many. What about the way in which people approach the important decision about whom they will spend their life with? Could that be having an effect? [More]