I'm hoping you were able to fight over your food coma after the Super Bowl long enough to catch CBS's new show- Undercover Boss. If you did, I bet the show gave you goosebumps. It really affected me in a profound way. The premise of the show is a CEO goes undercover and works in the entry level jobs that are too often under appreciated in large companies. Larry O'Donnell, President and COO of Waste Management, was the first to take on the challenge of going undercover in his own organization. He picked up liter (and got fired), cleaned out port-a-potties, and ran a trash route. To say he had…
Psychology
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THE MBTI BLOG
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Undercover Boss and Decision Making
7 Feb 2010 | 9:25 pm -
Introversion/Extroversion and Puppy Bowl VI
7 Feb 2010 | 8:21 pmSuper Bowl is one of my favorite days of the year. No- that's not because I am a big football fan. No- it's not because of the commercials. It's due to Animal Planet's annual Puppy Bowl and Kitty Half-time Show. I look forward to 2 hours of the most feel-good TV you can see all year long. Two full hours of laughing and saying "awe!" It's pure animal-lover heaven!I had an unexpected observation during this year's game. If you're looking for a fun new way to introduce the behaviors typical of Introversion or Extroversion, you might want to add a few YouTube video clips from the Puppy Bowl.The… -
New Webinar via TypeLabs on MBTI and Leadership with Sharon Richmond
1 Feb 2010 | 8:45 amHeads up- there is a new webinar being hosted by TypeLabs with the author of Introduction to Type and Leadership- Sharon Richmond. I love seeing a webinar at a reasonable price that also includes MBTI Continuing Education credits. Enjoy!__________________________________________________Cultivating Leadership in Your Organization: Leadership Development, Emotional Intelligence and Personality TypePresented by Sharon RichmondFriday, March 5, 20101pm EST to 2:30pm EST MBTI CE Credits: 1.5Secure Your Spot TodayRegular Price: $119Early-bird Price: $79 (Save $40)One of the most pressing concerns in… -
Type and Generations Workshop at OKA and a 20% Discount!
21 Jan 2010 | 5:58 amI'm so excited to tell you about another great workshop being held at OKA (Otto Kroeger Associates) focusing on personality type, MBTI, and Generations. This is such a hot topic and this 2-day workshop looks full of great information! Plus, OKA has been so generous and has offered a 20% discount on this workshop to all MBTI Blog readers! Just enter MBTIBLOG in the coupon line when you checkout! Enjoy and thank you OKA!________________________________________________________OKA’s Generations and Type: 17-18 February 2010 in Fairfax, VAMore and more OKA clients are asking us for help in… -
Job Interview Tips for Introverts and Extroverts
20 Jan 2010 | 1:56 pmInterviewing is no fun! I don't know anyone who enjoys the process of being interviewed for a job. Even when you feel like you're a good match, there is still that feeling that you're standing on the playground waiting to be picked for a game of dodge ball. It also seems that for some people, no matter how much you prepare or how confident you are, you will just feel like you didn't click with that interviewer. Sadly, not all interviewers are good at interviewing. Some will ask oddball questions like "If you were a cereal, what would you be?" Nevertheless, you need to be at your personal best…
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Scientific American - Mind & Brain
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Third-hand smoke contains carcinogens too, study says
8 Feb 2010 | 12:01 pmAnyone walking into a smoker's abode can tell you that the traces of tobacco use don't vanish when a cigarette or cigar is extinguished. But just what happens to this "third-hand" smoke once the air has cleared--and can it still be harmful? [More] -
Botoxed Face Impairs Bad Feelings
8 Feb 2010 | 7:17 amAt one time or other, someone has probably told you “it’s written all over your face.” That’s because your emotions can influence your expressions. Well, a study in the journal Psychological Science suggests that the reverse is also true: that the look on your face may influence your ability to process emotions. [More] -
Dealing with Super Bowl XLIV Pressure
5 Feb 2010 | 10:30 am[More] -
Readers Respond on "Squeezing More Oil from the Ground"
5 Feb 2010 | 5:00 amEnd or No End? In “ Squeezing More Oil from the Ground ,” Leonardo Maugeri, director of strategies and development of an international oil company, expresses the conventional view of his profession, assuming a world of near-infinite oil resources to be produced under market forces. Maugeri is particularly dismissive of our Scientific American article “The End of Cheap Oil” [March 1998]. It is difficult to find fault with at least its title, considering that the average price of oil over the preceding 10 years was $28 a barrel but rose to $45 over the ensuing decade to… -
Fixing the Broken Government Policy Process
4 Feb 2010 | 5:00 amThe breakdown of the Washington policy process has four manifestations. First is a chronic inability to focus beyond the next election. “Shovel-ready” projects squeeze out attention to vital longer-term strategies that may require a decade or more. Second, most key decisions are made in congressional backrooms through negotiations with lobbyists, who simultaneously fund the congressional campaigns. Third, technical expertise is largely ignored or bypassed, while expert communities such as climate scientists are falsely and recklessly derided by the Wall Street Journal as a…
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Psychology Today
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Sex in Advertising
8 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pmSex sells, but not always to women. -
The Castrating Woman
8 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pmRising from the unconscious at the Super Bowl -
Why I Love Advertising
8 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pmAll's fair in love and advertising -
What Do Men and Women Want?
8 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pmAsk the Super Bowl ads -
Mathematical Model
7 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pmDanica Mckellar teaches girls that brains and beauty go together
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Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin current issue
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Wolves in Sheep's Clothing: SDO Asymmetrically Predicts Perceived Ethnic Victimization Among White and Latino Students Across Three Years
26 Jan 2010 | 2:49 pmDominant groups have claimed to be the targets of discrimination on several historical occasions during violent intergroup conflict and genocide.The authors argue that perceptions of ethnic victimization among members of dominant groups express social dominance motives and thus may be recruited for the enforcement of group hierarchy. They examine the antecedents of perceived ethnic victimization among dominants, following 561 college students over 3 years from freshman year to graduation year. Using longitudinal, cross-lagged structural equation modeling, the authors show that social… -
Who Am I Without You? The Influence of Romantic Breakup on the Self-Concept
26 Jan 2010 | 2:49 pmRomantic relationships alter the selves of the individuals within them. Partners develop shared friends and activities and even overlapping self-concepts. This intertwining of selves may leave individuals’ self-concepts vulnerable to change if the relationship ends. The current research examines several different types of self-concept change that could occur after a breakup and their relation to emotional distress. Across three studies, using varied methodologies, the authors examined change in both the content (Study 1a and 1b) and the structure of the self-concept, specifically,… -
On the Social-Communicative Function of Justice: The Influence of Communication Goals and Personal Involvement on the Use of Justice Assertions
26 Jan 2010 | 2:49 pmThis article reveals how people strategically use justice assertions when attempting to persuade others. In three studies participants communicated about a negative situation they or someone else had experienced and did so in a persuasive manner (Studies 1-3), an accurate manner (Study 1), by asking for an opinion (Study 2), or without a communication goal (Studies 1 and 3). Communicators who had a persuasion goal used more justice-related words than communicators who had a goal to be accurate, asked for an opinion, or had no goal. This was particularly the case when communications were about… -
Regulatory Accessibility and Social Influences on State Self-Control
26 Jan 2010 | 2:49 pmThe current work examined how social factors influence self-control. Current conceptions of state self-control treat it largely as a function of regulatory capacity. The authors propose that state self-control might also be influenced by social factors because of regulatory accessibility. Studies 1 through 4 provide evidence that individuals’ state self-control is influenced by the trait and state self-control of salient others such that thinking of others with good trait or state self-control leads to increases in state self-control and thinking of others with bad trait or state… -
There's No Substitute for Belonging: Self-Affirmation Following Social and Nonsocial Threats
26 Jan 2010 | 2:49 pmFeelings of belonging are closely linked to feelings of self-esteem. This article examines whether these feelings are regulated in a similar manner. Research on self-esteem maintenance shows that self-enhancement strategies are interchangeable; self-esteem threats in one domain instigate indirect self-affirmations in unrelated domains that effectively replace needs to directly address the original threats. From this perspective, when self-esteem threats arise from a lack of belonging, indirect self-affirmations should again be both preferred and effective. However, belonging regulation may be…
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PsyBlog
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Why The Media Seems Biased When You Care About The Issue
9 Feb 2010 | 6:48 amResearch shows both pro-Arabs and pro-Israelis watching the same news reports think it is biased against their own side. The media may well be biased, in fact it would be a miracle if it were permanently and perfectly balanced, that isn't what this post is about. Instead this is about how you and I perceive the presence or absence of bias in the media. This study, conducted in the 1980s, helps to explain a lot of the heat and light that gets produced by those commenting on media bias across the political spectrum, including the remarkably vitriolic outpourings often seen in the comment… -
Recruitment Closed: Online Expressive Writing Study
8 Feb 2010 | 7:07 amUpdate: Thanks for your interest in this study but recruitment is now closed. Are you currently feeling a little under the weather, fed up or stressed? Do you live in the United Kingdom? Are you over 18? Would you be interested in participating in an expressive writing study? If so, read on... About this research Many studies have found that when people write about past emotional events in their lives they can show improvements in physical or mental health. We want to test the effects of expressive writing in a study carried out completely online. Here are some brief details of the study,… -
Why We Love Narcissists (At First)
3 Feb 2010 | 3:02 amParadoxically we initially like narcissists more because of their exploitative, entitled behaviour—but it doesn't last long. Despite being self-absorbed, arrogant, entitled and exploitative, narcissists are also fascinating. And not just from a clinical perspective; the research finds that we are strangely drawn to their self-centred personalities, their dominance and their hostility, their sensitivity and their despair, at least for a while. Psychologists are fascinated by narcissists, both why we like them despite on some level recognising their dysfunction, and because they embody so… -
10 More Brilliant Social Psychology Studies: Why Smart People Do Dumb or Irrational Things
26 Jan 2010 | 4:18 amWhich is your favourite social psychology study? Over the last 7 months I've been exploring 10 more of my favourite social psychology studies, each with an insightful story to tell about how our minds work. This follows on from an article I wrote two years ago (10 brilliant social psychology studies). Key insights from each study are below but click through to get the full story of each experiment. Once you've had a look, vote for your favourite at the bottom of this page. Why You Can’t Help Believing Everything You Read By default are we critical or gullible? This study shows that… -
The 7 Psychological Principles of Scams: Protect Yourself by Learning the Techniques
21 Jan 2010 | 5:28 amHow hustlers trick 3.2 million people each year in the UK into handing over £3.5 billion. Good hustlers are excellent intuitive psychologists. Just like magicians they understand enough about how the mind works to exploit its vulnerabilities. Our fascination with hustlers is insatiable and, despite being criminals, they are frequently portrayed by Hollywood in a flattering light, in films like The Sting, Catch Me If You Can and the Ocean's Eleven trilogy. Of course the reality is nowhere near as romantic, especially if you've fallen for one of the cons. Frank Stajano, a security expert at…
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World of Psychology
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7 Office Depression Busters: Tips for Work Depression
9 Feb 2010 | 4:25 amIn his classic, “The Prophet,” Kahlil Gibran writes: Always you have been told that work is a curse … But I say to you that when you work you fulfill a part of earth’s furthest dream, assigned to you when that dream was born. Unfortunately Kahlil’s words don’t jibe with a new Australian study that found almost one in six cases of depression among working people caused by job stress, that nearly one in five (17 percent) working women suffering depression attribute their condition to job stress and more than one in eight (13 percent) working men. In the last… -
Introducing the Pop Psychology Blog
8 Feb 2010 | 7:11 amGenders issues in mainstream psychology are of interest to a great many people, us included. So we’re happy to welcome Yale University student, Johannah Cousins, as our newest blogger to be blogging about the intersection of gender issues and pop psychology in her new blog, Pop Psychology. Johannah Cousins is a senior English major at Yale University with a focus on gender studies and contemporary popular culture. She recently completed her senior thesis, an analysis of the cultural and feminist context of the Twilight series. She is a film and music critic and staff writer for the Yale… -
Watching Others Do Good, Clean Scents Promote Altruism
7 Feb 2010 | 8:05 amWhat would you say if I told you that simply observing people thanking others induced more altruism? The simple act of watching someone else do something uplifting or a good deed motivates us to also do good. At least that’s what researchers found in a recent demonstration of this effect at the University of Plymouth. In two experiments, researchers (Schnall et al., 2010) tested the level of altruistic behaviors amongst female students by asking them to view TV clips of three kinds — a neutral clip showing scenes from a nature documentary, an uplifting segment from “The Oprah… -
Facebook Continues to Dominate Among Youth
6 Feb 2010 | 7:17 amLast week, we discovered that 4 out of 5 teens prefer and use Facebook over the leading sugarless gum. Oh, sorry, I meant to say that while 7 out of 10 (73% to be exact) teens use social networking websites like Facebook, only 1 in 12 teens use Twitter. Clearly, the still-in-place-to-be is on Facebook and other social networking websites like it. The new data comes from our friends over at the Pew Internet and American Life Project, who conducted a phone survey in the middle of last year of 800 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17. And while teens continue to embrace social networking,… -
Newsweek: Do Antidepressants Work? For Many People, YES!
5 Feb 2010 | 4:39 amI admire Newsweek writer Sharon Begley’s work … especially when she explains ways we can try to rewire our brain. But I found last week’s cover story irresponsible. If, for no other reason, than its title and subtitle: “The Depressing News About Antidepressants: Studies Suggest That the Popular Drugs Are No More Effective Than a Placebo. In Fact, They May Be Worse.” Then I may as well kill myself. That’s how I would have read the article four years ago, before I started questioning all the information available today on mood disorders and drug treatment,…
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Psychology Today
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Love? Or Being In Love?
9 Feb 2010 | 11:38 amLots of couples end up in the marriage therapist’s office every day. But hardly ever does someone end up there who actually understands what love is. In fact, I would go so far as to say that it is rare for anyone to ever end up in any therapist’s office who actually understands what love is. There is within each of us an inherent desire to love and to be loved. But if we are ignorant as to what actually constitutes love, then how will we ever hope to know whether what is happening between us and another person is actually love? If the truth be known, what many (if not… -
Are You in a Book Group? Want a Reading Group Guide?
9 Feb 2010 | 11:28 amHappiness is a great book group meeting! I'm in three book groups -- one in which we read books aimed at adults, two in which we read book aimed at children and young adults. Being part of these books groups is among the joys of my life. So I'm a big fan of book groups. In general, I've heard, book groups don't choose books that are only available in hardback, so I've been surprised to hear from a lot of people that their groups have read The Happiness Project. It's thrilling to imagine a book group reading my book. Zoikes! If you do choose The Happiness Project, if you'd be interested, you… -
Think Beyond the Label: Society’s Hopelessly Mixed Message
9 Feb 2010 | 11:24 amSarah Palin attacked Rahm Emanuel for using the word "retarded" in a pejorative way. Today, we refer to people as having special needs, and don't identify them by their infirmities or deficiencies. Likewise, a new PSA asks people "to think beyond the label." As a woman in a wheel chair roams her office, she points out the idiosyncrasies each employee has. The point, she tells the audience, is to appreciate what each person has to offer.That is such sound advice - that it is regularly disregarded. In fact, psychology, school systems, disability programs are in the business of identifying… -
Why we love Betty White
9 Feb 2010 | 10:08 amA new populist movement is taking over the U.S. and I am not talking about one involving Tea Parties or Sarah Palin. The ever glamorous, funny, and spirited Betty White recently has become the inspiration for everything from a Superbowl commercial for Snickers to a Facebook group Betty White to Host SNL (please?) (with over 85,000 fans and counting). What is it about her that is drawing young and old alike to the rallying call? She is described by the Museum of Broadcast Communication as one of television's most beloved and talented actresses and in a nearly 50 year career,… -
Diet Soda or Sugar-Sweet? Your Brain Has a Mind of Its Own
9 Feb 2010 | 10:01 amDiet Soda or Sugar-Sweet? Your Brain Knows the Difference When Your Taste Buds Don't You may think that your diet soda tastes the same (maybe even better) than the sugar-sweetened variety, but your brain has a mind of its own when it comes to recognizing and discriminating calories. In Brain Sense, I report on a group of California researchers who cranked up their MRI machines and talked twelve healthy women into having their brains scanned as they consumed varying concentrations of sucrose (real sugar) and sucralose (artificial sweetener). The scientists found that both sucrose and sucralose…
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About.com Psychology
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Eight Major Theories of Leadership
7 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pmHow do people become leaders? Leadership is a topic of interest in social psychology and there are a number of theories that attempt to explain different aspects of leadership. Do certain qualities make people great leaders, or do situational factors play a role? Are leaders born, or is leadership a skill that can be learned? There are a number of different theories to explain how people become leaders.Photo courtesy Sanja Gjenero Early leadership theories focused on what qualities distinguished between leaders and followers, while subsequent theories looked at other variables such as… -
Sensorimotor Stage - Psychology Definition of the Week
3 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pmDefinition: In Piaget's stages of cognitive development, a period between birth and age two during which an infant's knowledge of the world is limited to his or her sensory perceptions and motor activities. Behaviors are limited to simple motor responses caused by sensory stimuli. Read more... Related Reading: Biography of Jean Piaget The Stages of Cognitive Development Image courtesy Piotr BiziorSensorimotor Stage - Psychology Definition of the Week originally appeared on About.com Psychology on Thursday, February 4th, 2010 at 06:00:44.Permalink | Comment | Email this -
Courses You Should Take Before Applying to Graduate School
2 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pmIf you are planning to apply to a psychology graduate program after earning your undergrad degree, now is the time to start preparing for the application process. In addition to basic steps such as taking the GRE and obtaining letters of recommendation, it is also important to select your undergraduate courses wisely. In order to be fully prepared for the rigors of the program you eventually choose, it's important to take courses that provide a strong background in key psychology topics. How do you decide which courses to take? Start by considering your own interests and goals. Look for… -
How Long Does it Take to Get a Ph.D. in Psychology?
1 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pmA doctorate-level degree in psychology is required in order to work in a number of fields, including as a licensed clinical psychologist or counseling psychologist. A doctorate degree is also often required in fields such as school psychology or health psychology. Just how long would it take you to earn your doctorate degree in psychology? The exact answer to that question depends on a number of different variables including your educational background and the specific graduate program you choose. Learn more: How Long Does it Take to Get a Ph.D. in Psychology? Image courtesy Mary GoberHow… -
Teens Are Not Getting Enough Sleep, New Survey Suggests
1 Feb 2010 | 6:33 amWe all know how important sleep is, so why is it that so many people don't get enough. The National Sleep Foundation reports than approximately 50 million American adults suffer from chronic sleep problems. while there are many great reasons to get a good night's sleep, many people simply don't place a high priority on sleep. The National Sleep Foundation report also found that nearly 63% of respondents simply accept sleep deprivation as a part of their life, while 32% turn to caffeinated drinks to combat daytime sleepiness. New study finds that many teens are not getting enough sleep.Image…
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organizational-psychology « WordPress.com Tag Feed
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Implementing Change and Overcoming Resistance
5 Feb 2010 | 4:49 pmIn “Leading Change” (1996), Kotter outlined an 8-Stage Process to Creating Major Change: Establish a Sense of Urgency: Examine market and competitive realities; identify and discuss crises, potential crises, or major opportunities Create the Guiding Coalition: Assemble a group with enough power to lead the change; get group to work together as a team Develop a Vision & Strategy: Create a vision to help direct the change effort; Develop strategies for achieving that vision Communicate the Vision: Use every vehicle possible to communicate the new vision and strategies; have… -
Elements of Corporate Cultures
1 Feb 2010 | 5:05 pmIn “Culture by Default or by Design?” Edmonds and Glaser (2010) talk about the challenge of describing the culture of an organization. In the article, the authors maintain that the impact of your corporate culture can spell success or disaster for the organization. The culture of your company is its personality, it’s “how things are done around here” (Edmonds & Glaser, 2010, p. 37). Culture can be the company’s values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors – both of the overall system itself and of the individual members who make up the organization. -
Impression Management of President Obama
27 Jan 2010 | 1:05 pmIn Leadership in Organizations, Professor Gary Yukl defined impression management as “the process of influencing how others perceive you” (Yukl, 2010, p. 136). Dr. Yukl states that often people use excuses and apologies to avoid being blamed for their mistakes or poor performances. Yukl (2010, citing Pfeffer) states that many leaders try to create the impression that they are “important, competent, and in control” (p. 138). Successes are often broadcast, while failures and errors are kept quiet and not publicized. Salancik and Meindl (cited in Yukl, 2010) studied… -
"There aren't any stupid people out there"
26 Jan 2010 | 11:34 amThus spake Ben Goldacre, at his lecture on Risk and the Media at Darwin College, Cambridge last Friday. Check out the talk when it becomes available on iTunes shortly – it’s provocative, informative, and hilarious. As a practicing NHS doctor, Ben’s argument was that he has seen hundreds, if not thousands, of people confronted with weighing complex evidence and making decisions with enormous consequences, and they do, with admirable comprehension, because they are extremely motivated to do so. Psychology, for the record, backs him up. Motivated adults (and children) do better… -
The Arrogance of Leadership
24 Jan 2010 | 3:43 amLast summer (while in a Psychology of Leadership class) I read about Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (A&F) and its shrinking profits due to its refusal to offer discounts on its clothing line in this recession. A&F’s position was that the discounts would water down their image of a luxury brand, especially as they’re opening up stores overseas overseas in Milan, London, and Tokyo. So if they were to slash prices here in the U.S., A&F wouldn’t be able to maintain that air of exclusivity. While A&F was suffering, competitors like American Eagle benefited from its missteps. It…
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Mind Hacks
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Nine Legendary Hypochondriacs
8 Feb 2010 | 12:00 amABC Radio National's Late Night Live has a fascinating discussion with the author of a new book on nine famous hypochondriacs: James Boswell, Charlotte Bronte, Charles Darwin, Florence Nightingale, Alice James, Daniel Paul Schreber, Marcel Proust, Glenn Gould and Andy Warhol. I'm not sure Daniel Paul Schreber is necessarily the best example of someone with hypochondria is he is famous for writing a personal account of being genuinely mentally ill and floridly psychotic. However, I've not read the book and the programme focuses on better known figures so I am open to being convinced (certainly… -
Bonuses generate more heat than light
6 Feb 2010 | 9:11 amThe engaging behavioural economist Dan Ariely has just become a columnist for Wired UK and in his first article he describes how the promise of performance-related pay often backfires leading people to do more but perform worse. To see the effect of bonuses on performance, Nina Mazar (assistant professor of marketing, Toronto University), Uri Gneezy (professor of economics and strategy, University of California, San Diego), George Loewenstein (professor of economics, Carnegie Mellon, Pennsylvania) and I conducted three experiments. In one we gave subjects tasks that demanded attention,… -
2010-02-05 Spike activity
5 Feb 2010 | 12:00 amQuick links from the past week in mind and brain news: Sex addiction is a feminist victory, according to an article in Slate, apparently because it allows man shaming. Malevolence-based medicine rears its ugly head. The BPS Research Digest covers research finding CBT-based self-help books might do more harm than good for people who worry a lot. The public are asked for their opinion on the recent news that The Lancet retracts the Wakefield autism paper, by The Onion. Neurophilosophy has an excellent piece on big news that the first evidence for navigation essential grid cells in the human… -
Eureka brain special and more fighting
4 Feb 2010 | 10:00 amThe Times has just released its monthly science magazine, Eureka, with a special issue on the brain and all the articles freely available online. There doesn't seem to be a way to link to a whole issue, but inside you'll find an excellent piece on the use of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to temporarily switch off bits of the working brain, a profile of neurosurgeon Huma Sethi, an article on commercial brain-computer interfaces, a remarkable piece on how old injuries can 'return' to affect phantom limbs as well as an exploration of the link between brain activity and sporting skill. -
Time to think
4 Feb 2010 | 4:00 amBioemphemera has found some wonderfully left-field brain illustrations by Dutch graphic designer Rhonald Blommestijn. The image on the left is a brain made out of clocks. Blommestijn's blog is full of strikingly surreal eye-candy that manages both to inspire a feeling of wide-eyed wonder and illustrate scientific themes. They're certainly very original takes on the subject and the neuroscience images are particularly vivid. Link to Bioephemera on Blommestijn's brain illustrations. Link to Blommestijn's blog.
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Cognitive Daily
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Cognitive Daily Closes Shop after a Fantastic Five-Year Run
20 Jan 2010 | 1:57 pmFive years ago today, we made the first post that would eventually make its way onto a blog called Cognitive Daily. We thought we were keeping notes for a book, but in reality we were helping build a network that represented a new way of sharing psychology with the world. Cognitive Daily wasn't the first psychology blog, but clearly it filled an important niche, because within a year, we were receiving over 30,000 page views a month. Now we often get over 100,000 page views a month, and we've totaled over four million. We reach many more people than would ever have bought our book, and we've… -
Both musicians and non-musicians can perceive bitonality
20 Jan 2010 | 9:48 amTake a listen to this brief audio clip of "Unforgettable." Aside from the fact that it's a computer-generated MIDI performance, do you hear anything unusual? If you're a non-musician like me, you might not have noticed anything. It sounds basically like the familiar song, even though the synthesized sax isn't nearly as pleasing as the familiar Nat King Cole version of the song. But most trained musicians can't listen to a song like this without cringing. Why? Because the music has been made "bitonal" by moving the accompanying piano part up two semitones (a semitone is the difference between… -
Synesthesia and the McGurk effect
14 Jan 2010 | 9:05 amWe've discussed synesthesia many times before on Cognitive Daily -- it's the seemingly bizarre phenomenon when one stimulus (e.g. a sight or a sound) is experienced in multiple modalities (e.g. taste, vision, or colors). For example, a person might experience a particular smell whenever a given word or letter is seen or heard. Sometimes particular faces are associated with specific colors or auras. Synesthesia is relatively rare, but the people who experience it are genuine: their perceptions are consistent and replicable. But one question researchers haven't been able to nail down is exactly… -
Does watching TV really kill you?
12 Jan 2010 | 1:58 pmToday I had to put off my normal morning run in order to make time to be interviewed on a radio show at 7:30 a.m. As I waited on hold for the interview to start, I could hear the hosts joking back-and-forth about what the "latest TV controversy" is. "Is it the Jay Leno / Conan O'Brien news on NBC?" the host asked? No. Then the hosts rattled through several other hot-button issues on television before arriving at this: "New research from the American Heart Association Journal [Circulation] suggests that watching TV might actually reduce how long you live." How's that for a controversy? The… -
The outfielder problem: The psychology behind catching fly balls
7 Jan 2010 | 12:22 pmIt's football season in America: The NFL playoffs are about to start, and tonight, the elected / computer-ranked top college team will be determined. What better time than now to think about ... baseball! Baseball players, unlike most football players, must solve one of the most complicated perceptual puzzles in sports: how to predict the path of a moving target obeying the laws of physics, and move to intercept it. The question of how a baseball player knows where to run in order to catch a fly ball has baffled psychologists for decades. (You might argue that a football receiver faces a…
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Channel N +
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Understanding the Brain by Reverse Engineering
3 Feb 2010 | 8:30 am[Image by dreamglow.] Blue Brain: Year One The Blue Brain Project is an ambitious effort to model a brain, neuron by neuron, in order to understand its systems and functions in new ways and to build the facility to model brains across species. “I believe we will understand the brain before we finish building it,” says the project’s director, Henry Markram. First video release of a ten year documentary series by director Noah Hutton, following the project as it develops. Gorgeous imagery and an inspiring subject. See also: Blue Brain Neocortical Column Visualization, and the… -
How Neuroscience May Affect Law
1 Feb 2010 | 8:30 am[Image by bloomsberries.] Neuroscience, Law and Government Symposium Keynote speaker Hank Greely gives a basic talk about neuroscience and the law for an audience of lawyers/law students. Topics include predicting (behaviour and illnesses), mind reading and lie detection, responsibility and consciousness, treatment, and cognitive enhancement. Q&A follows. Greely blogged about it as well; sounds like it was a great symposium and it’s a pity the other videos aren’t online too. -
Stressed? Try Beautiful Water Relaxation
29 Jan 2010 | 8:30 am[Image by darkpatator.] The Water Room An ambient video featuring relaxing beach wave sounds with gorgeous and thoughtful close images of water in motion. It’s designed as a “meditation room” with continuous streaming video to provide background for your relaxation routines or as a soothing balm in itself. Loveliness. Lime.com offers many videos including beginner’s yoga instruction by the excellent Rodney Yee to start a practice at home without expensive classes, and other healthy living and behavioural health subjects. -
Neurotalk
20 Jan 2010 | 8:30 am[Image of the Banff Springs Hotel by Steph & Adam.] Neuro Talk: Tap In, The Experts Weigh In Short (1 to 2 min. each) interview clips in modules on major topics including brain scans, religion, neurolaw, cosmetic psychopharmacology, meditation, coma, and more from attendees at a neuroethics conference in Banff, Alberta. Non-resizable and unsharable custom video player, but great content. -
Child Abuse Epigenetics
19 Jan 2010 | 8:30 am[Image by net efekt.] The Epigenetic Link between Child Abuse and Suicide Risk Portion of a talk focussing on a study that looked at the epigenetics of people with histories of child abuse who died by suicide, and found increased methylation in some areas. Slides not available, but a fascinating talk on a hot topic.
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The Last Psychiatrist
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Don't Settle For The Man You Want
8 Feb 2010 | 7:59 amI stopped reading The Atlantic when I wanted to stop cutting -
How Seroquel XR Works, Part 1
4 Feb 2010 | 9:49 amWhen evidence based medicine results in a government sanctioned lie. -
Check Out My New Acura-- ads?
1 Feb 2010 | 6:57 amthis is not an Acura ad -
4 Easy Steps Towards Weight Loss That Aren't Drugs, Diets, Or Excersise
31 Jan 2010 | 9:06 pmI can't tell you not to eat it, but I can tell you how -
The Massacre Of The Unicorns II
26 Jan 2010 | 9:37 amif it had a horn, I'm sure it would be a rhinoceros
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BPS Research Digest
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Intrusive images and intrusive verbal thoughts are different phenomena
9 Feb 2010 | 2:29 amThe vivid, intrusive visual images that are a hallmark of post-traumatic disorder (PTSD) are based on a separate memory system from intrusive verbal thoughts. That's according to a new study that claims to provide empirical support for psychologist Chris Brewin's dual-representation theory of PTSD.Brewin's theory posits two memory systems, one that's largely sensation-based, inflexible and automatically accessed and another that's more deliberately accessible, containing material that is contextualised and can be easily put into words. By this account, a traumatic event can end up lodged in… -
How framing affects our thought processes
8 Feb 2010 | 1:29 amA take-away restaurant near my house offers customers free home delivery or a ten per cent discount if you pick up. It sounds much better than saying you get no discount for picking up and suffer a ten per cent fee for delivery – this is the power of ‘framing’. Now David Hardisty and colleagues have dug a little deeper into framing, to show first, that these kinds of effects can interact with people's political persuasion, and second, that they can act by altering the order of people's thoughts.Hundreds of online participants chose between various flights, computers and so on. In each… -
CBT-based self-help books can do more harm than good
5 Feb 2010 | 1:52 amSelf-help books based on the traditional principles of CBT, including popular titles like 'CBT for Dummies', can do more harm than good, according to a new study. The risks were highest for readers described as 'high ruminators' - those who spend time mulling over the likely causes and consequence of their negative moods.The new research focuses on the use of self-help books as a preventative intervention for people at risk of developing depression. Gerald Haeffel identified 72 undergrads at risk and allocated each of them randomly to work through one of three self-help books. A third of the… -
Shiny, swanky car boosts men's appeal to women, but not women's appeal to men
3 Feb 2010 | 1:29 amIt's a widely held, if much derided, belief that ownership of a prestige sports car can increase a man's sex appeal to women. Indeed, there's a scene in the American sit-com Friends in which Joey dons a ridiculous Porsche-branded costume of peak cap, gloves, jacket and trousers, so determined is he to convince female passers-by that he owns a fast, shiny car. Now Michael Dunn and Robert Searle have tested the shiny car effect scientifically, looking at the influence of apparent car ownership on both male and female perceived attractiveness.Hundreds of passers-by in Cardiff city centre were… -
The Special Issue Spotter
2 Feb 2010 | 1:43 amWe trawl the world's journals so you don't have to:Adolescent Brain Development: Current Themes and Future Directions (Brain and Cognition). Open Access. Psychotherapy, Medicine and the Body: A Tribute to the work of Alexis Brook (Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy).The interaction of online technology on the consumer shopping experience (Psychology and Marketing).Dynamics of Social Networks (Social Networks).Towards a Fetal Psychology (Infant and Child Development).Physical activity research showcasing theory into practice (Psychology and Health).
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SharpBrains
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Pumping up the Brain: Reflections on the SharpBrains Virtual Summit
9 Feb 2010 | 11:41 amOn January 18-20, 2010 Alvaro Fernandez and his team at SharpBrains put together a splendid line-up of speakers on a wide range of topics related to emerging brain fitness research, technologies, and markets, and clinical cognitive and mental health issues. IFTF was proud to be a sponsor of this event. Although the conference was virtual, aside from the rigors of travel and a basket of bagels on the hallway table, my level of intellectual stimulation (and fatigue) mirrored most of my face-to-face conference experiences. It was a technical success and the content was first-rate. The conference… -
The Evolution of Empathy
2 Feb 2010 | 6:28 am(Editor’s Note: we are pleased to bring you this article thanks to our collaboration with Greater Good Magazine). The Evolution of Empathy Empathy’s not a uniquely human trait, explains primatologist Frans de Waal. Apes and other animals feel it as well, suggesting that empathy is truly an essential part of who we are. Once upon a time, the United States had a president known for a peculiar facial display. In an act of controlled emotion, he would bite his lower lip and tell his audience, “I feel your pain.” Whether the display was sincere is not the issue here; how we are… -
Will the Apple Tablet Support or Hinder Users’ Cognitive Fitness?
26 Jan 2010 | 7:20 amRumor has it that Apple is going to announce a tablet computer, which may well become a revolutionary new way for users to read and experience all kinds of educational content. Will it support or hinder our Cognitive Fitness? In this article, I describe the criteria that a tablet computer—and its technological ecosystem—must meet in order for the solution to make users more knowledgeable and smarter. To achieve these lofty goals, the tablet must be much more than an “e-reader”. The offering must be an integrated learning environment with which users transform the information that… -
Cognitive Enhancement via Drugs vs. Software
25 Jan 2010 | 1:27 pmSharpBrains Summit participant Peter Reiner, from the National Core for Neuroethics at the University of British Columbia, shares his main Summit take-aways on the potential and challenges of non-invasive technologies for brain fitness. He synthesizes the opportunity well: 1) Cognition is not monolithic 2) Software is adaptive 3) and seems safe, elaborating that: “Will brain fitness software dominate the world of cognitive enhancement? Prior to this conference I was quite skeptical, but the overall impression that I was left with was that brain fitness software may turn out to have some… -
SharpBrains Summit starts today
18 Jan 2010 | 5:16 amThe SharpBrains Summit is ongoing, with 242 participants in 15 countries! thanks to the IT brains at the Institute for The Future and collaborators such as Anett Gyurak, Pascale Michelon and Camille Finley, event is going great. If you Twitter, you can follow my updates here. The Summit hashtag/ feed is #sharp2010. Participants who were actively tweeting the first day: @IFTFHealth @rodfalcon @positscience @billiamjames @drg @FitLifeClubs @performbetter @YoungDrivers @AOborne (Registration is closed now for new participants, please subscribe to our eNewsletter if you want to learn about future…
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PsychSplash
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Raging Alcoholic
5 Feb 2010 | 9:00 amURL: http://www.ragingalcoholic.com/I assume alcoholism or problem drinking is affecting you in someway. A way you really aren’t happy about. We’re here to give you information and access to resources. For: AnyoneTopics: Abnormal, Addiction, Anger, Behaviour Management, Chronic Disease, Clinical Decision Making, Clinical Psychology, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Depression, Emotional Health, Family Therapy, Fatherhood, General Psychology, General Science, Health Psychology, Health and Social Services, Lifestyle, Mental Health, Trauma, Treatment PlanningFeatures: Articles,… -
Easy Dream Interpretation
4 Feb 2010 | 9:00 amURL: http://www.easy-dream-interpretation.com/index.htmlThis site will show you how to remember, record and analyze your dreams easily and effortlessly. It will also teach you how to use your own resources and not rely on dream dictionaries or other people to analyze your dreams for you. For: Anyone, AnyoneTopics: Abnormal, Addiction, Anger, Behaviour Management, Chronic Disease, Clinical Decision Making, Clinical Psychology, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Depression, Emotional Health, Family Therapy, Fatherhood, General Psychology, General Science, Health Psychology, Health and Social… -
Women Against Domestic Violence
3 Feb 2010 | 9:00 amURL: http://www.wadv.org/wadv1.htmWomen Against Domestic Violence (WADV) is an online organization that seeks to provide support and information to any adult or child who is or has been the victim of domestic abuse. For: Anyone, Anyone, ConsumersTopics: Abnormal, Addiction, Anger, Behaviour Management, Chronic Disease, Clinical Decision Making, Clinical Psychology, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Depression, Emotional Health, Family Therapy, Fatherhood, General Psychology, General Science, Health Psychology, Health and Social Services, Lifestyle, Mental Health, Trauma, Treatment Planning,… -
Behavioral Health CE
28 Jan 2010 | 9:00 amURL: http://www.behavioralhealthce.com/This Behavioral Health online CE web site focuses on the biopsychosocial aspects of health and illness. For: Anyone, Anyone, Consumers, CliniciansTopics: Abnormal, Addiction, Anger, Behaviour Management, Chronic Disease, Clinical Decision Making, Clinical Psychology, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Depression, Emotional Health, Family Therapy, Fatherhood, General Psychology, General Science, Health Psychology, Health and Social Services, Lifestyle, Mental Health, Trauma, Treatment Planning, Academia, Behaviour Management, General Psychology, Mental Health,… -
Will Meek, Ph.D.
27 Jan 2010 | 9:00 amURL: http://www.willmeekphd.com/This is Will Meek from the old StaffPsychologist.com blog and former PsychCentral blogger. I have developed a new site where I am writing about self-help and psychotherapy, and have some resources for people on things like writing difficult letters to people, and managing anxiety among others. For: Anyone, Anyone, Consumers, Clinicians, AnyoneTopics: Abnormal, Addiction, Anger, Behaviour Management, Chronic Disease, Clinical Decision Making, Clinical Psychology, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Depression, Emotional Health, Family Therapy, Fatherhood, General…
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The Tangled Neuron
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MCI Symposium: Memory Loss and Exercise
26 Jan 2010 | 9:23 amNicola Lautenschlager, MD, FRANZCP I recently started running again, five years after a knee injury slowed me down. It isn't pretty, but it might be good for my brain. At last year’s MCI Symposium, Nicola Lautenschlager, Professor of Psychiatry of... -
Johnson & Johnson Risperdal Kickback Allegations
20 Jan 2010 | 6:18 amLast week, the New York Times published an article about a U.S. government complaint that Johnson & Johnson paid kickbacks to the biggest nursing home pharmacy in the U.S. to increase prescriptions of the antipsychotic Risperdal and other drugs. On... -
From AA to AD, A Wistful Travelogue: Book Review
17 Jan 2010 | 3:46 pmDoes memory loss bring wisdom? It’s really a lifetime of many losses, not just memory loss, that Mike Donohue describes in his new book, From AA to AD, A Wistful Travelogue . And those losses seem to have brought him... -
Alzheimer's Research: Starting Over?
9 Jan 2010 | 8:01 amThis past Thursday, the University of Pennsylvania’s Institute on Aging presented “A Conversation on Breaking the Treatment Barrier: Moving from Disease Modification to Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease.” Russell Katz, MD (Director, Division of Neurology Products, Food and Drug Administration) and... -
Mobile Phones, Alzheimer's and Brain Health
7 Jan 2010 | 9:07 amUniversity of South Florida researchers have completed a unique study of the effect of electromagnetic waves on the memory and thinking of mice. In their study, half the mice were “normal,” and half were genetically engineered to develop the plaques...
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Rumors of Glory
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The Voice of Psalms — a book review
9 Feb 2010 | 8:46 amI love this book. It is a new translation of the Psalms. In that same way The Message made us think about old words in a new way, this literary project does the same thing. The Voice of Psalms holds onto the original perspective of the Psalms, but adds richness and depth. The foreword says this is a fresh expression of the timeless narrative…that involves translation and elaboration… it doesn’t ignore the role of scholars but it also values the role of writers, poets, songwriters, and artists. To help the reader understand how the new rendering compares to the original manuscript,… -
The Power of Respect by Deborah Norville - a book review
22 Jan 2010 | 3:34 pmThis book was pleasant but not life-changing. I am a reviewer for Thomas Nelson publishing. I knew a little bit about Deborah Norville, and hoped I would get to know more about her through the book. What I found in this book were nice, light, inspirational stories, however, I felt the book could have been written by anyone. I’m sure the fact that Norville’s name was on it, helped sales, but really this is just a book about respect. You won’t know much more about Deborah than before you started it and that is disappointing. The book addresses the power of respect in the home,… -
Mental Health: What happens in counseling?
10 Jan 2010 | 6:30 amMany people wonder what happens in counselor. They may have questions like: Why would I want to go talk to a stranger about my problems? How is that going to help? I can just talk to my friends and family, can’t I? If I go see a counselor, what will we do? What will we talk about? If I share personal things, is the counselor going to tell others? Here is a great video that explains exactly what happens and how counseling helps: Obviously, Susan is a therapist in Ohio, but there are many counselors here in the Denver area who can help you. Not sure how to find a good counselor? Ask… -
The Sweet By and By - a book review
5 Jan 2010 | 7:13 amI offered to review this book for Thomas Nelson Publishing.I must mention right away that I am not a huge fan of light “chick lit” so it didn’t surprise me that I didn’t love this book.It’s probably not fair of me to even give a review. I tend to read lots of non-fiction, deeper theological works, more literary fiction or fiction with intense drama and depth of character.(I hope that doesn’t sound pompous, I just don’t enjoy reading light books with predictable endings). As I read the book, I was a little confused.I saw that Sara Evans along with Rachel Hauck wrote it.I know who… -
The Shack by William Paul Young
2 Oct 2009 | 11:56 am#1 New York Times bestseller The Shack by William Paul Young has just reached another milestone: ten million copies–eight million copies in print in the United States, with another 2 million in print in foreign translations. To date, there have been 55 total printings, according to Brad Cummings, president of Windblown Media. As of September 13, 2009, it will have spent 67 consecutive weeks on the New York Times bestseller list with more than 50 weeks at #1. Can you believe there are still some people who have never heard of the book? Here are my thoughts on the book: 1. I think…
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change therapy
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overeating – a neglected eating disorder
7 Feb 2010 | 6:30 pmunhealthy habits and demographic changes are combining to place an unprecedented burden on the health-care system that may not be manageable, the heart and stroke foundation said in its 2010 annual report on canadians’ health. so says the CBC about an alarming increase in heart disease and the potential for heart disease, adding `most of this is preventable.” the solution is encouraging canadians to be more physically active, eat a healthy diet and be aware of their risk factors for heart disease. “we all eat from stress, or because we don’t have time to prepare… -
eating disorders, depression and perfectionism
5 Feb 2010 | 5:15 amby now you must have cottoned on to the fact that i really like therese borchard’s beyond blue: surviving depression and anxiety and making the most of bad genes. one of the things she talks about in that book is her run-ins with eating disorders. in the chapter BMI (body mass issues) – depression in my thighs she mentions a number of writers in the field. for example cherry boone o’neill and her book starving for attention in my early years i equated my worth as a person with the level of my performance and i felt that the love and approval of other people would be conditioned upon my… -
a song for anorexia
1 Feb 2010 | 12:59 amthis week is eating disorders week. to start it off, here is a song one of my twitter contacts wrote for someone who was struggling with this difficult, often life threatening disorder (the fourth song, “you are not alone”) and the lyrics: you are not alone music & lyrics by bob gray © october 22, 2003 there is a light, beyond the darkness there is pain, inside us all. sometimes we trip, on the roads we travel as we reach up, sometimes we fall and though sometimes, i know you’re lonely with all my heart, i need you to know… chorus: you are not alone… i stand by your… -
why people don’t talk about “mental illness”
31 Jan 2010 | 10:58 amthis is a guest post by one of my twitter friends, the barking unicorn. “the only normal people are the ones you don’t know very well,” said alfred adler, a colleague of sigmund freud. “most people live in a myth and grow violently angry if anyone dares to tell them the truth about themselves,” said robert anton wilson, the devoutly agnostic author of the illuminatus trilogy and many other books that have been banned. there you have it: people don’t talk about nuttiness because they’re afraid that their experience with it will be noticed. they avert their eyes from nuts because,… -
stigmatization through silence
29 Jan 2010 | 9:08 pmyou don’t have to spend a lot of time leafing through therese borchard’s beyond blue: surviving depression and anxiety and making the most of bad genes to find some mention of suicide. here, for example i understand why people who haven’t experienced severe depression believe that a mother who commits suicide is extremely selfish and totally careless in leaving her children to deal with that ugly and permanent baggage. but the truth is that i envisioned my suicide as an act of love for them. i was sure that by removing myself from the picture, i was affording david and katherine a…
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Dr. Deb
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The Power of Kindness
5 Feb 2010 | 12:04 pmResearch says that witnessing simple acts of everyday kindness, such as one person giving up a seat on the bus, holding a door open for another, or helping someone pick something that dropped to the floor can promote altruism. This pychological phenomenon that makes us feel great, lifts our emotions and motivates us to do good is called elevation. Witnessing an uplifiting act inspires us to do the same for others. In essence, kindness is contagious.One Million Acts of Kindness Week is February 8th to the 14th. So, go start a ripple effect and be kind. For inspiration go here and to the Pay It… -
5 Tips For Relieving Burnout
28 Jan 2010 | 7:52 amIt starts with fatigue. You feel tired and overwhelmed, and you struggle to get things done. Soon negative thoughts come into play - and your cynicism leads you to feel helpless. Before you know it, you're in a state of Burnout. Whether it is work, school or family, sometimes Burnout gets the better of us. Here are 5 tips to help bring balance back in your life.1. Re-adjust your priorities. Cast aside things that don't need your immediate attention.2. Delegate more. Call in the cavalry to help get things done. Consider saying "NO" more and "Yes" less.3. Invite sensory and calming experiences… -
Acceptance, Appraisal or Suppression: Anxiety Solutions
20 Jan 2010 | 11:27 amA recent study looked at which kind of emotional response worked best at controlling anxiety. Participants in the study, over 200 subjects, were asked to give an impromptu speech in front of a video camera. They were randomly assigned to one of three groups: Reappraisal, Acceptance or Suppression.The Reappraisal Group was instructed to regulate anxiety by reappraising the negative aspects of the experience to more positive ones as they performed the task.The Suppression Group was asked to suppress their anxiety as they performed the task.The Acceptance Group was instructed to just accept… -
The Benefits of "Exergaming"
16 Jan 2010 | 8:19 amIn the few last years, the gaming industry has introduced games that require physical movement. No more sitting with a controller in your hand couch-potatoting it up all day long. Now, when it comes to gaming, you gotta move it or lose it.For example, Nintendo Wii requires each player to swing golf clubs, tennis racquet's and throw bowling balls. Playmotion has volleyball, shufflepuck and soccer. Gamercize has wrestling and racing. There's yoga, snowboarding and a host of other activities that keep the fun going and keep your body moving.Research says that "Exergaming" has more than… -
iB: The Virtual Medical ID Bracelet
11 Jan 2010 | 9:34 amEmergency Health Registry is an innovative web service that allows you to register personal health information and vital details should a medical emergency arise. The iB Card, Invisible Bracelet Card, works like a Medical ID Bracelet - alerting EMS medics of your specific needs, allergies, medications, illnesses, etc. The service also automatically notifies friends and family via text or email messages of your transport and condition. The service costs $5 dollars per year.A good investment, don't you think?For additional information visit InvisibleBracelet.orgA patent is also in the works for…
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UrbanMonk.Net
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Taking Perspective Before Taking Action
9 Feb 2010 | 7:29 am“One of the signs of passing youth is the birth of a sense of fellowship with other human beings as we take our place among them.” ~ Virginia Woolf What is maturity and how do we achieve it? People have always been arguing about this; there is no universal answer. But my favourite definition – maturity is when we move from being self-centred to being world-centred, when we realise everyone has different perspectives, opinions, and values. Mature action is something I’ve always struggled with. I’ve been living a very secluded lifestyle for the past three years, and I’m now… -
How to Cope With Uncertainty
27 Jan 2010 | 6:59 pmEditor’s Note:This is a guest post by JC of JCD Fitness. Thanks JC! Since the conception of man, uncertainty has plagued every great mind in existence. The fact is no one truly has any foresight into the future; therefore uncertainty is something we’ll all encounter at one point or another. Uncertainty can be in many forms and for many different reasons. We experience uncertainty with regards to the work place, the economy, our relationships and our self-image. Uncertainty is not necessarily a negative thing as it’s essential to our growth as spiritual beings. Hell, without… -
When The Memories Return – Our Struggle with Forgiveness
22 Jan 2010 | 5:21 amA continued conversation on forgiveness; questions I had asked years ago, and the answers I have found since. How do I forgive? I’ve tried so hard, but I can’t. It still hurts; my mind is still clouded with those memories. The first thing is to heal all the pain, to cease the suffering. I have heard that the ancient meaning of forgiveness was to cancel and let go. So begin with your pain, let go of that, let that be the first step. Forget about the other person for now. Turn your attentions towards yourself first. The way out of our pain is to go through it – we heal these feelings by… -
Booster Technique: Hidden Meanings and the Unresolved Past
11 Jan 2010 | 11:20 pmWhy do some things – certain words, certain people – hurt so much? You know it shouldn’t affect you that way, and yet it does. Someone makes a comment designed to hurt, and we are left stinging for weeks and months. A friendship, a romance, ends and we are left in pain for far too long. Why? In my own work, I’ve found that these events touch my unfinished emotional business. These people represent others from my past, represent issues larger than I first suspected. This post describes these in more detail, and provides some questions to help in your own search – is this true for you… -
Our Innate Innocence – Reflections on Forgiveness
21 Dec 2009 | 8:47 pmAn imaginary conversation on forgiveness; what I had asked years ago, and the answers I have found since – right or wrong, I do not know, but offered in the hopes someone somewhere might benefit. Forgiveness is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Why? There is one thing I have realised. Our difficulties don’t come from the act of forgiving itself. The difficulty comes from two things – firstly, we don’t know how. It is not just a simple decision, although making that initial decision is hard enough. It is a process that requires a lot of work and courage; a process that nobody…
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ScienceDaily: Psychology News
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Marijuana ineffective as an Alzheimer's treatment
9 Feb 2010 | 11:00 amThe benefits of marijuana in tempering or reversing the effects of Alzheimer's disease have been challenged in a new study. -
Morality research sheds light on the origins of religion
9 Feb 2010 | 11:00 amThe details surrounding the emergence and evolution of religion have not been clearly established and remain a source of much debate among scholars. Now, a new article brings a new understanding to this long-standing discussion by exploring the fascinating link between morality and religion. -
Brain location for fear of losing money pinpointed -- the amygdala
9 Feb 2010 | 8:00 amTwo patients with rare lesions to the brain have provided direct of evidence of how we make decisions -- and what makes us dislike the thought of losing money. -
Mediterranean diet may lower risk of brain damage that causes thinking problems
9 Feb 2010 | 8:00 amA Mediterranean diet may help people avoid the small areas of brain damage that can lead to problems with thinking and memory, according to a new study. -
Drug shows promise for Huntington's disease
9 Feb 2010 | 5:00 amAn early stage clinical trial of the experimental drug dimebon (latrepirdine) in people with Huntington's disease appears to be safe and may improve cognition.
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Psychology / Psychiatry News From Medical News Today
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Morality Research Sheds Light On The Origins Of Religion
9 Feb 2010 | 3:00 amThe details surrounding the emergence and evolution of religion have not been clearly established and remain a source of much debate among scholars. Now, an article published by Cell Press in the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences on February 8 brings a new understanding to this long-standing discussion by exploring the fascinating link between morality and religion... -
Following DCIS Diagnosis, Psychosicail Interventions Recommended
9 Feb 2010 | 3:00 amA new analysis has found that women with medium or low levels of income are particularly susceptible to anxiety and depression after being diagnosed with the precancerous breast condition, ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)... -
Feeling Gray, Not Blue, Using Colors To Describe Emotions
9 Feb 2010 | 2:00 amPeople with anxiety and depression are most likely to use a shade of gray to represent their mental state. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Medical Research Methodology describe the development of a color chart, The Manchester Color Wheel, which can be used to study people's preferred pigment in relation to their state of mind... -
Can Memory Be Improved? A Meta-Analysis Suggests It Does
9 Feb 2010 | 2:00 amA meta-analysis published in the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics by Swiss investigators B. Metternich and associates indicates the effectiveness of non pharmacological interventions on memory complaints. Subjective memory complaints (SMC) in the absence of psychiatric or neurological disorders are common among older adults... -
Brain Area Responsible For Fear Of Losing Money Discovered
9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 amNeuroscientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and their colleagues have tied the human aversion to losing money to a specific structure in the brain - the amygdala...
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PSYCHOLOGY NEWS - Google Blog Search
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Trading Psychology – How Mindfulness Can Help Improve Your Trading ...
9 Feb 2010 | 11:15 amTrading Psychology - How Mindfulness Can Help Improve Your Trading Mindfulness is changing the landscape of psychology and can be of great benefit to News | Information Sources. -
Morality research sheds light on the origins of religion ...
9 Feb 2010 | 11:00 ameveryday psychology · Home · everydaypsychology news aggregator · Archive. Morality research sheds light on the origins of religion. By: ScienceDaily: Psychology News. February 10, 2010 ... -
Marijuana ineffective as an Alzheimer's treatment | everyday ...
9 Feb 2010 | 11:00 ameveryday psychology · Home · everydaypsychology news aggregator · Archive. Marijuana ineffective as an Alzheimer's treatment. By: ScienceDaily: Psychology News. February 10, 2010 ... -
Positive Psychology News Daily » No Worries, Andy! Immunize ...
9 Feb 2010 | 8:45 amStop reading or watching traditional news and replace it with good news. Think of something you did well in a summer job, a club, or an activity and tell yourself 3 reasons that could happen for you again. Write a positive future story. ... -
Brain location for fear of losing money pinpointed — the amygdala ...
9 Feb 2010 | 8:00 ameveryday psychology · Home · everydaypsychology news aggregator · Archive. Brain location for fear of losing money pinpointed — the amygdala. By: ScienceDaily: Psychology News. February 9, 2010 ...
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Ionian Enchantment
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Calling Africa's science nerds
9 Feb 2010 | 2:18 amIn light of all of our problems - poverty, witch huntsanti-vaccinationismquackery, religious obscurantism of various kinds, and so on - it has long seemed obvious to me that Africa badly needs skepticism, science, logic and reason. The great Sir Francis Bacon wrote in the Novum Organum that: Human knowledge and human power meet in one; for where the cause is not known the effect cannot be produced. Nature to be commanded must be obeyed; and that which in contemplation is as the cause is in operation as the rule.Knowledge, in the words of the popular corruption, is power. Achieving our ends… -
Nerdies 2010: The Final
8 Feb 2010 | 11:52 amSo I've asked you to nominate and vote in the semi-finals for Angela and Owen in the 2010 Nerdies. Now it's the final and I'm going to ask you to vote one more time: do so here for Owen (in the guy category) and here for Angela (in the girl category). Well, okay, so that's voting two more times but anyway. They certainly deserve it and the South African sciency/skepticaly blogging community could use a boost... Go! -
Times Online's Top 30 Science Blogs
5 Feb 2010 | 1:23 amTimes Online has released their choice of the 30 best science blogs. Several of my favorite blogs got the nod, including, Carl Zimmer's The Loom, Vaughn Bell's Mind Hacks, Ed Yong's Not Exactly Rocket Science, Orac's Respectful Insolence, and Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy. The picks are, I think, pretty biased towards British blogs, but maybe that's understandable. There are a couple of oversights, though. Arguably, some of these may have deserved it more than blogs that made it onto the list (*cough*Intersection*cough*). Some of the overlooked science blogs are Steven Novella's NeuroLogica,… -
In Praise of Deference
3 Feb 2010 | 1:16 pmIt is common to hear that you should make up your own mind and not let other people make it up for you. While I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment and believe it’s silly to be obsequious to arbitrary authority, I nonetheless think intellectual deference is both unavoidable and a virtue. This notion may seem repugnant, an affront to liberal values, and perhaps even unnecessary, so I’ll defend it in some detail. (I want to stress, however, that while I’ll be defending my considered opinion, my argument for it will be sketchy – a full, precise, treatment would require far more time… -
Carnival of the Africans #13: The Zombie Edition
3 Feb 2010 | 12:17 amThe lovely Angela of The Skeptic Detective has brought the Carnival of the Africans back from the dead! (She prefers to call it "The Phoenix Edition". Zombies are cooler. Evidence at right). A couple of picks: James of Acinonyx Scepticus on why playing the lotto is a really bad idea, Bongi of other things amanzi on an amazing case of a sangoma's neglected breast cancer, and Angela herself on why canola oil is not dangerous.
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Sports Are 80 Percent Mental
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Month Of Birth Determines Success In Sports
7 Feb 2010 | 6:51 pmThe month of your birth influences your chances of becoming a professional sportsperson, an Australian researcher has found. Senior research fellow Dr. Adrian Barnett from Queensland University of Technology's Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation studies the seasonal patterns of population health and found the month you were born in could influence your future health and fitness. The results of the study are published in the book Analysing Seasonal Health Data, by Barnett, co-authored by researcher Professor Annette Dobson from the University of Queensland. Barnett analysed the… -
Swiss Team Bobbing For Gold In Vancouver
5 Feb 2010 | 7:02 pmSwitzerland has a long tradition of bobsledding and the Swiss Bobsleigh Federation has a remarkable record at international competitions. Currently, Switzerland even boasts two reigning world champions: Ivo Rüegg in the two-man bob and junior world champion Sabina Hafner. Moreover, pilot Beat Hefti won last year’s world cup season – also in the two-man bob. To be better than the rest, the athletes not only need talent and experience, but also a fast bobsled. No one knows this better than former bobsledder and leader of the “CITIUS” project, Christian Reich: “for a pilot, being able… -
Exercise May Help Schizophrenia Patients
3 Feb 2010 | 7:23 pmPotentially beneficial brain changes (an increase in the volume of an area known as the hippocampus) occur in response to exercise both in patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls, according to a report in the February issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. The findings suggest that the brain retains some plasticity, or ability to adapt, even in those with psychotic disorders. Schizophrenia is known to be associated with a reduced volume in the area of the brain known as the hippocampus, which helps regulate emotion and memory, according to… -
Soccer Referees Biased Against Tall Players
1 Feb 2010 | 6:23 pmIn this World Cup year, when football (soccer) passions are running high, supporters might be forgiven for objecting to every decision to award a foul against their team, made by referees. But they might also have a point. Researchers at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University have researched all recorded fouls in three major football competitions over seven years. They discovered an ambiguous foul is more likely to be attributed to the taller of two players. Dr. Niels van Quaquebeke and Dr. Steffen Giessner, scientists at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University began… -
Stroke Patients Benefit From New Brain And Motor Skills Research
30 Jan 2010 | 12:11 pmBioengineers have taken a small step toward improving physical recovery in stroke patients by showing that a key feature of how limb motion is encoded in the nervous system plays a crucial role in how new motor skills are learned. Published in a recent issue of Neuron, a Harvard-based study about the neural learning elements responsible for motor learning may help scientists design rehabilitation protocols in which motor adaptation occurs more readily, potentially allowing for a more rapid recovery. Neuroscientists have long understood that the brain's primary motor cortex and the body's…
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Helping Psychology
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Gender Identity Disorder: Diagnosis of the Week
8 Feb 2010 | 10:35 amIn this technological age it is medically viable, though potentially dangerous, to change one’s own sex from that of male to female or vice versa. The physical and mental implications of such a drastic metamorphosis relate to the fact that it is considered taboo among many societies worldwide. It is not merely the surgical procedure that is so inconceivable; it is the desire itself that carries such a stigma. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, feelings and actions relating to gender dysphoria fall under the category of Gender Identity Disorder. Symptoms of Gender… -
Junk Food Linked to Mental Disorders
6 Feb 2010 | 11:25 amThe American Journal of Psychiatry recently released information concerning a new study that claims that maintaining a healthy diet is beneficial not just for the body, but also for the mind. It’s no surprise that high-fat foods are the main cause of obesity worldwide, but can eating unhealthy food cause depression and anxiety as well? Researchers at the University of Melbourne think so. Dr. Felice N. Jacka, along with her research team, conducted a study that claims mood disorders are more prevalent in women who eat poorly. Foods including processed, refined ingredients lack vital… -
Music for the Mind: The Psychology of Music
5 Feb 2010 | 4:29 pmAccording to British psychologist Glenn Wilson, music plays a very central role in the lives of people and is ranked highly among pleasures including sex, food and drink. Aside from the enjoyment of listening to tunes or composing symphonies, studies show that music of all genres can have a great impact on both the physical and psychological aspects of the human body, in addition to that of plants and animals. The American Music Therapy Association describes this form of treatment as “the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a… -
Love Stinks: Relationship Therapy 101
5 Feb 2010 | 11:48 amMany types of counseling are available to couples in need of a little pick me up in the relationship department, and relationship counseling as a whole touches on the important aspects required for maintaining a mentally healthy bond between two people. Relationship therapy encompasses a variety of subfields including couples therapy, marriage counseling and family therapy; the latter usually grouped with martial therapy. Relationship counselors work with clients in order to glean an understanding of the problems faced by many couples today. From financial troubles to sexual dysfunction,… -
Psychology of Love: Sternberg’s Triangle
3 Feb 2010 | 9:25 pmThe Triangular Theory of Love was developed by Robert J. Sternberg, a psychologist at Tufts University. According to his theory, there are three elements which comprise any given instance of an interpersonal relationship. One element is intimacy, by which is meant emotional intimacy, involving a high level of trust between two individuals. A second element is passion, which is driven by sexual attraction. The third is known as commitment, which is a conscious effort to maintain the relationship. As the name of the theory suggests, each of these three elements is pictured as a point on a…
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Herd - the hidden truth about who we are
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Word of Mouth: The Eyes Have it
8 Feb 2010 | 11:05 ampic c/o SodaheadListen, I think we need to sort this thing out.It's not that what people say to each other isn't important in shaping our behaviour. Nor, indeed that recommendation (or advocacy or whatever you call it) in particular, is completely irrelevant. It's just that the really important mechanism lies in what other people see, hear and feel going on around them: it's in the eyes and ears of the advocate's peers and not in the words of the advocate or recommendor. It's at the "influenced" end of the telescope and not the "influencer". -
Tools from evolutionary science for understanding Human Behaviour
7 Feb 2010 | 1:56 pmVery excited about the session I'm running at the Market Research Society Conference at the end of March:I've got Dr. Alex Bentley and Professor Mike O'Brien confirmed for a session exploring how they have applied ideas and techniques from evolutionary science to the study of human behaviour. If you thought all evolution had to offer the study of contemporary human behaviour was Geoffrey Miller & Robin Wight's Peacock's Tailery (that most of what we do, we do to signal our reproductive fitness), then think again. Cultural evolution is now a highly… -
Influence, the influentials and the influenced
4 Feb 2010 | 2:46 amNice musings by chum David C and Stowe Boyd around this study that suggests it's the not the number of connections you have that determines your influence, but rather the nature of those connections - your "betweenness" as Stowe calls it:"It is not your follower count, or who you follow, per se. But, instead, do you have short paths into other social scenes, both incoming and outgoing? That is the deep structure of being truly connected: bridging over different social scenes, acting as a conduit, a vector, a filter and amplifier for ideas good and bad, the best… -
Nigel Hollis and JFK
1 Feb 2010 | 4:07 amPicked up something from the twitterstream this morning that seems to have got a few chums excited.Nigel Hollis - chief adresearch guru at Millward Brown - has been musing on the relative roles of Mass & Social Media and whether on Here's the tricky bit of his post"All of this leads me to believe that social media is no way for a mass market brand to disrupt the status quo. It is simply an additional means to communicate and engage your loyal customers"Well, sort of. On the one hand, it's true that i. few mass market brands have (YET!) entirely switched their… -
Why talk really is cheap
31 Jan 2010 | 10:51 amPic c/o of the Fabulous Henry R Yesterday, my old chum David C pointed a bunch of folk like me to this piece in Adage by Steve Knox, the guy who runs Tremor - the P&G WoM/sampling outfit. Now, first of all let me say the two central points of the piece seem unobjectionable: 1. the idea of disrupting shared assumptions in a marketplace by what you do and how you say has been around in various forms (not least Jean-Marie Dru's masterpiece Disruption) for nearly 2 decades now. If you haven't come across it til now, I'd suggest you check your feeds (and the…
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eScienceNews: Psychology
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TV drama can be more persuasive than news program, study finds
9 Feb 2010 | 11:39 amA fictional television drama may be more effective in persuading young women to use birth control than a news-format program on the same issue, according to a new study. read more -
Exposure to secondhand smoke among children in England has declined since 1996
9 Feb 2010 | 11:39 amThe most comprehensive study to date of secondhand smoke exposure among children in England is published today in the journal Addiction. The study, carried out by researchers from the University of Bath's School for Health, reveals that exposure to household secondhand smoke among children aged 4-15 has declined steadily since 1996. read more -
Underdogs have more motivation? Not so fast, study says
9 Feb 2010 | 11:17 amMembers of a group or team will work harder when they're competing against a group with lower status than when pitted against a more highly ranked group, according to a new study. read more -
Research identifies gene with likely role in premenstrual disorder
9 Feb 2010 | 10:31 amScientists have identified a gene they say is a strong candidate for involvement in premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) and other maladies associated with the natural flux in hormones during the menstrual cycle. In a paper published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Rockefeller University researchers detail experiments in mice showing that a common human variant of the gene increases anxiety, dampens curiosity and tweaks the effects of estrogen on the brain, impairing memory. If applied in the clinic, the work could help diagnose and treat cognitive and mood… -
Childhood obesity: It's not the amount of TV, it's the number of junk food commercials
9 Feb 2010 | 10:08 amThe association between television viewing and childhood obesity is directly related to children's exposure to commercials that advertise unhealthy foods, according to a new UCLA School of Public Health study published in the American Journal of Public Health. read more
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I Choose Change
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Everyone Wants to Be Somebody, Sometimes
23 Jan 2010 | 6:07 amOne of my favorite websites is one called Zero to Three. It’s a website dedicated purely to the research and development of children from conception through the age of three years. My first inclination that I wanted to be in the helping profession was in Middle School. I grew up in a small town in West Texas that had basically only two groups of people: popular and not popular. I suppose a third group would be those teetering between those two – some days your “in” and some days you’re very “out”. I was that person. I teetered. The problem with… -
Calgon, Take Me Away!
7 Oct 2009 | 5:00 amRemember this video from the 70s with the lady exclaiming, “Calgon, take me away!”? Oh, the times I’ve uttered those words… At the end of a long day (or even at the beginning and middle of the day!), I’ve wanted to be whisked away into neverland, trading my chaos in for some peace and quiet. (Warning: Shameless Plug!) On October 24, we’ll be sweetening the pot a little bit by taking you away from the frustrations of parenting. Oh, I know, I know… a “worskhop” means work. But not this one! We’ll be feeding you, introducing… -
What Does it Mean To Be “Authentic”?
6 Oct 2009 | 12:00 pmphoto credit: Pandiyan Editor’s note: I originally posted this in October 2008. Now, one year later, I’m revisiting authenticity. Enjoy! I have found it – the definition of authenticity! Sure, there are plenty of Toms, Dicks, and Harrys out there who claim to know all about “authentic” life styles. They say, “Listen to me. I can guide you to happiness!” Then they charge you an arm and a leg. But I think I have found the real definition of authenticity. Here it is, for free I might add. (You’re welcome!) It comes by way of Brian Goldman, a… -
Who’s to Blame When Nobody Likes You?
13 Sep 2009 | 9:38 amphoto credit: stefernie “We cannot change our childhood. We can make sense of what has been repressed and forgotten…If we remain conscious of ourselves and of the pull of early models, even if hang-ups of various kinds remain, as inevitably they must, we have a better chance of creating satisfying relationships with our mates and secure relationships with our children…we are only doomed to repeat what has not been remembered, reflected upon, and worked through.” - Robert Karen Our relationships are reflections of our true self. The adage “you are who your… -
Love For Sale: How an Unhappy Adult is Created
9 Sep 2009 | 9:30 pmphoto credit: T Hall Like a deer in headlights. That’s how Mom looked when I asked, simply, “How do you show your son love?” There was a looooooong pause. Blinking. Total befuddlement. I waited. Waited. Waited. Then she said, “I’ve just been so angry at him lately. He intentionlly does things that make me mad. I can’t show him love right now.” Excuse me? You can’t do what? Because your son is acting like a mad man, you can’t show him love? (You know the kind of “mad man” behavior I’m talking about,…
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The Shrink Rap
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Gadgets not related to teenagers’ brain pain
9 Feb 2010 | 6:49 amUse of most electronic media is not associated with headaches, at least not in adolescents. A study of 1025 13-17 year olds, published in the open access journal BMC Neurology, found no association... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] -
Depressed people feel more gray than blue
9 Feb 2010 | 6:42 amspan class=”drop_cap”>People with anxiety and depression are most likely to use a shade of gray to represent their mental state. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Medical... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] -
Autism risk increases for older mothers
9 Feb 2010 | 6:26 amWomen over 40 are twice as likely to give birth to an autistic child than a mother under 30. The study was released Monday in the February issue of the journal Autism Research. This study is... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] -
February is Psychology Month
8 Feb 2010 | 6:15 pmCheck out our latest Psychobabble & Tips on finding a Psychologist Link to download February is Psychology Month Psychobabble [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] -
A new manual for diagnosing diseases of the psyche is about to be unveiled
6 Feb 2010 | 7:40 amThe Economists’ take on the DSM-V That way, madness lies ON FEBRUARY 10th the world of psychiatry will be asked, metaphorically, to lie on the couch and answer questions about the state it... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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Persuasive.net
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9 Secrets to Present Powerfully
27 Jan 2010 | 7:30 pmYou’re at a huge networking event. Nervously, you glance around the room and see many familiar faces. Some of the faces are new and are even smiling. These are the faces of your fellow club members. You have talked to them many times on many different occasions. So why should this be any different? Why [...] -
Using Your Body Language to Persuade
18 Jan 2010 | 6:07 pmEver listen to someone speaking and realize that something about that person just did not ring true? Something about the way he carried himself conflicted with his words. Maybe, it was his inability to look you in the eye. Perhaps, his hands distracted you. Or maybe it was the facial expressions that just did not [...] -
The 6 Steps to Mastery
29 Dec 2009 | 10:15 pmOne of my favorite mentors during the beginning of my personal development career was a guy by the name of Matthew Ferry. I’ve learned many amazing concepts about the law of attraction, the universe, synergizing, and several others. However, one of the most concepts I’ve ever heard was the six steps to mastery. 1. Formulation Create a [...] -
The Three-Step Close That Attracts Clients Like Crazy
22 Dec 2009 | 8:02 amNine out of ten business presentations end with either an unimpressive “Thank you” or a feeble “Are there any questions?” Both are ineffective when it comes to persuading your audience to buy your products and services. After many years of making business presentations, I discovered the most effective close consists of three parts: a question and [...] -
Three Explosive Ways to Grab Your Audience’s Attention and Keep it!
6 Dec 2009 | 9:03 pmSpeakers can open their presentation using one of a host of methods. So why do most non-professional speakers begin their speech with those attention-grabbing words, “Ah, I am so-in-so, ah . . . um”? Beginning your speech with filler words such as “ah” or “um” immediately tells your audience that you are an untrained speaker. [...]
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iOrgPsych
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Reward Based on Performance… and Only Performance
30 Jan 2010 | 5:48 amThere’s nothing more motivating than being rewarded and recognized for high performance when you have earned it. Similarly, it is very defeating and disengaging to watch someone who hasn’t worked as hard get more recognition than you. We all instantly know when such an injustice has been committed. But can we tell when we are treating others in such a manner? I recently came across a video that asked, ‘Are you playing favorites?‘ In order to find out whether you are playing favorites with your people, rank each one of your direct reports (using a scale of 1-10 works)… -
Blueberry Power Muffins
25 Jan 2010 | 4:03 pmI have a terrible sweet tooth, so what I like to do is make my favorite foods healthy. I’m on a muffin kick right now, and I have been making these every weekend lately. This quick recipe makes for an excellent brunch on lazy Saturdays and Sundays. Wet Ingredients 5 egg whites 1 egg 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce 1/2 cup cottage cheese 1 tbsp. vanilla extract Dry Ingredients 1 cup of Quaker Oats 1 scoop Vanilla flavored Whey Protein Powder 1/3 cup of sugar substitute (or sugar) 2 tsp baking powder 1 pinch of salt Mix-ins Blueberries (1 cup or 6 oz works well) Chopped Pecans (1/4 cup… -
Just-in-time Talent
20 Jan 2010 | 4:11 pmTechnology has made it so that I can email you much more easily than I can call you. We can communicate virtually just as well as we can connect face-to-face. With the recession cut-backs, many companies have taken advantage of that. Workers have been treated as disposable. Cost-containment is important. It’s the most important part, in fact, if your business is struggling financially. But what is creating disposable workers doing to your company? Temps, freelancers, contractors, and interim executives are easy to get rid of. What kind of culture is having temporary workers creating? -
Motivation for the 21st Century
24 Aug 2009 | 9:39 amExternal motivators were excellent for the 20th Century. Today, our habit of extrinsically motivating employees is no longer effective – instead of improving performance, the carrot and stick method creates a blockage to innovation. With increasing complexity in our workplace, it is no longer the case that you can increase the incentives to increase the performance. Here’s the video that explains the details: Dan Pink makes the argument that Management –> Compliance and Autonomy –> Engagement. For ultimate performance in the 21st Century, people need jobs that… -
The Case for Analytics in HR
6 Jul 2009 | 1:54 pmTo make an improvement, you must start with measuring what you have. To truly know the impact of a change, you must evaluate pre and post. But to make the best decisions, you must discover the seemingly unknowable. It’s not impossible, it just requires that you gather lots and lots of data. This is where analytics comes in… That is the start of the guest post I wrote for Renegade HR, where the motto is to “recruit great people and inspire them to do amazing things that drive your business.” Chris Ferdinandi, the wise author of Renegade HR, thinks you should use your…
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Brain Blogger
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“I Feel Your Pain” – The Neural Basis of Empathy
9 Feb 2010 | 4:00 amLast month, a terrible earthquake raised havoc in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. While the Haitians in Port-au-Prince are miles away from us, witnessing media images of their physical and emotional suffering moves us tremendously, and motivates many of us to respond to their distress with monetary and other donations. In a sense, this is an amazing human feat—that we are able to feel for other people’s far away tragedies. How is it that we are so moved? This is a question about human empathy, and it has boggled the minds of great thinkers for centuries. Indeed, German philosopher Rudolf Lotze… -
Speaking in Tongues – A Neural Snapshot
7 Feb 2010 | 4:00 am“Asaria isa asaria ari masheetee sadabada vena amina gotaya menda meshela mosha nami ki toro ma…”Glossolalia, or speaking in tongues, has fascinated thinkers ever since the “tongues of angels” descended upon early believers as a gift from the Holy Ghost in the New Testament of the Bible. This unusual mental state, characterized by utterances that sometimes sound like an untranslated psalm from Mars, typically occurs during instances of religious excitation, and is primarily associated with Pentecostal religious practices. It has commonly been considered a form of ecstatic trance… -
Neuro Case 1 – Using Transcranial Doppler for Basilar Artery Occlusion
5 Feb 2010 | 4:00 amWelcome to the first of a series of neurological cases to be featured on Brian Blogger. We will periodically choose the most enlightening cases from the Journal of Medical Case Reports (JMCR) for which I serve as an Associate Editor. I will present the case as published, discuss the implications of the findings or techniques employed, and the case author is then asked to comment on our blog to address our readers.Published by BioMed Central, JMCR “is a peer-reviewed open access journal that will consider any original case report that expands the field of general medical… -
Journal Retracts Autism Research
3 Feb 2010 | 7:37 amIn 1998, a landmark study was published in the medical journal The Lancet. It was the first major research that suggested a link between the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism. Almost immediately following publication, the rates of vaccination plummeted and the incidence of measles escalated among children. Since then, the subject has been the source of much controversy, and much of the science has been disproved in other research. Now, the original journal admits it may have made a mistake in publishing the research in the first place.Recently, the United Kingdom’s General… -
Crossing the Line from Physician to Journalist
1 Feb 2010 | 4:00 amThe recent coverage of the devastation and destruction after the earthquake in Haiti has had an unintended consequence; the public is now questioning the legitimacy and ethics of the physicians who masquerade as journalists.For decades, there has been an increased interest in and awareness of the need for physicians and the medical community to work more closely with journalists and the mass media to guarantee the accurate and appropriate dissemination of health information. Training programs for both physicians and journalists now include innovative curriculum to promote collaboration and…
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PsyBlog
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Why The Media Seems Biased When You Care About The Issue
9 Feb 2010 | 6:48 amResearch shows both pro-Arabs and pro-Israelis watching the same news reports think it is biased against their own side. The media may well be biased, in fact it would be a miracle if it were permanently and perfectly balanced, that isn't what this post is about. Instead this is about how you and I perceive the presence or absence of bias in the media. This study, conducted in the 1980s, helps to explain a lot of the heat and light that gets produced by those commenting on media bias across the political spectrum, including the remarkably vitriolic outpourings often seen in the comment… -
Recruitment Closed: Online Expressive Writing Study
8 Feb 2010 | 7:07 amUpdate: Thanks for your interest in this study but recruitment is now closed. Are you currently feeling a little under the weather, fed up or stressed? Do you live in the United Kingdom? Are you over 18? Would you be interested in participating in an expressive writing study? If so, read on... About this research Many studies have found that when people write about past emotional events in their lives they can show improvements in physical or mental health. We want to test the effects of expressive writing in a study carried out completely online. Here are some brief details of the study,… -
Why We Love Narcissists (At First)
3 Feb 2010 | 3:02 amParadoxically we initially like narcissists more because of their exploitative, entitled behaviour—but it doesn't last long. Despite being self-absorbed, arrogant, entitled and exploitative, narcissists are also fascinating. And not just from a clinical perspective; the research finds that we are strangely drawn to their self-centred personalities, their dominance and their hostility, their sensitivity and their despair, at least for a while. Psychologists are fascinated by narcissists, both why we like them despite on some level recognising their dysfunction, and because they embody so… -
10 More Brilliant Social Psychology Studies: Why Smart People Do Dumb or Irrational Things
26 Jan 2010 | 4:18 amWhich is your favourite social psychology study? Over the last 7 months I've been exploring 10 more of my favourite social psychology studies, each with an insightful story to tell about how our minds work. This follows on from an article I wrote two years ago (10 brilliant social psychology studies). Key insights from each study are below but click through to get the full story of each experiment. Once you've had a look, vote for your favourite at the bottom of this page. Why You Can’t Help Believing Everything You Read By default are we critical or gullible? This study shows that… -
The 7 Psychological Principles of Scams: Protect Yourself by Learning the Techniques
21 Jan 2010 | 5:28 amHow hustlers trick 3.2 million people each year in the UK into handing over £3.5 billion. Good hustlers are excellent intuitive psychologists. Just like magicians they understand enough about how the mind works to exploit its vulnerabilities. Our fascination with hustlers is insatiable and, despite being criminals, they are frequently portrayed by Hollywood in a flattering light, in films like The Sting, Catch Me If You Can and the Ocean's Eleven trilogy. Of course the reality is nowhere near as romantic, especially if you've fallen for one of the cons. Frank Stajano, a security expert at…
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BPS Research Digest
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Intrusive images and intrusive verbal thoughts are different phenomena
9 Feb 2010 | 2:29 amThe vivid, intrusive visual images that are a hallmark of post-traumatic disorder (PTSD) are based on a separate memory system from intrusive verbal thoughts. That's according to a new study that claims to provide empirical support for psychologist Chris Brewin's dual-representation theory of PTSD.Brewin's theory posits two memory systems, one that's largely sensation-based, inflexible and automatically accessed and another that's more deliberately accessible, containing material that is contextualised and can be easily put into words. By this account, a traumatic event can end up lodged in… -
How framing affects our thought processes
8 Feb 2010 | 1:29 amA take-away restaurant near my house offers customers free home delivery or a ten per cent discount if you pick up. It sounds much better than saying you get no discount for picking up and suffer a ten per cent fee for delivery – this is the power of ‘framing’. Now David Hardisty and colleagues have dug a little deeper into framing, to show first, that these kinds of effects can interact with people's political persuasion, and second, that they can act by altering the order of people's thoughts.Hundreds of online participants chose between various flights, computers and so on. In each… -
CBT-based self-help books can do more harm than good
5 Feb 2010 | 1:52 amSelf-help books based on the traditional principles of CBT, including popular titles like 'CBT for Dummies', can do more harm than good, according to a new study. The risks were highest for readers described as 'high ruminators' - those who spend time mulling over the likely causes and consequence of their negative moods.The new research focuses on the use of self-help books as a preventative intervention for people at risk of developing depression. Gerald Haeffel identified 72 undergrads at risk and allocated each of them randomly to work through one of three self-help books. A third of the… -
Shiny, swanky car boosts men's appeal to women, but not women's appeal to men
3 Feb 2010 | 1:29 amIt's a widely held, if much derided, belief that ownership of a prestige sports car can increase a man's sex appeal to women. Indeed, there's a scene in the American sit-com Friends in which Joey dons a ridiculous Porsche-branded costume of peak cap, gloves, jacket and trousers, so determined is he to convince female passers-by that he owns a fast, shiny car. Now Michael Dunn and Robert Searle have tested the shiny car effect scientifically, looking at the influence of apparent car ownership on both male and female perceived attractiveness.Hundreds of passers-by in Cardiff city centre were… -
The Special Issue Spotter
2 Feb 2010 | 1:43 amWe trawl the world's journals so you don't have to:Adolescent Brain Development: Current Themes and Future Directions (Brain and Cognition). Open Access. Psychotherapy, Medicine and the Body: A Tribute to the work of Alexis Brook (Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy).The interaction of online technology on the consumer shopping experience (Psychology and Marketing).Dynamics of Social Networks (Social Networks).Towards a Fetal Psychology (Infant and Child Development).Physical activity research showcasing theory into practice (Psychology and Health).
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The Frontal Cortex
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ChatRoulette
8 Feb 2010 | 9:55 amSam Anderson, in New York Magazine, takes on ChatRoulette, that strange new site that connects you, via webcam, with a stream of strangers: The site was only a few months old, but its population was beginning to explode in a way that suggested serious viral potential: 300 users in December had grown to 10,000 by the beginning of February. Although big media outlets had yet to cover it, smallish blogs were full of huzzahs. The blog Asylum called ChatRoulette its favorite site since YouTube; another, The Frisky, called it "the Holy Grail of all Internet fun." Everyone seemed to agree that it… -
Borges Was A Neuroscientist
5 Feb 2010 | 7:42 amThe neuroscientist Rodrigo Quian Quiroga has written a lovely appreciation of Jorge Luis Borges in the latest Nature (not online). Quiroga focuses on Borges interest in neuroscience, which led him to write his classic short story Funes the Memorious, about a man who cannot forget: In the story of Funes, Borges described very precisely the problems of distorted memory capacities well before neuroscience caught up...In a study using electrodes to probe the hippocampus in epileptic patients for clinical reasons, we identified a type of neuron that fires in response to particular abstract… -
The Isolated Mind
4 Feb 2010 | 8:34 amMegan O'Rourke has a really eloquent and important article on the history of grieving in the New Yorker. She spends a lot of time on the life and death of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, who invented the five stages theory of human grief. (It turns out the stages don't really exist.) But I was most interested in this paragraph on the death of public funeral rituals - we no longer grieve with others, unless we're grieving over Princess Diana or Michael Jackson - and how it was driven, at least in part, by the new sciences of the mind: With the rise of psychoanalysis came a shift in attention from the… -
Prozac
3 Feb 2010 | 12:54 pmSharon Begley has an excellent Newsweek cover story on the rise and fall of anti-depressant medications, or how a class of drugs that were once hailed as medical miracles are now seen as barely better than placebos: In just over half of the published and unpublished studies, Kirsch and colleagues reported in 2002, the drug alleviated depression no better than a placebo. "And the extra benefit of antidepressants was even less than we saw when we analyzed only published studies," Kirsch recalls. About 82 percent of the response to antidepressants--not the 75 percent he had calculated from… -
The Blue Brain
3 Feb 2010 | 8:23 amVia Vaughan at MindHacks, comes this link to a preview of a documentary-in-progress on The Blue Brain, that epic attempt to create a conscious supercomputer. I was fortunate enough to profile the Blue Brain in 2008: In the basement of a university in Lausanne, Switzerland sit four black boxes, each about the size of a refrigerator, and filled with 2,000 IBM microchips stacked in repeating rows. Together they form the processing core of a machine that can handle 22.8 trillion operations per second. It contains no moving parts and is eerily silent. When the computer is turned on, the only thing…
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The Scientific Fundamentalist
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Why the Ban on Hand-held Devices in Cars May Not Reduce Accidents
7 Feb 2010 | 3:47 pmA recent study shows that, contrary to expectations, the ban on the use of hand-held devices like cell phones while driving has not reduced the number of accidents on the road. How could that be? The study, conducted by the Highway Loss Data Institute (it’s the only research institute that I know of whose name consists of four disjointed nouns), examines auto collision insurance claims in the three states (NY, CT, and CA) and the District of Columbia, all of which have introduced a ban on the use of hand-held devices while driving. The study compares the rates of accident claims… -
Applied Evolutionary Psychology at its Best
31 Jan 2010 | 5:40 pmBuy and read Amy Alkon’s new book I See Rude People: One Woman’s Battle to Beat Some Manners into Impolite Society. It will be the funniest book you read this decade. Amy Alkon is an award-winning nationally syndicated advice columnist and long-time blogger, with her popular blog Advice Goddess. She is also extremely knowledgeable about the latest research in evolutionary psychology and related fields, and regularly attends Human Behavior and Evolution Society and other scientific conferences. I See Rude People is a seamless mixture of two types of stories. On the… -
British Newspapers Make Things Up
24 Jan 2010 | 5:37 pmIn April 2008, I wrote that British journalists interpret “freedom of the press” to mean that they can make up anything they want and publish it as fact in British newspapers. Now another evolutionary psychologist has learned the lesson the hard way. In the earlier post, I explain that, by the American standards, all British newspapers are tabloids because they don’t distinguish between what is true and what they make up. I knew this from my own experiences of dealing with British journalists, but, as it turns out, even the British government admits, in an official… -
Naked Air
17 Jan 2010 | 5:13 pmIn December 2001, Thomas L. Friedman suggested that we all fly naked to fight terrorism in the air. Friedman made his suggestion, with his tongue only partially, not entirely, in his cheek, after the failed attempt by Richard Reid – the shoe bomber – to blow up an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami. Here’s what Friedman said in his New York Times column on 26 December 2001. I’m thinking of starting my own airline, which would be called Naked Air. Its motto would be “Everybody flies naked and… -
What’s Wrong with Muslims?
10 Jan 2010 | 6:13 pmBeing a Muslim in today’s world is unlike being anything else. It’s an all-encompassing, all-consuming identity. Within a single society, like the United States, white college professors, say, usually have much more in common – in their values, preferences, lifestyles, and opinions – with black college professors than they do with, say, white garbage collectors. Conversely, black garbage collectors usually have much more in common with white garbage collectors than they do with black college professors. There may be exceptions in some cases, but usually their…
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We're Only Human...
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The "Super Uncles" of Samoa
2 Feb 2010 | 11:34 amMale homosexuality doesn’t make complete sense from an evolutionary point of view. It appears that the trait is heritable, but since homosexual men are much less likely to produce offspring than heterosexual men, shouldn’t the genes for this trait have been extinguished long ago? What value could this sexual orientation have, that it has persisted for eons even without any discernible reproductive advantage?One possible explanation is what evolutionary psychologists call the “kin selection hypothesis.” What that means is that homosexuality may convey an indirect benefit by enhancing… -
A warm glow in Bangkok
29 Jan 2010 | 9:25 amSay you are traveling in a foreign country, trying to find your way through the bustling capital city. Not Paris or London, some place a bit edgier. Bangkok. You don’t speak the language, and you’re a little frazzled. You walk into a café for some respite, and to your surprise to see a fellow you know from back home sitting at a corner table, sipping coffee. He’s hardly a friend, but you know him to say hello. How do you feel? Well, after the initial surprise, you probably feel a warm glow as you walk up and greet him. You’re genuinely happy to see his familiar face in this strange… -
Hyper-binding ain't for sissies
27 Jan 2010 | 11:40 amImagine this hypothetical scenario: You’re at a cocktail party and the host introduces you to a stranger, whose name is Jeremy. It’s a crowded party, and as you chat with Jeremy, you’re also picking up snippets of another conversation nearby. Something about a big football game on Sunday. It doesn’t concern you, so you try to tune it out. You have a short but pleasant conversation with Jeremy, then go on to mingle with other guests.What do you remember when you run into Jeremy the next day? Well, if you’re young, you will probably recognize Jeremy’s face and associate his face… -
The Science of Prayer
19 Jan 2010 | 1:10 pmEveryone who is in any kind of serious relationship—with a partner, a child, a close friend—has been guilty of transgression as one time or another. That’s because we’re not perfect. We all commit hurtful acts, violate trust, and hope for forgiveness.That’s simply a fact, and here’s another one: Nine out of 10 Americans say that they pray—at least on occasion. Florida State University psychologist Nathaniel Lambert put these two facts together and came up with an idea: Why not take all that prayer and direct it at the people who have wronged us? Is it possible that directed… -
Revisiting the Green Monster
8 Jan 2010 | 9:20 amWhen South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford was caught red-handed returning from a tryst with his Argentine mistress last June, he told the Associated Press that he had met his “soul mate.” His choice of words seemed to suggest that having a deep emotional and spiritual connection with Maria Belen Chapur somehow made his sexual infidelity to his wife Jenny Sanford less tawdry.Jenny Sanford wasn’t buying it, and neither would most women. What the two-timing governor didn’t understand is that most women view emotional infidelity as worse, not better, than sexual betrayal. Publicly…
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World of Psychology
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7 Office Depression Busters: Tips for Work Depression
9 Feb 2010 | 4:25 amIn his classic, “The Prophet,” Kahlil Gibran writes: Always you have been told that work is a curse … But I say to you that when you work you fulfill a part of earth’s furthest dream, assigned to you when that dream was born. Unfortunately Kahlil’s words don’t jibe with a new Australian study that found almost one in six cases of depression among working people caused by job stress, that nearly one in five (17 percent) working women suffering depression attribute their condition to job stress and more than one in eight (13 percent) working men. In the last… -
Introducing the Pop Psychology Blog
8 Feb 2010 | 7:11 amGenders issues in mainstream psychology are of interest to a great many people, us included. So we’re happy to welcome Yale University student, Johannah Cousins, as our newest blogger to be blogging about the intersection of gender issues and pop psychology in her new blog, Pop Psychology. Johannah Cousins is a senior English major at Yale University with a focus on gender studies and contemporary popular culture. She recently completed her senior thesis, an analysis of the cultural and feminist context of the Twilight series. She is a film and music critic and staff writer for the Yale… -
Watching Others Do Good, Clean Scents Promote Altruism
7 Feb 2010 | 8:05 amWhat would you say if I told you that simply observing people thanking others induced more altruism? The simple act of watching someone else do something uplifting or a good deed motivates us to also do good. At least that’s what researchers found in a recent demonstration of this effect at the University of Plymouth. In two experiments, researchers (Schnall et al., 2010) tested the level of altruistic behaviors amongst female students by asking them to view TV clips of three kinds — a neutral clip showing scenes from a nature documentary, an uplifting segment from “The Oprah… -
Facebook Continues to Dominate Among Youth
6 Feb 2010 | 7:17 amLast week, we discovered that 4 out of 5 teens prefer and use Facebook over the leading sugarless gum. Oh, sorry, I meant to say that while 7 out of 10 (73% to be exact) teens use social networking websites like Facebook, only 1 in 12 teens use Twitter. Clearly, the still-in-place-to-be is on Facebook and other social networking websites like it. The new data comes from our friends over at the Pew Internet and American Life Project, who conducted a phone survey in the middle of last year of 800 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17. And while teens continue to embrace social networking,… -
Newsweek: Do Antidepressants Work? For Many People, YES!
5 Feb 2010 | 4:39 amI admire Newsweek writer Sharon Begley’s work … especially when she explains ways we can try to rewire our brain. But I found last week’s cover story irresponsible. If, for no other reason, than its title and subtitle: “The Depressing News About Antidepressants: Studies Suggest That the Popular Drugs Are No More Effective Than a Placebo. In Fact, They May Be Worse.” Then I may as well kill myself. That’s how I would have read the article four years ago, before I started questioning all the information available today on mood disorders and drug treatment,…
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idle thoughts
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How to Keep Scott Brown OFF Balance
4 Feb 2010 | 8:10 amI was wondering how to keep Scott Brown off balance for the next three years. Here are the results of my Monday morning fantasy all based on his advocacy of water-boarding to extract information from terror suspects.1. Surely he cannot be allowed to take the Senate oath to uphold the constitution when he is on record as advocating actions that surely contravene the 8th amendment on cruel and unusual punishment.2. For his statements on water-boarding, the US attorney for Massachusetts should bring a prosecution for advocating criminal activity. Water-boarding is contrary to the Geneva… -
Stare decisis
31 Jan 2010 | 2:42 pmOpEd in the Cambridge Chronicle -
Letter on Executive Compensation (scroll down)
27 Jan 2010 | 3:17 pmNew York Times Magazine letter on Compensation -
Treasury Weighs Fix to Foreclosure Program
26 Jan 2010 | 6:19 pmA sure sign of incompetence is to continue to follow a losing course of action, only more so. That is what the Treasury is doing in its futile attempts to stem foreclosures (Treasury Weighs Fix to Foreclosure Program, New York Times, Business Section, January 22, 2010).These attempts to vary interest rates or to write ff value are doomed to failure. The problem is structural: the servicers do not own the mortgages and only the owners can agree to modify the mortgages. As the mortgages have been sliced and diced into a multiplicity of tiny tranches, finding the owners is very difficult and… -
Studies of Medical Marijuana Discouraged
26 Jan 2010 | 6:16 pmWhatever happened to this administration's commitment to scientific research. You report that government bureaucracies are preventing Dr. Lyle Craker cannot get a license to grow various types of marijuana so that he can study their effectiveness (Researchers Find Studies of Medical Marijuana Discouraged, New York Times, January 19, 2010).WSe cannot have science based medicine unless scientists ae allowed to do the science.The message does not have seemed to reach the National Institute for Drug Abuse and the Federal Drug Administration that we are in a new era: an era in which scientific…
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School Psychologist Blog Files
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New Poll: How Do You Feel About the Level Of Education The School Provides Your Child
8 Feb 2010 | 3:34 pmI will be starting a monthly poll to engage the readers of this blog and start some discussion. Feel free to comment on this topic. I'm sure many of you have a lot to say. At the end of the month, I'll share and discuss results in a blog post. I'm curious to see how the readers of this blog feel about your own schools. You can find the poll in the sidebar. Thanks for participating! -
The Unpopular Realities of the Eligibility
13 Jan 2010 | 5:34 amThe eligibility criteria for special education services is black and white. (I'm not talking about the color of skin.) Either the student fits the criteria or does not fit the criteria. The committee comes together with all the test data and then reviews the criteria for each disability. Either the student is eligible or not. They meet the criteria or they do not meet the criteria. Sounds easy, right? The kids who obviously fit the criteria easily qualify for special education services. The kids who clearly do not fit criteria for special education do not qualify for special education… -
Angela's Tips for Handling Your Child's Special Education Needs
7 Jan 2010 | 5:22 pmThis guest post is written by Angela Peterson who writes on the topic of Online Psychology Degrees and can be emailed at angela_peterson@rediffmail.comIt’s not easy raising a child, and when he or she is affected by a severe disorder or disease, you have a greater challenge ahead of you. You have to put in extra effort, energy and thought into your child’s development and progress, one aspect of which includes their education. Some parents of children with special needs may be tempted to overprotect by keeping them in cloistered environments and limiting their interaction with the outside… -
Promising New Research on Early Intervention for Autism
30 Nov 2009 | 4:55 pmCNN reports that a study confirms that early autism intervention in toddlers is effective. A study was completed with a program called the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM). This program involves about twenty hours a week in the child's own home. It involves play and parents can easily learn some of the skills that can be applied in other settings. The study compared a group of toddlers that were given ESDM intervention to a group of toddlers receiving typical community interventions. Both groups showed improvement, but the ESDM group improved IQ by 18 points compared to 8 points with… -
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…
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School Psychology Blog
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Dolphins and Learning
7 Feb 2010 | 8:14 pmWatch this video and see how these amazing dolphins have developed a new way to catch fish! Dolphins learn new ways to thrive and survive and so can children with learning disabilities. Children can also adapt to their environment if they are given the right resources and skills. Davis (1997), talks about dyslexia as a ‘gift’ -- a natural ability or talent. He lists several characteristics and abilities that most dyslexics or students with learning disabilities share: Using the brain’s ability to alter and create perceptions Being highly aware of the environment… -
Back to School Starts….NOW!!
30 Jan 2010 | 5:18 pmAll the kids go back to skool... All the children go back to school and the parents cheer “hooray”! It is important for parents and children to be organised and prepared for school. Here are a few important tips to help: Get back into the routine as quickly as possible. Talk to your children and teenagers about the routine they will need to follow during the week and establish clear guidelines and boundaries. This will avoid fights and arguments. For example, what time they will wake up and go to bed, what time they will need to be ready to leave for school, what time they… -
Flash Card Making Tips
19 Jan 2010 | 8:07 pmFlash cards are a great way to summarise your notes, learn definitions and answer single sentence questions. They are good for true and false test questions. Example of a definition flashcard: Side 1: Dyslexia ( put the key term in the middle of the card). Side 2: 1. Impaired ability to learn to read. 2. A learning disability in which a person finds it difficult to read and write. You may like to include a picture of a person reading a book! (Having a picture to go with you definition helps you make visual links with the key word.) Tips for making good flashcards: Use a reasonable… -
Child Psychology
14 Jan 2010 | 10:06 pmChildren get stuck from time to time and they need expert help to manage their emotions and deal with issues. Children Need Help Too! We see children every day that benefit from counselling. Children need a safe and secure environment where they can express themselves and get help with anything that they might be struggling with. At School Psychology Services we specialise in working with children and young people. We work with young people, because love it, and that is what we do best! We are child and adolescent friendly psychologists! Goals Counsellors have identified four levels of… -
Establish Good Routines
12 Jan 2010 | 8:16 pmEstablish Good Routines It is important to establish positive working routines that include work, rest, exercise and play! With study and work it is essential to be organised and on top of things. The saying, “don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today”, may be helpful to keep in mind. Having set hours to study and work are important and will certainly ensure long term success. Tip: Use your diary or weekly planner to block out times for school, work and study and stick to them! Rest and relaxation are also very important. How many hours of sleep do you need per night? The…
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Teaching High School Psychology
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Maslow and YouTube
9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 amSince its inception, YouTube has been a fantastic resource of short video clips not just for psychology, but all courses. The primary difficulty with YouTube is going through the large collection and determining which would work best in a class.For example, a search on YouTube for "Maslow hierarchy of needs" came back with over 500 hits. Many of the postings are from students who created a video for their psychology class. Some are fantastic others are questionable to say the least.For this posting of the Midnight Postings I would ask that anyone who has found a good YouTube video on Maslow… -
LOL to Good Health
8 Feb 2010 | 12:00 amLaughing Out Loud (LOL) to Good Health is an award winning website written and designed by three high school students from around the world who have never met. While the site appears to have been written some time ago, the material and web design is still very current.The site deals primarily with emotions, stress, and laughter. All three sections can easily be used in a high school psychology course (grade level, AP or IB).It might be interesting to assign your students to explore the site and get their reactions. Be sure to check out the Teacher's Corner.Laughing Out Loud (LOL) to Good… -
Top 10 Nonverbal Communication Tips
5 Feb 2010 | 12:00 amAbout.com: Psychology has an interesting posting on their Top Ten Nonverbal Communication Tips. The listing provides insights on how someone can notice nonverbal communication cues in others and how they should be aware of their own nonverbal communication when interacting with people. The top ten tips can be found at http://psychology.about.com/od/nonverbalcommunication/tp/nonverbaltips.htm -
Eureka Brain poster
4 Feb 2010 | 3:48 pmSerendipitously this fits nicely with this week's THSP theme of freebies ... who wants a giant poster of the brain like the one above? Actually the picture above is just a smidgen of the real thing which is just huge -- did I mention ginormous even? It's HERE. (And there's an accompanying article on the brain as well, all compliments of the Times Online.)Want to make it a real poster? There are many sites on the Internet to do that but another idea is to make it for "free" (you pay for your own printing and paper) via BlockPosters. You can make an enormous brain and take up an entire… -
THSP Blog Birthday Celebration - New Teacher Peer Award
4 Feb 2010 | 12:21 amBelieve it or not, next week marks the first anniversary of the Teaching High School Psychology Blog. On February 10, 2009 we published our first post. 370 some posts later we are ready to celebrate what we hope everyone agrees has been a very successful year. To help make the event truly a celebration, many of the publishing companies have promised a number of "goodies" such as books, DVDs, resources items and the like.One birthday event which I hope will become an annual tradition, is the New Teacher Peer Award. Nominated and voted upon by one's fellow high school psychology teachers, the…
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Advances in the History of Psychology
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Teaching the History of Psychology
8 Feb 2010 | 6:57 pmThe February 2010 issue of the APA’s Monitor on Psychology contains an article on the teaching of the history of psychology. The article explores the status of history of psychology in North American psychology programs, noting that, many educators believe the history of psychology should be required as part of every student’s training at the graduate and undergraduate levels. Studying the field’s successes and mistakes, alongside today’s emerging findings, teaches students how to think critically about psychology… Despite this, some institutions, including Columbia… -
Lancet Retracts Article Linking Vaccine to Autism
2 Feb 2010 | 9:29 amThe leading medical journal of the UK, The Lancet, has formally retracted the article by U.S. physician Andrew Wakefield that claimed the Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) vaccine causes autism in some children. A statement by the The Lancet says: several elements of the 1998 paper by Wakefield et al are incorrect, contrary to the findings of an earlier investigation. In particular, the claims in the original paper that children were “consecutively referred” and that investigations were “approved” by the local ethics committee have been proven to be false… The original article had… -
Introducing the New HoP
28 Jan 2010 | 9:31 pmThe soon-to-appear February 2010 issue of History of Psychology is the journal’s first issue under the editorship of Wade Pickren. Pickren, also currently president of the Society for the History of Psychology, Division 26 of the American Psychological Association, has been kind enough to provide AHP’s readers with an overview of his vision for the journal, as well as a sneak peak at the content of the first issue. He writes, As the new editor of History of Psychology, I want to be careful to keep the high quality that Michael Sokal and James Capshew maintained over the first 12… -
Baby Einstein Founder Sues University
27 Jan 2010 | 2:27 pmA founder of the Baby Einstein series of videos, has taken the University of Washington to court to force the release of raw data from a study that found that small children who watch television are more likely to develop cognitive deficits. According to an article in the New York Times, A co-founder of the company that created the “Baby Einstein” videos has asked a judge to order the University of Washington to release records relating to two studies that linked television viewing by young children to attention problems and delayed language development. “All we’re asking for is the… -
Bedlam Exhibit Opens
25 Jan 2010 | 7:42 amOver 750 years ago, a small priory just outside of London — St. Mary’s of Bethlehem — opened its doors. Soon after, it began taking in and caring for the mad. The institution, later know simply as Bethlem (or Bedlam), gradually became the most famous (and sometimes notorious) mental asylum in the English speaking world. It moved several times over the centuries, and now exists as the Bethlem Royal Hospital in Kent, a short train ride southeast of London. The history of this venerable institution is now on display in the gallery at the hospital’s current site in the…
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Cognitive Daily
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Cognitive Daily Closes Shop after a Fantastic Five-Year Run
20 Jan 2010 | 1:57 pmFive years ago today, we made the first post that would eventually make its way onto a blog called Cognitive Daily. We thought we were keeping notes for a book, but in reality we were helping build a network that represented a new way of sharing psychology with the world. Cognitive Daily wasn't the first psychology blog, but clearly it filled an important niche, because within a year, we were receiving over 30,000 page views a month. Now we often get over 100,000 page views a month, and we've totaled over four million. We reach many more people than would ever have bought our book, and we've… -
Both musicians and non-musicians can perceive bitonality
20 Jan 2010 | 9:48 amTake a listen to this brief audio clip of "Unforgettable." Aside from the fact that it's a computer-generated MIDI performance, do you hear anything unusual? If you're a non-musician like me, you might not have noticed anything. It sounds basically like the familiar song, even though the synthesized sax isn't nearly as pleasing as the familiar Nat King Cole version of the song. But most trained musicians can't listen to a song like this without cringing. Why? Because the music has been made "bitonal" by moving the accompanying piano part up two semitones (a semitone is the difference between… -
Synesthesia and the McGurk effect
14 Jan 2010 | 9:05 amWe've discussed synesthesia many times before on Cognitive Daily -- it's the seemingly bizarre phenomenon when one stimulus (e.g. a sight or a sound) is experienced in multiple modalities (e.g. taste, vision, or colors). For example, a person might experience a particular smell whenever a given word or letter is seen or heard. Sometimes particular faces are associated with specific colors or auras. Synesthesia is relatively rare, but the people who experience it are genuine: their perceptions are consistent and replicable. But one question researchers haven't been able to nail down is exactly… -
Does watching TV really kill you?
12 Jan 2010 | 1:58 pmToday I had to put off my normal morning run in order to make time to be interviewed on a radio show at 7:30 a.m. As I waited on hold for the interview to start, I could hear the hosts joking back-and-forth about what the "latest TV controversy" is. "Is it the Jay Leno / Conan O'Brien news on NBC?" the host asked? No. Then the hosts rattled through several other hot-button issues on television before arriving at this: "New research from the American Heart Association Journal [Circulation] suggests that watching TV might actually reduce how long you live." How's that for a controversy? The… -
The outfielder problem: The psychology behind catching fly balls
7 Jan 2010 | 12:22 pmIt's football season in America: The NFL playoffs are about to start, and tonight, the elected / computer-ranked top college team will be determined. What better time than now to think about ... baseball! Baseball players, unlike most football players, must solve one of the most complicated perceptual puzzles in sports: how to predict the path of a moving target obeying the laws of physics, and move to intercept it. The question of how a baseball player knows where to run in order to catch a fly ball has baffled psychologists for decades. (You might argue that a football receiver faces a…
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Denying AIDS and other oddities
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Kill a Child Lately? Not to Worry, Call Dr. Al-Bayati
1 Feb 2010 | 9:03 amI am sure you are familiar with ‘Dr.’ Mohammed Ali AL-Bayati.You know, the 'pathologist/toxicologist' who wrote the reinterpretation of three year old Elisa Jane Scovill's autopsy report (Eliza Jane was AIDS denialist Christine Maggiore's baby). When the LA Coroner concluded that Eliza Jane died of AIDS, it was Al-Bayati who re-examined the records and said she died of antibiotic poisoning. His conclusions were used in Maggiore's case against the LA coroner. More importantly, Al-Bayati provided Maggiore with what she needed to hear - that she was not responsible for her baby's… -
Andrew Wakefield is Accountable for Vaccine-Autism Hysteria - Wake up call to AIDS Denialist quacks
28 Jan 2010 | 2:10 pmUPDATE: Wakefield's quack paper is retracted by Lancet. Can he try to republish it in Medical Veritas?MMR doctor 'failed to act in interests of children'General Medical Council finds Andrew Wakefield, who linked MMR with autism, failed in duties as responsible consultantPublished in the Guardian NewspaperDr Andrew Wakefield, at the centre of the MMR controversy, "failed in his duties as a responsible consultant" and showed a "callous disregard" for the suffering of children involved in his research, the General Medical Council (GMC) has ruled.Wakefield also… -
Still Crazy After All These Years: The Challenge of AIDS Denialism for Science
25 Jan 2010 | 11:41 pmStill Crazy After All These Years: The Challenge of AIDS Denialism for ScienceBy Nicoli NattrassAIDS and Society Research Unit, University of Cape TownPublished in AIDS and BehaviorIn his new book, Denying AIDS, Seth Kalichman observes that people are surprised by the persistence of AIDS denialists:‘‘Are they still around?’’ he is often asked. And it is a good question. Given the large body of scientific and clinical evidence on HIV disease and treatment(expertly summarized by Chigwedere and Essex in this issue of AIDS and Behavior) it is indeed strange that Peter Duesberg and… -
Did Publishing AIDS Pseudoscience Kill the Journal Medical Hypthoses?
23 Jan 2010 | 1:04 amPublisher attempts to rein in radical medical journal23 January 2010By Zoë CorbynUPDATE: The Scientist Magazine updates the Medical Hypotheses fiasco. Editor rejects proposal to have submissions peer reviewed. Zoë Corbyn reportsThe publisher of Medical Hypotheses has proposed that the irreverent journal should be revamped as an orthodox peer-review publication.In a letter to the editor, Elsevier proposes a “revised and more focused aim and scope” for the journal and a “peer-review process for all submitted articles”.To achieve this, it suggests a “review of editorial… -
Review of AIDS Denialist Crockumentary 'House of Numbers': Nails Em!
22 Jan 2010 | 10:19 amReview: 'House of Numbers' blurs facts on HIVBy Special to The OregonianJanuary 21, 2010, 4:54PMBy personally interesting coincidence, the contrarian AIDS documentary "House of Numbers" opens just as a family friend is flying into Portland in advance of a benefit concert for her father, a local musician suffering from the disease. How fortuitous that I can report to her the film's controversial suggestion: Her dad's malady is not caused by the human immunodeficiency virus. In fact, HIV doesn't exist at all, but is used by researchers and drug companies who inflate infection…
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Psychology of Media:
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Using Cognitive Efficiency in Visual Data: Crisis Mapping in Haiti
15 Jan 2010 | 3:05 pmThis is an example of a brilliant use of social media. I learned about this from one of may favorites Beth’s Blog: How Nonprofit Organizations Can Use Social Media to Power Social Networks for Change. Ushahidi are mapping crisis information from Haiti. They have integrated various data input sources, SMS, email, or web, and visually translated it onto a map. It’s extraordinarily impactful because 1) it visually translates data into a cognitively efficient communication form and 2) it’s interactive in both directions–you can get information and you can post new. If… -
Five Things to Remember about Social Media
1 Dec 2009 | 1:37 pmIf you had any doubts about the impact social networking tools and social media have on the world as we know it, watch this Advertising Age video of Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz talk about the changes they’ve made in their approach to reaching skiers and snow enthusiasts. While this is a great example of responsive and proactive marketing, it reveals bigger trends about how social media technologies are changing the way people interact with information and how that impacts their behavior. Five Things to Remember About Social Media A picture is worth a thousand words but a video says it… -
The Psychology of Away Messages
23 Nov 2009 | 2:24 pmAre there psychological implications of chat status in GChat or iChat or AIM? Think of them as today’s answering machines. They are an opportunity to express some aspect of yourself. Sort of like vanity plates without the level of commitment or having to stand in line at the DMV. Away messages vary (one hopes) depending upon whether the chat account is used for business or personal, but all messages display shades of personality and technological expertise. Their brevity demands that you tap into existing social metaphors if you want to deliver a message, such as obtuse references and… -
“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…
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Neurophilosophy
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The cutaneous rabbit illusion hops out of the body
4 Feb 2010 | 10:35 amIF a rapid series of taps are applied first to your wrist and then to your elbow, you will experience a perceptual illusion, in which phantom sensations are felt along the skin connecting the two points that were actually touched. This feels as if a tiny rabbit is hopping along your skin from the wrist to the elbow, and is therefore referred to as the "cutaneous rabbit". The illusion indicates that our perceptions of sensory inputs do not enter conscious awareness until after the integration of events occuring within a certain time window, and that the sensory events taking place at a certain… -
Human grid cells tile the environment
27 Jan 2010 | 9:40 amHOW does the brain encode the spatial representations which enable us to successfully navigate our environment? Four decades of research has identified four cell types in the brains of mice and rats which are known to be involved in these processes: place cells, grid cells, head direction cells and, most recently, border cells. Although the functions of most of these cell types are well characterized in rodents, it remains unclear whether they are also found in humans. A new functional neuroimaging study, by researchers from University College London, published online in the journal Nature,… -
Does time dilate during a threatening situation?
23 Jan 2010 | 7:40 am"WHEN a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour," said Albert Einstein, "it seems like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute, and it's longer than any hour." Einstein was describing one of the most profound implications of his Theory of General Relativity - that the perception of time is subjective. This is something we all know from experience: time flies when we are enjoying ourselves, but seems to drag on when we are doing something tedious. The subjective experience of time can also be manipulated experimentally. Visual stimuli which appear to be approaching are perceived… -
Single cells in the monkey brain encode abstract mathematical concepts
21 Jan 2010 | 8:50 amOUR ability to use and manipulate numbers is integral to everyday life - we use them to label, rank, count and measure almost everything we encounter. It was long thought that numerical competence is dependent on language and, therefore, that numerosity is restricted to our species. Although the symbolic representation of numbers, using numerals and words, is indeed unique to humans, we now know that animals are also capable of manipulating numerical information. One study published in 1998, for example, showed that rhesus monkeys can form spontaneous representations of small numbers and use… -
Viewing headless bodies causes face adaptation
13 Jan 2010 | 8:40 amVIEWING a stimulus for a prolonged period of time results in a bias in the perception of a stimulus viewed afterwards. For example, after looking at a moving stimulus for some time, a stationary stimulus that is viewed subsequently appears to drift in the opposite direction. These after-effects reveal to us the properties of our perceptual system. They occur because the neurons which are sensitive to the initial stimulus re-calibrate their responses; they adapt to compensate for the earlier enduring stimulus, and so can continue to encode current stimuli efficiently. It was long thought that…
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One Among Many
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Michelangelo meets Carl Rogers
26 Jan 2010 | 11:10 amThis essay was written with Theresa E. DiDonato."Eigentlich bin ich ganz anders; ich komm nur viel zu selten dazu."[I am actually totally different; I just don't get around to it most of the time.]-- Udo Lindenberg, noted German rock man and poetMichelangelo Buonarroti (1475 - 1564) presumably said that of his creations, such as his sculptures of David and Moses, that they were already inside the blocks of marble before he started working on them. All he did was to release the figures by chipping away at the marble. Ah, what a metaphor! What modesty! But surely, Mr. Buonarroti was jesting for… -
Do the right thing
18 Jan 2010 | 4:59 amIn the world's collective memory, Thursday, November 9th, 1938, will live in infamy. Late in the evening, the so-called Reichskristallnacht began with attacks by the SA, the SS, and many civilians on Jewish life in Germany. According to Wikipedia, "91 Jews were murdered and 25,000 to 30,000 were arrested and placed in concentration camps. 267 synagogues were destroyed and thousands of homes and businesses were ransacked."The Nazi regime sought to portray the pogrom as a spontaneous eruption of the nation's outrage against the Jews, although few were fooled by this ploy. It was evident that… -
Beware of small majorities
14 Jan 2010 | 2:49 pmIn a recent post I argued that, although a lot can be said for the basic rationality of human (and non-human) conformity, there can also be trouble. The example du jour was a beauty contest. With too much choice copying among females (women choosing men whom other women choose), both females and males can suffer, on average.Another limitation is the size of the majority that is being copied. Suppose you are trying to estimate the number of marbles in a glass jar. There are more marbles than you can count. Yet, you can make a guess using your impression of the size of the jar and the size of… -
What (whom) women want
12 Jan 2010 | 6:47 amSigmund Freud famously confessed he had no idea what women want. Charles Darwin, however, had a hunch. He thought that women, like other creatures, want to propagate their genes. Where it gets interesting is how they figure out what kind of man to look for. Sure, most women like a man who is sincere and able to make them laugh, but the story gets more complicated. Women's preferences vary over their menstrual cycle and whether they are looking for a short-term mate or a long-term partner, which, in turn, also depends on the time in the menstrual cycle. When looking for a short-term mate,… -
Self-control: When optimism is self-defeating
26 Nov 2009 | 9:14 amThis essay was written with Anthony Evans.The Little Engine that Could is a classic story about the virtue of optimism. In this tale, the eponymous locomotive is challenged to carry freight over a steep mountain top. The little engine struggles in climbing the mountain, but ultimately succeeds in his mission. As the engine falters on its journey, it repeats the self-empowering mantra: "I think I can; I think I can." The little engine's message to readers is clear - maintain positive beliefs and you can accomplish great things.The utility of optimism is supported by research on social…
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Science Of Small Talk
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Down on Luck
4 Feb 2010 | 10:30 amOne of the recurring themes of this blog has been the basic human tendency to overlook the external forces that shape our lives. We prefer to think of the social universe as a predictable and orderly place–one in which, for example, individuals act a certain way because "that's the kind of person they are." These are reassuring notions in a world that otherwise can seem disconcertingly random.So we assume we actually "know" public figures based on highly constrained slices of performance we see filtered through the media. We blame the negative acts of others on a predisposition for… -
The Greatest Blog Post Ever
20 Jan 2010 | 10:46 amSex. Discussion of young, attractive people having sex. Allusions to young, attractive people having sex. Anything even tangentially related to the possibility of that, at some point in time, people of even moderate youth or attractiveness had themselves a bit of sex.Marriage and its inevitable ups and downs. Communication in marriage, or lack thereof. Sex in marriage, or lack thereof.Infidelity. How to detect it. How to prevent it or get over it. Why you're currently engaged in it. Why men can't help it and why women can't help but let them do it.It's been 18 months now that I've been… -
Global Warming is Dead. Long Live Global Warming!
6 Jan 2010 | 8:45 pmBaby, it's cold outside. Not just up here in New England, but across continents. Citrus farmers in Florida are worried about freezing crops. Britain is experiencing its worst cold spell in three decades. There's record snowfall in China.You know what this means, of course. Brace yourself for yet another spate of obituaries declaring the end of global warming.The jokes I can tolerate well enough. I mean, who, in the midst of shoveling snow, hasn't been tempted to throw out a one-liner to their neighbor like, "hey, what happened to global warming?" Or "tell Al Gore I have an extra shovel for… -
The Specifics of Helping Out
22 Dec 2009 | 1:59 pmWe humans are capable of great kindnesses as well as heroic acts. Every so often we hear the news report of the neighbor who rushes into a burning building to save a young child or the tourist who jumps into the ocean to rescue the drowning stranger. We read these stories and we feel good about humankind.Until, that is, we see the story about the woman who died in the emergency room after collapsing in full view of multiple employees who didn't intervene. Or the man who died on a city bus but remained unnoticed for hours as it continued its route and eventually parked for the night at the… -
What Tiger Teaches Us
15 Dec 2009 | 1:12 pmFew public figures in recent memory have fallen as far as fast as Tiger Woods. Indeed, we're just one or two juicy steroids insinuations away from hitting rock bottom on his downward trajectory. Oh, wait. Never mind.Of course, falling so far requires one to first have scaled the highest of heights. But Tiger's athletic and business accomplishments are not the only reasons this story continues to have legs. Its momentum owes just as much to the fact that his alleged behaviors seem so very much at odds with the type of person we believed Tiger to be.Tiger Woods is calm. In control. Remarkably…
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GPM - The MPG Illusion
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Why GPM -- A Brief Review
8 Feb 2010 | 11:56 amAutobloggreen has a post on the New York State Senate bill that would require car dealers to describe fuel efficiency as "gallons per 1,000 miles". The post has prompted the familiar call for using the metric system (see this post on the connection between "GPM" and the metric system) and the familiar lament that people should understand the math.A comment by "Throwback" on Autobloggreen reads:Throwback 2:40PM (2/08/2010)Another wasteful bill. What is the purpose? You don't think people understand that if they buy a car that gets 25 mpg vs 20 mpg they will be using less fuel? As a native New… -
Gallons per Mile Bill Clears New York Senate Committee
5 Feb 2010 | 2:00 pmThe New York Senate Environmental Conservation Committee has passed a new fuel efficiency bill that includes a "gallons per mile" requirement. The bill requires that vehicle manufacturers list "gallons per 1,000 miles" for city, highway, and combined driving.The bill was championed by Senator Daniel Squadron, who laid out his rationale in this December article, and received broad support from environmental groups: "Urging the passage of Senator Squadron’s bill were the New York League of Conservation Voters, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Sierra… -
The MPG Illusion among Transportation Professionals
5 Feb 2010 | 1:51 pmAre transportation experts immune to the MPG Illusion?In a presentation at the 2010 Transportation Research Board Conference entitled Mile-per-Gallon Illusions and CAFE Distortions: When Even Transport Experts Have Trouble, Dana Rowan, Alex Karner, and Debbie Niemeier of UC Davis report that transportation professionals make better judgments of fuel efficiency gains using "gallons per 100 miles" than using MPG. -
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…
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The Personality Analyst
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Libel in Fact Magazine: The Importance of Character Analysis
7 Feb 2010 | 6:35 pmArcheological evidence indicates that we human beings have lived in groups for at least 250,000 years of our evolutionary past. Each group had leaders, and our ancestors likely evolved a proclivity to scrutinize the character of those leaders. Good judges of character would have been better able to stay on a leader's good side or to challenge a leader when it was in their best interests. A good judge of character could also support the progress of the best among potential new leaders. Group members who were good at selecting their leaders and had the freedom to do so would… -
Libel in Fact Magazine: Defending Free Speech
31 Jan 2010 | 3:32 pmThe freedom to assess a leader's personality and to communicate that assessment is a precious liberty. In the United States and in other free nations, the government and legal systems allow people wide leeway to make critical judgments and to express them -- including judgments of political figures. The strength and legitimacy of a government is reflected, in part, in the freedom people have to say what they think. I have been examining personality judgments made during the 1964 US Presidential election (see my rationale). In particular, I have described the accusations… -
Libel in Fact Magazine: The Legal Case So Far
24 Jan 2010 | 1:31 pmThe Personality Analyst is returning from a month-long break. Before the break, I had been discussing personality judgments in the context of the Goldwater v. Ginzburg libel trial. As I begin my posts again, I will briefly recap the discussion so far. Next week, I will continue with the saga of the trial itself.Here is a quick summary of what has been covered so far and why:What was Goldwater v. Ginzburg (the Fact libel trial) about?In 1965, Senator Barry Goldwater accused Ralph Ginzburg of libeling him. Ginzburg was the publisher of Fact magazine, The case came to trial in 1968.Why are… -
Judging Personality Over the Holidays -- 2009 Edition
20 Dec 2009 | 1:39 pmAs 2009 draws to a close, many of us celebrate holidays of faiths and traditions from around the world. Our families and friends will be on our minds -- and sometimes in our homes. The Personality Analyst will be on holiday as well. (Next post: Jan. 24th, 2010).Last year around this time, I explored the pleasures and pitfalls of judging one's friends and family members over the holidays. This year, I revisit the issue, focusing on the question: "If free speech is a right, and I have judged a person, why can't I just say what is on my mind?" (See a recent post on the law and ethics of judging… -
Libel in Fact Magazine: Judging Goldwater By Psychological Theory
13 Dec 2009 | 2:25 pmSometimes we might want to use a psychological theory to describe an individual's personality. In recent posts, I have drawn on examples of how we judge others from Fact magazine's 1964 coverage of Senator Barry Goldwater. Shortly after Senator Goldwater won the Republican nomination for president in 1964, Fact Magazine's publisher, Ralph Ginzburg, and his editor, Warren Boroson, developed an idea for an upcoming issue of their magazine. The newly-planned coverage would explore Senator Goldwater's personality and whether the Senator was psychologically fit to become…
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The Situationist
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System Justification and the Meaning of Life
8 Feb 2010 | 8:01 pmSituationist Contributor John T. Jost and his co-authors Lindsay E. Rankin and Cheryl J. Wakslak recently published a fascinating article, titled “System Justification and the Meaning of Life: Are the Existential Benefits of Ideology Distributed Unequally Across Racial Groups?” 22, Social Justice Research 312 (2009). Here’s the abstract. In this research, we investigated the relations among system justification, religiosity, and subjective well-being in a sample of nationally representative low-income respondents in the United States. We hypothesized that ideological… -
Race and Implicit American-ness
7 Feb 2010 | 8:01 pmIn case you missed it, here is a worthwhile CNN International interview of Thierry Devos and Debbie Ma about their study, titled “Is Barack Obama American Enough to Be the Next President?: The Role of Ethnicity and National Identity in American Politics” (pdf here). The study’s introduction is as follows. * * * Recent research has demonstrated a tenacious propensity to more readily ascribe the American identity to Whites than to ethnic minorities . . . . Interest in this American = White effect is timely given that a front runner in the 2008 presidential election is… -
Cupid’s Situation
6 Feb 2010 | 8:01 pmOne week before Valentine’s Day, Jessica Pauline Ogilvie published an interesting article, titled “Scientists Try To Measure Love,” for the Los Angeles Times. Here are some excerpts. Whatever its reason, there can be little doubt — even from a scientific standpoint — about the potent feelings that being in love elicits. Arthur Aron, a social psychologist at Stony Brook University in New York, has done brain scans on people newly in love and found that after that first magical meeting or perfect first date, a complex system in the brain is activated that is… -
The Situation of Corruption
5 Feb 2010 | 8:56 pmWe thought our readers be interested in an article by Eduardo Salcedo-Albarán, Isaac De León-Beltrán, and Mauricio Rubio’s, titled “Feelings, Brain and Prevention of Corruption“ (3 International Journal of Psychology Research 2008) now available on SSRN. In this paper we propose an answer for the question: why, sometimes, people don’t perceive corruption as a crime? To answer this question we use a neurological and a psychological concept. As humans, we experience our emotions and feelings in first person, but the neuropsychological mechanism known as “mirror… -
Situationism in the Blogosphere – January, Part I
4 Feb 2010 | 8:01 pmBelow, we’ve posted titles and a brief quotation from some of our favorite non-Situationist situationist blogging during January 2010 (they are listed in alphabetical order by source). From BPS Research Digest: “Morbid warnings on cigarette packs could encourage some people to smoke” “Every now and again a finding comes along that provides perfect ammunition for psychologists confronted by the tiresome claim that psychology is all ‘common sense.’ Researchers have found that death-related health warnings on cigarette packs are likely to encourage some people to smoke. The…
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Ulterior Motives
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Psychology: Apparently it isn't rocket science
9 Feb 2010 | 6:57 amWhen you sign on to be a Psychologist, you have taken on the study of a topic that is both extraordinarily complex and underappreciated. Many people have an interesting attitude toward Psychology. On the one hand, they are interested enough to want to read news stories and blog entries, but on the other hand they often get the sense that Psychology isn't doing the heavy lifting of "hard" sciences like chemistry and physics. Even within the scientific community, Psychology is often the Rodney Dangerfield of sciences. There are plenty of Nobel laureates like Roger Penrose and Francis Crick who… -
We just met, but I feel like I know you. Do I?
5 Feb 2010 | 6:34 amThe old saying goes that you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Why would that be? Surely, getting to know someone ought to give you more valuable information about who they are than just a brief encounter. And clearly first impressions can be mistaken. A favorite storyline in the featured wedding in the Sunday New York Times is that the couple didn't like each other when they first met even though their friends were all convinced that they were right for each other.What is going on with these snap judgments?<!--break-->A lot of recent research has begun top play up… -
Video games can teach positive lessons, too.
2 Feb 2010 | 6:44 amPeriodically in this blog, I have written about positive and negative effects of video games. It is clear that video games can have both positive and negative influences on behavior. On the negative side, violent video games can lead to more aggressive behavior in general. On the positive side, playing action video games can make people faster and more accurate in other settings that require complex actions.Here's another positive effect of video games.<!--break-->A paper in the February, 2010 issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology by Tobias Greitemeyer and Silvia… -
No problem, I’ll have it done next week
29 Jan 2010 | 8:04 amAt any given moment, I have a lot of different things going on. I'm often working with a number of different colleagues and students on research projects and papers. I try to write entries for this blog regularly. I edit a journal, and I have to read papers and write letters of acceptance or rejection.When I'm working with other people, it is often important for me to make predictions about when I will be finished with a part of the task that I have taken on. These estimates allow my colleagues to make plans about when to expect my work and when they should plan to do their share of the… -
Spending and credit cards
26 Jan 2010 | 7:26 amIn my last blog entry, I wrote about research suggesting that people may spend small bills more freely than large bills. A number of people asked me what happens with credit and debit cards.<!--break-->Debit and credit cards are an important part of our economic lives. These days, it is almost a surprise to go to a store and see someone pay with cash or a check.There are many advantages of debit and credit cards, of course. They are easy to carry. You are not limited by the specific amount of money in your pocket. There is protection for cards that are lost or stolen, while money that…
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National Institutes of Health (NIH) Podcast
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NIH Research Radio - January 29, 2010
29 Jan 2010 | 9:00 am#0102 Report from NIH Research Radio - Topics for Friday, January 29, 2010 Coming up in this episode a breakthrough treatment for sickle cell disease in adults; how a pregnancy condition can lead to thyroid risk; tips for older Americans to stay safe in cold weather; and two NIH directors share their unique perspectives on health concerns in Haiti. Episode #0102 show notes Podcast archives -
NIH Research Radio - January 15, 2010
15 Jan 2010 | 9:00 am#0101 Report from NIH Research Radio - Topics for Friday, January 15, 2010 Coming up in this episode: news from a conference on trauma spectrum disorders; two reports on breast cancer risk, a study about CPR, and a report about women in science careers, plus a news update. Episode #0101 show notes Podcast archives -
NIH Research Radio - January 01, 2010
1 Jan 2010 | 9:00 am#0100 Report from NIH Research Radio - Topics for Friday, January 1, 2010 Coming up in this episode how certain cells keep cancer drugs from working; which cancer rates are up and who do they affect; and a familiar voice for NIH Research Radio. But first, a new feature for this podcast: a news update. Episode #0100 show notes Podcast archives -
NIH Research Radio - December 11, 2009
11 Dec 2009 | 9:00 am#0099 Report from NIH Research Radio - Topics for Friday, December 11, 2009 Coming up in this episode: can you imagine a doctor's visit, without actually going to the doctor's office? Also, a new source for heart-healthy recipes just in time for the holidays, plus details on averting holiday weight gain. But first news about Alzheimer's Disease risk: scientists have discovered two new gene variations. Episode #0099 show notes Podcast archives -
NIH Research Radio - November 27, 2009
27 Nov 2009 | 9:00 am#0098 Report from NIH Research Radio - Topics for Friday, November 27, 2009 Coming up in this episode, how one of the nation's largest American Indian tribes, is working to curb the rapid rise of smoking rates in its community. Also, an in-depth discussion with two physician researchers about rare, genetic immune deficiency diseases plus where they're being treated. But first, news about genetic discoveries and Parkinson's Disease. Episode #0098 show notes Podcast archives
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Books from Psychology Press
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Cognitive Psychology
7 Feb 2010 | 4:00 pmCognitive Psychology Previous editions have established this best-selling student handbook as THE cognitive psychology textbook of choice, both for its academic rigour and its accessibility. This sixth edition continues this tradition. It has been substantially updated and revised to reflect new developments in the… ISBN: 9781841695396 Published Feb 07, 2010 by Psychology Press -
Cognitive Psychology
20 Jan 2010 | 4:00 pmCognitive Psychology Previous editions have established this best-selling student handbook as THE cognitive psychology textbook of choice, both for its academic rigour and its accessibility. This sixth edition continues this tradition. It has been substantially updated and revised to reflect new developments in the… ISBN: 9781841695402 Published Jan 20, 2010 by Psychology Press -
The Student's Guide to Cognitive Neuroscience, 2nd Edition
3 Jan 2010 | 4:00 pmThe Student's Guide to Cognitive Neuroscience, 2nd Edition Reflecting recent changes in the way cognition and the brain are studied, this thoroughly updated edition of the best-selling textbook provides a comprehensive and student-friendly guide to cognitive neuroscience. Jamie Ward provides an easy-to-follow introduction to neural structure and… ISBN: 9781848720022 Published Jan 03, 2010 by Psychology Press -
The Student's Guide to Cognitive Neuroscience, 2nd Edition
3 Jan 2010 | 4:00 pmThe Student's Guide to Cognitive Neuroscience, 2nd Edition Reflecting recent changes in the way cognition and the brain are studied, this thoroughly updated edition of the best-selling textbook provides a comprehensive and student-friendly guide to cognitive neuroscience. Jamie Ward provides an easy-to-follow introduction to neural structure and… ISBN: 9781848720039 Published Jan 03, 2010 by Psychology Press -
Current Issues in Applied Memory Research
26 Nov 2009 | 4:00 pmCurrent Issues in Applied Memory Research Research on applied memory is one of the most active, interesting and vibrant areas in experimental psychology today. This book provides descriptions of cutting-edge research and applies them to three key areas of contemporary investigation: education, the law and neuroscience. In the area of… ISBN: 9780203869611 Published Nov 26, 2009 by Psychology Press
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Psychology / Psychiatry News From Medical News Today
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Morality Research Sheds Light On The Origins Of Religion
9 Feb 2010 | 3:00 amThe details surrounding the emergence and evolution of religion have not been clearly established and remain a source of much debate among scholars. Now, an article published by Cell Press in the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences on February 8 brings a new understanding to this long-standing discussion by exploring the fascinating link between morality and religion... -
Following DCIS Diagnosis, Psychosicail Interventions Recommended
9 Feb 2010 | 3:00 amA new analysis has found that women with medium or low levels of income are particularly susceptible to anxiety and depression after being diagnosed with the precancerous breast condition, ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)... -
Feeling Gray, Not Blue, Using Colors To Describe Emotions
9 Feb 2010 | 2:00 amPeople with anxiety and depression are most likely to use a shade of gray to represent their mental state. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Medical Research Methodology describe the development of a color chart, The Manchester Color Wheel, which can be used to study people's preferred pigment in relation to their state of mind... -
Can Memory Be Improved? A Meta-Analysis Suggests It Does
9 Feb 2010 | 2:00 amA meta-analysis published in the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics by Swiss investigators B. Metternich and associates indicates the effectiveness of non pharmacological interventions on memory complaints. Subjective memory complaints (SMC) in the absence of psychiatric or neurological disorders are common among older adults... -
Brain Area Responsible For Fear Of Losing Money Discovered
9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 amNeuroscientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and their colleagues have tied the human aversion to losing money to a specific structure in the brain - the amygdala...
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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… -
Teaching Teens About Abstinence May Delay Sexual Activity, Reduce Risk Behaviors
Teens who received a behavioral intervention centered on abstinence were more likely to delay first sexual contact than teens who received a control intervention focusing on general health promotion, according to an NIMH-funded study. Though differing from federally funded abstinence-only programs, the researchers describe how an abstinence-based intervention may help delay sexual activity among adolescents in the February 2010 issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. -
Genes and Circuitry, Not Just Clinical Observation, to Guide Classification for Research
NIMH is launching a long-term project aimed at ultimately improving treatment and prevention by studying classification of mental illness, based on genetics and neuroscience in addition to clinical observation. The Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project is not intended to replace psychiatry’s existing diagnostic system for practitioners and will proceed in an independent direction, said Bruce Cuthbert, Ph.D., Director of the NIMH Division of Adult Translational Research, who is directing the effort. By taking a fresh look – without preconceived categories – the project aims to improve… -
Same Genes Suspected in Both Depression and Bipolar Illness
Researchers, for the first time, have pinpointed a genetic hotspot that confers risk for both bipolar disorder and depression. People with either of these mood disorders were significantly more likely to have risk versions of genes at this site than healthy controls. One of the genes, which codes for part of a cell’s machinery that tells genes when to turn on and off, was also found to be over-expressed in the executive hub of bipolar patients’ brains, making it a prime suspect. The results add to mounting evidence that major mental disorders overlap at the molecular level. -
From Neurons to Thought: Coherent Electrical Patterns Observed Across the Brain
Amidst the background hum of electrical signaling generated by neurons in the brain, scientists have found that local groups of neurons, firing in coordination, sometimes create a signal that is mirrored instantaneously and precisely by other groups of neurons across the brain. These transient episodes of coherence across different parts of the brain may be an electrical signature of thought and actions.
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Child Psych
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When a Parent Goes to War
21 Jan 2010 | 7:02 amThe nature of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, along with an all-volunteer military, has led to multiple and extended deployments for active-duty, reserve, and National Guard troops. One of the invisible effects of war is the impact of prolonged deployments on the well-being of children in military families. Until now, there has not been a comprehensive study of sufficient size to fully examine the effects of parental deployment on older children. The first results from a large, longitudinal study finds that children from military families experience significant emotional and behavioral… -
ADHD and Sleep Problems in Children
19 Dec 2009 | 8:43 amIt probably comes as no surprise to parents that their ADHD children have trouble getting to sleep at night. It's hard for them to rev down and resist the impulse to play one more video game, text one more friend, post on Facebook, or start(!) their homework. But what do we really know about sleep problems and ADHD, and more importantly, what can you do about it? What Research Tells Us Several studies published in the past year by sleep medicine researchers have found significant differences in sleep problems between children with and without ADHD. Some of their findings include:… -
Grand Rounds Blog Carnival Vol. 6, No. 8
22 Nov 2009 | 7:50 amI'd like to thank Colorado Health Insurance Insider, the host of this week's edition of Grand Rounds, for including my post What Mental Health Parity Means for You. Of interest to readers of this blog is a post by Dr. Nancy Brown at Teen Health 411 - The Ideal Relationship With A Parent. In it a group of teens completed the following sentences. My favorite answer is listed after each. The perfect parent would ... Understand when I need someone to talk to who is more understanding than judgmental.The perfect parent would not ... Treat me like a friend, confidant, or source of support.In the… -
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 that most people who suffer from SAD start to experience symptoms. As you'll read below, some people experience reverse SAD in the spring and summer. Dr. Deb covers the basics in her post Seasonal Affective Disorder including symptoms and treatments. The psychiatrist and researcher who first described SAD, Norman Rosenthal, includes a self-assessment checklist in How Seasonal Are You? | Psychology… -
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 young children even get depressed. Most people were unaware that MDD had already been found to be as common among preschoolers as among school-age children (approx. 2%).The significance of the longitudinal study conducted by Dr. Luby and her colleagues is their evidence that depression in preschoolers is similar to that of school-age children. It's already known that an episode of severe depression…
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Litemind
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Deconstructing Creativity: The 4 Roles You Need to Play to be Fully Creative
2 Feb 2010 | 4:16 amDo you want to be fully creative? To not only have wild ideas, but to actually create and bring remarkable things to life? There are four distinct roles to be performed for the creative process to be as effective as possible. Each one requires that you play different characters, with different mindsets and skills. The roles are: Explorer, Artist, Judge and Warrior. Learn how they help unleash your creativity and how to master the skills each one requires. 1. The Explorer Ideas do not come out of the blue. In order to build them you first need to gather the raw materials: facts, concepts,… -
50 Ways to Get Your Life in Order
12 Jan 2010 | 4:20 amThis is an article by guest writer Mark Foo, author of The 77 Traits of Highly Successful People. There’s nothing wrong with a little bit of chaos in your life. As Albert Einstein once stated, “Three rules of work: out of clutter find simplicity, from discord find harmony, in the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” Unexpected challenges are what make us stronger, so don’t avoid them. Keep in mind the following 50 tips and you’ll be able to streamline your life and get back on track in the New Year. Recycle old papers that are filling drawers in your house. If… -
Are you stuck in a rut? Run from the experts!
7 Dec 2009 | 8:20 amYou’re facing a big challenge at work and can’t come up with any innovative ideas. Maybe your business is flagging or a particular area in your personal life has stalled. Either way, you could really use fresh new ideas to spice things up. In situations like these it’s tempting to go seek help from the experts. After all, someone much more knowledgeable should be the best source of ideas, right? Well, maybe not. The Problem with Experts Experts need to specialize. They need to draw boundaries around their subjects so they can narrow their focus and be as effective as… -
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? We all know the drill: when we have too much time to complete a task, we tend to slack off until the task becomes urgent. Then, when meeting the deadline gets nigh impossible, we become super-productive and miraculously pull it off — getting the job done just in time. The quintessential example of Parkinson’s Law in action is… -
6 Productivity Principles to Live By (My Personal Productivity Manifesto)
27 Oct 2009 | 8:48 amHere are six principles I strive to live by. This is my own “personal productivity manifesto”: it summarizes what works for me about personal productivity. Whenever I follow these guidelines, I am at my very best, feeling productive and joyful. If I feel that I am doing things outside these guidelines, I know I can refer to them and quickly get back on track. Since these principles work so well for me, I figured they might work for you, too. Here they are: Principle 6: Devote Time No matter how capable or gifted we may be, it’s an illusion to think we can do it all. As my…
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Channel N
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Understanding the Brain by Reverse Engineering
3 Feb 2010 | 8:30 am[Image by dreamglow.] Blue Brain: Year One The Blue Brain Project is an ambitious effort to model a brain, neuron by neuron, in order to understand its systems and functions in new ways and to build the facility to model brains across species. “I believe we will understand the brain before we finish building it,” says the project’s director, Henry Markram. First video release of a ten year documentary series by director Noah Hutton, following the project as it develops. Gorgeous imagery and an inspiring subject. See also: Blue Brain Neocortical Column Visualization, and the… -
How Neuroscience May Affect Law
1 Feb 2010 | 8:30 am[Image by bloomsberries.] Neuroscience, Law and Government Symposium Keynote speaker Hank Greely gives a basic talk about neuroscience and the law for an audience of lawyers/law students. Topics include predicting (behaviour and illnesses), mind reading and lie detection, responsibility and consciousness, treatment, and cognitive enhancement. Q&A follows. Greely blogged about it as well; sounds like it was a great symposium and it’s a pity the other videos aren’t online too. -
Stressed? Try Beautiful Water Relaxation
29 Jan 2010 | 8:30 am[Image by darkpatator.] The Water Room An ambient video featuring relaxing beach wave sounds with gorgeous and thoughtful close images of water in motion. It’s designed as a “meditation room” with continuous streaming video to provide background for your relaxation routines or as a soothing balm in itself. Loveliness. Lime.com offers many videos including beginner’s yoga instruction by the excellent Rodney Yee to start a practice at home without expensive classes, and other healthy living and behavioural health subjects. -
Neurotalk
20 Jan 2010 | 8:30 am[Image of the Banff Springs Hotel by Steph & Adam.] Neuro Talk: Tap In, The Experts Weigh In Short (1 to 2 min. each) interview clips in modules on major topics including brain scans, religion, neurolaw, cosmetic psychopharmacology, meditation, coma, and more from attendees at a neuroethics conference in Banff, Alberta. Non-resizable and unsharable custom video player, but great content. -
Child Abuse Epigenetics
19 Jan 2010 | 8:30 am[Image by net efekt.] The Epigenetic Link between Child Abuse and Suicide Risk Portion of a talk focussing on a study that looked at the epigenetics of people with histories of child abuse who died by suicide, and found increased methylation in some areas. Slides not available, but a fascinating talk on a hot topic.
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BPS Research Digest
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Intrusive images and intrusive verbal thoughts are different phenomena
9 Feb 2010 | 2:29 amThe vivid, intrusive visual images that are a hallmark of post-traumatic disorder (PTSD) are based on a separate memory system from intrusive verbal thoughts. That's according to a new study that claims to provide empirical support for psychologist Chris Brewin's dual-representation theory of PTSD.Brewin's theory posits two memory systems, one that's largely sensation-based, inflexible and automatically accessed and another that's more deliberately accessible, containing material that is contextualised and can be easily put into words. By this account, a traumatic event can end up lodged in… -
How framing affects our thought processes
8 Feb 2010 | 1:29 amA take-away restaurant near my house offers customers free home delivery or a ten per cent discount if you pick up. It sounds much better than saying you get no discount for picking up and suffer a ten per cent fee for delivery – this is the power of ‘framing’. Now David Hardisty and colleagues have dug a little deeper into framing, to show first, that these kinds of effects can interact with people's political persuasion, and second, that they can act by altering the order of people's thoughts.Hundreds of online participants chose between various flights, computers and so on. In each… -
CBT-based self-help books can do more harm than good
5 Feb 2010 | 1:52 amSelf-help books based on the traditional principles of CBT, including popular titles like 'CBT for Dummies', can do more harm than good, according to a new study. The risks were highest for readers described as 'high ruminators' - those who spend time mulling over the likely causes and consequence of their negative moods.The new research focuses on the use of self-help books as a preventative intervention for people at risk of developing depression. Gerald Haeffel identified 72 undergrads at risk and allocated each of them randomly to work through one of three self-help books. A third of the… -
Shiny, swanky car boosts men's appeal to women, but not women's appeal to men
3 Feb 2010 | 1:29 amIt's a widely held, if much derided, belief that ownership of a prestige sports car can increase a man's sex appeal to women. Indeed, there's a scene in the American sit-com Friends in which Joey dons a ridiculous Porsche-branded costume of peak cap, gloves, jacket and trousers, so determined is he to convince female passers-by that he owns a fast, shiny car. Now Michael Dunn and Robert Searle have tested the shiny car effect scientifically, looking at the influence of apparent car ownership on both male and female perceived attractiveness.Hundreds of passers-by in Cardiff city centre were… -
The Special Issue Spotter
2 Feb 2010 | 1:43 amWe trawl the world's journals so you don't have to:Adolescent Brain Development: Current Themes and Future Directions (Brain and Cognition). Open Access. Psychotherapy, Medicine and the Body: A Tribute to the work of Alexis Brook (Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy).The interaction of online technology on the consumer shopping experience (Psychology and Marketing).Dynamics of Social Networks (Social Networks).Towards a Fetal Psychology (Infant and Child Development).Physical activity research showcasing theory into practice (Psychology and Health).
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SharpBrains
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Pumping up the Brain: Reflections on the SharpBrains Virtual Summit
9 Feb 2010 | 11:41 amOn January 18-20, 2010 Alvaro Fernandez and his team at SharpBrains put together a splendid line-up of speakers on a wide range of topics related to emerging brain fitness research, technologies, and markets, and clinical cognitive and mental health issues. IFTF was proud to be a sponsor of this event. Although the conference was virtual, aside from the rigors of travel and a basket of bagels on the hallway table, my level of intellectual stimulation (and fatigue) mirrored most of my face-to-face conference experiences. It was a technical success and the content was first-rate. The conference… -
The Evolution of Empathy
2 Feb 2010 | 6:28 am(Editor’s Note: we are pleased to bring you this article thanks to our collaboration with Greater Good Magazine). The Evolution of Empathy Empathy’s not a uniquely human trait, explains primatologist Frans de Waal. Apes and other animals feel it as well, suggesting that empathy is truly an essential part of who we are. Once upon a time, the United States had a president known for a peculiar facial display. In an act of controlled emotion, he would bite his lower lip and tell his audience, “I feel your pain.” Whether the display was sincere is not the issue here; how we are… -
Will the Apple Tablet Support or Hinder Users’ Cognitive Fitness?
26 Jan 2010 | 7:20 amRumor has it that Apple is going to announce a tablet computer, which may well become a revolutionary new way for users to read and experience all kinds of educational content. Will it support or hinder our Cognitive Fitness? In this article, I describe the criteria that a tablet computer—and its technological ecosystem—must meet in order for the solution to make users more knowledgeable and smarter. To achieve these lofty goals, the tablet must be much more than an “e-reader”. The offering must be an integrated learning environment with which users transform the information that… -
Cognitive Enhancement via Drugs vs. Software
25 Jan 2010 | 1:27 pmSharpBrains Summit participant Peter Reiner, from the National Core for Neuroethics at the University of British Columbia, shares his main Summit take-aways on the potential and challenges of non-invasive technologies for brain fitness. He synthesizes the opportunity well: 1) Cognition is not monolithic 2) Software is adaptive 3) and seems safe, elaborating that: “Will brain fitness software dominate the world of cognitive enhancement? Prior to this conference I was quite skeptical, but the overall impression that I was left with was that brain fitness software may turn out to have some… -
SharpBrains Summit starts today
18 Jan 2010 | 5:16 amThe SharpBrains Summit is ongoing, with 242 participants in 15 countries! thanks to the IT brains at the Institute for The Future and collaborators such as Anett Gyurak, Pascale Michelon and Camille Finley, event is going great. If you Twitter, you can follow my updates here. The Summit hashtag/ feed is #sharp2010. Participants who were actively tweeting the first day: @IFTFHealth @rodfalcon @positscience @billiamjames @drg @FitLifeClubs @performbetter @YoungDrivers @AOborne (Registration is closed now for new participants, please subscribe to our eNewsletter if you want to learn about future…
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The Essential Read
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Psychology: Apparently it isn't rocket science
9 Feb 2010 | 6:57 amWhen you sign on to be a Psychologist, you have taken on the study of a topic that is both extraordinarily complex and underappreciated. Many people have an interesting attitude toward Psychology. On the one hand, they are interested enough to want to read news stories and blog entries, but on the other hand they often get the sense that Psychology isn't doing the heavy lifting of "hard" sciences like chemistry and physics. Even within the scientific community, Psychology is often the Rodney Dangerfield of sciences. There are plenty of Nobel laureates like Roger Penrose and Francis Crick who… -
The Supportive Spouse: How to Get the Right Kind of Emotional Support
8 Feb 2010 | 12:45 pm“I wish he’d be more supportive.” Here’s what I’ve heard (almost as often) in response. “I try to be supportive, but she doesn’t appreciate it.” And the first-runner-up response? “I don’t know what to do when she gets upset. It’s like she wants me to read her mind.” So what’s the disconnect? A recent series of University of Iowa studies suggests that “supportive” has almost as many interpretations as ”commitment” or “love.” For instance, a five year study of 103 newly married husbands and wives identified four… -
What Do Men and Women Want? Ask the Superbowl Ads
8 Feb 2010 | 7:24 amHuman orcas performing for pretzels. Chickens scared to death of Denny's Grand Slam offers. That Dorito's kids who doesn't want to share his mom, or his Dorito's--and not necessarily in that order--with mom's new suitor.Yes, the Superbowl is the one time of the year we aren't grumbling about advertising as interruption, but looking to it for entertainment. And the advertising industry knows it, unveiling their riskiest, most expensive, and sometimes (they hope) funniest or most moving efforts for the occasion. Sometimes the ads are too hokey or even incomprehensible for words--remember the… -
Why the Ban on Hand-held Devices in Cars May Not Reduce Accidents
7 Feb 2010 | 3:47 pmA recent study shows that, contrary to expectations, the ban on the use of hand-held devices like cell phones while driving has not reduced the number of accidents on the road. How could that be? The study, conducted by the Highway Loss Data Institute (it’s the only research institute that I know of whose name consists of four disjointed nouns), examines auto collision insurance claims in the three states (NY, CT, and CA) and the District of Columbia, all of which have introduced a ban on the use of hand-held devices while driving. The study compares the rates of accident claims… -
Special Super Bowl Post: The Marvels of Football Psychology
7 Feb 2010 | 5:44 amToday is Super Bowl Sunday - the supreme day of national communion in the United States.The two teams confronting one another both have remarkable back-stories. The New Orleans Saints, of course, represent a city that has been assailed by nature and, equally, the failures of local, state, and national governance. The team has never before been to the Super Bowl - indeed, half of the teams' total franchise playoff victories of four have occurred this year. Who can help but root for them?But the team they face, the Indianapolis Colts, has had its own challenges. The Colts had football's worst…
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All In The Mind
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The biz of communicating science
8 Feb 2010 | 5:42 pmThe Australian Science Communicators Conference is on in Canberra this week. By the looks of the final program there is a big emphasis on science reporting this year - unusually - and I so should be there and not here! There is some great twitter coverage coming from the floor though - so you can eavesdrop on the proceedings if you're curious (follow #asc2010). Climate change, the future of science journalism, choosing your 'experts' and much, much more. Minister Kim Carr launched the conference yesterday with the release of the… -
Stem cells and brain tales
8 Feb 2010 | 5:10 amI'm intrigued by all matters cellular. The intricate mechanics & chemistry of cell division and development. The wizardry of how 100 billion neurons manage to coalesce to form one organ with a unified sense of self. Compelling. Love the challenge of bringing the detail of that minute machinery to the radio too. (So, no, I don't agree with Media Watch's Jonathan Holmes when he said tonight on the tele that 'Radio is not the form for complex scientific argument'. Phooey! It all depends on the preparation of the participants).This week's show featured acclaimed… -
Back...and crackin'
26 Jan 2010 | 11:16 pmHolidays are indeed a sweet thing, and life certainly redefines itself when you're on them in ways that you forget are possible in the thick of a wall to wall working year. I went camping in Tasmania for some of it...what a gift Tasi's National Parks are....sublime. I'm back at the ranch this week ready and raring to wield the microphone and let the questions rip again for another year, looking far and wide for the most interesting yarns and science I can find for you. Life and beyond through the minds eye. Busy month ahead, and I'll fill… -
Charles Birch RIP...and another farewell of sorts.
21 Dec 2009 | 3:23 pmAcclaimed Australian scientist and theologian (that combination alone is what made him so interesting!), Charles Birch, died on the weekend at age 91. Radio National Summer Breakfast interviewed biologist Paul Ehrlich about his legacy this morning. In 1995, Charles was interviewed about his life by Robyn Hughes - you can catch that discussion online as part of the Australian biography series here. He was also interviewed at length by Stephen Crittenden for The Religion Report in 2007, and by Rachael Kohn for The Spirit of Things in 2002. In the new… -
The digital wilderness, your fiction tips, and the Hope 2010 Project
21 Dec 2009 | 1:04 amAll in the Mind is all about head stuff of course, and so, in the interests of clearing my head, I won't be doing much blog-wise or on Twitter for the next few weeks. Call it liberation from digital addiction...well, perhaps not strictly addiction, if Brit psychologist Dr Vaughan Bell has anything to say about it. He's just published an interesting essay over at Slate on the subject. "Like a compulsive crack user desperately sucking on a broken pipe, we can't get enough of addiction. We got hooked on the concept a few centuries back, originally to describe…
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Frontier Psychiatrist
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Interview with Iain McGilchrist
4 Feb 2010 | 3:20 amIt’s interview week here at Frontier Psychiatrist and I’m very excited that Dr Iain McGilchrist has agreed to be featured on this website. Dr McGilchrist is a psychiatrist with an unusual background as, before he turned his attentions to psychiatry, his first career was in the academic study of literature. He has recently published ‘The Master and his Emissary’ a book which posits that the division of the brain into two hemispheres is essential to human existence, making possible incompatible versions of the world, with quite different priorities and values. If… -
Interview with Prozacville
1 Feb 2010 | 2:44 pmToday Frontier Psychiatrist is honoured to feature an interview with fellow blogger Prozacville. For those of your unfamiliar with this site Prozacville is – in its own words – a cartoon about ‘existential discomfort and other things that go bump in the night, starring a cast of walking-talking Prozac pills’. And I think that it’s entirely brilliant, which is not something I write without due consideration. Can you tell me about why you started the Prozacville site? The pedestrian answer to ‘Why Prozacville?’ is that I’d been doing a lot of… -
Letter to Forth.ie
20 Jan 2010 | 4:10 amHere is a letter I wrote to forth.ie Sir, On 7 December I wrote an opinion for this site about the launch of identity cards in Manchester. I received one comment, from Joan Burton, who wrote: “It’s a cliche but a true one – if you’ve done nothing wrong you have nothing to fear.” One of the problems about the current UK government’s overarching surveillance project has been a lack of debate, both publically and in parliament, so I welcome any engagement with these issues. I have heard the above sentiment voiced before and I address it here to provide clarification and, I hope… -
Reconcile, Prozac for dogs
14 Jan 2010 | 1:18 pmFluoxetine hydrochloride (3-(p-trifluoromethylphenoxy)-N-methyl-3-phenylpropylamine HCl) was first described in a scientific journal in 1974 as a selective serotonin -uptake inhibitor. It was licenced for use in the treatment of depression in Belgium in 1986 and the USA in 1987. Before its launch, to introduce it to the public, its manufacturer Eli Lilly funded eight million brochures (“Depression: what you need to know”) and 200 000 posters. It would become one of the best selling pharmaceuticals of its age; by 1992 annual sales had reached US$1bn and by 1995 they had doubled to… -
Energy use in Hospitals
7 Jan 2010 | 10:17 amHere’s a short piece I wrote for BMJ.com blogs: According to a recent article in the Guardian newspaper I’ve worked in the two most polluting buildings in the UK. Over the course of one year the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel was responsible for the emission of 46,218 tonnes of CO2, (rated G). Cambridge’s Addenbrooke’s hospital – in whose A&E department I worked – was the second worst, receiving an F rating. Overall eight of the ten worst polluting buildings in the UK were hospitals which on average emitted 4089 tonnes of CO2 per institution yearly. At the…
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N e u r o n a r r a t i v e
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What Zaps a High Achiever’s Performance Lights a Low Achiever’s Fire
25 Jan 2010 | 2:41 pmHigh achievers do many things well, particularly when they’re convinced that excellence requires their utmost performance. Low achievers, however, have a hard time getting motivated and often find themselves coughing in the dust of the high achievers’ hustle. But like so many generalizations, this one has a limit. A new study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology uncovered a variable that knocks this scenario on its head, and it has everything to do with what makes low achievers tick. Researchers conducted multiple studies to evaluate how participants’ attitudes… -
Does Making a Public Commitment Really Help People Lose Weight?
9 Jan 2010 | 7:34 pmSeveral of the most popular weight loss programs operate on the public commitment principle. Individuals are challenged to state “publicly” (which may simply mean in front of a small weight loss group) that they want to lose so much weight in a given time period. The commitment hinges on social pressure working against the possibility of failure. If someone doesn’t succeed, or at least make substantial progress toward the goal, everyone will know it. On the face of it, this principle seems sound, since no one wants to be publicly embarrassed or viewed as a hypocrite. In practice,… -
Are Social Networks Messing with Your Head?
31 Dec 2009 | 7:47 amI have a feature article in the January/February issue of Scientific American Mind about the psychoemotional effects of social networking. A preview of the article is online here, and hard copy is available on newsstands. Several months back I started following the debate about the role of social network sites like Facebook in fostering loneliness, affecting self-esteem and bolstering narcissism. As is often the case, the debate seemed more about presuppositions and agendas, and less about evidence. This article puts the emphasis solidly on evidence by reviewing a range of research… -
Power Makes the Hypocrite Bolder and Smugger
29 Dec 2009 | 1:44 pmWe’ve all had the experience of listening to someone in a position of power rail against the moral ineptitude of others. Turn on the news on any given day and you’re likely to see someone moralizing about family values, for example. Most of us listen to these diatribes and wonder if those doing the judging would fare well under judgment—though we strongly suspect they would not. A new study that will be published in a forthcoming issue of Psychological Science confirms our suspicions. Researchers investigated whether people in positions of power that hold high standards for others… -
What’s More Potent, Testosterone or the Power of Belief?
17 Dec 2009 | 12:53 pmWhen most people think of testosterone, words like “aggression,” “dominance,” and “violence” usually come to mind. Those words are memetically linked with testosterone the way “expensive” is linked with diamonds, and most of us have adopted the linkage without thinking much about it. Collectively, we’ve adopted a “folk hypothesis” about testosterone–a generalized presupposition grounded in folk wisdom assumed to be correct. What makes folk hypotheses noteworthy is that they’re hard to challenge–not…
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In the news by Karen Franklin PhD
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What is a gang?
3 Feb 2010 | 9:05 pmA group of violent thugs? A social club? Troubled, homeless losers who are "hard to love"?And what is gang membership? Is it a fixed identity, or something fluid, which urban youngsters claim or don't claim according to external circumstances and the flow of their lives?How can we explain why, even in the roughest neighborhoods, at most 10 percent of youths belong to street gangs? Who are the other nine out of ten, and how do they negotiate survival without affiliation?For answers to these complex questions, and more, I recommend a new book from New York University Press, Who You Claim,… -
The "juvenile sex offender": Myth in the making?
31 Jan 2010 | 8:53 amBook describes harmful effects of labeling and treatment In the past 30 years, a vast cottage industry has sprung up to treat and warehouse juvenile sex offenders. Whereas in 1982 the United States had 20 programs to treat such youths, by 2002 that number had skyrocketed to upwards of 1,300 specialized programs, most of them private, for-profit residential centers. What is especially startling about the continuing expansion of this fledgling industry is that rates of serious offending, including sex offending, by juveniles is staying steady or even declining.In The Perversion of Youth,… -
California training: Complex issues in SVP evaluations
27 Jan 2010 | 12:09 pmCalifornia's Department of Mental Health has just announced an exciting training featuring several prominent psychologists in the sex offender field. The two-day training, March 9-10 in beautiful Seaside (by Monterey), features:Dr. Robert Prentky, a psychology professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey and a leading researcher and practitioner in the field of sex offender riskDr. Howard Barbaree, Clinical Director of the Law and Mental Health Program at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, a pioneer in the study of the mitigating effects of aging and treatment… -
Whatever happened to the War on Drugs?
24 Jan 2010 | 4:00 pmCan you believe that the War on Drugs has been raging for more than 40 years, ever since President Richard M. Nixon launched it way back in 1969? Talk about a war without end! And talk about casualties -- a massive prison industry that shoulders at least some of the blame for the current economic crisis here, where 46 out of 50 U.S. states are on the verge of bankruptcy.Now, says Hugh O'Shaughnessy in an insightful article in the Independent of UK, the War on Drugs is quietly "being buried in the same fashion as it was born -- amid bloodshed, confusion, corruption and scandal."The article,… -
Everything you ever wanted to know about professional jury preparation
21 Jan 2010 | 4:09 pmDoes having a trial consultant help prepare a witness affect the witness's credibility in the minds of jurors?What can opposing counsel ask the witness about their trial preparation? Is a trial consultant's advice confidential, or must attorneys turn it over to the other side during discovery?What guidelines exist to make sure trial consultants practice ethically? With attorneys increasingly using professional trial consultants to prepare witnesses for court, the latest issue of the Jury Expert (a publication of the American Society of Trial Consultants) tackles these questions head-on. The…
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Child Psychology Research Blog
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Special needs children: Depression and anxiety symptoms
3 Feb 2010 | 8:23 amIn our neuropsychology practice we see a large number of children with special health care needs (i.e., medical conditions) as well as children with neurodevelopmental or psychiatric conditions (autism, language impaiments, ADHD). Although the main goal of these evaluations is to identify their patterns of cognitive strengths and weaknesses to guide intervention, we always evaluate the current mental health functioning of these children. We do this because we often see that these children have high levels of anxiety and depression, which many times go unnoticed. Although this is a very… -
Mozart Effect: The effect of music on premature babies
27 Jan 2010 | 6:40 amDo you remember the Mozart Effect? In the 1990s a small yet very influential study showed that listening to classical music, and in particular Mozart, improved test performance in college students -thus Mozart must make you smarter! The public reacted and an entire industry was born. Parents rushed to the stores to purchase Mozart CDs so they could play it to their unborn children (hopefully not Mozart’s Requiem – which, although is one of my favorite works of all time, it is bound to traumatize anyone under 14). Even the State of Georgia passed a law requiring the free… -
Early intervention for ADHD: More thoughts on our definitions of psychiatric disorders
13 Jan 2010 | 6:38 amIn an article soon to be published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry I, with a colleague at the University of Pittsburgh, discuss the need for a new approach to the development of early therapeutic interventions for child depression, as current interventions are, sadly, barely effective (see this article for a more extensive discussion on the efficacy of child depression treatments). Our basic argument is that most current interventions are not designed to address the underlying processes and pathways that lead to the emergence of depression in childhood. This is partially… -
“My daddy is off to war” – Children of military families struggle to adjust.
6 Jan 2010 | 7:22 amDecember was a good month for the US military in Iraq; not a single casualty was reported. Unfortunately, the story was not as rosy in Afghanistan, where 20 service members died -not including the 7 CIA officers who tragically died last week. When we see footage of military funerals on films (e.g., Kavin Bacon’s “Taking Chance”), documentaries (HBO’s “Section 60″), or on the news, our thoughts are usually with the surviving family, as we can understand how difficult and devastating it must be to adapt to the death of a loved one. However, outside of… -
More thoughts on the CDC autism prevalence study: vaccines, home schools, and why Missouri?
23 Dec 2009 | 9:13 amI have received many emails about yesterday’s post on the CDC autism prevalence study. I thought I would spend some time to briefly address 3 specific issues. 1. Prevalence Rates and Home Schooling. I received a thoughtful email about the impact of home schooling on the CDC prevalence rate and autism research in general, given that many children with ASDs may be home schooled. Here is my response: Regarding the CDC: The prevalence was obtained from health records and, in some States, also educational records. States that used educational records had higher prevalence rates, and those…
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Your Mind Your Body
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Who Benefits from ‘Friends with Benefits’?
2 Feb 2010 | 10:03 amI know that the idea of not having sex before marriage seems a bit old-fashioned for many. But--the concept of “friends with benefits” seems to me to be way over the top. Especially when I talk to many young teens who are engaging in this behavior. -
Novelty May Help Prevent Relapse in Drug Addicts
1 Feb 2010 | 6:53 pmThe "real-life" suggestion that can be made is that certain kinds of drug users may be optimally treated using exposure to novel behaviors, sensations, activities or any combination. -
The Nuts and Bolts: Using Your Insurance for Mental Health Services
20 Jan 2010 | 10:31 amWhen new patients call me, one of their first questions is often “Can I use my insurance?” Thanks to the passage of the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act by Congress in 2008, many of us are able to use our health insurance to pay for psychological services. But figuring [...] -
Seasonal Affective Disorder…it is not just the winter blues
13 Jan 2010 | 8:55 amAs fall weather merges into the darkness of winter and daylight hours become short many people find themselves experiencing symptoms resembling depression. For some, the symptoms are relatively brief. Tempers may seem shorter for parents stuck inside with cranky or sick children. An increased sense of lethargy with a desire to lie around and binge [...] -
Effective Treatments for Depression Vary Based on Severity
12 Jan 2010 | 7:44 pmThis is a bit of a departure from my normal topic of aging, but an article came out last week that caught my attention and I think it is worth mentioning on the blog. The report was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and it was a review of six previously published studies [...]
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Personality Plus in Business
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Rekindling a Love Affair with the Enneagram
4 Feb 2010 | 4:58 pmIn self-development work it seems to me that people often fall in love with the first assessment tool that offered them some insight. The Enneagram is that tool for me. This model of nine worldviews and ways of focusing attention was the first window that allowed me to see that how I was in the world made sense in the larger scheme of things. At the same time it held up a mirror so that for the first time I understood the concept of “blindspot” and how mine played out in my thinking and behaviour. During a recent visit to Victoria British Columbia I attended an Introduction to the… -
To Facebook or Not?
29 Jan 2010 | 8:56 amThere have been surveys done on the MBTI profiles of Twitter users, and now in a recent post on his blog, Life Coach Yost asks what about Facebook. As a self -disclosed INTJ, Yost admits to the natural fit between his preferences and Twitter which he took to right away. Perhaps the attraction in part is that Twitter, apart from the 140 character limit, allows him to interact on his own terms. That 140 character limit might be a real bonus feature to an INTJ in terms of tailoring the responses that they receive from others…short and sweet and to the point. Facebook is another story. I am… -
21 Ways to Discover Your Genius
23 Jan 2010 | 1:10 pmEnter your name and email in the box on the home page If you find yourself complaining about your work, dreading getting out of bed for yet another day that seems meaningless or dreaming of running away to some remote island, chances are you are not plugged into your genius zone. Before you guffaw, panic or otherwise dismiss the notion of genius, let me reassure you that I am not talking about anything outside of what is real for you. This is the territory that happens when we are in tune with who we are and operating so that we are tapped into our strengths, natural motivation and intrinsic… -
A Picture is Worth 1000 Words… Collage Visioning
18 Jan 2010 | 7:13 amhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIT7easNGFE Visioning through collage making is something that I have done with individual clients and teams. The process typically includes some upfront exercises and discussions to clarify the purpose of the exploration and to focus in on what’s important. During the collage making itself participants are encouraged to be spontaneous and allow surprises to happen. And they do! If time allows my preference is always to work on good quality gessoed canvas with professional quality paint. Colour plays an important role in setting the tone. I want people to… -
ESTP Hands On Approach to a TO DO list – a Slam Dunk
14 Jan 2010 | 9:36 amESTP's Hands On TO DO Bulletin Board There may be as many ways of keeping track of things “to do” as there are MBTI types. This Dominant Sensing ESTP likes to see their To Do’s, move them around as things progress and enjoy seeing them completed with a slam dunk into the garbage can (aka trash). Booyah indeed – making a check mark or putting a line through an item seems lame in comparison.
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Workplace Psychology
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Implementing Change and Overcoming Resistance
5 Feb 2010 | 4:49 pmIn “Leading Change” (1996), Kotter outlined an 8-Stage Process to Creating Major Change: Establish a Sense of Urgency: Examine market and competitive realities; identify and discuss crises, potential crises, or major opportunities Create the Guiding Coalition: Assemble a group with enough power to lead the change; get group to work together as a team Develop a Vision & Strategy: Create a vision to help direct the change effort; Develop strategies for achieving that vision Communicate the Vision: Use every vehicle possible to communicate the new vision and strategies; have… -
Elements of Corporate Cultures
1 Feb 2010 | 5:05 pmIn “Culture by Default or by Design?” Edmonds and Glaser (2010) talk about the challenge of describing the culture of an organization. In the article, the authors maintain that the impact of your corporate culture can spell success or disaster for the organization. The culture of your company is its personality, it’s “how things are done around here” (Edmonds & Glaser, 2010, p. 37). Culture can be the company’s values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors – both of the overall system itself and of the individual members who make up the organization. -
Six Leadership Styles
30 Jan 2010 | 7:39 pmIn “Developing a Leadership Style,” Alan Murray cites six styles of leadership from Daniel Goleman’s “Primal Leadership.” They are outlined below: Visionary: this is best when an organization needs a new direction. The aim is to move people towards a new set of shared dreams. Leaders communicate where a group is going, but not how it will get there. This way, people free to innovate, and experiment. Coaching: this style focuses on developing others, showing them how to reach their goals and improve their level of performance. One warning is that too much hovering over an employee… -
Impression Management of President Obama
27 Jan 2010 | 1:05 pmIn Leadership in Organizations, Professor Gary Yukl defined impression management as “the process of influencing how others perceive you” (Yukl, 2010, p. 136). Dr. Yukl states that often people use excuses and apologies to avoid being blamed for their mistakes or poor performances. Yukl (2010, citing Pfeffer) states that many leaders try to create the impression that they are “important, competent, and in control” (p. 138). Successes are often broadcast, while failures and errors are kept quiet and not publicized. Salancik and Meindl (cited in Yukl, 2010) studied… -
The Arrogance of Leadership
24 Jan 2010 | 3:43 amLast summer (while in a Psychology of Leadership class) I read about Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (A&F) and its shrinking profits due to its refusal to offer discounts on its clothing line in this recession. A&F’s position was that the discounts would water down their image of a luxury brand, especially as they’re opening up stores overseas overseas in Milan, London, and Tokyo. So if they were to slash prices here in the U.S., A&F wouldn’t be able to maintain that air of exclusivity. While A&F was suffering, competitors like American Eagle benefited from its missteps. It…
