It may be a shock to some of you, but I do not believe that assessments are the answer to all situations. I will wait for a moment while you process that earth-shattering reveal.Now, I clearly believe in the value of assessments, especially the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) instrument. However, an assessment is just a piece of paper unless it is properly debriefed by a certified practitioner and then used by the recipient to better understand themselves and others. An assessment is not a crystal ball, nor will it tell you the meaning of life. I was reminded of this fact today when I met…
Psychology
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THE MBTI BLOG
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Using Assessments for Employee Development: They are The Starting Point not the Destination
13 Nov 2009 | 7:49 pm -
"Shhhh....I'm an ISTJ. Don't tell."
5 Nov 2009 | 6:32 pmMyers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) practitioners will be the first to tell you that all personality types are created equal. There is no one best or worst personality type. And yet, even the most experienced type practitioners may admit that at times, they wish they had a different personality type. Do we just want what we don't have? Ladies, you will understand this analogy- if you have curly hair, what do you wish you had? Straight hair. If you have straight for, what do you spend hundreds of dollars trying to make your hair do? Be curly.I don't generally think there's a problem with type… -
The Obligatory Halloween-Themed Post- I'm Going as an ENFP This Year!
28 Oct 2009 | 10:46 pmAside from the fact that it's only 2 days until Halloween, and it's necessary for all bloggers to write a Halloween-themed post, I happen toLOVE Halloween. It is by far my favorite holiday.What's not to like? Dressing up as someone/something else? Randomly bugging neighbors you would normally never acknowledge? Getting to peek inside of your neighbors houses? FREE CANDY? The question of whether you will get a trick OR a treat? Wearing a mask so no one knows who you are? The ability to remain in character as long as you want? Making art out of vegetables? Watching "It's the Great Pumpkin,… -
Money, Money, Money, money, MONEY....and Type- a webinar.
19 Oct 2009 | 4:23 pmSorry...every time I talk about money I get "For the Love of Money" by The O'Jays in my head. Seriously, though, couldn't we all use a little bit of money advice these days?Well, the latest APT eChapter webinar talks about just that...The 8 Functions of MoneyUsing the Function Attitudes to Understand and Improve Your Money ManagementFacilitated by Ray Linder, MBA, Owner of Goodstewardship and APTi's Vice President of Finance TUESDAY, NOV. 10, 2009 at 3:30 p.m. EDT/ 12:30 PDT PLEASE CHECK DAY for PACIFIC RIM TIME ZONES (www.timeanddate.com) Friday in NZ, AUS, HK The program: Money can wreak… -
Guest Blog Sharing an Activity for the FIRO-B or FIRO- Business instrument
7 Oct 2009 | 7:25 pmReaders have submitted questions over the past few months asking for new activities to help create those wonderful "a ha" moments during training. Specifically, one reader asked for help with the FIRO instrument. Because she is certified to administer the MBTI, she is also qualified to purchase and administer the FIRO-B and new FIRO Business tools.I've asked Sherrie Hayne, a consultant with CPP, to share one of her favorite FIRO activities, and she was kind enough to agree. Sherrie is a MBTI Master Practitioner and is also a MBTI Certification Trainer. She has had extensive experience…
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Scientific American - Mind & Brain
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Readers Respond on "Do Parents Matter?"--And More...
20 Nov 2009 | 6:00 amParents and Peers As a psychologist very familiar with the research, I think in “ Do Parents Matter? ” Judith Harris is conflating personality and behavior, which are two different concepts. Personality has more to do with genetic traits related to mood and energy (which plenty of research indicates are strongly influenced by genetics). Behavior, on the other hand, depends on context and is guided by laws of behaviorism--that is, reinforcement principles. If parents do (or do not) provide reinforcement for specific types of behavior, you will either see or not see those behaviors. -
War Is Peace: Can Science Fight Media Disinformation?
20 Nov 2009 | 5:00 amWhen I saw the statement repeated online that theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking of the University of Cambridge would be dead by now if he lived in the U.K. and had to depend on the National Health Service (he, of course, is alive and working in the U.K., where he always has), I reflected on something I had written a dozen years ago, in one of my first published commentaries:“The increasingly blatant nature of the nonsense uttered with impunity in public discourse is chilling. Our democratic society is imperiled as much by this as any other single threat, regardless of whether the… -
Sound During Sleep Fixes Learning
19 Nov 2009 | 10:55 amThere’s nothing like a good nap. It can refresh your mood--and possibly your memory. Because a new study in the journal Science shows that a quick snooze after a mental workout helps to consolidate learning. And that sounds heard during sleep can trigger associations that sharpen memory even more. [More] -
Foreign Afflictions: Mental Disorders across Country Borders
19 Nov 2009 | 6:00 amLet us start with a little quiz. How many of these conditions have you heard of? Taijin kyofusho , hikikomori , hwa-byung , or qi-gong psychotic reaction. [More] -
Ability to Guess Others' Thoughts Tied to Language Proficiency
18 Nov 2009 | 6:00 amWhat’s this guy thinking? Does he know what I know? Most of us develop the ability to make inferences about what other people might be thinking, the hallmark of “theory of mind,” at age four. Scientists have long known that the acquisition of language plays a role in this process, but so far it had been unclear whether social experience could substitute for it. A new study suggests it cannot.Jennie Pyers of Wellesley College and her colleagues studied deaf adults in Nicaragua. Some of the participants had learned an early, rudimentary form of Nicaraguan sign language (NSL),…
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Psychology Today
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Daydream Believer
19 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pmWhat dreams reveal about your psyche -
That Damn Dream Again!
19 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pmUnraveling the mystery of recurrent dreams -
The Dream Notebook
19 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pmYou will consider yourself mad -
Night School
19 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm100 years after Freud, once man may have discovered why we dream. -
When Harry Met Sally
18 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pmHow couples meet can determine how they will end
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Personality
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Enjoy Your Emotions, Part II
20 Nov 2009 | 11:27 amMy last column was mostly about two emotions, grief and fear. This column will concern two other emotions, shame and anger, and also another kind of stress, bodily tension such as illness and fatigue. Emotions and feelings are at core physical, rather than only mental. Sadness is the feeling we get when bodily preparations to cry are not carried out. In this view, crying is the orgasm of a state of bodily arousal: grief. The habit of controlling emotions by ignoring them turns out to be a huge problem. Over the long haul, unresolved emotional arousals can build up to the point of continuous… -
Party Survival Tactics for Introverts
20 Nov 2009 | 11:11 amMy husband and threw a small party, a brunch, the other day. An introvert throwing a party? Yep. I'm not antisocial. I like seeing friends and offering hospitality. And in some ways, throwing a party is easier than attending someone else's. For one thing, when I need to check out of the chitchat, I can busy myself with hostess duties--refilling food or drinks, mopping up spills, general tidying. Plus, I usually know everyone at my own parties, which makes mingling less awkward for me.Still, a party is a party and I anticipated this party with the usual combination of pleasure, high anxiety,… -
Do Psychologists Reject Science?
19 Nov 2009 | 2:28 pmDo psychologists reject science (as Sharon Begley writes in her October 12, 2009 column in Newsweek Magazine)? In this column, Begley states that clinical psychologists (of the Freudian or psychodynamic type) ignore scientific data in favor of their own devices and experiences. In contrast, she lauds cognitive/behavioral approaches that ostensibly and strictly speaking presumably utilize such scientific bases to their treatment. The unalloyed truth here is that a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, or an M.S.W. in clinical social work, or an M.D. in psychiatry or an R.N. in psychiatric nursing… -
Aggressive Athletes: Out of Control and Unapologetic
18 Nov 2009 | 11:01 pm"It is wise to direct your anger towards problems -- not people; to focus your energies on answers -- not excuses." -William Arthur WardRecently, University of New Mexico soccer player Elizabeth Lambert was called out by ESPN for punching, kicking, shoving, and throwing elbows against opponents after her team fell behind in a conference tournament game. In her most blatant attack, she yanked back an opponent's ponytail, ripping her to the ground.News coverage of these incidents follows a time-worn pattern: the highlight reels run, the sports talk jockeys express outrage, the player makes a… -
Who is the Most Violent Person in Your Family?
15 Nov 2009 | 7:28 pmYou may be surprised.Last week twenty-year-old Jim told his mother that he has always been leery of his younger, but larger brother, Andrew. Jim's cautiousness around Andrew dates back to the time Andrew shoved him off a dump truck breaking both of Jim's wrists. The boys were six and five-years-old. The brothers have rarely seen eye-to-eye and as young adults tolerate each other, are cordial, but nothing more. Their mother had hoped they would be best friends at this point in their lives.The story was related to me by the boys' mother who is upset by her sons' current relationship, but…
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Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin current issue
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Ingroup Identity Moderates the Impact of Social Explanations on Intergroup Attitudes: External Explanations Are Not Inherently Prosocial
10 Nov 2009 | 6:01 pmSocial explanations —causal frameworks used to understand group status and action—shape intergroup attitudes and emotions. Yet, different theoretical perspectives offer divergent predictions regarding associations between external explanations —which construe group actions or outcomes as being caused by forces outside of the group—and consequent attitudes toward outgroups. Specifically, whereas the authors’ social explanations framework suggests that external explanations regarding a low-status group will foster prosocial responses, other perspectives suggest… -
Thoughts Versus Deeds: Distal and Proximal Intent in Lay Judgments of Moral Responsibility
10 Nov 2009 | 6:01 pmThe authors propose that two central ingredients in lay models of intentionality are (a) "distal intent" (the actor’s mind is focused on a broader goal) and (b) "proximal intent" (the actor’s mind is focused narrowly on the act itself). Study 1 established that participants rate an actor with both forms of intent more responsible than an actor with only one form of intent or neither form of intent. In Study 2, when the actor had only distal intent, participants with a high-level construal rated the actor more responsible than did those with a low-level construal. In Study 3, when… -
On the Psychology of the Belief in a Just World: Exploring Experiential and Rationalistic Paths to Victim Blaming
10 Nov 2009 | 6:01 pmThis article examines why people may blame innocent victims of robbery or sexual assault. We propose that in experiential mind-sets associative links are formed between the victim and the negative event. As the creation of such links is independent of explicit beliefs, people in experiential mind-sets produce negative reactions to the victim independent of their just-world beliefs. Rationalistic mind-sets, however, instigate propositional and consistency-based reasoning. For people who strongly endorse just-world beliefs (such as people who have strong predispositions to believe that the… -
Personality Judgments Based on Physical Appearance
10 Nov 2009 | 6:01 pmDespite the crucial role of physical appearance in forming first impressions, little research has examined the accuracy of personality impressions based on appearance alone. This study examined the accuracy of observers’ impressions on 10 personality traits based on full-body photographs using criterion measures based on self and peer reports. When targets’ posture and expression were constrained (standardized condition), observers’ judgments were accurate for extraversion, self-esteem, and religiosity. When targets were photographed with a spontaneous pose and facial… -
Is There a Budget Fallacy? The Role of Savings Goals in the Prediction of Personal Spending
10 Nov 2009 | 6:01 pmThe authors extend research and theory on self prediction into the realm of personal financial behavior. Four studies examined people’s ability to predict their future personal spending and the findings supported the two main hypotheses. First, participants tended to underestimate their future spending. They predicted spending substantially less money in the coming week than they actually spent or than they remembered spending in the previous week. Second, the prediction bias stemmed from people’s savings goals—defined as the general desire to save money or minimize future…
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PsyBlog
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The Chameleon Effect
19 Nov 2009 | 9:52 amDoes mimicking other people's body language really make them like us? Self-help books, persuasion manuals and glossy magazine articles often advise that mimicking body language can increase how much others like us. But is it really true that mimicry causes others to like us, or is mimicry just a by-product of successful social interactions? Although it had long been suspected that copying other people's body language increases liking, the effect wasn't tested rigorously until Chartrand and Bargh (1999) carried out a series of experiments. They asked three related question: Do people… -
Self-Study Positive Psychology Courses
18 Nov 2009 | 6:27 amSponsored post: Positive psychology self-study courses available at Intentional Happiness How can you live a happier life? How can you discover your strengths and build on them? What is the case for hope and optimism? Dr. Robert Biswas-Diener, a happiness researcher and life coach, addresses these important questions in a workbook aimed at helping you understand and apply the lessons from the latest research in positive psychology. The Invitation to Positive Psychology workbook (PDF, $17.95) uses an engaging style to introduce the burgeoning field of positive psychology. This workbook,… -
The Psychological Immune System
12 Nov 2009 | 10:36 amWe get over bad moods much sooner than we predict, thanks to the covert work of the psychological immune system. One of the most incredible things about the human mind is its resilience. Let's face it, life can be pretty depressing at times, and yet people generally push on much the same as they always have, sometimes even with a spring in their step and a smile on their face. How come one day it seems like the world is going to end and the next there's hope? And how come our bad moods lift so unexpectedly, like a brick sprouting wings and disappearing into the clear blue sky? The reason is… -
Why Do People Bother Voting?
31 Oct 2009 | 5:17 amWhy we overestimate the power of our own vote. It might seem like an undemocratic question but it's one that's always plagued me: why do I bother voting? Most people know their own tick in the box is hardly worth it when weighed against the effort involved in getting registered and actually going to vote, let alone when weighed against all the other people voting. Quattrone & Tversky (1984) had a hunch that there was another, more complex psychological reason that people vote, to go along with the usual explanations. Not only, they guessed, do people vote because of their democratic duty… -
The Truth About Self-Deception
27 Oct 2009 | 10:56 amCan we pull the wool over our own eyes or do we see through our mind games? In theory the one person we should never, ever, lie to is ourselves. Surely lying to ourselves is counter-productive? Like calmly and deliberately shooting yourself in the foot or taking a hot toasting fork and plunging it into your eye? But look around and it's not hard to spot the tell-tale symptoms of self-deception in other people. So perhaps we are also deceiving ourselves in ways we can't clearly perceive? But is that really possible and would we really believe the lies that we 'told' ourselves anyway? That's…
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World of Psychology
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Getting Therapy When There’s No Money
21 Nov 2009 | 7:28 amI can’t help but mention this article in The New York Times about how to get mental health care when you have no insurance or for some reason your have minimal coverage for mental health concerns with your current health insurance (which should change come January 1, 2010 when the federal mental health parity law kicks in). In the article, Lesley Alderman “offer[s] advice for those without insurance, or with only minimal coverage, on how to find low-cost mental health care.” The solutions should be familiar to our regular readers — self-help techniques (most of which… -
Surviving the Suicide of Someone You Love
21 Nov 2009 | 6:19 amMy brother’s childhood best friend committed suicide. I was 16 years old at the time, Mark (not his real name) was 21. Mark’s parents were close friends of my parents; we played together as little kids, he was my first crush. We drifted apart as we grew up. Mark was a Kennedy-esque figure to me, handsome and smart. Everyone expected great things when he went off to an Ivy League law school. Then he was dead. I have a vivid memory of walking around the neighborhood with Mark’s brother at night. The adults were sitting shiva and he had to get away. Suddenly he grabbed a fallen… -
Woman Loses Sick-Leave Benefits for Depression Thanks to Facebook Pics
20 Nov 2009 | 4:17 pmQuebec woman Nathalie Blanchard poses on the beach in a Facebook photograph that convinced her insurance company that she was no longer depressed.Can you really determine someone’s mental state by looking at a photograph? Manulife, a Canadian-based financial services company, apparently thinks so. Nathalie Blanchard, a 29-year-old IBM employee from Quebec, took a long-term sick leave from her job after being diagnosed with major depression. Her doctor told her to try & have fun, and to take a sunny vacation to get away from her problems. She did just that while she received monthly… -
2009 Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy Recommendations
20 Nov 2009 | 11:05 amEarlier this month, I was honored to attend the 25th Annual Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy in Atlanta, Georgia. The focus of this symposium every year is to tackle a particular issue in mental health policy, population or care. This year focused, fittingly enough, on health care reform and how mental health and substance abuse programs need to be an integrated part of that effort: Currently health care in this country is focused on illness rather than health, on procedures and face-to-face interventions rather than on coordination and prevention, and on fragmented,… -
Year in Review: Your Picks
20 Nov 2009 | 5:13 amIt’s that time of the year again, when we pull together our top picks for mental health and psychology stories in the news in the past year. There’s no magic to our choices, we’re just looking for stories that you believe had the biggest positive or negative impact in this area. For instance, last year the passage of the mental health parity law here in the U.S. was the biggest mental health news story of 2008. One example for this year might’ve been the debate we had surrounding what I thought was a pretty sensible law about postpartum depression. You can take a look…
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Psychology Today
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RECLAIMING SADNESS
21 Nov 2009 | 9:12 amOr the Obligation to Be Up-BeatThe Metropolitan Transportation Authority has announced that soon all New York City Metrocards will be stamped "OPTIMISM." Positive thinking, our unofficial national ideology, is becoming harder and harder to escape.Happiness and cheerfulness are good things, to be sure, as are self-confidence and faith. Nor is optimism bad, by any means. But there are downsides.Right now, for example, in the aftermath of our financial crisis, we have very good reasons to be wary of optimism. Too many people rashly overestimated their ability to pay the mortgages they were… -
Try Fun, Quick Exercises to Boost Your Creativity.
21 Nov 2009 | 7:59 amI’m working on my Happiness Project, and you could have one, too! Everyone’s project will look different, but it’s the rare person who can’t benefit. Join in -- no need to catch up, just jump in right now. One of my favorite resolutions, because it’s so much fun to keep, is Read at whim. Instead of trying to be very targeted about my reading, as I once tried to be, I let myself read whatever I want to read. The other day, at coffee with my blogpals Caren and Leah from the great site, Drinking Diaries, Leah highly recommended Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat: The Last Book on… -
Doing the right thing for others is also doing the right thing for ourselves.
21 Nov 2009 | 7:16 amAs we enter the holiday season this week there are often many opportunities to volunteer our time, talents, and money to worthy causes directed to those who may be less fortunate than ourselves. Collecting food for the hungry, toys for children without many resources, or working at a local soup kitchen all help others enjoy a better holiday season than they might otherwise but it makes us feel good too.Many people report that helping others feels good, often claiming that they get more out of the experience than those with whom they help. However, what you might not know is that there is… -
Happy-ness is Busy-ness
21 Nov 2009 | 6:18 amMy mother had a kitchen soap dish once; it read ‘Happiness is Busyness''. Trite. But true. I wonder, now, who gave it to her? I tick the long, lonely hours of my days off in tiny, tiny achievements. Like stepping stones across a quagmire in which I might drown without a trace, not even a single bubble, were I to slip and fall in. I tread carefully upon each one from the time I get up in the morning to the time when the sun begins to sink and I can crack open a cold beer in brief self-congratulatory praise at having got from one end of my day to the other. So I gather 18 baby tomatoes from… -
The psychology of Lego Star Wars II
21 Nov 2009 | 5:05 amImage via WikipediaHere's the thing. I've been playing this game for a few months now, and I'm losing track of who I am.At the beginning of each level, we choose our characters. Today Isaac has gone for Qui-Gon Jinn, while I've plumped for Obi-Wan Kenobi. Both of these characters have lots of hair and long brown capes. I don't know if it's just my old eyes, but I can't tell them apart. Across the distance between the TV and this sofa where we're sitting, I can't see whether I'm controlling the little hooded dude on the left or the one on the right. Maybe I should have picked someone…
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About.com Psychology
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Applying Psychology in Everyday Life
19 Nov 2009 | 10:42 pmDo you think that psychology is just for students, academics and therapists? Then think again. Because psychology is both an applied and a theoretical subject, it can be utilized in a number of ways. While research studies aren't exactly light reading material for the average person, the results of these experiments and studies can have important applications in daily life. Learn more by checking out this article on some of the best ways to apply psychology in everyday life.Applying Psychology in Everyday Life originally appeared on About.com Psychology on Friday, November 20th, 2009 at… -
Corrections to the New APA Publication Manual
19 Nov 2009 | 12:00 amTeachers, students and researchers in a wide variety of fields rely on the guidelines established by the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. What happens, though, when the style manual itself contains errors? Learn more about important errors and corrections in the new APA style manual.Photo © American Psychological Association Since the recent publication of the sixth edition of the APA style manual, the publishers have issued numerous corrections to the first printing. The corrections include five pages of content and example errors, four pages of… -
5 Study Guides That Will Boost Your Understanding of Psychology
18 Nov 2009 | 2:55 amDo you need a little extra help reviewing psychology and preparing for exams? Now is a great time to review your notes, old exams and other study materials to start preparing for those end-of-term tests. Get started by exploring the following study guides designed to boost your understanding of psychology topics including human development and research methods. -
Survey - Psychology Definition of the Week
16 Nov 2009 | 12:02 amDefinition: A survey is a data collection tool used to gather information about individuals. Surveys are commonly used in psychology research to collect self-report data from study participants. A survey may focus on factual information about individuals, or it may aim to collect the opinions of the survey takers. Learn more about some of the advantages and disadvantages of using surveys in psychological research. Read more... Psychology Research Methods Introduction to Research Methods How to Conduct a Psychology Experiment Correlational Studies Image courtesy Piotr BiziorSurvey - Psychology… -
Before You Sign Up for a Psychology Class
12 Nov 2009 | 2:20 amAre you getting ready to sign up for psychology courses for the summer or fall semesters? While your choices might be limited by the selection of courses offered at your college or university, there are still a few important questions you should ask yourself. The decisions you make today have an impact on long it takes to graduate as well as how well your coursework is aligned with your career goals. Important questions you should ask before taking a psychology class.Photo courtesy Vikki Hansen Some considerations you should make before taking any class: How much time will you need to spend…
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organizational-psychology « WordPress.com Tag Feed
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What does it mean to be a scientist?
5 Nov 2009 | 12:29 pmI write this blog not just because I want to be a scientist of organisations. I write it because I’d like you to be one as well. It doesn’t involve a white coat or a microscope (although I borrow the imagery liberally, as you might have noticed.) What it involves mean different things to different people, but I think it comes down to a mindset. It means being curious about why things happen and why they don’t happen, and setting out to find out more about both. It means pushing forward the frontiers of knowledge, one tiny piece of data at a time. It means not believing… -
Learning about learning
3 Nov 2009 | 3:01 pmWe tend to think of learning as just something we do: a general skill that we can apply to anything, and that lets us generalise things we learn in one context to another context. Let’s take an example; if you learn, say, how to conduct a successful coaching session in a training room environment, it should be easy to transfer that skill to the real-life environments you will be faced with. This assumption, in fact, basically underlays every training and development programme in existence. You can probably see where this is going; like so many assumptions about the brain, we’ve… -
The Hawthorne Effect, or, a lesson in the power of a story
31 Oct 2009 | 10:39 amThe Hawthorne Effect is one of the most familiar stories in the history of organizational psychology. Like most familiar stories, it’s also a little bit wrong. The most famous of the experiments carried out in the General Electric Hawthorne Plant in the 1920s and 1930s to determine the best ways to increase productivity involved the lighting provided in workrooms. The researchers thought, not unreasonably, that increasing the level of lighting in the workrooms might increase the productivity of the workers, whether by allowing them to see better, keeping them more alert, or factors not… -
THAT’S ILLEGAL! (How Bad Bosses Breed Burdensome Laws)
18 Oct 2009 | 6:45 pmI recently saw an episode of the television series House, and the episode ended [SPOILER ALERT] with a termination. In the show, Dr. House decides for mental health reasons to give up his role as head of the department of diagnostics at his hospital. Predictably, his long term employee, Dr. Foreman, asks for the promotion to his position and gets it. There is one personal complication in Dr. Foreman’s new position. One of his new employees is also his girlfriend. The two doctors were able to manage the lines between their personal and professional… -
What managers - and work psychologists - get paid for
9 Oct 2009 | 8:00 pmEvery one would like to be a manager In my years of teaching at Universities, I found students queuing up to learn management and personnel psychology, industrial psychology, organizational psychology, etc. Few though, had any idea what management entailed. And they are horrified when they find out. . . . it is well paid, but . . . The financial rewards are high. Yes, the trappings of good clothes, assistants, and international travel are glamorous. I could say that “this is what is wanted in return for these goodies”. But that sounds like a bargain. You give us this – and we give…
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Mind Hacks
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Cold asylum
20 Nov 2009 | 10:00 amNew Scientist has a gallery of striking photos taken from Christopher Payne's book that details his photographic tour of abandoned asylums in the US. In both the UK and the US, and, I suspect, in many other countries, there are numerous unused decaying mental asylums that have become obsolete as 'care in the community' has become the flag under which mental health services have been reformed or ignored. The NewSci gallery captures the faded grandeur of some of these impressive buildings and has photographs of the devices and technology from a psychiatry of a bygone era. As we discussed… -
Feliz Día Nacional del Psicólogo en Colombia
20 Nov 2009 | 4:00 amColombia has an official Day of the Psychologist and you might be forgiven for thinking that it's a self-declared promotional event by the psychology association here, but it isn't, the day is established by law. Article 92 of Law 1090 establishes 20th November as the official celebration. Psychology departments around the country usually celebrate the day with conferences and parties. I was kindly invited to give a talk on the 'Neuropsicología de Alucinaciones' at the four day conference (wow) at the University of Antioquia, so many thanks to everyone who attended. Later on, there is a free… -
2009-11-20 Spike activity
20 Nov 2009 | 12:00 amQuick links from the past week in mind and brain news: -
Time-space fusion
19 Nov 2009 | 10:00 amNeurophilosophy has an excellent piece on 'time-space' synaesthesia where affected individuals experience units of time - such as hours, days, or months - as occupying specific locations in space relative to their own body. The image on the right is taken from a BBC News article on time-space synaesthesia and was drawn by one lady to illustrate how days of the week appear to her. However, Neurophilosophy piece covers two new studies, one on a person with synaesthesia who experiences months in the space around her body in the form of a '7' shape: Michelle Jarick of the Synaesthesia Research… -
Selecting for kuru resistant cannibals
19 Nov 2009 | 4:00 amNew Scientist reports on a new study on how a gene that gives protection against the deadly brain disease kuru became more common in people exposed to the condition through their cannibalistic tradition of eating the bodies of dead relatives. Kuru is a prion disease, meaning the damage is caused by a poorly arranged or folded protein molecule which can trigger the same damaging changes in other proteins it comes into contact with. The condition is related to what we know as 'mad cow disease' and causes a distinctive form of shaking, brain degeneration and eventually leads to death. It was…
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Cognitive Daily
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Casual Fridays: What makes a good writer, and what motivates them?
20 Nov 2009 | 2:38 pmWe received an astonishing number of responses to last week's Casual Fridays study, which claimed to be able to identify what makes a good writer in just a few minutes. Of course, I wasn't actually very confident that a brief survey could actually identify the factors that make a good writer. But I did have a hunch that there were certain traits that were more likely to be associated with good writing. Was there a trick to the study? Some respondents had a hunch that writing wasn't the only thing we were interested in. You were right -- we were also studying a completely unrelated phenomenon… -
Detecting faces: People use some of the same strategies computers do
19 Nov 2009 | 12:43 pmHow does our visual system decide if something is a face? Some automated face-detecting software uses color as one cue that something is a face. For example Apple's iPhoto has no trouble determining that there are two faces in this color picture: That's Nora in the back, and her cousin Ginger in front. In this picture, however, iPhoto can't identify a face: That's a vintage black-and-white photo of Nora and Ginger's grandfather, but the computer can't find any faces in it. Do people, like computers, use color to help decide whether something they see is a face? Humans are excellent at… -
Men often treat their friends better than women do
17 Nov 2009 | 2:28 pmWho's more "sociable," men or women? Common sense says it's women, right? And many research studies back this impression up: Women are more interpersonal, more connected, more interdependent than men. Women are more likely to share intimate information with each other than men. But is that really the whole story? There is also research suggesting that men have larger social networks than women do, and that male-male friendships last longer than female-female ones. A team led by Joyce Benenson conducted a set of three studies that may shed some light on the question. In their first study, they… -
Casual Fridays: What makes a good writer?
13 Nov 2009 | 1:51 pmSome people just seem to be natural writers -- they can write perfect, elegant sentences with a minimum of effort. Some popular fiction novelists crank out 6 or more novels per year. Some bloggers write 10 or more posts per day. Others labor over every word, or simply choose careers that don't require a lot of writing. But are there universal characteristics that separate good writers from bad writers, and quick writers from slow writers? I think I may have come up with a quick study that can answer those questions -- and like all Casual Fridays studies, it can be completed in just a few… -
The long-term effects of day care
12 Nov 2009 | 2:31 pmWhen we were getting ready to have our first child, I decided that I would quit my job, work out of home as a freelancer, and take care of our baby while Greta finished graduate school. That worked well for about two years, but by the time Nora was born, we decided to hire a part-time nanny so I could finish a degree of my own. When Nora was one and Greta and I were starting new jobs in a new state, both kids entered full-time day care, and that was our child-care arrangement until they started kindergarten. Naturally, at every step along the way, we wondered whether we were making the right…
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Channel N +
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Human
20 Nov 2009 | 8:30 amWhat We Are What it is to be human: “a modern secular view.” First in a series of six talks by the distinguished cognitive scientist, in this long-running philosophical lecture series. -
Comic Book Hero Saves Self
18 Nov 2009 | 8:30 amDarkness Calls A bullied young man in the Arctic resists suicidal thoughts through comic book battles with a demon, in an epic animated story. Subtitled in English, narrated in the Gitxsan language. -
Sapolsky on Depression
16 Nov 2009 | 8:30 amStanford’s Sapolsky On Depression in U.S. “Basically, depression is like the worst disease you can get.” This renowned neuroscientist has convincing arguments to back up his opening statement. See also: an excellent lecture on the neurodegenerative effects of stress. -
Political Behaviour
12 Nov 2009 | 8:30 amLeft Brain, Right Brain: Human nature and political values Trends in economics and politics including consumerism and changes in democracy, and how research into psychology, social networks and behavioural economics is relevant. -
Shades of Lies
9 Nov 2009 | 12:20 pmOn Fake Behavioural economist Dan Ariely explains his experiment in which wearing sunglasses perceived as designer counterfeits led people to cheat in an economic game. Amusing, nicely produced DIY video, featuring a great wardrobe. Check out more of his vids on Ariely’s YouTube channel (a very funny intro to his work: The Dan Ariely Show), and watch a lecture on irrational behaviour in the archives.
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The Last Psychiatrist
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Fearless Kids Go On To Become Criminals
19 Nov 2009 | 7:19 amso he was wrong? -
The Fort Hood Shooter: A News Quiz
14 Nov 2009 | 10:01 pmin which the better you score, the worse off you are"so it was the Zoloft?" -
Is Obama Inspiring Black Adults To Step Up? The Nature Of Altruism, Part 1
12 Nov 2009 | 9:16 pmno, I got this -
Stanford Prison Experiment Redux
11 Nov 2009 | 6:54 amit appears I'd lay there too if I were you -
Gossip Girl Is Going To Corrupt Someone
5 Nov 2009 | 6:25 amplease let it be me, please let it be me
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BPS Research Digest
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Psychology X-factor
20 Nov 2009 | 1:14 amLast time around it was a tie. You voted joint first: the study on increasing altruism in toddlers and the study showing that CCTV cameras don't reassure, they frighten.Which was your favourite from our last seven reports:Click Here for PollOnline Survey | Website Polls | Email Marketing | Crowdsourcing SoftwareView MicroPoll -
Want to predict a footie result? Don't even think about it
19 Nov 2009 | 1:27 amImagine you've just paid an expert good money for their verdict and they say to you: "Can you hang on a couple of minutes whilst I don't think about this". You'd be forgiven for thinking they've gone silly. They may have. But another possibility is that you've chosen a shrewd expert who's totally up-to-speed with the latest decision-making research: Ap Dijksterhuis and his colleagues have just shown that people with expertise in football are better at predicting match outcomes when they spend time not consciously thinking about their predictions.In an initial experiment, 352 Dutch undergrads… -
How infants affect how much their carers engage with them
18 Nov 2009 | 2:27 amYoung children benefit socially and intellectually the more their carers engage and respond to them. Recognising this, we can train nursery staff to be as responsive to the children in their care as possible. But a new study by Claire Vallotton raises an interesting and under-examined issue - what if there's something about some infants that leads their carers to engage with them more, thus giving them an advantage over their peers?Vallotton filmed interactions between 18 student caregivers and 10 infants (aged between 4 and 19 months) at the Infant and Toddler programme at the UC Davis child… -
The Special Issue Spotter
17 Nov 2009 | 3:34 amWe trawl the world's journals so you don't have to:The biological basis of business (Organisational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes).The neural basis of timing and anticipatory behaviours (European Journal of Neuroscience).Psychological functioning of international missionaries (Mental Health, Religion and Culture).Reinforcement learning and higher cognition (Cognition).New methodologies for intervention and outcome measurement (Neuropsychological Rehabilitation).Dissemination and implementation of cognitive behavioural therapy (Behavioural Research and Therapy). -
Testosterone-status mismatch in a group is linked with reduced collective confidence
16 Nov 2009 | 2:24 amMen and women with more testosterone like to be in charge. Indeed, they can find it stressful and uncomfortable when denied the status that they crave. Similarly, people low in testosterone find it uncomfortable to be placed in positions of authority. An intriguing new study has built on these earlier findings, showing a mismatch between testosterone-level and status is associated with group functioning. Groups made up of people whose status in the group doesn't match their testosterone level tend to have less collective confidence (or "collective efficacy" in the psychological jargon). This…
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SharpBrains
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Council on the Ageing Society, at the Summit of the Global Agenda
18 Nov 2009 | 6:52 amHeading to Dubai today (a 15-hour direct flight!), coming back to San Francisco next Monday. Last year I wrote about this remarkable new initiative by the World Economic Forum here (proposal) and here (reflections, emerging discussion). This year’s update: Overview: Network of Global Agenda Councils List of Councils: Here List of Members: Here Members of Ageing Society Council: Here Info on 2009 Summit: Here Report from 2008 Summit: Here (opens PDF in new window) Twitter: #WEFDubai. Will tweet during the event, and blog about it next week. -
Scientia Pro Publica #16: Us, Friends, and Society
16 Nov 2009 | 10:20 amWelcome to the 16th edition of Scientia Pro Publica, the blog carnival that celebrates the best science, nature and medical writing published in the blogosphere within the past 60 days. What are some of the fascinating topics you can explore and discuss with this group of bloggers? Science & Us The Evolving Mind: What’s the point of daydreaming? Credit: Johan Stigwall, via Flickr Generally Thinking: What is the brain impact of different types of meditation (focused, open monitoring, compassion)? The Emotion Machine: Can blogging help you control your environment and manage… -
Invitation to SharpBrains Summit – Technology for Cognitive Health and Performance
10 Nov 2009 | 6:57 amWe are excited to invite you to the first virtual, global SharpBrains Summit (January 18-20th, 2010). The SharpBrains Summit will feature a “dream team” of over 25 speakers who are leaders in industry and research from 7 countries, to discuss emerging research, tools and best practices for cognitive health and performance. This inaugural event will expose health and insurance providers, developers, innovators at Fortune 500 companies, investors and researchers, to the opportunities, partnerships, trends, and standards of the rapidly evolving cognitive fitness field. Register Today Learn… -
100 is the New 65: Living Longer and Better
7 Nov 2009 | 6:04 am(Editor’s Note: we are pleased to bring you this article thanks to our collaboration with Greater Good Magazine). 100 is the New 65 - Why do some people live to 100? Researchers are trying to find out, reports Meera Lee Sethi, and they’re discovering how we might live better lives, not just longer ones. Will Clark, 105, recently bought a van for a 5,000-mile road trip across the Midwest with his wife, Lois, who is 102. Elsa Brehm Hoffmann loves bridge and is always ready for a party. Rosa McGee enjoys singing hymns to herself all day long. Will Clark makes a mean spaghetti and… -
Digital Games for Physical, Cognitive and Behavioral Health
5 Nov 2009 | 1:35 pmThe Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) just announced more than $1.85 million in grants for research teams to study how digital games can improve players’ health behaviors and outcomes (both brain-based and behavioral). The press release: Nine Leading Research Teams Selected to Study How Digital Games Improve Players’ Health “Digital games are interactive and experiential, and so they can engage people in powerful ways to enhance learning and health behavior change, especially when they are designed on the basis of well-researched strategies,” said (UC Santa…
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PsychSplash
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Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
21 Nov 2009 | 9:00 amURL: http://www.bazelon.org/For three decades, the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law has been the nation’s leading legal advocate for people with mental disabilities. Our precedent-setting litigation has outlawed institutional abuse and won protections against arbitrary confinement. In the courts and in Congress, our advocacy has opened up public schools, workplaces, housing and other opportunities for people with mental disabilities to participate in community life. For: ConsumersTopics: Medico-Legal, Mental Health, Mental Health PromotionFeatures: Articles,… -
International Cultic Studies Association
20 Nov 2009 | 9:00 amURL: http://www.icsahome.com/ICSA’s mission is to apply research and professional perspectives to the problems encountered by family members and former group members adversely affected by a cultic involvement and to forewarn those who might become involved in potentially harmful group situations. For: Consumers, Anyone, ConsumersTopics: Medico-Legal, Mental Health, Mental Health Promotion, Abnormal, Attachment, Biological Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Common Factors, General Psychology, Lifestyle, Social SupportFeatures: Articles, Databases, Information, Links, e-learning, Articles,… -
Web of Addictions
19 Nov 2009 | 9:00 amURL: http://www.well.com/user/woa/Welcome to the Web of Addictions. The Web of Addictions is dedicated to providing accurate information about alcohol and other drug addictions. The Web of Addictions was developed for several reasons. We are concerned about the pro drug use messages in some Web sites and in some use groups.We are concerned about the appalling extent of misinformation about abused drugs on the internet, particularly on some usenet newsgroups. Finally, we wanted to provide a resource for teachers, students and others who needed factual information about abused drugs. For:… -
The National Tourette Syndrome Association
11 Nov 2009 | 9:00 amURL: http://www.tsa-usa.org/Founded in 1972 in Bayside New York, the national Tourette Syndrome Association is the only national voluntary non-profit membership organization in this field. For: Consumers, Anyone, Consumers, Anyone, ConsumersTopics: Medico-Legal, Mental Health, Mental Health Promotion, Abnormal, Attachment, Biological Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Common Factors, General Psychology, Lifestyle, Social Support, Addiction, Health Promotion, Medicine, Academia, Anxiety, Behaviour Management, Biological Psychology, Child and Adolescent, Clinical Psychology, Cognitive, Cognitive… -
David Baldwin’s Trauma Information Pages
10 Nov 2009 | 9:00 amURL: http://www.trauma-pages.com/These Trauma Pages focus primarily on emotional trauma and traumatic stress, including PTSD (Post-traumatic Stress Disorder) and dissociation, whether following individual traumatic experience(s) or a large-scale disaster. The purpose of this award winning site is to provide information for clinicians and researchers in the traumatic-stress field. For: Consumers, Anyone, Consumers, Anyone, Consumers, Clinicians, Researchers, Students, TeachersTopics: Medico-Legal, Mental Health, Mental Health Promotion, Abnormal, Attachment, Biological Psychology, Clinical…
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The Tangled Neuron
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Another Video, Another Grim Portrayal
4 Nov 2009 | 4:18 amLast month, a group of people with memory loss, their families and doctors successfully petitioned the French Alzheimer’s Association to drop plans to promote a video of people who appeared to have very advanced dementia in dire situations. This week,... -
German Institute Cites Lack of Evidence for Alzheimer's Treatments
29 Oct 2009 | 5:04 pmThe Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Healthcare has issued a new report on Alzheimer's treatments. Comissioned by the German government, the report concludes: there is not enough proof that memantine (sold as Namenda in the U.S.) is effective in... -
Brain Fitness Trial Online
27 Oct 2009 | 3:02 pmBrain fitness is a controversial topic. Can you really prevent or slow memory loss by "training your brain?" Do improved scores on brain fitness programs translate to improved functionality in everyday life? There's not enough evidence to answer these questions.... -
Richard Taylor's New DVD
26 Oct 2009 | 8:52 amI just watched Richard Taylor’s new DVD “Be With Me Today.” The DVD is from his presentation to professionals at the Person-Centered Dementia Care Conference in Atlanta. In the 51 minute video, he talks about what caregivers (family and professional)... -
Q & A with John Zeisel, Author of I'm Still Here
7 Oct 2009 | 6:37 amLast spring, I read a book by John Zeisel, Ph.D. called I'm Still Here: A Breakthrough Approach to Understanding Someone Living with Alzheimer's . I liked how the book emphasized that some memories and abilities can remain intact in people...
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change therapy
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torture in afghanistan: who are our enemies?
20 Nov 2009 | 2:58 pmmy vancouver blogger friend jonathan narvey has a discussion about the current allegations that the canadian military looked the other way when people they had detained in afghanistan were transferred to afghani prisons where the canadian military knew, or should have known, that the detainees would be tortured. please see jonathan’s article and various comments, including two from myself, here. among others, jonathan referred to the taliban as “our enemies.” to that i said: they are not OUR enemies. they are the enemies of a country in dire need of peace and democracy. our enemies, as… -
higher! higher! on a wordless wednesday
18 Nov 2009 | 1:11 pmimage by matteo -
november 2009 buddhist carnival
16 Nov 2009 | 6:15 pmmiddle of the month: it’s buddhist carnival time! being all busy with NaNoWriMo, this is a quickie version – a little taste from the blogosphere, a buddhist smorgasbrod: a zen tale from secret forest the disciple threw stones in the water all day long. the next day, the master told him: —do throw a stone in the water. —why, that’s absurd! i won’t do that. the air stood still like the surface of the lake. —what have you learned today? — asked the master. —that i don’t have to do everything you tell me to do. the neutral light unveiled a matte reflection of the leafs of the… -
scribbling like mad: an excerpt from my nanowrimo novel
13 Nov 2009 | 7:07 amhere’s an excerpt from the novel i’m writing for national novel writing month (NaNoWriMo). it’s raw and unedited, just the way i wrote it. 19,391 words and counting … “next thing i can recall is a bed, the softest, most comfortable bed i’ve ever slept in. there were blankets all over, so soft and so colourful, there must have been at least 6. all very light and clean-smelling. and the pillows! big and poofy, a whole bunch, and the bed was big but not too big, and there were stuffies all over, my favourite ones, too! all cats and birds. that’s kinda strange,… -
remembrance day on a wordless wednesday
11 Nov 2009 | 2:24 pmimage by reds on tour
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Dr. Deb
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Suicide Survivors Awareness Day
20 Nov 2009 | 8:50 amEvery year on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention sponsors National Survivors of Suicide Day - reaching out to thousands of people who have lost a loved one to suicide. This Saturday, November 21, 2009, is their 11th year of raising awareness and providing support.Over 230 simultaneous conferences for survivors of suicide loss will take place throughout the U.S. and across the world. An amazing network of healing conferences is available for those who have survived the tragedy of suicide loss. Connecting on this day allows survivors to know that… -
Optimism and Your Heart
16 Nov 2009 | 2:14 pmTwo recent issues of the journal Circulation include studies showing that positive thinking and health are interconnected.In this study over 90,000 American women were followed for eight years, tracking their levels of optimism and heart attack rate. The results showed that the least optimistic subjects had higher incidences of heart attacks. The other study evaluated optimism and Coronary Heart Disease in over 2,000 Canadian men and women - and found that positive thinking resulted in a lower risk for CHD.Positive Psychology is the study of positive thinking, thriving and resiliency and… -
Give An Hour
11 Nov 2009 | 8:25 amOver 1.9 million troops have been deployed in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Persian Gulf since September 11, 2001. Many who return home are finding a shortage of mental health therapists.Give an Hour is a pro bono program that recruits mental health professionals to aid in this treatment gap. Give an Hour is endorsed by six major mental health associations in the United States--the American Association of Pastoral Counselors, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, and the National Association of Social Workers, the American Association for Marriage and… -
Seasonal Affective Disorder
6 Nov 2009 | 4:04 amQuestion: What is seasonal affective disorder?Answer: Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a pattern of significant depressive symptoms that occur and then disappear with the changing of the seasons. SAD has also been called "Winter Depression" or "Winter Blues". The reason for these names is that SAD occurs when days get shorter around November and lasting until Spring.Question: What's the difference between seasonal affective disorder and other forms of depression?Answer: SAD is similar to other major depressions in its severity and symptoms; however, it occurs seasonally usually starting… -
New Medications From Psychology Today
1 Nov 2009 | 3:59 am
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UrbanMonk.Net
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Reader Discussion: Ask Me Anything You Want
16 Nov 2009 | 12:15 amIt’s been a long time since we’ve done something like this, so here goes! This post is plain and simple – ask me whatever you want in the comments: from the personal, to the silly, to the philosophical, to whatever. In fact, the sillier and fun-ner the better The only thing I request – please do not ask anything related to mental disorders. I tend to get quite a lot of such questions, and the answer is always the same – stuff like this cannot be fixed on the internet in general. There is no shame in finding professional help. A quick disclaimer: I’m just a normal guy. -
The Strangest Paradox – Parental Influences
5 Nov 2009 | 3:47 pmThere is a strange paradox that exists inside most of us. Most people will have a good idea of just how much our parents, and our upbringing, affect us as adults. But there is a strange twist to what we have come to expect. Below is a basic description, with all the content taken out of it, leaving behind only the structure: My parents said I was a bad boy/girl. I want to be good. To be good, I cannot contradict my parents. It is wrong to make them wrong. Therefore, to be good, I have to be bad. Of course, this “bad” can be anything – stupid, worthless, ugly, fat, a liar, angry, the… -
Booster Technique: Inauthentic and Authentic Emotions
9 Oct 2009 | 8:49 pmWhen it comes to healing and understanding our negative emotions, there is one important thing to realise: Some of our feelings are inauthentic.They cover up other feelings, beliefs, and inner states. This might seem like a basic idea to understand, but the real difficulty comes in facing up to it – there is often a good reason we are covering them up in the first place. But there comes a time, when we are strong enough, to remove these defences and see what is underneath. What really needs to be healed? A Personal Example This might be better explained with an example. I’ve written many… -
How to Pursue Your Passion: Understand the Essence of Your Passion
23 Sep 2009 | 3:52 amEditor’s Note: This is a guest post by Celestine Chua of The Personal Excellence Blog. Thanks Celes! (If you haven’t discovered your passion yet, you might want to read Finding a Purpose and Passion in Life first.) Whenever my friends or my coachees talk to me about the topic of passion, they would often resign that their passions can only remain as a hobby. When I probe into the reason why, some of the most common comments I hear are “My passion can’t earn (much) money”, “It’s not feasible in this world” or “There are no avenues for me to… -
Observing Thought – Mindfulness
16 Sep 2009 | 12:46 pmEditor’s Note: This is a guest post by Kaushik of Beyond Karma. Thanks Kaushik! The mind is empty only when thought is not. Thought cannot come to an end save through passive watchfulness of every thought. In this awareness there is no watcher and no censor; without the censor, there is only experiencing. In experiencing there is neither the experiencer nor the experienced. The experienced is the thought, which gives birth to the thinker. Only when the mind is experiencing is there stillness, the silence which is not made up, put together; and only in that tranquility can the real come into…
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ScienceDaily: Psychology News
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Older problem drinkers use more alcohol than do their younger counterparts
21 Nov 2009 | 8:00 amOlder adults who have alcohol dependence problems drink significantly more than do younger adults who have similar problems, a new study has found. The findings suggest that older problem drinkers may have developed a tolerance for alcohol and need to drink even more than younger abusers to achieve the effects they seek. -
Sounds can penetrate deep sleep and enhance associated memories upon waking
20 Nov 2009 | 2:00 pmThey were in a deep sleep, yet sounds, such as a teakettle whistle, somehow penetrated their slumber. The 25 sounds were reminders of earlier spatial learning, though the research participants were unaware of the sounds as they slept. Yet, upon waking, memory tests showed that spatial memories had changed. Deep sleep, then, is actually is a key time for memory processing, the study suggests. -
Examining mathematical abilities in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder
20 Nov 2009 | 11:00 amChildren with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) have a number of cognitive deficits. Mathematical ability seems particularly damaged in children with FASD. A new study supports the importance of the left parietal area for mathematical abilities in children with FASD. -
Heavy criticism from a parent can increase aggressive behavior in children
20 Nov 2009 | 8:00 amHeavy criticism from a parent can increase aggressive behavior in some children. -
Intervention can reduce hostile perceptions in children with prenatal alcohol exposure
19 Nov 2009 | 11:00 pmPrenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) has been linked to significant impairments in social skills. Researchers have found that a social- skills intervention called Children's Friendship Training can lead to a decrease in hostile attributions or perceptions of children with PAE.
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PsycPORT.com
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Why do we hate?
18 Nov 2009 | 12:00 pmNovember 18, 2009 SPOKANE, Wash. - Why did the Nazis hate the Jews? Why did the Hutus hate the Tutsis? -
Army says morale down among troops in Afghanistan
13 Nov 2009 | 12:00 pmNovember 13, 2009 WASHINGTON - Morale has fallen among soldiers in Afghanistan, where troops are seeing record violence in the 8-year-old war, while those in Iraq show much improved mental health amid much lower violence, the Army said Friday. -
Dark chocolate eases emotional stress
12 Nov 2009 | 12:00 pmNovember 12, 2009 LAUSANNE, Switzerland, Nov 12, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Swiss scientists say people who are stressed and reach for dark chocolate -- the "chocolate cure" -- do seem to experience less emotional stress. -
International award for Temple researcher
12 Nov 2009 | 12:00 pmNovember 12, 2009 Nov. 12--Temple University professor Laurence Steinberg will take his research on teen brain development and risky behavior international with a $1 million award he received yesterday. -
Number of wounded troops in Afghanistan increasing
11 Nov 2009 | 12:00 pmNovember 11, 2009 WASHINGTON - Far from winding down, the numbers of U.S. soldiers coming home wounded have continued to swell. The problem is especially acute among those fighting in Afghanistan, where nearly four times as many troops were injured in October as a year ago.
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Psychology / Psychiatry News From Medical News Today
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An Intervention That Can Reduce Hostile Perceptions In Children With Prenatal Alcohol Exposure
21 Nov 2009 | 12:00 amPrenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) has been linked to a wide array of developmental deficits, including significant impairments in social skills. An examination of a social- skills intervention called Children's Friendship Training found that it led to a decrease in hostile attributions or perceptions of children with PAE. Results will be published in the February 2010 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. -
A Brief Intervention That Works For Drivers Who Persist In Driving While Intoxicated
21 Nov 2009 | 12:00 amDriving while impaired (DWI) contributes significantly to road-traffic crashes, and is involved in more than one-third of all fatalities. Many DWI recidivists - drinking drivers who re-offend - do not participate in mandated alcohol-evaluation and intervention programs or else continue to drink problematically after their licenses have been re-issued. -
Mathematical Abilities Examined In Children With Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
20 Nov 2009 | 4:00 amChildren with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) have a number of cognitive deficits, but mathematical ability seems particularly damaged. Little is known about the brain structures related to mathematical deficits in children with FASD. A new study that used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to investigate the relationship between mathematical skills and brain white matter structure in children with FASD supports the importance of the left parietal area for mathematical tasks. -
Innovative Therapy That Offers New Hope For Borderline Personality Disorder
20 Nov 2009 | 12:00 amPatients coping with the chaos and misery of Borderline Personality Disorder now have reason for strong confidence in making major life changes through a new treatment, Schema Therapy. For the first time, three major outcome studies have shown that many patients with Borderline Personality Disorder can achieve full recovery across the complete range of symptoms. -
Otsuka Pharmaceutical Europe Ltd Withdraws Its Application For An Extension Of Indication For Abilify (aripiprazole), Europe
20 Nov 2009 | 12:00 amThe European Medicines Agency has been formally notified by Otsuka Pharmaceutical Europe Ltd of its decision to withdraw its application for an extension of indication for the centrally authorised medicine Abilify (aripiprazole) tablets, orodispersible tablets and oral solution. Abilify was expected to be used in the treatment of major depressive episodes, as adjunctive therapy, in patients who have had an inadequate response to previous treatment with antidepressants.
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Psych Central News
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Mixed Parental Anxiety Over Internet Predators
20 Nov 2009 | 5:45 amA new report on parental concerns about the safety of their children’s lives online reveals a wide range of opinion, although some common themes do emerge. According to the researchers, of those parents with kids online, nearly two-thirds are concerned (32 percent very concerned) about online sexual predators. Similarly, about two-thirds of parents are concerned about loss of privacy (22 percent very concerned) and about one-half (21 percent are very concerned) about their children viewing pornographic material. In contrast, smaller proportions of parents are concerned about their online… -
Medication for Premature Ejaculation on Track for Approval
20 Nov 2009 | 5:30 amResearchers have announced a second positive trial of an aerosol spray medication, termed PSD502, used to treat premature ejaculation (PE). PE is defined as a male sexual dysfunction characterized by ejaculation which always or nearly always occurs prior to or within about one minute of vaginal penetration. Premature ejaculation has a host of negative personal consequences for both partners ranging from distress to frustration or the avoidance of sexual intimacy. Results of the double-blind treatment phase of the study showed that men who were treated with the drug five minutes before… -
Stop Smoking While Losing Weight
20 Nov 2009 | 5:16 amA new summary analysis discovers an individual can improve two health behaviors concurrently — rebuffing the contention that embarking on a smoking cessation program will ruin a woman’s effort to lose weight. Many women believe nicotine suppresses the appetite and boosts metabolism and would rather take the health risks associated with smoking rather than being overweight. But a new meta-analysis (results of several studies) shows that women who quit smoking while receiving treatment for weight control are better able to control their weight gain and are more successful at… -
Chemicals Found in Plastics Linked to ADHD
20 Nov 2009 | 5:15 amA new study warns that phthalates, a family of chemical substances used primarily to make polyvinyl chloride (PVC) soft and flexible, may be associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Phthalates have been used for more than 50 years and are important components of many consumer products, including toys, cleaning materials, plastics, and personal care items. Phtalates have been widely studied with some linking exposure to hormone disruptions, birth defects, asthma, and reproductive problems, while others have found no significant association between exposure and adverse effects. -
Infections Linked to Schizophrenia
20 Nov 2009 | 5:14 amSwedish researchers have developed a technique that analyzes inflammatory substances in cerebrospinal fluid — the liquid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. Using this method they discovered patients with recent-onset schizophrenia have higher levels of inflammatory substances in their brains. Although the cause of schizophrenia is unknown, this new finding may give support to the theory that infections early in life might increase the risk of developing schizophrenia. Furthermore, the discovery improves the potential to treat schizophrenia with drugs that affect the immune…
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PSYCHOLOGY NEWS - Google Blog Search
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Psychotherapy may be an effective way to boost happiness
21 Nov 2009 | 2:41 amIt has been around for a w.. http://bit.ly/5nqqhg; alexschleber How to Find Mental Health Care When Money Is Tight: Source: International Herald Tribune - He.. http://bit.ly/085Bz9G #psychology #news; rssseo http://5ver.com/r Mental ... -
Harmful effects seen with repeated ketamine abuse - Addiction ...
20 Nov 2009 | 2:51 pmHarmful effects seen with repeated ketamine abuse -AddictionPsychiatry / Psychology - Harmful effects seen with repeated ketamine abuse. ... Health news, top Health news. Login | Register · Health News, Make AMN Your Home Page ... -
Shifting blame to others is socially contagious experimental ...
20 Nov 2009 | 2:14 amTypically, they are more ego defensive and tend to feel chronically insecure, Fast said. The results will be published in the November issue of Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. (ANI). SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend More Celebrity News · Sadie Frost to release autobiography November 20, 2009 2:05 pm. London, Nov 20 (ANI): Actress Sadie Frost is set to release an autobiography which will include all the details about ex-husband Jude Law and close friend Kate Moss. ... -
Blame game can be as contagious as epidemic experimental social ...
19 Nov 2009 | 9:01 pmby Indo Asian News Service on November 20, 2009. in International. Washington, Nov 20 (IANS) The habit of blaming someone in an organisation, even if he or she is innocent, is picked up by others and spreads like wildfire, ... Nixon harboured an intense need to enhance and protect his self-image and, as a result, made a practice of blaming others for shortcomings. The results will be published in the November issue of Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. ... -
Positive Psychology News Daily » The Three Degrees of Influence ...
18 Nov 2009 | 6:00 pmTimothy So, Msc, is an Associate Editor for Positive Psychology News Daily responsible for both the Traditional and the Simplified Chinese site. Timothy is working for RSG Consulting as a research consultant associate, and will pursue a ...
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Ionian Enchantment
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Cyclone Roberta - FAKE
19 Nov 2009 | 3:01 amA public service announcement: the rumors and emails (example after the jump) doing the rounds that KwaZulu Natal is about to be hit by a "tempestuous cyclone" is fake, false, a hoax, bollocks, and completely made up. (There is a warning of heavy rainfall - "in excess of 50mm in 24 hours" - but there is no cyclone). Some observations: South Africa's east coast is very rarely hit by cyclones and email hoaxes are plentiful. Put these facts together, apply a bit of common sense, and you get doubt. And doubt should motivate some fact checking (Google is your friend)... If you did so, you'd find… -
Fun with blasphemy
18 Nov 2009 | 5:01 amSo September 30th was Blasphemy Day International, and the Center for Inquiry has released their blasphemy contest winners. Contestants were supposed to create blasphemous statements no longer than 20 words. The winners: “Faith is no reason” (by Ken Peters) “There’s no religion like no religion” (Daniel Boles) “I wouldn’t even follow your god on Twitter” (Michael Hein) “The reason religious beliefs need protection from ridicule is that they are ridiculous” (Michael Nugent), and, “I survived the God virus” (Perry Bulwer) I vote for the 4th one: I'd totally buy a t-shirt… -
Encephalon #78
18 Nov 2009 | 12:22 amThe 78th edition of the mind/brain/psychology/etc. carnival Encephalon is out at Providentia. Posts to check out: Generally Thinking on the Buddhist brain, Brain Stimulant on neurorobotics, and The Neurocritic on unusual sexual changes due to various types of brain damage (including a kind of tumor-induced pedophilia). My posts on estimating formidability from bodies and faces were featured. -
Picture: Family chain-mail fun...
15 Nov 2009 | 4:22 amYup. (source). -
Anti-vaccination and South Africa's measels outbreak
15 Nov 2009 | 4:16 amSouth Africa is in the grip of a measles epidemic (luckily confined primarily to the province of Gauteng), with 2000 cases and 4 deaths. The culprit? Parents not vaccinating their children (among other things) due to the fear that jabs can cause autism. Before getting into a bit more detail, I want to praise reporter Kim Hawley at the Times (of South Africa) for getting the story exactly right: her article emphasized the unscientific nature of such worries. Well done. A press release issued by South Africa’s department of health contains the following revealing paragraph: One striking…
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Sports Are 80 Percent Mental
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Sports Science Weekly Gym Bag - 10-28-09
28 Oct 2009 | 9:25 pmWelcome to a World Series edition of the Weekly Sports Science Gym Bag, a collection of some of the best stuff I've found in the last week. A few more baseball stories are included, while you watch the Yankees lose in 6 games! The Overmanager: Why the New York Yankees' Joe Girardi is too smart for his own good To play in the NFL, you have to make a show of going to college. To play in the NBA, you have to get through high school. To sign a contract with a major league baseball team, all you have to do is convince someone you're 16, provided you weren't born in a country with… -
Running To The Right Beat
21 Oct 2009 | 8:29 pmWith the Fall marathon season in full swing, thousands of runners are gearing up for the big day. Just as important as their broken-in shoes and heart rate monitor is their source of motivation, inspiration and distraction: their tunes. Running with music has become so common that the two biggest names in both industries, Nike and Apple, have been joined at the hip with the Nike + iPod combination. So, what is it about music and running, or any exercise, that feels so right? Several recent studies try to chase down the connection between our ears and our feet. For the last 20 years,… -
Sports Science Weekly Gym Bag - 10-7-09
7 Oct 2009 | 7:56 amTime for another edition of the Sports Science Weekly Gym Bag. (Yes, a Wisconsin Badger football gym bag this week...they're 5-0!) If you ever run across something that you would like to share, just add it to the comments below! Marathon Runners Mull the ‘D Word’ This is the time of year, after marathoners have logged their longest miles, that any kind of pain, nagging or excruciating, can send runners into a panic about whether they will make it to the starting line. Or if they should even try... Faster tunes make you bike faster, even if it hurts a bit more Researchers have been… -
I Run, Therefore I Drink?
2 Oct 2009 | 1:44 pmHere’s a question for your buddies at the next golf outing or bowling league night: Are we more active because we drink more or do we drink more because we’re more active? Recent research showed that there is a correlation between the two, but could not offer a solid reason. Either way, another study claims the combination of moderate alcohol use and exercise will help our hearts more than just choosing one over the other. Michael French, a health economics professor at the University of Miami, and his colleagues dug into data from the 2005 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a… -
Sports Science Weekly Gym Bag - 9-28-09
28 Sep 2009 | 8:39 pmHere's a new feature of Sports Are 80 Percent Mental: A weekly round-up of some of the best blog posts, articles and other interesting stuff that I've found on sports science and fitness research. If you find anything else, please just add it as a comment to this post! Aging Muscles: 'Hard To Build, Easy To Lose' Have you ever noticed that people have thinner arms and legs as they get older? As we age it becomes harder to keep our muscles healthy. They get smaller, which decreases strength and increases the likelihood of falls and fractures. New research is showing how this happens —…
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Helping Psychology
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New Treatment for Veterans Suffering from PTSD
20 Nov 2009 | 4:39 pmA large-scale study conducted by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the University of California has shown that post traumatic stress disorder and other mental health disorders are on the rise among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. The study, recently appearing in The American Journal of Public Health, examined the prevalence of mental health diagnoses among over 250,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans entering Veterans Affairs health care from 2002 to 2008. Results of the study revealed that more than one-third of returning soldiers received new psychiatric diagnoses, and 21.8% were… -
Youth Bipolar Meds Linked to Weight Gain
19 Nov 2009 | 8:55 pmOne of the unfortunate side effects of treating bipolar disorder with medication is the possibility of rapid weight gain. The atypical antipsychotics used to treat the disorder often cause a gain of 10 to 20 pounds in the first few months of use. Doctors haven’t been able to find an effective way to mitigate this unfortunate side effect, often prescribing diet and exercise. But many physicians also admit that diet and exercise are not sufficient, nor are regimens likely to be followed when patients are already depressed. Bipolar Disorder Bipolar disorder, sometimes called manic… -
The Power of Subliminal Messages
18 Nov 2009 | 12:04 pmSubliminal messages are messages directed at the subconscious mind, usually flashed on a television or movie screen at a rate too quick to be consciously perceived. Numerous studies have been conducted to determine exactly how the subconscious mind responds to such tactics; with surprising results. In the 1950s, market researchers claimed to have flashed messages on a movie screen to induce viewers to purchase food and drinks. These researchers claimed that the messages, “Drink Coca Cola” and “Eat Popcorn,” were responsible for increasing concession sales during the… -
Addiction: Steps to Avoiding Relapse
17 Nov 2009 | 11:02 amThe hard-won peace that comes from finally getting a handle on an addiction must be carefully guarded to prevent relapse. Addiction treatment facilities include residential care, voluntary programs or state mandated detainment within a mental health facility. These places offer addicts solutions to maintaining a sober lifestyle. In cases where no support has been offered, due diligence is required to connect with anti-addiction resources before old habits and environments tempt addicts back into relapse. Maintaining long-term recovery requires support, learning techniques for dealing with… -
Graduate Students: Writing Your Curriculum Vitae
16 Nov 2009 | 10:31 amA key element to the success of grad student’s career is how a curriculum vitae is prepared. Also called a CV, this document is an important piece of information that should accompany all grad student application packages to graduate school. It offers the school’s acceptance committee the opportunity to get to know student applicants; what their accomplishments are and whether or not they are good candidates for the school’s academic programs. A curriculum vitae is a work in progress and should be edited and revised as students make their way through graduate school. Unlike…
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Herd - the hidden truth about who we are
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On the road
19 Nov 2009 | 12:47 pmWhen I'm on the road, doing my speaking gigs or just travelling to work with folk far away, I find things are a bit clearer. Maybe it's view from 30000 ft, maybe the tiredness, maybe the isolation from the daily round but it always reminds me why I do what I do and why it matters. (props to Hugh)And why not doing it is impossible (or at least not possible for me - check the middle 8 here for more details) -
The Real Value of Content
19 Nov 2009 | 12:29 pmGareth's done a nice post in response to this piece on where the money is going in the Music Industry from the Times Lab in an age of downloading.The real decline is in money earned by the labels on recorded music. As G says "if your business model is purely one of content distribution it's perhaps time to exit.Of course, I heartily endorse his comments about the fundamentally social nature of music (and linklove) " this is perhaps evidence of the fact that we tend to enjoy doing stuff together. Perhaps music is the ultimate social good, rather than the… -
Purpose ideas are not just for Christmas
17 Nov 2009 | 5:56 amPic c/o HughStruck forcibly by how much interest in the higher echelons of business is now being showed again in the idea of purpose in businessHere, here & here for starters. Even the lovely Jamie gets in on the game here.But - as we've always said - a purpose idea is not just for bad times, good times or Christmas: it's the heart of modern marketing. Job 1 = find, understand and learn to live out the purpose of your business. But it's not just for the bad times or the turnaround or the tricky situations; purpose is for ever.[Btw just remembered. The inside of… -
Influence: the eyelines have it
16 Nov 2009 | 12:48 pmPic c/o NASAJust sent off (late, natch) my chapter for Art of Conversation III and without giving the whole piece away I wanted to share a simple thought I had recently that's included in the piece.So the problem is this: we look at influence as push- rather than a pull thing. It's something we think people do to each other (rather that something they choose to accept from each other).But if folk can't see (literally and metaphorically) what other folk are doing or getting excited about then there's not going to be any influence happening because the followers… -
Superfreakonomics?
11 Nov 2009 | 2:44 pmpic c/o Landscaping.bizInteresting lunchtime chat yesterday by The Stevens - authors of Freakonomics and Superfreakonomics at the RSA Was struck by their criticism of a lot of those (like er...me) looking to unpick the rational choice model which lies at the heart of so many of the behavioural sciences. I think they have a point in suggesting that much of the experimental evidence that is used to demonstrate e.g. our species' innate altruism in fact serves merely to support the general principle that behaviour tends to be context dependent. That said, I think they then -…
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eScienceNews: Psychology
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Elsevier celebrates the 20th anniversary of the UN Convention for the Rights of the Child
21 Nov 2009 | 1:38 amElsevier, the leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, announced today the publication of a freely available Special Issue of Child Abuse and Neglect The International Journal 1989-2009 on the 20th Anniversary of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). read more -
Possible link studied between childhood abuse and early cellular aging
20 Nov 2009 | 12:16 pmChildren who suffer physical or emotional abuse may be faced with accelerated cellular aging as adults, according to new research from Butler Hospital and Brown University. read more -
Older problem drinkers use more alcohol than do their younger counterparts
20 Nov 2009 | 10:46 amOlder adults who have alcohol dependence problems drink significantly more than do younger adults who have similar problems, a new study has found. read more -
Therapy 32 times more cost effective at increasing happiness than money
20 Nov 2009 | 6:23 amResearch by the University of Warwick and the University of Manchester finds that psychological therapy could be 32 times more cost effective at making you happy than simply obtaining more money. The research has obvious implications for large compensation awards in law courts but also has wider implications for general public health. read more -
Shifting blame is socially contagious
19 Nov 2009 | 2:45 pmMerely observing someone publicly blame an individual in an organization for a problem – even when the target is innocent – greatly increases the odds that the practice of blaming others will spread with the tenacity of the H1N1 flu, according to new research from the USC Marshall School of Business and Stanford University. read more
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The Shrink Rap
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Music triggers memories in dementia patients
20 Nov 2009 | 9:55 pmOne of the raps on iPods is that users tend to close themselves off from other people and retreat into their own private world.But with stroke and dementia patients, iPods and other MP3 players are... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] -
Therapy 32 times more cost effective at increasing happiness than money
20 Nov 2009 | 8:11 amResearch by the University of Warwick and the University of Manchester finds that psychological therapy could be 32 times more cost effective at making you happy than simply obtaining more money. The... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] -
‘Time’ examines the case of overparenting
20 Nov 2009 | 7:13 amA must read in the latest Time Magazine by Nancy Gibbs Can these parents be saved? Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy Source: Time. msnbc [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] -
The world’s smartest rat
19 Nov 2009 | 10:22 amHobbie-J is a genetically engineered rat. Hobbie-J’s NR2B gene, (which controls memory), was boosted as an embryo. The rodent can remember objects three times as long as its smartest peers and... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] -
New social networking tool to improve well-being awareness
19 Nov 2009 | 9:31 amResearchers at the University of Southampton have developed a new social networking tool that users have described as not only improving reflection and awareness of their own well-being, but also... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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Universitas Psychologica - Pontificia Universidad Javeriana
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Globalización e identidad personal y global en universitarios colombianos, chinos, hindúes y norteamericanos
17 Nov 2009 | 10:46 amArtículo de la Revista: Volumen 8, Número 3, Año 2009Autores : Claudia Consuelo Caycedo Espinel, Catalina Duarte, Irina Granados, Steven Berman, Min Cheng, Niyatee Sukumaran, Ervin BrionesEste estudio pretendió identificar la relación entre el estatus de identidad personal y el de identidad global, y entre la experiencia de globalización y el desarrollo de la identidad, en 717 universitarios: colombianos, chinos, norteamericanos e hindúes. Las medidas utilizadas fueron el EIPQ, el inventario de identidad global, el Factor de experiencias de Globalización y el Inventario de… -
Representações sociais do idoso e da velhice de diferentes faixas etarias
17 Nov 2009 | 10:34 amArtículo de la Revista: Volumen 8, Número 3, Año 2009Autores : Claudia Regina Magnabosco-Martins, Brigido Vizeu Camargo, Felipe BiasusFoi realizado um estudo transversal e comparativo sobre as concepções leigas de adolescentes (23), adultos (21) e idosos (27) sobre “idoso” e “velhice”. Foram realizadas 71 entrevistas. Todos participantes faziam atividades no SESC de Maringá-PR, e foram escolhidos aleatoriamente. Empregou-se a análise lexicográfica e classificação hierárquica descendente dos textos (software ALCESTE). Resultados: a) os idosos associam à idéia… -
Identificando los constructos de la religiosidad para jóvenes universitarios en México
17 Nov 2009 | 10:30 amArtículo de la Revista: Volumen 8, Número 3, Año 2009Autores : Josué R. Tinoco AmadorSe realizó un exhaustivo análisis sobre las actitudes de los jóvenes universitarios hacia la religiosidad, a través de una escala de medición tipo Likert de 64 reactivos, con alpha de 0.935, validez de contenido a través de jueces expertos, y validez de constructo con análisis factorial. La muestra fue de 880 jóvenes de universidades públicas y privadas, obtenida mediante un muestreo por conglomerados de institución, licenciatura y género. Los resultados señalan las diferencias… -
Reglas y preceptos culturales de la expresión emocional en México: su medición
17 Nov 2009 | 10:27 amArtículo de la Revista: Volumen 8, Número 3, Año 2009Autores : Rozzana Sánchez-Aragón, Rolando Díaz-LovingLa cultura interviene continuamente en la forma en la que los seres humanos se van adaptando a su grupo social, ya que establece modelos que usualmente determinan la pertinencia de la forma en la que se expresan emociones, se hacen interpretaciones y se emiten conductas alineadas a los estándares (Bruner, 1986). Una de las principales contribuciones de Díaz-Guerrero (1967, 2003) es la idea de que una sociocultura es un sistema de premisas interrelacionadas que norman… -
Afetar e ser afetado: corpo e cognição entre deficientes visuais
17 Nov 2009 | 10:21 amArtículo de la Revista: Volumen 8, Número 3, Año 2009Autores : Marcia Moraes, Carolina Cardoso-Manso, Ana Claudia Lima-MonteiroO objetivo deste trabalho é apresentar os resultados da pesquisa intervenção realizada com um grupo de jovens deficientes visuais que visa promover diferentes articulações entre corpo e cognição. Baseados na teoria ator-rede, consideramos que ter um corpo é aprender a ser afetado por atores díspares e heterogêneos, tanto humanos quanto não humanos. O trabalho de campo é realizado através de atividades de expressão corporal que têm por…
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Brain Blogger
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A New Look at Medical Errors in Residency Training
18 Nov 2009 | 5:47 amIt’s a phenomenon that medical educators have long suspected but haven’t been able to prove: a rise in medical errors when newly-hatched physicians begin their residency training programs in July. This suspected occurrence has been studied several times, but until recently, no conclusive evidence existed that it actually was true. For the first time, a study based in Australia has been able to demonstrate that this really does happen, but perhaps not for the reasons you’d suspect. The study, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), looked at close to twenty thousand patients who… -
Cancer – To Screen or Not to Screen?
14 Nov 2009 | 8:02 amI once treated a patient who was in her 90s. She was less than 5 feet tall and had never weighed more than 90 pounds. But, she was tough as nails and had lived a great life. I came to advocate for her when the internist at the skilled nursing facility in which she lived insisted that she have a mammogram. She had already been diagnosed with breast cancer in her 70s, but was healthier than anyone else her age now. She knew that even if she did receive another diagnosis of breast cancer at this stage in her life, it would probably not be treated and it almost certainly would not shorten her… -
The Evolution of Depression
10 Nov 2009 | 8:58 pmMillions of people around the world suffer from depression, the most common mental disorder of all. Since depression appears to be largely genetic, several long-standing questions continue to bedevil researchers. Have the genes for clinical unipolar depression undergone selective evolution–or is depression a random product of mutation, evolutionary drift, or other non-selective forces? The symptoms of depression are found in every culture and time period, from the ancient Greeks to modern New Yorkers, from the !Kung of southern Africa to ranchers in the American West. Why is depression… -
A Small Sip from the Fountain of Youth
6 Nov 2009 | 4:00 amThe search for eternal youth is as old as time itself. The theme of immortality winds its way through religion, mythology, poetry, fiction, and modern movies. Usually, stories of those who have achieved immortality expose the curse of eternal life, rather than the blessing of perpetual youth. While living forever may never be possible, life expectancy is steadily increasing, and healthier — that is, more youthful — aging may actually be possible. New research published in the medical journal The Lancet posits that most babies born since the year 2000 will live to be at least 100… -
Why So Serious About The Self?
3 Nov 2009 | 4:00 amYou have seen movies in which characters have acted violently. Many times, these characters also have a mental illness. Violence is one common stereotype of psychological disorders, along with rebellion and child-like behavior. In The Dark Knightand Me, Myself, and Irene, a character has multiple personality disorder, which is said to cause demonic or mean behavior. Harvey Dent develops a second, evil personality called Two-Face, while Charley Baileygates is known to lash out at random due to his other, less friendly, personality. In each character, mental illness is shown to bring out…
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PsyBlog
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The Chameleon Effect
19 Nov 2009 | 9:52 amDoes mimicking other people's body language really make them like us? Self-help books, persuasion manuals and glossy magazine articles often advise that mimicking body language can increase how much others like us. But is it really true that mimicry causes others to like us, or is mimicry just a by-product of successful social interactions? Although it had long been suspected that copying other people's body language increases liking, the effect wasn't tested rigorously until Chartrand and Bargh (1999) carried out a series of experiments. They asked three related question: Do people… -
Self-Study Positive Psychology Courses
18 Nov 2009 | 6:27 amSponsored post: Positive psychology self-study courses available at Intentional Happiness How can you live a happier life? How can you discover your strengths and build on them? What is the case for hope and optimism? Dr. Robert Biswas-Diener, a happiness researcher and life coach, addresses these important questions in a workbook aimed at helping you understand and apply the lessons from the latest research in positive psychology. The Invitation to Positive Psychology workbook (PDF, $17.95) uses an engaging style to introduce the burgeoning field of positive psychology. This workbook,… -
The Psychological Immune System
12 Nov 2009 | 10:36 amWe get over bad moods much sooner than we predict, thanks to the covert work of the psychological immune system. One of the most incredible things about the human mind is its resilience. Let's face it, life can be pretty depressing at times, and yet people generally push on much the same as they always have, sometimes even with a spring in their step and a smile on their face. How come one day it seems like the world is going to end and the next there's hope? And how come our bad moods lift so unexpectedly, like a brick sprouting wings and disappearing into the clear blue sky? The reason is… -
Why Do People Bother Voting?
31 Oct 2009 | 5:17 amWhy we overestimate the power of our own vote. It might seem like an undemocratic question but it's one that's always plagued me: why do I bother voting? Most people know their own tick in the box is hardly worth it when weighed against the effort involved in getting registered and actually going to vote, let alone when weighed against all the other people voting. Quattrone & Tversky (1984) had a hunch that there was another, more complex psychological reason that people vote, to go along with the usual explanations. Not only, they guessed, do people vote because of their democratic duty… -
The Truth About Self-Deception
27 Oct 2009 | 10:56 amCan we pull the wool over our own eyes or do we see through our mind games? In theory the one person we should never, ever, lie to is ourselves. Surely lying to ourselves is counter-productive? Like calmly and deliberately shooting yourself in the foot or taking a hot toasting fork and plunging it into your eye? But look around and it's not hard to spot the tell-tale symptoms of self-deception in other people. So perhaps we are also deceiving ourselves in ways we can't clearly perceive? But is that really possible and would we really believe the lies that we 'told' ourselves anyway? That's…
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BPS Research Digest
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Psychology X-factor
20 Nov 2009 | 1:14 amLast time around it was a tie. You voted joint first: the study on increasing altruism in toddlers and the study showing that CCTV cameras don't reassure, they frighten.Which was your favourite from our last seven reports:Click Here for PollOnline Survey | Website Polls | Email Marketing | Crowdsourcing SoftwareView MicroPoll -
Want to predict a footie result? Don't even think about it
19 Nov 2009 | 1:27 amImagine you've just paid an expert good money for their verdict and they say to you: "Can you hang on a couple of minutes whilst I don't think about this". You'd be forgiven for thinking they've gone silly. They may have. But another possibility is that you've chosen a shrewd expert who's totally up-to-speed with the latest decision-making research: Ap Dijksterhuis and his colleagues have just shown that people with expertise in football are better at predicting match outcomes when they spend time not consciously thinking about their predictions.In an initial experiment, 352 Dutch undergrads… -
How infants affect how much their carers engage with them
18 Nov 2009 | 2:27 amYoung children benefit socially and intellectually the more their carers engage and respond to them. Recognising this, we can train nursery staff to be as responsive to the children in their care as possible. But a new study by Claire Vallotton raises an interesting and under-examined issue - what if there's something about some infants that leads their carers to engage with them more, thus giving them an advantage over their peers?Vallotton filmed interactions between 18 student caregivers and 10 infants (aged between 4 and 19 months) at the Infant and Toddler programme at the UC Davis child… -
The Special Issue Spotter
17 Nov 2009 | 3:34 amWe trawl the world's journals so you don't have to:The biological basis of business (Organisational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes).The neural basis of timing and anticipatory behaviours (European Journal of Neuroscience).Psychological functioning of international missionaries (Mental Health, Religion and Culture).Reinforcement learning and higher cognition (Cognition).New methodologies for intervention and outcome measurement (Neuropsychological Rehabilitation).Dissemination and implementation of cognitive behavioural therapy (Behavioural Research and Therapy). -
Testosterone-status mismatch in a group is linked with reduced collective confidence
16 Nov 2009 | 2:24 amMen and women with more testosterone like to be in charge. Indeed, they can find it stressful and uncomfortable when denied the status that they crave. Similarly, people low in testosterone find it uncomfortable to be placed in positions of authority. An intriguing new study has built on these earlier findings, showing a mismatch between testosterone-level and status is associated with group functioning. Groups made up of people whose status in the group doesn't match their testosterone level tend to have less collective confidence (or "collective efficacy" in the psychological jargon). This…
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The Frontal Cortex
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The Reading Brain
20 Nov 2009 | 12:10 pmI've got a review of Stanislas Dehaene's new book, Reading in the Brain, over at the Barnes and Noble Review: Right now, your mind is performing an astonishing feat. Photons are bouncing off these black squiggles and lines -- the letters in this sentence -- and colliding with a thin wall of flesh at the back of your eyeball. The photons contain just enough energy to activate sensory neurons, each of which is responsible for a particular plot of visual space on the page. The end result is that, as you stare at the letters, they become more than mere marks on a page. You've begun to read. -
Luxury Goods
19 Nov 2009 | 9:59 amSaks and Barneys and the rest of those luxury retailers have discovered that nothing destroys a luxury brand like a sale: All around Saks Fifth Avenue, merchandise is sold out. The $2,520 Marni shearling vest? Gone. The $5,295 Brioni leather bomber jacket? Only one left. The $1,995 over-the-knee Christian Louboutin boots? The $1,995 over-the-knee Christian Louboutin boots at Saks have sold out, unless you can wear the only pair left -- a size 11. "All gone, except for this," said Nick Passerelli, a Saks employee, dangling a size 11 boot from his fingers. After a brutal year in which the… -
Fourth Down
17 Nov 2009 | 2:09 pmBill Belichick has never been the most popular coach in the NFL, but his Sunday night decision to go for it on 4th and 2 on his own 28 with two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter has even his fans crying foul. I bring up this football decision not because I'm interested in a debate - as a Pats fan, the last five minutes of that game were excruciating - but because I think it illustrates the difficulty of making rational decisions, even when the evidence supports the call. I've blogged about the research of UC Berkeley economist David Romer before, but his basic thesis, based on an… -
The Tiger Woods Effect
17 Nov 2009 | 9:42 amSuccess is intimidating. When we compete against someone who's supposed to be better than us, we start to get nervous, and then we start to worry, and then we start to make stupid mistakes. That, at least, is the lesson of a new working paper by Jennifer Brown, a professor at the Kellogg school. Brown demonstrated this psychological flaw by analyzing data from every player in every PGA tournament from 1999 to 2006. The reason she chose golf is that Tiger Woods is an undisputed superstar, the most intimidating competitor in modern sports. (In 2007, Golf Digest noted that Woods finished with… -
Expertise
16 Nov 2009 | 6:28 amThe WSJ discovers the unreliability of wine critics, citing the fascinating statistical work of Robert Hodgson: In his first study, each year, for four years, Mr. Hodgson served actual panels of California State Fair Wine Competition judges--some 70 judges each year--about 100 wines over a two-day period. He employed the same blind tasting process as the actual competition. In Mr. Hodgson's study, however, every wine was presented to each judge three different times, each time drawn from the same bottle. The results astonished Mr. Hodgson. The judges' wine ratings typically varied by ±4…
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The Scientific Fundamentalist
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Why Do People Vote? I
8 Nov 2009 | 6:36 pmWhy millions of people turn out to vote in every national election in the United States and other large democracies is one of the persistent mysteries in the rational choice theory of politics. Why do people vote? If you think about it, voting in a large national election – such as the US Presidential election – is a supremely irrational act, because the probability that your vote will make a difference in the outcome is infinitesimally small. The closest Presidential election in history was the 1960 contest between John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon. In that election,… -
Why Your Friends Have More Friends Than You Do
1 Nov 2009 | 6:48 pmOne of my all-time favorites among all the scientific papers that I have ever read in my life is “Why your friends have more friends than you do,” published in the American Journal of Sociology in 1991 by my old sociology friend Scott L. Feld, who is now Professor of Sociology at Purdue University. The title of Feld’s paper says it all, and here’s a little demonstration you can do to confirm his conclusion. List all of your friends. Then ask each of your friends how many friends they have. No matter who you are, whether you are a man or a woman, where you live, how… -
Why Dating Is Difficult in New York (or London)
25 Oct 2009 | 5:30 pmThe guest blogger and PT intern Jen Kim complains about the difficulties of dating in New York. No wonder she finds it difficult. Since 1966, it’s been mathematically proven that dating in New York is difficult.... In their 1966 paper entitled “Recognizing the Maximum of a Sequence” published in the Journal of the American Statistical Association, John P. Gilbert and Frederick Mosteller offer a solution to a problem known as the “beauty contest problem.” This is how Gilbert and Mosteller describe the problem. Suppose a boy is to have a date with his choice of one… -
Predictably Irrational, Yes; Explainably Irrational, No II
18 Oct 2009 | 6:31 pmIn my last post, I review and highly recommend my fellow PT blogger Dan Ariely’s book Predictably Irrational. The book is full of fascinating examples of how actual human behavior – the choices and decisions people make every day – deviates from the predictions of the standard economic theory. The book is entertaining and easy to read. As great as Predictably Irrational is, however, there is one word – a very important word – missing from the book: Why. This is my major criticism, not just of Ariely and Predictably Irrational, but of the entire field of… -
Predictably Irrational, Yes; Explainably Irrational, No I
11 Oct 2009 | 6:19 pmMy fellow PT blogger Dan Ariely is one of the most creative behavioral economists in the world today, one of the hotshots in currently the hottest academic field. Ariely is to behavioral economics what Steven Levitt (coauthor of Freakonomics) is to standard economics, simultaneously a superb and mind-bogglingly creative scientist and excellent communicator of their science to the general audience. As great as Dan Ariely is, however, he has one major flaw: He is not an evolutionary psychologist. The field of behavioral economics began in the late 1970s and early 1980s with…
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We're Only Human...
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Some of my best friends are pawns
19 Nov 2009 | 11:39 amThere are certain rules of conduct on which most ethical people would agree. It’s not nice to date the boss’s daughter just to get ahead in the company. Or marry her son. And no parent would approve of a child befriending another child just because he happens to own an Xbox 360 Elite. That would be like an adult warming up to a colleague simply because he happens to have season tickets for the New Orleans Saints.All of these ethical lapses fall under the general category of using people, which we’re taught early on not to do. People are not instruments or tools to be wielded for our own… -
"The Piece of Cake Heuristic"
17 Nov 2009 | 10:10 amDon’t bother searching your long-term memory. There is no “Piece of Cake Heuristic.” I just made that up. I made it up and capitalized the main words and threw in an obscure word and added quotation marks—all so you, the reader, might consider the concept intellectually important and worthy of your attention. After all, it has a name and it’s in print—so it must have some heft, right?Well, maybe--or maybe not, according to new research. University of Chicago psychologist Aparna Labroo and colleagues wondered if simply naming an idea—an economic theory, a medical diagnosis, a… -
A Case for the Distractible Toddler
10 Nov 2009 | 10:25 amWhen my oldest son was three years old, someone gave him a very large can of Legos as a gift, enough to build a fortress. So we decided to build a fortress. Or I did, but he was an enthusiastic co-conspirator in the project—at least for about ten minutes. But then he got distracted by the sound of an ambulance siren outside; then he re-discovered a plastic triceratops; then he thought he should inspect the ashes in the fireplace. I tried to reengage him in the fortress, because I was doing an excellent job. But he had lots of things to do. He was busy.Toddlers are distractible. Their minds… -
Close Encounters of the Rude Kind
5 Nov 2009 | 9:40 amOne of my personal crotchets is people who walk down busy city sidewalks without looking where they’re going. These days they might be texting on an electronic device, but it’s not the technology I object to. They could just as well be reading a book. What’s annoying is the expectation that the crowds will part, that all the other pedestrians will make the effort to get out of their way.This may be simple rudeness. But I suspect that some of these people truly believe they can skillfully multi-task even in a crowd. Well they can’t, and I’ve now got science to prove it. Finnish… -
Sneezing at health care reform
28 Oct 2009 | 7:31 amI ride a public bus to and from work, and today some of my fellow commuters were sneezing. My guess is that people sneeze on the bus ride every day, but I am especially mindful of any contagion at the moment. And well I should be. We’ve got the regular seasonal bug out there, plus the ominous swine flu on the horizon. And the airwaves and newspapers are filled with warnings about this year’s heightened risk for a flu pandemic. Hundreds of thousands have already been struck by swine flu, with deaths in the thousands and climbing daily.A stranger’s sneeze can be a good thing in a way.
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World of Psychology
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Getting Therapy When There’s No Money
21 Nov 2009 | 7:28 amI can’t help but mention this article in The New York Times about how to get mental health care when you have no insurance or for some reason your have minimal coverage for mental health concerns with your current health insurance (which should change come January 1, 2010 when the federal mental health parity law kicks in). In the article, Lesley Alderman “offer[s] advice for those without insurance, or with only minimal coverage, on how to find low-cost mental health care.” The solutions should be familiar to our regular readers — self-help techniques (most of which… -
Surviving the Suicide of Someone You Love
21 Nov 2009 | 6:19 amMy brother’s childhood best friend committed suicide. I was 16 years old at the time, Mark (not his real name) was 21. Mark’s parents were close friends of my parents; we played together as little kids, he was my first crush. We drifted apart as we grew up. Mark was a Kennedy-esque figure to me, handsome and smart. Everyone expected great things when he went off to an Ivy League law school. Then he was dead. I have a vivid memory of walking around the neighborhood with Mark’s brother at night. The adults were sitting shiva and he had to get away. Suddenly he grabbed a fallen… -
Woman Loses Sick-Leave Benefits for Depression Thanks to Facebook Pics
20 Nov 2009 | 4:17 pmQuebec woman Nathalie Blanchard poses on the beach in a Facebook photograph that convinced her insurance company that she was no longer depressed.Can you really determine someone’s mental state by looking at a photograph? Manulife, a Canadian-based financial services company, apparently thinks so. Nathalie Blanchard, a 29-year-old IBM employee from Quebec, took a long-term sick leave from her job after being diagnosed with major depression. Her doctor told her to try & have fun, and to take a sunny vacation to get away from her problems. She did just that while she received monthly… -
2009 Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy Recommendations
20 Nov 2009 | 11:05 amEarlier this month, I was honored to attend the 25th Annual Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy in Atlanta, Georgia. The focus of this symposium every year is to tackle a particular issue in mental health policy, population or care. This year focused, fittingly enough, on health care reform and how mental health and substance abuse programs need to be an integrated part of that effort: Currently health care in this country is focused on illness rather than health, on procedures and face-to-face interventions rather than on coordination and prevention, and on fragmented,… -
Year in Review: Your Picks
20 Nov 2009 | 5:13 amIt’s that time of the year again, when we pull together our top picks for mental health and psychology stories in the news in the past year. There’s no magic to our choices, we’re just looking for stories that you believe had the biggest positive or negative impact in this area. For instance, last year the passage of the mental health parity law here in the U.S. was the biggest mental health news story of 2008. One example for this year might’ve been the debate we had surrounding what I thought was a pretty sensible law about postpartum depression. You can take a look…
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idle thoughts
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Op Ed: Which is the biggest bang for the buck?
18 Nov 2009 | 4:28 amWhich is the biggest bang for the buck? -
Obama Meets his Anzio
15 Nov 2009 | 7:02 amPaul Krugman (New York Times, Oct. 6, 2009) claims that progressives have lost faith in the President because of his soft treatment of Wall Street.Alas, the betrayal is much more profound and includes his endorsement of the outrageous States Secrets privilege, the failure to bring the innocent Uighurs to the United States as refugees, and his failure to prosecute those responsible for the torture memorandums.He might not have succeeded, but at least he could have fought for each of these. Sent to New York Times -
The Fleet is in
15 Nov 2009 | 6:59 amIt seems that the Times is in the business of exploiting labor.In the advertisement, The Fleet Is In (November 5, 2009: C1), the New York Times store boasts that each of the hand made ship models featured takes more than 100 hours to craft.The average price of these models is about $540 which means that if all the money went to the craftsmen, they would be making under $6.00 per hour. But, if, as I was once taught, "Materials is half your business," then they are receiving under $3.00 an hour and this still leaves nothing for shipping or profit.The Times is always extolling fair trade; does… -
For University Presidents, a pay cut is in order
15 Nov 2009 | 6:56 amIf I were a University President responding to the Globe's admonition (November 5, 2009:A16) to take a pay cut, I would say, "I will be the first to take a cut once those Finance Professors in the Business School take a cut. They, after all, either devised the derivatives that sank the economy, or trained the people that did. The Finance Professors need to give back in a big way."I am waiting to see if they do.Sent to Boston Globe -
The gaggle of economic sociopaths
3 Nov 2009 | 5:28 pmI am the last person to defend the behavior of the Wall Street tycoons who brought down the economy by their actions over the past eight years, but we were ill served by the publication of Neal Gabler's rant about the “economic sociopaths” of Wall Street (Boston Globe, October 31, 2009: A11).The diagnosis of a psychiatric condition (like those articulated in DSM-IV-R) should be done on an individual basis by a highly trained specialist. Such diagnoses should not be applied in a broad brush way to any subpopulation, even Wall Streeters deserve that amount of restraint. Though the phrase is…
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School Psychologist Blog Files
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Classroom Observations
1 Nov 2009 | 5:28 pmClassroom observations occur to document behaviors and to help provide insight to teachers. Teachers are teaching and are typically focused on the overall learning of the entire class. It is not possible for a teacher to catch all of the details of classroom while teaching. An outside observer, often a School Psychologist, can sit in the classroom and observe a student or the entire class. These insights can be used to help provide better instruction, create behavioral or academic interventions, or to document behaviors. When do classroom observations occur? - During a special education… -
Parents Helping to Prevent Bullying
10 Oct 2009 | 6:23 amBully prevention can occur at all levels. There are system wide programs that an entire school system can adopt. There are school wide programs designed to prevent and intervene when bullying occurs. Teacher awareness and prevention techniques can be employed. There are programs that focus on working individually with the bully and the victim. Bullying makes kids feel helpless and at times it can make parents of bullied kids feel helpless. Children who are bullied may feel scared, lonely, depressed, or angry. These are not emotions that we as parents want to see in our children. Prevention is… -
Academic Achievement Assessment vs. Classroom Assessment
24 Sep 2009 | 9:51 amTests used in Special Education Assessment to measure academic achievement are quite different than classroom based assessment in several ways. The main differences between the academic achievement tests such as the Woodcock Johnson III or Wechsler Individual Achievement Test and classroom based assessment are the intended purpose of the test, the way it is administered, and the scores obtained. The Purpose of a classroom assessment is to measure students learning of what is being taught in the classroom. Classroom assessments could be quizzes, chapter tests, midterms, or final exams. These… -
School Counseling vs. In-Depth Psychotherapy for Children
14 Sep 2009 | 6:03 pmThis article was written by a guest blogger from www.goodtherapy.orgOne of the staples of elementary schools across the country and around the world is the school counselor, a typically friendly and approachable figure who offers a space to talk about any problems or concerns and provide advice. School counselors are also usually found in junior high and high schools, and may in these later years focus more on guiding the course of academic schedules and helping out with college applications and other materials than with addressing emotional and mental concerns.These familiar figures can be… -
Triennial What?
26 Aug 2009 | 8:04 amThis word gets thrown around in Special Education. If your child is in special education, you need to know what a triennial evaluation is and what it means for your child.What is a Triennial Evaluation?Every three years a committee must convene to determine if the current disability category is appropriate. School systems are required to complete this review and if needed complete the triennial evaluation within three years from the original eligibility date. Three years from the initial eligibility is the triennial. Parents are invited to attend this review that will occur a few months…
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School Psychology Blog
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Learning Disabilities (Difficulties)
13 Nov 2009 | 5:59 pmLearning to read can be hard work! There are many types of learning disabilities and learning difficulties. Learning disabilities should not be confused with an intellectual disability. An intellectual disability is a severe deficit in cognitive functioning. This is classified by an IQ score of less than 70. An IQ score of 100 is average (range 85 – 115). People with intellectual disabilities will have difficulties with learning. Learning disabilities generally fall into two major categories: General Processing issues Specific Learning Disabilities ( i.e. dyslexia) If a person has general… -
Study Tips – Get it wrong, and then get it right!
24 Oct 2009 | 6:10 pmDo Revision Questions First! New research has shown that getting things wrong actually facilitates learning (Scientific American, 20th October, 2009). Getting things wrong helps with memory and challenges the brain to learn. Students want to get the best mark on their final exams, but they need to challenge themselves to achieve their best. A lot of students make the mistake of writing volumes of study notes on each subject. This is a time consuming process and as the student is “copying” from another source, the amount of learning in this process is minimal. I have been telling students… -
Building the Parent – Child Relationship
20 Oct 2009 | 8:53 pmCupcake and a chat? It is important to build a positive relationship with our children. Life is busy and we often run from one activity to the next. However, one of my clients recently started having a special time with their daughter – they called it “cup cake time!” She took her to the local coffee shop and they enjoyed cup cakes together (and of course they talked!). Cup cakes are popular at the moment with all ages – but the magic is in the one on one time. Sometimes it is hard to connect with young people (especially if they are teenagers), so below are a few… -
VCE Study Skills Program
19 Oct 2009 | 10:32 pmTo be successful in VCE it is not only important to work hard but also to know how to study. It helps to be organised and motivated. Clear and well defined goals are essential. And you have to know how to study! Many students write out their notes and try to memorise them, but they are often distracted by the process of completing the notes, rather than learning effectively. It is essential that students remain motivated and are capable of dealing with the stress and anxiety that the final years of school will bring. School Psychology Services provides a focused VCE Coaching Program which… -
How to Deal with A Bully
7 Oct 2009 | 7:55 pmStop the Bully! Stop the Bully! Bullying is common within our society. It occurs at school, at home and in the work place. It is the nasty part of human nature. Bullying is about power. In particular it is about the abuse of power. Someone in a position of power seeks to control or influence another person. Why do people bully? Bullies are unhappy people. They try to influence others and cause others either emotional or physical pain. Why? – because they want others to suffer as much as they are and they want to have the illusion of feeling powerful. We should feel sorry for bullies, as…
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Teaching High School Psychology
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Interviews with Robert Sternberg
20 Nov 2009 | 12:00 amFor the second time this week we are drawing from the Human Intelligence Website at the University of Indiana (http://www.indiana.edu/~intell/). Included within the biography of Robert Sternberg are a number of short video clips of him being interviewed on various aspects of intelligence and his life.All the videos can be streamed into your classroom using Windows Media Player. The site includes a link where the player can be downloaded and a transcript for each interview.The videos can be found in the U of Indiana Human Intelligence Website at… -
Human Intelligence Website Biography Map
19 Nov 2009 | 12:00 amThe Human Intelligence website at the University of Indiana includes an interactive map of major contributors to the field of intelligence. A detailed biography is included for each individual.To go to the "History of Influences in the Development of Intelligence Theory" map, simply click on the graphic to the right or go to http://www.indiana.edu/~intell/map.shtmlFor additional information go to the home page for the Human Intelligence site at http://www.indiana.edu/~intell/ -
Sensation and Perception
18 Nov 2009 | 11:47 amWhen I began teaching this topic, I was scared because I had no idea what I was doing. I'd never had an S&P course in college and this seemed a little daunting. Over the years, with a lot of hard work, some research, and some wonderful internet sites, I learned and learned. Today, I'd like to share and highlight the work of John H. Krantz of Hanover College in Southern Indiana. For years, he has been at the forefront of taking concepts online in an interactive format for students (and teachers). This site is about sensation and perception and its constituent parts. While I cannot use all… -
Howard Gardner's Website
18 Nov 2009 | 12:00 amHoward Gardner, theorist of multiple intelligences, has developed his own website devoted to his theory and work. The site can be found at http://www.howardgardner.comI would suggest paying particular attention to:Gardner's own life story. The link (In His Own Words) is at the bottom of the biography sectiona number of scholarly articles on a multitude of topics in the articles sectionDr. Gardner's FAQ Responses. Click on the link at the bottom of the FAQ pageFor additional information go to Gardner's Harvard website at http://pzweb.harvard.edu/PIs/HG.htm -
History of IQ Testing
17 Nov 2009 | 12:00 amIQ Tests are primarily a product of the 20th Century . While most textbooks provide a brief history, starting with Binet, a few websites do the same.The ACE Intelligence Website at http://www.aceintelligence.com/detailed_history_of_iq.php, gives a fairly detailed history of IQ testing following various individuals important in test development including a few prior to Binet.The IQ Test Center at http://www.iqtest-center.com/history.php provides a brief history of testing similar to many textbooks.Classics in the History of Psychology (http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/author.htm) have a number of…
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Advances in the History of Psychology
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Just Released: Psychology Gets in the Game
15 Nov 2009 | 8:01 pmThe edited volume, Psychology Gets in the Game, has just been released by the University of Nebraska Press. Edited by Christopher D. Green and Ludy T. Benjamin Jr., the book’s chapters explore sports-related research conducted by a number of late-nineteenth and early twentieth century psychologists. Each chapter recounts a different episode in the history of sports psychology research including: the background of Norman Tripplett’s bicycling research, archery research conducted by John B. Watson and Karl Lashley, research on fencing and other sports by E.W. Scripture at Yale… -
Submissions for HoP News Section
13 Nov 2009 | 1:19 pmThe Sources, Research Notes, and News section of History of Psychology is currently seeking submissions. The official request for submissions, from the section editor Kelli Vaughn-Blount, follows below. Dearest Colleagues, Please consider submitting items of interest to the News section to be included in the February issue of History of Psychology. The News section publishes information relevant to both national and international history of psychology communities, including recent publications (books, translations, etc), upcoming conferences, calls for papers, recaps of events and… -
Guardian Science Book Club
13 Nov 2009 | 1:13 pmThe Science Book Club of United Kingdom newspaper the Guardian, is currently discussing Stephen Jay Gould’s volume, The Mismeasure of Man. Gould’s book, published in 1981 and revised in 1996 in response to Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray’s The Bell Curve, looks at the history of intelligence research and race. Tim Radford, in his article for the Gaurdian, Race and Intelligence: A Sorry Tale of Shoddy Science, asserts that, “What Gould’s book reminds us over and over again is that even very clever, generous and thoughtful people who are raised with a set of… -
The Evolution of Charles Darwin
10 Nov 2009 | 9:01 pmIn a four part series which begins airing today, CBC Radio’s Ideas explores the development, reception, and legacy of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, a volume celebrating the 150th anniversary of its publication this year. Produced by York University Department of Film professor Seth Feldman, this series, “The Evolution of Charles Darwin,” explores the import of Darwin’s idea of natural selection from its initial proposal to modern times. The series includes interviews with a number of prominent Darwin scholars, including Darwin biographers Janet… -
“Strong Psychological Continuity” in T&P
10 Nov 2009 | 7:06 amIn the August issue of Theory & Psychology, philosopher and historian of psychology John D. Greenwood argues that early American psychology was based on the notion of “strong psychological continuity.” Greenwood, of the Philosophy Department of the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, presents his views in an article entitled, “Materialism, strong psychological continuity, and American scientific psychology.” This article builds on previous work by Greenwood, in which he argues for a re-evaluation of the import of the theory of evolution by natural…
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Cognitive Daily
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Casual Fridays: What makes a good writer, and what motivates them?
20 Nov 2009 | 2:38 pmWe received an astonishing number of responses to last week's Casual Fridays study, which claimed to be able to identify what makes a good writer in just a few minutes. Of course, I wasn't actually very confident that a brief survey could actually identify the factors that make a good writer. But I did have a hunch that there were certain traits that were more likely to be associated with good writing. Was there a trick to the study? Some respondents had a hunch that writing wasn't the only thing we were interested in. You were right -- we were also studying a completely unrelated phenomenon… -
Detecting faces: People use some of the same strategies computers do
19 Nov 2009 | 12:43 pmHow does our visual system decide if something is a face? Some automated face-detecting software uses color as one cue that something is a face. For example Apple's iPhoto has no trouble determining that there are two faces in this color picture: That's Nora in the back, and her cousin Ginger in front. In this picture, however, iPhoto can't identify a face: That's a vintage black-and-white photo of Nora and Ginger's grandfather, but the computer can't find any faces in it. Do people, like computers, use color to help decide whether something they see is a face? Humans are excellent at… -
Men often treat their friends better than women do
17 Nov 2009 | 2:28 pmWho's more "sociable," men or women? Common sense says it's women, right? And many research studies back this impression up: Women are more interpersonal, more connected, more interdependent than men. Women are more likely to share intimate information with each other than men. But is that really the whole story? There is also research suggesting that men have larger social networks than women do, and that male-male friendships last longer than female-female ones. A team led by Joyce Benenson conducted a set of three studies that may shed some light on the question. In their first study, they… -
Casual Fridays: What makes a good writer?
13 Nov 2009 | 1:51 pmSome people just seem to be natural writers -- they can write perfect, elegant sentences with a minimum of effort. Some popular fiction novelists crank out 6 or more novels per year. Some bloggers write 10 or more posts per day. Others labor over every word, or simply choose careers that don't require a lot of writing. But are there universal characteristics that separate good writers from bad writers, and quick writers from slow writers? I think I may have come up with a quick study that can answer those questions -- and like all Casual Fridays studies, it can be completed in just a few… -
The long-term effects of day care
12 Nov 2009 | 2:31 pmWhen we were getting ready to have our first child, I decided that I would quit my job, work out of home as a freelancer, and take care of our baby while Greta finished graduate school. That worked well for about two years, but by the time Nora was born, we decided to hire a part-time nanny so I could finish a degree of my own. When Nora was one and Greta and I were starting new jobs in a new state, both kids entered full-time day care, and that was our child-care arrangement until they started kindergarten. Naturally, at every step along the way, we wondered whether we were making the right…
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Denying AIDS and other oddities
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In denial: The McGill Daily’s Stephanie Law exposes the dangers of ignoring the causal link between HIV and AIDS
17 Nov 2009 | 10:27 pmPublished in the McGill DailyBy Stephanie LawPublished: Nov 16, 2009Christina Maggiore died of an AIDS-related illness on December 27, 2008. She was a successful businesswoman who started a multimillion-dollar import/export clothing company, and a freelance consultant for U.S. government export programs. Maggiore is most notorious for her role as an HIV-positive activist who promoted the idea that HIV is not the real cause of AIDS. She was an HIV-denialist.Maggiore was diagnosed with HIV in 1992. In 1994, she met Peter Duesberg, a molecular biology professor at the University of California at… -
How to spot an AIDS denialist
3 Nov 2009 | 10:19 amRogues, pseudoscientists, snake oil peddlers – Seth Kalichman reveals the sinister tactics used by those who deny the link between HIV and AIDS in a new article in The New Humanist magazine.Imagine that you or someone you love just received an HIV positive test result. The news is devastating. After a short time you begin to face the diagnosis. You turn to the Internet for answers. Searching the words “AIDS diagnosis” brings up thousands of websites. A whirlwind of information spins your mind.One credible-looking website, Aids.org, reads: “There is no cure for AIDS. There are drugs… -
"Hello Professor, a Brent Leung is here to see you"
28 Oct 2009 | 7:33 pmHouse of Numbers continues to be the talk of AIDS Denialism. There are many lessons to be learned from the AIDS Denialist crockumentary House of Numbers. The real lesson for scientists is that just because a guy has a camera crew does not mean you should agree to be interviewed by him. Thinking twice before sitting down in front of a camera is a worthwhile lesson indeed. The October 15 issue of Nature, a magazine well known for its excellent book reviews, published a great story on the hazards of scientists appearing in documentaries gone wrong. Too bad the article came out after House of… -
Harvard Symposium on Denialism, Mistrust & Stigma
20 Oct 2009 | 6:05 pmDeath by denial:Symposium explores HIV denial, conspiracy theoriesBy Alvin Powell Harvard GazettePeople who deny that the HIV virus causes AIDS continue to persist in their beliefs despite overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary, nurtured by the broad reach of the Internet and cherry-picked scientific claims, AIDS authorities said Monday.Researchers from Harvard, elsewhere in the United States, and South Africa convened at the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts to decry HIV “denialism,” saying that the continued questioning of HIV’s role in AIDS harms those infected with the… -
Can Peter Duesberg be Trusted on Cancer?
9 Oct 2009 | 11:26 amThis week's News Week Magazine raises questions regarding Peter Duesberg's credibility as a cancer researcher. Duesberg is best known for his AIDS Denialism. What many may not know is that Peter Duesberg maintains a small laboratory privately funded by Robert Leppo where he researches potential causes of cancer.Peter Duesberg was among the first scientists to isolate cancer-causing genes and cancer-related retroviruses. Early in his career, Duesberg worked with other Berkeley scientists, including acclaimed molecular biologist G. Steve Martin, to discover the first cancer-causing…
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Psychology of Media:
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“Did You Know” Version 4: Media Convergence
10 Nov 2009 | 11:43 amA reader of the PT blog let me know that there is a new version of the “Did You Know” video. It really summarizes the convergence of media technologies in a powerful way. I included Version 3 at the end of my last post because it is a wake-up call about the impact of population changes that underscore the need for education as well as the social impact of technological change. (And the music is better.) Version 4 takes a different tone but is equally impressive. Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Reddit This Post Stumble This Post -
Want to Keep Your Job? Get More Education
9 Nov 2009 | 1:43 pmA version of this article ran on PsychologyToday.com in my blog “Positively Media.” A recent survey by the Career College Association reported that 9 out of 10 Americans think college is important for career opportunities and 67% believe that education is the key to competitiveness in the global economy. Turns out education can also be the key to keeping your job in an economic downturn. Recent employment numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that not only do people with more education earn more, but in tough times like these, education provides a buffer against… -
What Courses Should I Take to Study Media Psychology?
4 Nov 2009 | 11:41 amWondering what courses make up a media psychology curriculum is common particularly among people thinking about the next steps in their education. Recently a young woman from Athlone High School for Girls in South Africa posed this question, so I am sharing my response here. It is exciting to hear that people all around the world are becoming aware of the importance of psychology in addressing media and technology in our daily lives. Media psychology, while based in psychology, is transdisciplinary. You will want a working understanding of several areas of… -
Pursuing a Career in Psychology, Education, and Interactive Media
25 Oct 2009 | 12:55 pmI always enjoy getting questions from people interested in integrating media applications into their field of study or in pursuing a career in media psychology. The questions come from around the world and are always full of enthusiasm for learning, the potential of media technologies, and making a positive contribution to society. It is always a chance for me to remember not only how much I love the field of media psychology, but why I think it is so very important. Media psychology is a broad field. Recently I received a question from a new graduate in the Middle East about how to follow a… -
Drucker and Facebook–Organizing for Change
19 Oct 2009 | 1:17 pmThere’s a story about the demise of Facebook in the Washington Post: Worldwide ebb for Facebook. I like the logic–when a company’s been around long enough for someone to make a movie out of it, then it’s probably on the downhill slide, even if they do get Justin Timberlake. That people are interested in something new shouldn’t be surprising to anyone in business, marketing or evolutionary psychology. Same ol’, same ol’ won’t cut it, especially in a world where expectations about the speed of change have reached new highs. But rather than…
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Neurophilosophy
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The cognitive benefits of time-space synaesthesia
19 Nov 2009 | 1:10 pmSYNAESTHESIA is a neurological condition in which there is a merging of the senses, so that activity in one sensory modality elicits sensations in another. Although first described by Francis Galton in the 1880s, little was known about this condition until recently. A rennaissance in synaesthesia research began about a decade ago; since then, three previously unrecognized forms of the condition have been described, and hypotheses for how it arises have been put forward. Two new studies now provide some insight into time-space synaesthesia, the least researched of all the forms of this… -
Dyslexia and the Cocktail Party effect
13 Nov 2009 | 8:10 amIMAGINE sitting in a noisy restaurant, across the table from a friend, having a conversation as you eat your meal. To communicate effectively in this situation, you have to extract the relevant information from the noise in the background, as well as from other voices. To do so, your brain somehow "tags" the predictable, repeating elements of the target signal, such as the pitch of your friend's voice, and segregates them from other signals in the surroundings, which fluctuate randomly. The ability to focus on your friend's voice while excluding other noises is commonly referred to as the… -
The illusion of time: Perceiving the effect before the cause
6 Nov 2009 | 9:50 amA novel temporal illusion, in which the cause of an event is perceived to occur after the event itself, provides some insight into the brain mechanisms underlying conscious perception. The illusion, described in the journal Current Biology by a team of researchers from France, suggests that the unconscious representation of a visual object is processed for around one tenth of a second before it enters conscious awareness. Chien-Te Wu and his colleagues at the Brain and Cognition Research Centre in Toulouse used a visual phenomenon called motion-induced blindness, in which a constantly… -
Phantom limbs can contort into impossible configurations
28 Oct 2009 | 11:37 amFOLLOWING the surgical removal of a body part, amputees often report sensations which seem to originate from the missing limb. This is thought to occur because the brain's model of the body (referred to as the body image) still contains a representation of the limb, and this leads to the experience that the missing limb is still attached to their body. Occasionally, amputees say that they cannot move their phantom limbs - they are perceived to be frozen in space, apparently because they cannot be seen. Yet, research shows that the body image is malleable and easily manipulated. And according… -
A pictorial history of neurotechniques
21 Oct 2009 | 2:20 pmTHE latest issue of Technology Review contains a photo essay by yours truly, called Time Travel Through the Brain, in which I look at how techniques used to investigate the brain have evolved during the 100 year history of modern neuroscience. The essay begins with a drawing by the great Spanish neuroanatomist Santiago Ramón y Cajal, who used the staining method discovered by Camillo Golgi to establish that nervous tissue is composed of cells, then goes on to describe more recent methods such as fibre tracing, Brainbow and various types of microscopy.This image from the piece graced…
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Science Of Small Talk
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Fort Hood Fallout
7 Nov 2009 | 7:32 amPsychologists call it illusory correlation. The idea is that when we think about others, we tend to overestimate the association between groups and actions that are distinctive. It's one of the ways in which societal stereotypes are perpetuated and endure over time. And it's exactly what has many an American Muslim concerned in the wake of this week's tragic shooting spree at the Fort Hood Army base.Consider the following research study: you're shown flash cards with information about individuals from two different groups, X and Y. For both groups of people, 75% of the individuals are… -
Searching for the Perfect Victim
28 Oct 2009 | 11:36 amIn its most recent issue, Newsweek has a story on an ongoing string of unsolved murders in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. The victims in these cases have been poor, Black, and–in some instances at least–have had criminal records. I spoke with Krista Gesaman, the reporter who wrote the piece, and though my quotations in it are among the most obvious and least interesting aspects of the story, it's worth a read.The thrust of Gesaman's article is that various characteristics of the victims may help explain why the story has received far less attention than other, seemingly less serious (or, at… -
I'll Have What He's Having
21 Oct 2009 | 5:54 pmThe scene: New Orleans, the French Quarter. I'm out with college friends to celebrate the wedding weekend of a fellow buddy. It sounds like the set-up for a Vince Vaughn or Seth Rogen movie– with a lead-in like that, I'm sure you can envision any number of intriguing outcomes to the tale.Alas, you don't know me very well.Those who do would be quick to assure you that this story is less likely to end in Judd Apatow-inspired, plastic-bead-related debauchery, and more likely to segue into an admittedly overwrought psychological analysis of mundane daily life.So we're sitting around the table… -
Obama’s Pyrrhic Prize
9 Oct 2009 | 8:30 amIf my morning radio talk shows, workplace chatter, and Facebook news feed are to be trusted, the big topic of discussion this weekend is going to be Barack Obama's surprising win of the Nobel Peace Prize. Specifically, the first question most people are turning to–that is, after, wait, are you serious?–is whether this honor will help or hurt Obama politically.It's a social psychological question to be sure, especially since the awards committee seems to be using this selection as an attempt to encourage and bolster Obama's international agenda. And as with any effort at persuasion, you… -
Thou Shalt Not... Copulate?
29 Sep 2009 | 8:06 pmPublicity is a funny thing. Any press is good press, right? So I suppose I should be happy that my current place of employ is being covered by US News & World Report, The New York Times, and Huffington Post among other outlets. Why is Tufts in the news? Well, if you haven't yet heard, it's because our Office of Residential Life just instituted a formal policy prohibiting students from engaging in sexual activity while their roommate is present in the room.If nothing else, the rule certainly has inspired conversation and a number of questions. Like should a university be legislating…
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GPM - The MPG Illusion
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The REAL Final Clash for Clunkers Numbers
6 Nov 2009 | 7:58 pmGiven the doubts I expressed in this earlier post, I downloaded the NHTSA data and calculated the harmonic mean for the old and new vehicles in the 2009 Cash for Clunkers program.The harmonic mean prevents the MPG Illusion by first converting all car MPG values to gallons per mile (GPM), averaging GPM, and then converting it back to MPG.Here are the results:Old vehicles Reported Average MPG = 15.8Average GPM = 0.064082517Actual Average MPG = 15.6049New vehiclesReported Average MPG = 24.9Average GPM = 0.041966565Actual Average MPG = 23.8285Well, that final actual MPG figure is a full mile per… -
Final Cash for Clunkers Numbers (But with Doubts)
6 Nov 2009 | 6:17 pmThe final Cash for Clunkers numbers are in:Old vehicles: 15.8 MPG on averageNew vehicles: 24.9 MPG on averageThat saves about 2 gallons of gas every 100 miles of driving, or 2 tons of CO2 every 10,000 miles of driving. There is an AP story ridiculing the fact that some pick up trucks were traded in for other pick up trucks with essentially the same MPG (a 15 MPG truck for a 16 MPG truck), but that loophole was obvious from the start. It was built in by design to support Detroit. The Feinstein/Schumer/Israel contingent tried to hold out for good size increases in MPG, but had to compromise… -
Trucks and Low Hanging Fruit
28 Oct 2009 | 7:09 pmMPG obscures the value of small MPG improvements on inefficient vehicles. Long haul trucks are a perfect example of the benefits of small MPG improvements. As this Greenbiz article notes, long haul trucks are low hanging fruit. The average truck gets 6 miles to the gallon; according to the article, technology exists that can double this number. A 6 MPG improvement may not sound impressive. A little reflection makes it obvious that this cuts gas consumption in half for a given distance of driving. And a little more math quantifies the gain:6 MPG = 16 Gallons per 100 miles12 MPG = 8 Gallons per… -
Proposed Rulemaking To Establish Light- Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emission Standards and Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards
16 Oct 2009 | 1:12 pmThe Federal Register has posted a new document from the EPA and NHTSA entitled: "Proposed Rulemaking To Establish Light-Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emission Standards and Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards" The document contains a very useful summary of past conversations about supplementing MPG with a measure of fuel consumption. I have cut and pasted three sections on how consumers think about MPG. Page numbers refer to the Federal Register numbering. The passages appear below. If you support the idea of making a gas consumption figure more salient to car buyers, you can comment on… -
DOE Report on Improving Fuel Economy Decisions
30 Sep 2009 | 1:23 pmThe Department of Energy has a comprehensive August 2009 draft report available for the public entitled:Reducing Oil Use and CO2 Emissions by Informing Consumers’ Fuel Economy Decisions: The Role for Clean CitiesA Discussion Paper for Clean Cities Coalitions and Stakeholders to Develop Strategies for the FutureThe authors describe the fact that consumers are confused about the relationship between fuel economy (miles per gallon) and fuel consumption (gallons per mile), which leads to inaccurate assessments of the value of fuel economy.Later in the report (pages 15-16), they note thatAnother…
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The Personality Analyst
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Libel in Fact: Aspiring to Rational Judgments Using DSM-I
15 Nov 2009 | 1:29 pmA 1964 poll Fact magazine invited members of the American Psychiatric Association to comment on then-Senator Barry Goldwater's personality. Last week, I continued my examination of the results of the poll, particularly focusing on the difference between, intuitive, automatic-seeming perceptions of personality versus logical, analytical reactions (see here).An example of a likely intuitive reaction was a respondent's comment regarding the Senator: "He frightens the hell out of me."In contrast to such intuitive reactions, diagnostic evaluations of Senator Goldwater ought to be more logical and… -
Libel in Fact: Intuitive Judgments
8 Nov 2009 | 5:54 pmIn recent posts, I have been examining a 1964 poll conducted by Fact magazine. The poll asked psychiatrists to comment on then-Senator Barry Goldwater's personality. The comments published in Fact provide some useful illustrations of how people judge one another.In 2007, Arie Kruglanksi and Edward Orehek of the University of Maryland examined how "dual mode" theories are key to understanding person perception. Dual mode theories state that a person draws on two somewhat different mental systems when judging someone.The first of the two systems is fast-reacting, and involves largely… -
Libel in Fact: When are Data Good Enough?
1 Nov 2009 | 1:20 pmWhen are data good enough? Researchers and scholars often face this question. I face it as I examine responses from the 1964 Fact survey of psychiatrists.Last week I described some "wild analysis" on the part of several psychiatrists who responded to the poll. The psychiatrists were evaluating then-Senator Barry Goldwater's personality. The term, "wild analysis" refers to an evaluation of someone's personality based on unsubstantiated theory and/or implausible reasoning. Mr. Warren Boroson, the former managing editor of Fact at the time commented on last week's post: "The person… -
Libel in Fact: Wild Analysis in the Fact Poll
25 Oct 2009 | 1:51 pm"Wild analysis" was Sigmund Freud's 1910 term for the misapplication of his psychological theories to a psychotherapy patient. It might occur if the analyst in question misunderstood psychoanalytic theory (Freud's theory), or didn't know the person being analyzed well enough, or misapplied the theory out of some personal motivation. Wild analysis also refers to communicating a conclusion without regard to therapeutic tact.To update the concept a bit, one might say that wild analysis occurs when one person interprets another's mental life in a way that does not follow logically from… -
Libel in Fact: Agreement in the Fact Poll?
18 Oct 2009 | 5:19 pmIn past posts, I have been recounting the Goldwater v. Ginzburg libel trial. Fact magazine's September, 1964 issue was devoted to whether Senator Goldwater, who was then running for US President, was sufficiently mentally healthy to lead the nation. After losing the election, Senator Goldwater accused Fact's publisher and editor of defaming his character.The libel trial that followed provided real-life examples of the challenges surrounding accurate personality judgments and the ethics and laws that apply to such judgments. One issue at the trial was Fact magazine's poll of…
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The Situationist
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Situationism in the News
20 Nov 2009 | 8:21 pmBelow, we’ve posted titles and a brief quotation from some of the Situationist news over the last several weeks. From Fox News: “Romantic Rivalries Stir Religious Feelings” “Rivals on the dating scene could make one feel closer to God, according to new research that suggests one’s religiousness may be more closely related to mating strategies than previously known.” Read more . . . From Origins: “Does Studying Why People Believe in God Challenge God’s Existence?” “[…] One leading model from cognitive science suggests that religion is a natural consequence of… -
The Situation of Emotional Distress Claims
19 Nov 2009 | 8:01 pmBetsy Grey has recently posted her intriguing paper, “Neuroscience and Emotional Harm in Tort Law: Rethinking the American Approach to Free-Standing Emotional Distress Claims” on SSRN. Here’s the abstract. American tort law traditionally distinguishes between “physical” and “emotional” harm for purposes of liability, with emotional harm treated as a second class citizen. The customary view is that physical injury is more entitled to compensation because it is considered more objectively verifiable and perhaps more important. The current draft of the Restatement of… -
Aaron Kay, “The Psychological Power of the Status Quo”
19 Nov 2009 | 6:20 amSituationist Contributor Aaron Kay is an Assistant Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Waterloo in Canada. Professor Kay’s research has focused on the integration of implicit social-cognitive processes with the study of broad social issues. In his primary line of work, he investigates the myriad ways by which people cope with, adapt to, and rationalize social inequalities. At the moment, this research program addresses questions such as: (1) How do people rationalize and justify their good fortune and bad fortune, others’ good fortune and bad fortune, and the social… -
The Situation of Mortgage Defaults
17 Nov 2009 | 8:01 pmBrent White recently posted his thoughtful paper, “Underwater and Not Walking Away: Shame, Fear and theSocial Management of the Housing Crisis” on SSRN. Here’s the abstract. Despite reports that homeowners are increasingly “walking away” from their mortgages, most homeowners continue to make their payments even when they are significantly underwater. This article suggests that most homeowners choose not to strategically default as a result of two emotional forces: 1) the desire to avoid the shame and guilt of foreclosure; and 2) exaggerated anxiety over foreclosure’s… -
The Situation of the “Invisible Hand”
16 Nov 2009 | 8:01 pmYesterday, Paul Rosenberg published an intriguing situationist piece at Open Left about the context and meaning of Adam Smith’s “invisible hand.” Here are some excerpts. What if Adam Smith’s “invisible hand” argument doesn’t mean what we think it means? What if it doesn’t mean that everything else but the “free market” can and should be ignored? What if if Smith actually depended on social and historical context in order to make his argument in the first place? What if it was an argument deeply dependent on what . . . The…
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Ulterior Motives
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Health and insurance and politics and behavior
19 Nov 2009 | 10:10 amThis post will make you uncomfortable. You should read it anyway.I'm going to talk about health behaviors and dangerous diseases. And we don't like to think about disease and death, and so we avoid it.Instead, we talk around disease and death. For example, right now, there is a real uproar over the recommendation that women should not start having regular mammograms until they turn 50. Opponents of health-care reform have taken this recommendation as the first shot in the war to ration health-care to Americans. <!--break-->How is this talking around disease and death? It is easy to… -
You again! The role of significant others in our social interactions
17 Nov 2009 | 8:56 amSome patterns in our lives tend to repeat. You may meet a new person, and suddenly find that you talk as though you were back in college with them. Or, you may meet a new romantic interest, and you speak to them as if they were an old significant other. Or you my have a boss and you find yourself talking to him as if he was your father.What is going on?<!--break-->It is hard to have to treat each new person in your life fresh. After all, there must be some value to all of the experience you have had with other people you have met.Research by Susan Andersen, Serena Chen, and their… -
The difficulties of haggling
11 Nov 2009 | 6:59 amIn the first week of November, I was an invited speaker at the Cognition Emotion and Motivation conference that is in Tunisia every two years. Most of the attendees at the meeting were from Tunisia or from other French speaking countries. So, the conference was a great way to catch up on research being done that is not typically published in the Psychology journals published in English. I will have more to say about that in a future post.But, first, a few words on haggling and why it is so difficult to do well.<!--break-->Because I had never been in Tunisia before, I wanted to bring… -
Your actions affect what others do. Even when those others are infants.
30 Oct 2009 | 7:07 amWestern culture tends to focus on the individual and on individual rights. We assume that people have the right to do what they would like, at least as long as those actions don't interfere with others. But, what does it mean for one person's actions to affect the actions of another?<!--break-->Research by Henk Aarts, Peter Gollwitzer, and Ran Hassin described in a 2004 paper in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology suggests that just watching or reading someone striving toward a goal can make you more likely to adopt that goal as well. In one study, for example, participants… -
Categories, essentialism, race, and culture.
27 Oct 2009 | 6:45 amPlacing something in a category and describing its properties have very different effects on the way we think about things. In my last post, I pointed out that calling someone a musician makes playing music seem much more central to their being-more essential-than just saying that they play music. What about categorizing people by their race?<!--break-->Throughout the world, racial, cultural, and ethnic differences are used to place people into different categories. Once we categorize people in this way, we automatically assume that they have the essence of this category. For example,…
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National Institutes of Health (NIH) Podcast
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NIH Research Radio - November 13, 2009
13 Nov 2009 | 9:00 am#0097 Report from NIH Research Radio - Topics for Friday, November 13, 2009 Coming up in this episode a talking glossary explains genetic terms, and details and discussion regarding flu shots, including the H1N1 vaccine. But first news about new treatments for vision loss. Episode #0097 show notes Podcast archives -
NIH Research Radio - October 30, 2009
30 Oct 2009 | 10:00 am#0096 Report from NIH Research Radio - Topics for Friday, October 30, 2009 Coming up in this episode an interview with the new NIH Director. Also, an historic perspective from nearly 70 years ago. But first a cocaine vaccine shows promise for treating addiction. Episode #0096 show notes Podcast archives -
NIH Research Radio - October 16, 2009
16 Oct 2009 | 10:00 am#0095 Report from NIH Research Radio - Topics for Friday, October 16, 2009 Coming up in this episode the importance of family history information from a health perspective. Also, important statistics on the prevalence of diabetes, plus ways to control it. But first racial disparities in breast cancer. Episode #0095 show notes Podcast archives -
NIH Research Radio - October 2, 2009
2 Oct 2009 | 10:00 am#0094 Report from NIH Research Radio - Topics for Friday, October 2, 2009 Coming up in this episode: a very special report on President Barak Obama's visit to the National Institutes of Health. To get some perspective first, we'll have reports on how medical research is shared over agencies, and among countries. But first we have early results on how the 2009 H1N1 vaccine is effective in children. Episode #0094 show notes Podcast archives -
NIH Research Radio - September 18, 2009
18 Sep 2009 | 10:00 am#0093 Report from NIH Research Radio - Topics for Friday, September 18, 2009 Coming up in this episode we're focusing on cancer. We'll have reports on cancer prevention in Africa, and signing up for breast cancer research in the US, plus we'll have an interview about a research initiative using modern genomic technologies to fight childhood cancers. But first, a recent study sheds light on low bone density in young women. Episode #0093 show notes Podcast archives
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Books from Psychology Press
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The Development of Autobiographical Memory
27 Oct 2009 | 5:00 pmThe Development of Autobiographical Memory Autobiographical memory constitutes an essential part of our personality, giving us the ability to distinguish ourselves as an individual with a past, present and future. This book reveals how the development of a conscious self, an integrated personality and an autobiographical memory are all… ISBN: 9781848720206 Published Oct 27, 2009 by Psychology Press -
The Development of Autobiographical Memory
27 Oct 2009 | 5:00 pmThe Development of Autobiographical Memory Autobiographical memory constitutes an essential part of our personality, giving us the ability to distinguish ourselves as an individual with a past, present and future. This book reveals how the development of a conscious self, an integrated personality and an autobiographical memory are all… ISBN: 9780203866238 Published Oct 27, 2009 by Psychology Press -
Developmental Social Cognitive Neuroscience
7 Sep 2009 | 5:00 pmDevelopmental Social Cognitive Neuroscience This volume in the JPS Series is intended to help crystallize the emergence of a new field, "Developmental Social Cognitive Neuroscience," aimed at elucidating the neural correlates of the development of socio-emotional experience and behavior. No one any longer doubts that infants are born… ISBN: 9781841697673 Published Sep 07, 2009 by Psychology Press -
Developmental Social Cognitive Neuroscience
1 Sep 2009 | 5:00 pmDevelopmental Social Cognitive Neuroscience This volume in the JPS Series is intended to help crystallize the emergence of a new field, "Developmental Social Cognitive Neuroscience," aimed at elucidating the neural correlates of the development of socio-emotional experience and behavior. No one any longer doubts that infants are born… ISBN: 9781841697680 Published Sep 01, 2009 by Psychology Press -
Ageing, Cognition, and Neuroscience
3 Jun 2009 | 5:00 pmAgeing, Cognition, and Neuroscience Developed nations are experiencing enormous increases in the number of elderly people in the population. Ageing is a universal complex multifaceted process that profoundly affects mind and brain of all individuals. Important discoveries are being made at different levels of research on cognitive… ISBN: 9781848727076 Published Jun 03, 2009 by Psychology Press
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Psychology / Psychiatry News From Medical News Today
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An Intervention That Can Reduce Hostile Perceptions In Children With Prenatal Alcohol Exposure
21 Nov 2009 | 12:00 amPrenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) has been linked to a wide array of developmental deficits, including significant impairments in social skills. An examination of a social- skills intervention called Children's Friendship Training found that it led to a decrease in hostile attributions or perceptions of children with PAE. Results will be published in the February 2010 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. -
A Brief Intervention That Works For Drivers Who Persist In Driving While Intoxicated
21 Nov 2009 | 12:00 amDriving while impaired (DWI) contributes significantly to road-traffic crashes, and is involved in more than one-third of all fatalities. Many DWI recidivists - drinking drivers who re-offend - do not participate in mandated alcohol-evaluation and intervention programs or else continue to drink problematically after their licenses have been re-issued. -
Mathematical Abilities Examined In Children With Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
20 Nov 2009 | 4:00 amChildren with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) have a number of cognitive deficits, but mathematical ability seems particularly damaged. Little is known about the brain structures related to mathematical deficits in children with FASD. A new study that used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to investigate the relationship between mathematical skills and brain white matter structure in children with FASD supports the importance of the left parietal area for mathematical tasks. -
Innovative Therapy That Offers New Hope For Borderline Personality Disorder
20 Nov 2009 | 12:00 amPatients coping with the chaos and misery of Borderline Personality Disorder now have reason for strong confidence in making major life changes through a new treatment, Schema Therapy. For the first time, three major outcome studies have shown that many patients with Borderline Personality Disorder can achieve full recovery across the complete range of symptoms. -
Otsuka Pharmaceutical Europe Ltd Withdraws Its Application For An Extension Of Indication For Abilify (aripiprazole), Europe
20 Nov 2009 | 12:00 amThe European Medicines Agency has been formally notified by Otsuka Pharmaceutical Europe Ltd of its decision to withdraw its application for an extension of indication for the centrally authorised medicine Abilify (aripiprazole) tablets, orodispersible tablets and oral solution. Abilify was expected to be used in the treatment of major depressive episodes, as adjunctive therapy, in patients who have had an inadequate response to previous treatment with antidepressants.
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NIMH | Recent Updates
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NCDEU 2010: New Research Approaches for Mental Health Interventions
NCDEU is a scientific meeting that focuses on the latest developments in psychopharmacologic clinical trials research and related methodology. Co-sponsored by NIMH and the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology (ASCP), the meeting brings together over 1200 academic and industry investigators, research pharmacists, and clinicians and provides state-of-the-art workshops, panels, posters, and other special sessions devoted to advancing clinical research. Through its highly successful New Investigator Program, NCDEU emphasizes the development of research careers for those relatively new… -
Parent Training Complements Medication for Treating Behavioral Problems in Children with Pervasive Developmental Disorders
Treatment that includes medication plus a structured training program for parents reduces serious behavioral problems in children with autism and related conditions, according to a study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). The study, which was part of the NIMH Research Units on Pediatric Psychopharmacology (RUPP) Autism Network, was published in the December 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. -
Long-term Depression Treatment Leads to Sustained Recovery for Most Teens
Long-term treatment of adolescents with major depression is associated with continuous and persistent improvement of depression symptoms in most cases, according to the most recent analysis of follow-up data from the NIMH-funded Treatment of Adolescents with Depression Study (TADS). The report, along with a commentary compiling the take-home messages of the study, was published in the October 2009 issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry. -
NIH Encourages Depressed Moms to Seek Treatment for Themselves
Numerous studies have suggested that depression runs in families. Children of depressed parents are 2–3 times as likely to develop depression as compared to children who do not have a family history of the disorder. Other studies have shown that remission of depression in mothers is associated with improvements in psychiatric symptoms in their children. Despite all signs encouraging mothers to prioritize their own mental health, many suffer from untreated depression while managing treatment for their children’s emotional or behavioral problems. -
Recovery Act Grant Aims to Teach Kids with Autism How to Better Express Themselves
Most children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) seem to have trouble engaging in everyday social interactions. They may seem to have no reaction to other people or may respond atypically when others show anger or affection. Their own facial expressions, tone of voice, and body language may not match what they are saying, making it difficult for others to respond appropriately. Such barriers to communication can isolate children with ASD from their peers.
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Child Psych
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Mental Health Roundup: Seasonal Affective Disorder
15 Nov 2009 | 9:12 amIn the first of an occasional series, I'm providing a roundup of blog posts on a specific mental health topic. I'm starting off with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) since this is the time of year... -
Depression in Pre-Schoolers?
31 Oct 2009 | 7:05 amWhen researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine published the first longitudinal study of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) in preschool children, it came as a surprise to many that... -
What Mental Health Parity Means for You
12 Oct 2009 | 8:22 amThe outcome of health care reform currently under consideration in Congress is uncertain. Fortunately, legislation was passed last year to improve access to mental health services through health... -
You Asked: What Are the Effects of Rape?
28 Sep 2009 | 6:58 amThere are a wide range of short-term and long-term psychological effects that an individual victim may experience. The nature of the assault, use of a weapon, threats, violence, serious physical... -
Back to School Safety Tips
15 Sep 2009 | 1:04 pmThe National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has a safety fact sheet for older children going to and from school. It goes into detail about the usual stranger safety tips (for example, not...
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Litemind
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Beat Parkinson’s Law and Supercharge Your Productivity
16 Nov 2009 | 4:20 amWork expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. Even if you are not familiar with its name, I’m sure you’ve fallen prey to Parkinson’s Law countless times… what can we do to escape it? Do You Recognize These Symptoms? -
6 Productivity Principles to Live By (My Personal Productivity Manifesto)
27 Oct 2009 | 8:48 am -
How Can I Make Litemind More Useful for You?
8 Oct 2009 | 3:10 amWill you help me make this website better? Today, instead of providing new content, I’d like to ask you to speak your mind and take this quick survey. It shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes, and your feedback will give me invaluable ideas and insights on how I can make the website better for you. Two quick things about the survey: All 5 questions are optional. The more feedback I get the better, but feel free to answer only the questions you want. Also, the more thorough your answers are the better, but feel free to be as brief as you want. Any information you can… -
Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
25 Sep 2009 | 6:55 am -
Overcome Fear of Failure, Part II — 6 Powerful Strategies You Can Use
9 Sep 2009 | 5:46 amIn the first part of this series, we focused on building an effective mindset for overcoming fear of failure. Now it’s time to get down to action: here are 6 powerful strategies you can use to conquer fear of failure right off the bat. 1. Acknowledge Your Fear
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Channel N
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Human
20 Nov 2009 | 8:30 amWhat We Are What it is to be human: “a modern secular view.” First in a series of six talks by the distinguished cognitive scientist, in this long-running philosophical lecture series. -
Comic Book Hero Saves Self
18 Nov 2009 | 8:30 amDarkness Calls A bullied young man in the Arctic resists suicidal thoughts through comic book battles with a demon, in an epic animated story. Subtitled in English, narrated in the Gitxsan language. -
Sapolsky on Depression
16 Nov 2009 | 8:30 amStanford’s Sapolsky On Depression in U.S. “Basically, depression is like the worst disease you can get.” This renowned neuroscientist has convincing arguments to back up his opening statement. See also: an excellent lecture on the neurodegenerative effects of stress. -
Political Behaviour
12 Nov 2009 | 8:30 amLeft Brain, Right Brain: Human nature and political values Trends in economics and politics including consumerism and changes in democracy, and how research into psychology, social networks and behavioural economics is relevant. -
Shades of Lies
9 Nov 2009 | 12:20 pmOn Fake Behavioural economist Dan Ariely explains his experiment in which wearing sunglasses perceived as designer counterfeits led people to cheat in an economic game. Amusing, nicely produced DIY video, featuring a great wardrobe. Check out more of his vids on Ariely’s YouTube channel (a very funny intro to his work: The Dan Ariely Show), and watch a lecture on irrational behaviour in the archives.
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BPS Research Digest
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Psychology X-factor
20 Nov 2009 | 1:14 amLast time around it was a tie. You voted joint first: the study on increasing altruism in toddlers and the study showing that CCTV cameras don't reassure, they frighten.Which was your favourite from our last seven reports:Click Here for PollOnline Survey | Website Polls | Email Marketing | Crowdsourcing SoftwareView MicroPoll -
Want to predict a footie result? Don't even think about it
19 Nov 2009 | 1:27 amImagine you've just paid an expert good money for their verdict and they say to you: "Can you hang on a couple of minutes whilst I don't think about this". You'd be forgiven for thinking they've gone silly. They may have. But another possibility is that you've chosen a shrewd expert who's totally up-to-speed with the latest decision-making research: Ap Dijksterhuis and his colleagues have just shown that people with expertise in football are better at predicting match outcomes when they spend time not consciously thinking about their predictions.In an initial experiment, 352 Dutch undergrads… -
How infants affect how much their carers engage with them
18 Nov 2009 | 2:27 amYoung children benefit socially and intellectually the more their carers engage and respond to them. Recognising this, we can train nursery staff to be as responsive to the children in their care as possible. But a new study by Claire Vallotton raises an interesting and under-examined issue - what if there's something about some infants that leads their carers to engage with them more, thus giving them an advantage over their peers?Vallotton filmed interactions between 18 student caregivers and 10 infants (aged between 4 and 19 months) at the Infant and Toddler programme at the UC Davis child… -
The Special Issue Spotter
17 Nov 2009 | 3:34 amWe trawl the world's journals so you don't have to:The biological basis of business (Organisational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes).The neural basis of timing and anticipatory behaviours (European Journal of Neuroscience).Psychological functioning of international missionaries (Mental Health, Religion and Culture).Reinforcement learning and higher cognition (Cognition).New methodologies for intervention and outcome measurement (Neuropsychological Rehabilitation).Dissemination and implementation of cognitive behavioural therapy (Behavioural Research and Therapy). -
Testosterone-status mismatch in a group is linked with reduced collective confidence
16 Nov 2009 | 2:24 amMen and women with more testosterone like to be in charge. Indeed, they can find it stressful and uncomfortable when denied the status that they crave. Similarly, people low in testosterone find it uncomfortable to be placed in positions of authority. An intriguing new study has built on these earlier findings, showing a mismatch between testosterone-level and status is associated with group functioning. Groups made up of people whose status in the group doesn't match their testosterone level tend to have less collective confidence (or "collective efficacy" in the psychological jargon). This…
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SharpBrains
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Council on the Ageing Society, at the Summit of the Global Agenda
18 Nov 2009 | 6:52 amHeading to Dubai today (a 15-hour direct flight!), coming back to San Francisco next Monday. Last year I wrote about this remarkable new initiative by the World Economic Forum here (proposal) and here (reflections, emerging discussion). This year’s update: Overview: Network of Global Agenda Councils List of Councils: Here List of Members: Here Members of Ageing Society Council: Here Info on 2009 Summit: Here Report from 2008 Summit: Here (opens PDF in new window) Twitter: #WEFDubai. Will tweet during the event, and blog about it next week. -
Scientia Pro Publica #16: Us, Friends, and Society
16 Nov 2009 | 10:20 amWelcome to the 16th edition of Scientia Pro Publica, the blog carnival that celebrates the best science, nature and medical writing published in the blogosphere within the past 60 days. What are some of the fascinating topics you can explore and discuss with this group of bloggers? Science & Us The Evolving Mind: What’s the point of daydreaming? Credit: Johan Stigwall, via Flickr Generally Thinking: What is the brain impact of different types of meditation (focused, open monitoring, compassion)? The Emotion Machine: Can blogging help you control your environment and manage… -
Invitation to SharpBrains Summit – Technology for Cognitive Health and Performance
10 Nov 2009 | 6:57 amWe are excited to invite you to the first virtual, global SharpBrains Summit (January 18-20th, 2010). The SharpBrains Summit will feature a “dream team” of over 25 speakers who are leaders in industry and research from 7 countries, to discuss emerging research, tools and best practices for cognitive health and performance. This inaugural event will expose health and insurance providers, developers, innovators at Fortune 500 companies, investors and researchers, to the opportunities, partnerships, trends, and standards of the rapidly evolving cognitive fitness field. Register Today Learn… -
100 is the New 65: Living Longer and Better
7 Nov 2009 | 6:04 am(Editor’s Note: we are pleased to bring you this article thanks to our collaboration with Greater Good Magazine). 100 is the New 65 - Why do some people live to 100? Researchers are trying to find out, reports Meera Lee Sethi, and they’re discovering how we might live better lives, not just longer ones. Will Clark, 105, recently bought a van for a 5,000-mile road trip across the Midwest with his wife, Lois, who is 102. Elsa Brehm Hoffmann loves bridge and is always ready for a party. Rosa McGee enjoys singing hymns to herself all day long. Will Clark makes a mean spaghetti and… -
Digital Games for Physical, Cognitive and Behavioral Health
5 Nov 2009 | 1:35 pmThe Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) just announced more than $1.85 million in grants for research teams to study how digital games can improve players’ health behaviors and outcomes (both brain-based and behavioral). The press release: Nine Leading Research Teams Selected to Study How Digital Games Improve Players’ Health “Digital games are interactive and experiential, and so they can engage people in powerful ways to enhance learning and health behavior change, especially when they are designed on the basis of well-researched strategies,” said (UC Santa…
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The Essential Read
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Doing the right thing for others is also doing the right thing for ourselves.
21 Nov 2009 | 7:16 amAs we enter the holiday season this week there are often many opportunities to volunteer our time, talents, and money to worthy causes directed to those who may be less fortunate than ourselves. Collecting food for the hungry, toys for children without many resources, or working at a local soup kitchen all help others enjoy a better holiday season than they might otherwise but it makes us feel good too.Many people report that helping others feels good, often claiming that they get more out of the experience than those with whom they help. However, what you might not know is that there is… -
Party Survival Tactics for Introverts
20 Nov 2009 | 11:11 amMy husband and threw a small party, a brunch, the other day. An introvert throwing a party? Yep. I'm not antisocial. I like seeing friends and offering hospitality. And in some ways, throwing a party is easier than attending someone else's. For one thing, when I need to check out of the chitchat, I can busy myself with hostess duties--refilling food or drinks, mopping up spills, general tidying. Plus, I usually know everyone at my own parties, which makes mingling less awkward for me.Still, a party is a party and I anticipated this party with the usual combination of pleasure, high anxiety,… -
The Myths of Intrinsic-Extrinsic Motivation
20 Nov 2009 | 7:22 amWhat happens when a person is offered an incentive to do something the individual would have done anyway, without incentive? Back in 1975 Edward Deci, Mark Lepper, and their colleagues proposed that rewards undermine intrinsic motivation. In contrast, Len Sushinsky and I argued that the effects of rewards depend on how you use them. If you reward a person for just spending time in an activity, the person will become bored with the activity. If you reward a person for learning a new skill, however, the person is likely to show greater interest in the activity. We also asserted the significance… -
Aggressive Athletes: Out of Control and Unapologetic
18 Nov 2009 | 11:01 pm"It is wise to direct your anger towards problems -- not people; to focus your energies on answers -- not excuses." -William Arthur WardRecently, University of New Mexico soccer player Elizabeth Lambert was called out by ESPN for punching, kicking, shoving, and throwing elbows against opponents after her team fell behind in a conference tournament game. In her most blatant attack, she yanked back an opponent's ponytail, ripping her to the ground.News coverage of these incidents follows a time-worn pattern: the highlight reels run, the sports talk jockeys express outrage, the player makes a… -
Procrastination, guilt, excuses and the road less traveled
18 Nov 2009 | 5:01 pmPeople seldom do what they believe in. They do what is convenient, then repent. (Bob Dylan). I certainly agree with the first part of this Dylan quote, but I'm quite sure that there's more to it than repentance, including: distraction, forgetting, trivialization, self-affirmation and denial of responsibility to name a few.Since the 1950's with Leon Festinger's (and his students') initial work on cognitive dissonance, psychologists have spent countless hours studying how acting counter-attitudinally leads to a negative emotional state. Why? Well, most people try to maintain a consistent and…
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All In The Mind
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It's hot in here: Climate change and the psyche
20 Nov 2009 | 6:57 pmCopenhagen is almost upon us. The gathering of the 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) is where the world's negotiators will strive to bash out an effective agreement to mitigate anthropogenic (human-induced) climate change. It'll be the successor to the Kyoto Protocol (adopted in 1997, entered into force in 2005 and expiring in 2012). Politicians and economists have dominated the headlines on the issue in recent years and I've been interested to see acronyms like ETS*, CRPS*, CDM* and IPCC now rolling off the… -
Left right: Analytical Creative? Nope.
13 Nov 2009 | 6:44 pmI'm replaying the interview I recorded with Michael Gazzaniga this week (a lurgy got me for part of the week...). For those pushing the industry of books, exercises and art classes all predicated on the right side of the brain being the "creative" half - Michael Gazzaniga is raining on your party. He helped conduct the trailblazing split brain experiments with Nobel Laureate Roger Sperry, and knows a thing or a hundred about how the hemispheres of the brain work. I think this interview gives a… -
Our microbial bodies...
6 Nov 2009 | 6:44 pmA team at the University of Colorado have just published a terrific, unique atlas in the journal Science. It's a map that's very much of you.... though, not quite you. This is the most complete map to date of the trillions of bacteria which occupy our every orifice... "from our foreheads and feet to our noses and navels". They report to have sampled from the "hair on the head, ear canals, nostrils, mouth, lower intestine, and 18 different skin sites ranging from foreheads and armpits, forearms, palms, index fingers,… -
The eyes have it....
30 Oct 2009 | 4:07 pmDig deep into the function...form....and evolutionary history of any organ in our body...and there's a magical mystery tour to behold. Why wasn't high school science this interesting? Squeezed of every last shred of surprise.... This week on All in the Mind our most spectacular sensory organ is under the lens. The EYE. The vertebrate eye of today, and the early effort of an eye 500 million years ago. We have some help from this spectacularly gruesome looking specimen. The Lamprey. Look at those flesh sucking FANGS. And then there's this slimey… -
Addiction and the limits of free will
23 Oct 2009 | 1:35 amDid you hear the one about a Supreme Court judge, a philosopher and a psychiatrist...? Well, they walked into a... ...radio studio....and... ...are my guests on All in the Mind this week in roundtable discussion, off the back of a symposium organised by Macquarie University and Melbourne University, called Addiction, Identity & Responsibility: Perspectives from Neuroscience, Social Science, Philosophy and Law (PDF of symposium) The idea of the event was to bring different disciplines together in dialogue - science, the courts, policy,…
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Frontier Psychiatrist
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“When Nietzsche Wept”
8 Nov 2009 | 2:24 pmSomeone gave me this for my birthday. I’d not heard of psychotherapist and novelist Irvin D. Yalom before, although apparently he’s quite popular, and sufficiently revered to merit the publication of a ‘Yalom reader’. This is an accolade of which I can only dream, not least because I have never written a novel. Lovers of psychoanalytical historical fiction need look no further. The plot centres on Dr Josef Breuer, feted Viennese physician, mentor to the young Freud and his relationship with Friedrich Nietzsche, notable philosopher. In the opening chapters Breuer is much… -
“A muddled moral and political agenda”
1 Nov 2009 | 1:22 amHaving been sacked from his position as the chief UK government drugs advisor Professor David Nutt may today be reflecting on the precarious position of anyone who seeks to advise politicians on controversial matters. For it seems that whilst such an advisory position would appear to call for candour as a job requirement, in reality an expert who expresses an opinion out of step with the thinking of his or her political masters will find this leads to chastisement and the possibility of dismissal. Nutt irked Home Secretary Alan Johnson by penning an article which criticized the UK’s drug… -
David Nutt resigns
30 Oct 2009 | 1:26 pmChief government drug advisor Professor David Nutt, has resigned from his position today following an publication in which he discussed the relative harms of currently illegal substances compared to those which are widely available such as alcohol. Seems sensible, but the distinctly illiberal Alan Johnson MP seems unprepared to enter into nuanced debate. This is not the first time Professor Nutt has landed himself in trouble with a Home Secretary; he was severely reprimanded by Jacqui Smith in March 2009 following publishing an article which compared the dangers of using ecstasy with… -
Open letter of protest – Update
26 Oct 2009 | 3:54 pmIn February of this year I posted this open letter of protest on this website. This is a campaign by 725 physicians (including myself) from 43 countries to compel the World Medical Association (WMA) to examine the medical ethical track record of the Israeli Medical Association, one of its member associations, in relation to its adherence to the Declaration of Tokyo, a key WMA code. This declaration mandates doctors not only to refuse any involvement in the practice of torture, but to speak out and confront it whenever encountered. Unfortunately there is reputable evidence of the collusion… -
Global Psychiatry
1 Oct 2009 | 2:05 pmWriting generally, in its approach to the study and treatment of mental disorders, Western psychiatry has tended to ignore socio-cultural factors, preferring instead to conceptualize the illnesses with which it is concerned as having a biological basis and a single aetiology and presentation. Mental disorders as seen by the West are universal and those elsewhere marginalized and considered culture bound. All cultures do have recognised human behavioural breakdowns – sustained anomalous behaviours judged negatively and regarded as disruptive to organized social life – but this does not…
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N e u r o n a r r a t i v e
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Delving Deep into Human Emotion
19 Nov 2009 | 1:51 pmAs we move farther away from rational /emotional dualism–a tough habit to break–psychobiological research is increasingly focusing on the development and role of emotion in the brain. The first of three videos below features neuroscientist Antonio Damasio contending that even though we view emotion as a human trait, it is probably one of the earliest evolutionary advancements, significantly predating human evolution. He explains that emotions are “a way to live for as long as possible”, asking “if you were a gene, what would you do?” In the… -
The Words You Choose in an Argument Can Literally Break Your Heart
16 Nov 2009 | 11:48 amIn the middle of a fight with your significant other, word choice is usually not foremost on your mind. But it should be, particularly if you’re a man, according to a new study in the journal Health Psychology – and not just to save your partner’s feelings. In the heat of stressful conflict, your brain is commanding the release of a stress-chemical cocktail comprised of proteins called cytokines–produced by cells in the immune system to help the body mount an immune response during infection. Abnormally high levels of these proteins are linked to cardiovascular disease,… -
Thinking You’re in Control Can Lead to an Impulsive Demise
5 Nov 2009 | 11:44 amFor six months you’ve worked really hard to stick to a diet, and it’s paying off. Not only have you lost weight, but now more than ever you’re better able to restrain your impulse to eat fattening foods. Your friends are telling you how impressed they are with your resolve, and truth be told you’re feeling pretty damn good about yourself as well. Which is why, around month seven, you decide that your impulse control is sufficiently strengthened that avoiding being around ice cream, nachos, chicken wings, soda—and all the other things you used to eat out with your friends—is no… -
The Dynamics of Human Tribes
4 Nov 2009 | 11:16 amAt TEDxUSC, business professor David Logan talks about the five kinds of tribes that humans naturally form — in schools, workplaces, even the driver’s license bureau. Initially, Logan’s discussion may come across as a how-to for ascending ’tribal stages’ and a bit reductionistic, but around 11:00 the message gels, and it’s a good one. Below that is a video, also from TED, with author Seth Godin discussing how the Internet has revived the human social need for tribes and people to lead them. If you’re interested, you can download a free PDF… -
Is the First Spot Always Best in a Preference Test?
30 Oct 2009 | 2:44 pmDoes someone interviewing for a job stand a better chance of getting the position if she’s first on the list of interviewees, last, or somewhere in-between? Does someone running for public office stand a better chance of getting elected if he’s first on the ballot, last, or otherwise? These are questions of order in choice — and depending on who you’re asking, you’ll likely get a different answer about which spot in the picking order is more advantageous. The issue is whether we can rely on a psychological standard for determining which slot in the order…
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"In the News" by Karen Franklin, Ph.D.
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Unconditional discharge in Canadian "sexsomnia" case
13 Nov 2009 | 5:17 pmIn a fascinating criminal responsibility case, a Toronto man who was reportedly asleep when he sexually assaulted a woman six years ago has been unconditionally discharged as no threat to the public.A trial judge had acquitted Jan Luedecke on the basis that he could not have formed the criminal intent to commit a sexual assault. The Ontario Court of Appeal quashed that ruling, saying Luedecke should have been found not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder. The case was then sent to the Ontario Review Board for a determination of Luedecke's dangerousness.At trial, evidence was… -
Salon on "silly" Fort Hood media coverage
13 Nov 2009 | 4:14 pmAward-winning journalist Mark Benjamin over at Salon has penned a keen analysis of the biased and woefully off-base tenor of media coverage of last week's Ford Hood shooting spree, focusing on incendiary terms like "terrorism" and "political correctness" rather than the real issues:The media's silly Fort Hood coverage*By Mark BenjaminEveryone wants to debate terrorism and political correctness, but the real story is the failure of Army medicine The conventional narrative of the Fort Hood shootings, one week later, has been distinguished by the reporting of unconfirmed -- and sometimes… -
Paraphilic coercive disorder: Contagious virus?
9 Nov 2009 | 7:27 pmI posted last week about a proposal to create a new mental disorder in the DSM-V for preferential rapists. A shocking news story out of Australia makes me think that if Coercive Paraphilic Disorder exists, it must be contagious. Not just contagious, but virulently contagious in certain all-male environments.Of the 198 students at St Paul's College at the University of Sydney, a large proportion were apparently infected with a highly contagious form of the virus. If Paraphilic Coercive Disorder makes it into the next Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, St. Paul's will be… -
Scientist razes proposed "Paraphilic Coercive Disorder"
6 Nov 2009 | 7:45 amPedohebephilia. Hypersexuality. Coercive Paraphilic Disorder. How many new sexual disorders can fit into the DSM-V, the American Psychiatric Association diagnostic manual scheduled for publication in 2012?Government evaluators in Sexually Violent Predator cases must be thrilled with the possibilities being generated by the prolific paraphilias subworkgroup of the DSM-V Sexual Disorders Workgroup. If these proposed diagnoses make it into the psychiatric bible, the task of establishing that sex offenders have bona fide mental disorders meriting hospitalization will suddenly get a whole lot… -
Asperger’s: Here today, gone tomorrow?
3 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pmWould erasure from DSM impact forensic use?It was just a few years ago that Asperger's Disorder exploded into the public consciousness. But just as suddenly, if the DSM-V authors have their way, it may disappear, absorbed back into the spectrum of autism disorders from whence it came.An intriguing story in today's New York Times describes the controversy that is heating up as the DSM-V work groups prepare to issue their final diagnostic proposals in January.As Times reporter Claudia Wallis notes, Asperger's is "one of the most intriguing labels" in the diagnostic book:"Children with…
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The Mouse Trap
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Logos Vs Mythos: Autism Vs Schizophrenia
21 Nov 2009 | 7:49 amI recently came across this TED talk by Devdatt Patnaik, A chief Belief Officer in an Indian industry group and was fascinated by his description of the distinction between logos based ‘the’ world which is objective, logical, universal, factual and science based and mythos based ‘my’ world which is subjective,emotional, personal, belief-based and mythological in nature. while ‘the’ world tries to answer ‘how’, ‘my’ world tires to answer ‘why’. To me the same is true of Autism and Psychosis dichotomy. While autistic frame… -
Seeing is believing : why delusions may arise from anomalous experiences
19 Nov 2009 | 8:23 pmImage via Wikipedia I recently came across this article by Rosengren and Hickling about how children explain seemingly impossible or extraordinary transformations in terms of magic or trickery or natural/physical explanations based on their ages and developmental level. To summarize the study , I’m presenting the abstract: Children’s magical explanations and beliefs were investigated in 2 studies. In Study 1, we first asked 4- and 5-year-old children to judge the possibility of certain object transformations and to suggest mechanisms that might accomplish them. We then presented… -
The five domains of human social experience:the SCARF model
16 Nov 2009 | 3:59 amImage via Wikipedia I recently came across David Rock’s Psychology Today blog named your brain at work. He has recently published a book by the same name and though I haven’t read the book yet, I was sufficiently engrossed by his ideas to read up on his proposed SCARF model in the NueroLeadership journal (2008). David has himself written a series of five posts explaining each domain of his SCARF model, so you can refer them and read starlight from the horse’s mouth. David maintains that the five major goals of human brain are geared towards maintaining… -
Autism-a two dimensional disorder?
9 Nov 2009 | 2:03 amImage via Wikipedia Two main underlying deficits have been proposed in autism- one concerning an inactive or non-existent Theory of Mind module and another a tendency towards Weak Central Coherence. ToM defects reflect in the communicative, social and imaginative deficits seen in autistics; while the savant skills as well as restrictive and repetitive behavior (restricted repertoire of interests ;obsessive desire for sameness – islets of ability – idiot savant abilities – excellent rote memory – preoccupation with parts of objects ) are best explained by taking recourse to the… -
The five tribal stages
6 Nov 2009 | 11:16 amI recently came across this TEDx video by David Logan talking about the five tribal stages and was glad on discovering another confirmation to my stage theoretic model. Dave along with King and Haleee have also written a book titled “Tribal Leadership” which summarizes their research, their tribal leadership model and how corporates and other organizations can move from one tribal stage to another. As their theoretical background they have rhetorics, organizational theory and chaos theory and they view ‘culture as a self-correcting system of language’. This needs a bit…
