Quiz

Multiple Choice — No Time Limit

Headphones and feelings, preventing hospital readmissions, and the relationship between meaning in life and happiness

1 of 5
1 of 5

Listening to a podcast or other audio using headphones (or earbuds) vs. sound played from a speaker makes people feel:
Annoyed and less receptive to the message.
Closer to the voice and more receptive.
No difference between listening methods.

Read on: Findings extend research that shows people with more physical and social proximity report greater connectedness. Voices we process as coming from inside our head seem to create a sense of intimate spatial and social proximity.

2 of 5
2 of 5
Blurry image of patient on stretcher being unloaded from ambulance

Using an algorithm to prevent patients who’ve been discharged from needing to be readmitted to the hospital suggests:
Examination of each patient by a physician or other clinician on day of discharge.
A regimen of lab tests designed to reveal potential problems.
A mix of the two, more labs when clinicians aren’t available, fewer labs when they are.

Read on: Researchers studied 19,331 surgical admissions to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center during an 847-day period ending in 2018 — and the 969 patients (5% of total) readmitted.

3 of 5
3 of 5

Who feels happier when also having a strong sense of meaning, or purpose, in life?
Poorer people.
Richer people.
The correlation between meaning and happiness is the same across income levels.

Read on: Researchers suggest that a weaker link among higher income individuals may be explained by their ability to use their income to buy goods and services designed to trigger happiness.

4 of 5
4 of 5

Which company is likelier to swing for the research-and-development fences?
One with an overvalued stock price, perhaps scrambling to live up to market expectations.
One with an undervalued stock, perhaps hoping to get noticed.
They’re equally likely to attempt innovative R&D.

Read on: Firms with overvalued stock, in a given year, are more inclined to apply for highly inventive patents.

5 of 5
5 of 5

In a study of polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, plastic containers, which size contributes the least (per ounce of beverage) to landfill waste?
Small (less than 16 ounces).
Medium.
Big (more than 100 ounces).

Read on: Shifting 20% of small and large bottle sales into the midsize range would have kept more than 14,000 tons of PET plastic bottles out of landfills.