Matt Huston

New York

Commissioning Editor at Aeon

Commissioning Editor at Psyche Magazine

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Articles

Are people less talkative these days?

2 weeks ago | psyche.co | Matt Huston

When someone insults you or people you care about, this advice can help you figure out whether to speak up and what to sayby Alicia del PradoPsychologists have known about the ‘halo effect’ for ages. New research suggests the power of language can help explain itby Chris F Westbury & Daniel KingThe best analogies in poetry and science really crackle, but when do they expand our thinking and when do they constrain it?
The voices that stick in our minds

1 month ago | psyche.co | Matt Huston

The end of a friendship cracked me apart, triggering hidden memories – and helping me heal old woundsby Antonia MalchikScenes from books, movies and games sometimes carry as much weight as events from people’s own lives. We’re finding out whyby Osman Görkem ÇetinIn Spanish, I wasn’t the clumsy son of the town amputee. Learning the language catalysed my reinventionby Timothy HamptonForgetting can be frustrating, even scary. The ancient Greeks certainly thought so.
What does switching from paper to screens mean for how we read?

Mar 5, 2025 | principia-scientific.com | Matt Huston

Written by Matt Huston on March 5, 2025. Posted in Current News It’s well established that we absorb less well when reading on screen. But why? And can we do something to improve it? Reading is so commonplace that it’s hard to appreciate how much of a challenge it poses to the human brain.
Why that hard conversation will probably go better than you think

Jul 10, 2024 | psyche.co | Matt Huston

If you’ve delayed raising a touchy issue, fearing it will backfire, new research could give you the confidence you needMost of us probably have at least one thing that we’d like to raise with someone in a meaningful way, but the subject just seems too forbidding. It could be the other person’s habit of breaking promises, a negative comment they made that got under your skin, or a news event about which you don’t see eye to eye.
How babies’ and children’s temperament varies around the world

May 20, 2024 | psyche.co | Matt Huston

International research reveals intriguing regional differences in temperament – the infant precursor to adult personalityBabies have plenty in common with each other – the crying, the crawling, the sleeping – but their own little personalities are on display too. One infant might spend more time in a grumpy mood than others. Another might be especially fascinated by the bright new world around them, reaching toward whatever catches their eye.
What to do when racing thoughts keep you up at night

Apr 23, 2024 | psyche.co | Matt Huston

Any attempts to escape your mind or make yourself sleep are likely to backfire. Try these expert tips insteadIt’s time for bed. You lay down, pull up the cover, close your eyes, and then… the thoughts come rushing in. Maybe you’re replaying a conversation from earlier in the day, chewing on a piece of unhappy news, or thinking ahead to tomorrow’s to-do list. Perhaps you start worrying about sleep itself and whether you’ll get enough of it.
The psychology of impatience could make waiting more tolerable

Mar 3, 2024 | psyche.co | Matt Huston

New studies on the experience of impatience suggest there’s more to it than simply how long you’ve been left hangingIf you’ve stared down the clock awaiting a test result, fidgeted in anticipation of a train that’s arriving any moment, or furiously refreshed your news feed ahead of a major announcement, you know the deep unpleasantness of having to wait, powerless to speed things along. When do these feelings of impatience hit their peak? Is it all about the feeling that you’ve waited too long?
Prejudice is more of a problem for some disabilities than others

Jan 7, 2024 | psyche.co | Matt Huston

It’s welcome that there’s more awareness of ableism, but further progress means digging into the varied ways it plays outUse of the term ableism, referring to discrimination against people with disabilities, goes back to at least the 1980s but has increased significantly in the past decade.
Some emotions seem to be more ‘elastic’ than others

Nov 12, 2023 | psyche.co | Matt Huston

New research findings suggest that guilt behaves like an on-off switch whereas anger is more elastic and dial-controlledYou likely have a sense of the sorts of things that make you angry, or afraid, or excited, and what it’s like when these or other emotions arise in you. But have you given much consideration to how these emotional experiences change over time when they’re prompted again and again?
Why art seems more beautiful when you can see yourself in it

Oct 22, 2023 | psyche.co | Matt Huston

Research suggests that people find artworks more aesthetically pleasing when they’re personally relevant to them in some wayWhat makes a work of visual art beautiful? Researchers in aesthetics have identified various physical characteristics – such as symmetry and visual complexity – that seem to affect people’s preferences, but they don’t explain everything.