Psychology

Most Topular Stories
Shy Girl, Brave Woman

Psychology Today Blogs

Barbara Markway, Ph.D.

27 Jan 2012 | 7:43 pm

As a psychologist, I am frequently inspired by the resiliency people display in everyday life. Through the Internet and the power of social networking, I have met amazing people whose stories need to be told. Let me introduce you to Marla Genova, a woman who has worked hard to confront her own social anxiety, and ultimately, help others do the same.read more
Two Models of Intrinsic Motivation

Personality

Steven Reiss, Ph.D.

25 Jan 2012 | 4:24 pm

Here I begin an analysis of two theories of intrinsic motivation on four scientific criteria. The brutal truth is that the distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is invalid. read more
Who's Running Your Life?

Psychology Today Features

sheitler

23 Jan 2012 | 1:00 am

How you spin your story matters.
The Power to Be Me

The Essential Read

Michael W. Kraus, Ph.D.

26 Jan 2012 | 11:07 am

We certainly have a wealth of anecdotes about what having power does to people: Power has led political figures like Herman Cain (allegedly) and John Edwards to engage in adultery, facilitated unethical financial practices on Wall Street, and contributed to some of the most overconfident moments in our nation'sAmerican history. On the one hand, we could conclude from these examples that power leads people to immoral, unethical, and deviant behavior, and some research is suggestive of this possibility. Of course, power can't always be bad for us, like it was for the American economy or…
A treasure hunt for the mysteries of mind and brain

Mind Hacks

tomstafford

21 Jan 2012 | 8:22 am

I’ve published a couple of free ebooks recently: Explore your blind spot shows you how to reveal the gap we all have in our visual experience of the world, and discusses what it means about consciousness that this gap is kept hidden from us most of the time. Control Your Dreams, co-written with Cathryn Bardsley and illustrated beautifully by Harriet Cameron, tells you how to have lucid dreams, those dreams where you realise you are dreaming and can take control over reality. Both books are written as treasure hunts – travel guides, but for exploring inner space. When you start…

Scientific American - Mind & Brain
Fetal Armor: How the Placenta Shapes Brain Development (preview)

28 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am

The placenta is unique among organs--critical to human life yet fleeting. In its short time of duty, it serves as a vital protective barrier to the fetus. The organ’s blood vessels--which resemble tree roots in this image by Norman Barker, associate professor of pathology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine--also deliver essential oxygen and nutrients from the mother to her developing baby. Still, the placenta has been vastly underappreciated. Scientists are taking a closer look and finding that it is much more than a simple conduit: it actively protects the fetus and…
On selfish genes and human behaviour

28 Jan 2012 | 12:26 am

I’m safely back from my honeymoon, and I was catching up on the Scientific American articles when I found one that quite disturbed me. I don’t usually use this blog as a forum for thoughts about things that aren’t bacteria, but this is something I found important, particularly as I’ve spent most of the holiday reading Mary Midgely books.The article is by Michael Shermer , and you can read it here . It’s about human deception and deception-deception (the process by which we deceive ourselves into believing our deceptions). Called “the lies we tell…
#SciAmBlogs Friday - Apollo 1 fire, shale gas, ambidextrous wallabies, slow loris trade, skin microbiome, and more...

27 Jan 2012 | 11:51 pm

Another day with ‘quality over quantity’ marker… have a great weekend! [More]
Readers Respond to "Toxins All Around Us" and Other Articles

27 Jan 2012 | 11:00 am

CHEMISTRY COMMENTARY [More]
Are Wallabies Left or Right Handed? Both! (Sometimes)

27 Jan 2012 | 8:30 am

Which limb do you prefer? If you’re like most members of our species, you prefer your right hand for most tasks. If you’re like a smaller minority of our species, you might prefer your left hand. Very, very few of us are truly ambidextrous. Most of us have at least a minor preference for one hand over the other. So do wallabies.On the one hand (ha!), this shouldn’t be all that surprising. Nervous systems became lateralized quite early in the evolution of vertebrates. For example, there is research showing that fish show a preference for touching the sides of aquariums with…

Psychology Today Features
Anxious Minds

clane

27 Jan 2012 | 1:00 am

Sure, we live in anxious times, but you can tame the impact.
The Real You

sheitler

26 Jan 2012 | 1:00 am

Being authentic takes courage—but it is a mark of mental health.
The Perfect Family

kschreiber

25 Jan 2012 | 1:00 am

There's a fantasy we all carry in our heads.
Real Connection

kschreiber

24 Jan 2012 | 1:00 am

If it takes more than just a click, then how much more?
Who's Running Your Life?

sheitler

23 Jan 2012 | 1:00 am

How you spin your story matters.

Personality
Shy Girl, Brave Woman

Barbara Markway, Ph.D.

27 Jan 2012 | 7:43 pm

As a psychologist, I am frequently inspired by the resiliency people display in everyday life. Through the Internet and the power of social networking, I have met amazing people whose stories need to be told. Let me introduce you to Marla Genova, a woman who has worked hard to confront her own social anxiety, and ultimately, help others do the same.read more
The Dark Side of Altruism

Michael E. Price, Ph.D.

27 Jan 2012 | 1:05 pm

The mobster Jimmy Burke was renowned both for his spectacular generosity and his terrifying cruelty. How could two traits that seem so different co-exist in the same person? The answer to this question has important implications for our understanding of human altruism.read more
The Power to Be Me

Michael W. Kraus, Ph.D.

26 Jan 2012 | 11:07 am

We certainly have a wealth of anecdotes about what having power does to people: Power has led political figures like Herman Cain (allegedly) and John Edwards to engage in adultery, facilitated unethical financial practices on Wall Street, and contributed to some of the most overconfident moments in our nation'sAmerican history.read more
Two Models of Intrinsic Motivation

Steven Reiss, Ph.D.

25 Jan 2012 | 4:24 pm

Here I begin an analysis of two theories of intrinsic motivation on four scientific criteria. The brutal truth is that the distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is invalid. read more
Being You – Even When You'd Rather Not

Polly Campbell

25 Jan 2012 | 12:57 pm

Computer-cussing moments and other annoyances can reveal who we really are, if we're paying attention.read more

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin current issue
The Evolutionary Armistice: Attachment Bonds Moderate the Function of Ovulatory Cycle Adaptations

Eastwick, P. W., Finkel, E. J.

25 Jan 2012 | 10:48 am

Natural selection modified the attachment-behavioral system to bond adult mating partners in early members of the genus Homo, thus facilitating increased investment, especially paternal investment, in offspring. Previously existing adaptations that fostered intersexual conflict (e.g., ovulatory adaptations) could have threatened attachment bonds; therefore, the attachment-behavioral system might have evolved the ability to mute or refocus such adaptations for the purpose of strengthening the bond. Two studies offer support for this prediction. Women who were strongly attached to their…
Why Men (and Women) Do and Don't Rebel: Effects of System Justification on Willingness to Protest

Jost, J. T., Chaikalis-Petritsis, V., Abrams, D., Sidanius, J., van der Toorn, J., Bratt, C.

25 Jan 2012 | 10:48 am

Three studies examined the hypothesis that system justification is negatively associated with collective protest against ingroup disadvantage. Effects of uncertainty salience, ingroup identification, and disruptive versus nondisruptive protest were also investigated. In Study 1, college students who were exposed to an uncertainty salience manipulation and who scored higher on system justification were less likely to protest against the governmental bailout of Wall Street. In Study 2, May Day protesters in Greece who were primed with a system-justifying stereotype exhibited less group-based…
Social Roles, Basic Need Satisfaction, and Psychological Health: The Central Role of Competence

Talley, A. E., Kocum, L., Schlegel, R. J., Molix, L., Bettencourt, B. A.

25 Jan 2012 | 10:48 am

The authors propose that competence need fulfillment within valued role domains (i.e., spouse, parent, worker) will account, in part, for associations between autonomy and relatedness need fulfillment and psychological health. Testing these assertions in cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys of women in two independent community samples, the findings are the first to formally examine whether the satisfaction of competence needs within social roles accounts for associations between other types of need satisfaction and affective outcomes as well as depressive symptomology. Evidence…
Social Exclusion and Pain Sensitivity: Why Exclusion Sometimes Hurts and Sometimes Numbs

Bernstein, M. J., Claypool, H. M.

25 Jan 2012 | 10:48 am

Some research indicates that social exclusion leads to increased emotional- and physical-pain sensitivity, whereas other work indicates that exclusion causes emotional- and physical-pain numbing. This research sought to examine what causes these opposing outcomes. In Study 1, the paradigm used to instantiate social exclusion was found to moderate the social exclusion-physical pain relation: Future-life exclusion led to a numbing of physical pain whereas Cyberball exclusion led to hypersensitivity. Study 2 examined the underlying mechanism, which was hypothesized to be the severity of the…
Understanding the Better Than Average Effect: Motives (Still) Matter

Brown, J. D.

25 Jan 2012 | 10:48 am

People evaluate themselves more positively than they evaluate most other people. Although this better than average (BTA) effect was originally thought to represent a motivated bias, several cognitively oriented theorists have questioned whether this is the case. In support of a motivational model, the author reports five studies showing that the BTA effect is stronger for important attributes than unimportant ones (all five studies) and that once attribute importance is taken into account, the effect occurs when self-evaluations are compared with a single peer (Study 2) and when self is…

WordPress.com News
Chrome Users: Try the WordPress.com Extension

Christopher Finke

27 Jan 2012 | 1:54 pm

Want to receive WordPress.com notifications instantly, even when you’re not on WordPress.com? Add the new WordPress.com extension for Chrome and as soon as you get a new follower or a new like on one of your posts, a notification will appear in your browser: Simply click the icon to view your latest WordPress.com notifications: Start following new blogs without visiting WordPress.com The Chrome extension also makes it easy to follow sites from your WordPress.com account by displaying a Follow button whenever you’re browsing a site that has an RSS feed. Clicking the Follow button…
Your Stats Have a New Home

Andy Skelton

26 Jan 2012 | 10:46 am

Are you addicted to checking your site stats? You are not alone. The stats dashboard has always been one of the most popular admin screens. It’s gratifying to know that people are visiting your place online. With the WordPress.com front page evolving into a one-stop shop for posting, exploring, following and reading blogs, it seemed natural to put your blog stats there, too. Stats are becoming more and more about interacting with your readers and other bloggers. You’ll still see your summary stats and chart on your main dashboard, and the full stats page in your dashboard will…
Reblogging is Back!

Erica Johnson

22 Jan 2012 | 1:27 pm

As we mentioned last week, you can like and reblog posts directly from your reader, which displays a stream of all the updates published on all the blogs you follow from your WordPress.com account. We’ve also brought the reblog button back to the toolbar that appears at the top of the screen when you’re logged into WordPress.com. Note that you’ll only see the like and reblog options while you’re looking at individual posts. For example, you’ll see this on the left side of your toolbar while viewing http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2012/01/20/read-blogs: And your…
New Theme: Newsy

Philip Arthur Moore

20 Jan 2012 | 12:18 pm

It’s been an extra big week in the news ’round these parts, so much so that the launch announcement of our latest premium theme seems like an extra extra good way to headline our Friday. Newsy is a versatile business and news-friendly theme that offers up to ten different layouts, four footer columns, custom link and accent colors, and a custom site header. Brand and content-focused editorial teams will love publishing with this theme. Newsy: Home Page Designed by Themify, Newsy comes with an impressive set of Theme Options that afford you a great deal of flexibility with how you…
Read All Your Favorite Blogs in One Place

Erica Johnson

19 Jan 2012 | 6:04 pm

If you feel like it’s a chore to keep up with all your favorite blogs, you can now read posts from all the blogs you follow (even the ones that aren’t on WordPress.com!) in one convenient place on the WordPress.com home page: Your reader displays all the posts across all the blogs you follow in the order they were published, with the most recent content appearing at the top. You’ll see an excerpt of the introduction to each post, the first image in the post, and thumbnails of any other images that the post contains. You can even like and reblog WordPress.com content directly…

PsyBlog
Powerful People Feel Taller Than They Really Are

Jeremy Dean

24 Jan 2012 | 11:05 am

Experiment demonstrates how a powerful feeling feeds back into self-perception of height. Language can reveal all kinds of truths about our psychology. Take these expressions: He's the big man on this project. We look up to her. Lady Gaga is huge. He puts her on a pedestal. It's not hard to see the strong association here between size and power that's embedded in the way we talk about the relations between people. The reason why is almost too obvious to bother stating: larger people quite often do have more power. As children our parents, teachers and all our authority figures are taller than…
Why Stories Sell: Transportation Leads to Persuasion

Jeremy Dean

18 Jan 2012 | 12:10 pm

Psychological research on persuasion suggests that stories which transport people are more likely to be persuasive. Marketers have known for years that stories are a powerful tool for persuading people. That's partly because stories (unlike statistics) are easy to understand. That's why politicians try to persuade us by telling stories about their vision of the world. They do spout statistics as well, but normally only in support of some kind of grand narrative. We instinctively understand that people resist being told what to do, but will respond to the moral of a story. So we try to…
The Amazing Power of Regret to Shape Our Future

Jeremy Dean

12 Jan 2012 | 10:41 am

Why people are reluctant to exchange lottery tickets, but will happily exchange pens. Regret might not make a list of the most powerful emotions. It would probably include things like anger, happiness, jealousy, sadness and especially for us English, embarrassment. We tend to think of regret as essentially a backward-looking emotion. We regret things in the past, like not trying hard enough in school, how we treated a friend or the things we said to our partner in the heat of an argument. In this sense you might argue that it's useless: why regret something you can't change? But regret isn't…
Does The Weather Affect Your Mood?

Jeremy Dean

5 Jan 2012 | 8:25 am

Do grey skies make you blue or is it summer that gets your goat? Here in the UK the weather feels depressing. We're in the middle of winter in the northern hemisphere and it's cold and we're being battered by gales and torrential rain. The sun, even when it does show its face, is setting at 4pm. It's no wonder people in the street look fed up. But according to most of the research on the connection between weather and mood, they shouldn't be. I've covered these highly counter-intuitive findings before and the title of that article sums it up: Weather Has Little Effect on Mood. When you tell…
Why Do People Yawn?

Jeremy Dean

3 Jan 2012 | 8:18 am

Could yawning be all about cooling down the brain? Err, don't people yawn because they're bored and/or tired? Yes, it's true people do yawn more at bedtime or after they've woken up and they do yawn when they're bored (people even yawn in their sleep). But yawning isn't that simple. If it was, how could you explain that some paratroopers yawn before their first jump, as do some violinists before they go on stage and Olympic athletes before their event (Provine, 2005). These are hardly situations in which people are likely to be bored. Many people believe that yawning gets more oxygen into…

Psychology Today Blogs
Elvis overcomes memory loss

Jenni Ogden, Ph.D.

27 Jan 2012 | 11:00 pm

Elvis was such a giant figure to young people in the mid-1950's that the global amnesic, Henry Molaison (HM) remembered some muddled information about him even although he could consciously remember little else from eleven years before his brain surgery in 1953. Elvis was first heard on the radio in 1954. read more
Our power as active bystanders

Ervin Staub, Ph.D.

27 Jan 2012 | 10:05 pm

When individuals need help, or groups are victimized, witnesses often remain passive. But research and real life examples show the great power of “active bystanders.” Sometimes even single individuals have huge impact. At other times it requires people to join, or the power of governments, to help or protect people, or develop harmonious relations between groups. read more
Yeah TEAM-- Final Score: Correct Diagnosis 1, Bipolar Children Diagnosis 0

Stuart L. Kaplan, M.D.

27 Jan 2012 | 8:07 pm

Who won the game?read more
Shy Girl, Brave Woman

Barbara Markway, Ph.D.

27 Jan 2012 | 7:43 pm

As a psychologist, I am frequently inspired by the resiliency people display in everyday life. Through the Internet and the power of social networking, I have met amazing people whose stories need to be told. Let me introduce you to Marla Genova, a woman who has worked hard to confront her own social anxiety, and ultimately, help others do the same.read more
How my Divorce Made me a Better Divorce Lawyer

Mark Banschick, M.D.

27 Jan 2012 | 7:30 pm

We are pleased to have Lawrence H. Bloom, a New York and New Jersey based matrimonial attorney present his views of divorce as a client - and not just as an attorney. Larry also hosts a weekly radio show, "The Divorce Hour with Larry Bloom", Fridays at noon Eastern Time at www.talkingalternative.com, with podcasts available on The Divorce Hour page of the same site.read more

About.com Psychology
Self-Report Inventory - Psychology Definition of the Week

27 Jan 2012 | 4:01 am

Definition: Self-report inventories are often used in personality tests and can be administered in a computer or pen-and-paper format. On a typical self-report inventory, test-takers are presented with a number of questions or statements and are then asked to select the response that best describes them. These inventories are popular because they allow researchers to collect a great deal of information quickly and easily. Learn more about self-report inventories....Read Full Post
Take the Psychology 101 Quiz

26 Jan 2012 | 4:00 am

How well do you know the basics of psychology? This 43-question quiz covers material included in an introductory psychology course including psychology history, research methods, branches of psychology, memory, development ...Read Full Post
Mean, Median or Mode?

25 Jan 2012 | 4:00 am

One Reader Writes: "I always get so confused about how to tell which is the mean, median or mode! Can you explain what each of these terms mean and how to calculate each one? Thanks!"...Read Full Post
Types of Graphs

24 Jan 2012 | 4:00 am

No matter where you are at in your psychology studies, you are probably going to have to deal with graphs at some point. Statistics are essential in psychology whether you are summarizing research or reporting on lab results. One of your major goals should be to present information to readers in a meaningful and manageable format. Graphs are an excellent way to display information visually and, as many so often say, a picture can be worth a thousand words....Read Full Post
10 Great Reasons to Earn a Psychology Degree

23 Jan 2012 | 4:00 am

Choosing a college major can be a very difficult task, especially if you are torn between competing degree options. In order to select the major that is right for you, it is important to start by assessing your interests and goals. Psychology is one of the most popular degrees at colleges and universities throughout the world, but is it the right choice for you?...Read Full Post

Books for Work and Organizational Psychology Arena
Interactional Coaching

23 Jan 2012 | 6:00 pm

By Michael Harvey. Interactional Coaching is a powerful, one-to-one learning approach, used successfully for over fifteen years, that enables executives to make the choices that work for them. Drawing on existential philosophy, psychotherapy and business theory, interactional coaching uses innovative techniques… ISBN: 9780415614726 Published Jan 23, 2012 by Routledge
Business Psychology and Organizational Behaviour, 5th edition

3 Jan 2012 | 6:00 pm

By Eugene McKenna. Now in full colour, the fifth edition of this best-selling textbook introduces all of the major theories, research findings, principles and concepts in business psychology and organizational behaviour, whilst emphasising their real-life application using relevant examples. The book, which is… ISBN: 9781848720350 Published Jan 03, 2012 by Psychology Press
Politics in Organizations

16 Dec 2011 | 6:00 pm

Edited by Gerald R. Ferris, and Darren C. Treadway. This edited volume in the SIOP Frontiers series is one of the first to look at the psychological factors behind politics and power in organizations. Noted contributors from schools of management, psychology, sociology and political science look at the theory, research, methodology and… ISBN: 9780415882132 Published Dec 16, 2011 by Routledge Academic
Risk Analysis and Human Behavior

15 Dec 2011 | 6:00 pm

By Baruch Fischhoff. The articles collected here are foundational contributions to integrating behavioural research and risk analysis. They include seminal articles on three essential challenges. One is ensuring effective two-way communication between technical experts and the lay public, so that risk analyses address… ISBN: 9781849714433 Published Dec 15, 2011 by Routledge
Dilemmas of Leadership

13 Dec 2011 | 6:00 pm

By Tudor Rickards. Leadership, as a way of focusing and motivating a group or organization to achieve its aims, is a much discussed but often misunderstood concept. This comprehensive textbook introduces the subject for Masters level students. Building on the success of the first edition, this text utilises an easy… ISBN: 9780415618540 Published Dec 13, 2011 by Routledge

Mind Hacks
A treasure hunt for the mysteries of mind and brain

tomstafford

21 Jan 2012 | 8:22 am

I’ve published a couple of free ebooks recently: Explore your blind spot shows you how to reveal the gap we all have in our visual experience of the world, and discusses what it means about consciousness that this gap is kept hidden from us most of the time. Control Your Dreams, co-written with Cathryn Bardsley and illustrated beautifully by Harriet Cameron, tells you how to have lucid dreams, those dreams where you realise you are dreaming and can take control over reality. Both books are written as treasure hunts – travel guides, but for exploring inner space. When you start…
The peak experiences of Abraham Maslow

vaughanbell

19 Jan 2012 | 6:48 pm

The New Atlantis has an in-depth biographical article on psychologist Abraham Maslow – one of the founders of humanistic psychology and famous for his ‘hierarchy of needs’. Maslow is stereotypically associated with a kind of fluffy ‘love yourself’ psychology although the man himself was quite a skeptic of the mumbo jumbo that got associated with his work. The association is not so much because of Maslow’s focus on self-actualization, a goal where we use our psychological potential to its fullest, but because of his association with the ‘human…
Gimme Shelter

vaughanbell

16 Jan 2012 | 7:44 pm

The Rolling Stones launched their career in a social therapeutic club, designed to help troubled youth with communication skills. The club became legendary in rock ‘n roll history but its therapeutic roots have almost been forgotten. Eel Pie Island is a small patch on the River Thames famous for the underground club that earned a place in 60′s history for hosting the cream of jazz bands and rock n’ roll outfits. Less well known, is the story of how the club was created as a therapeutic environment to help troubled youth. Its place in music history has been recounted many…
A medical study of the Haitian zombie

vaughanbell

11 Jan 2012 | 6:18 am

We hear a lot about zombies these days – in films, in music and even in philosophy – but many are unaware that in 1997 The Lancet published a medical study of three genuine Haitian zombies. The cases studies were reported by British anthropologist Roland Littlewood and Haitian doctor Chavannes Douyon and concerned three individuals identified as zombies after they had apparently passed away. The Haitian explanation for how zombies are created involves the distinction between different elements of the human being – including the body, the gwobon anj (the animating principle)…
A relationship through brain injury

vaughanbell

9 Jan 2012 | 6:14 pm

The New York Times has an excellent article on the challenges faced by couples after one member survives brain injury. Carers sometimes say that, after brain injury, their partner is emotionally unresponsive, emotionally unstable or that their ‘personality has changed’. This can lead to a strain on the relationship that far outlasts the ‘obvious’ effects of the injury and, unfortunately, the problem is not widely recognised. Mrs. Curtis, 60, was once drawn to her husband’s “sparkle,” she said. After the injury, he “flat-lined” emotionally, and he suffers from…

Channel N
High Tech Treatment for Tourette Syndrome

Sandra Kiume

27 Jan 2012 | 9:17 pm

Deep Brain Stimulation in Tourette Syndrome: A Description of 3 Patients With Excellent Outcome A neurologist describes a new paper published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Three of his patients suffering from severe, treatment refractory Tourette syndrome received deep brain stimulation implants, and the procedures were successful. Dr. Savica talks about which areas of the brain were targeted by DBS, and the need for more research to determine the best target. For more details, read the free article here. DOI: 10.4016/38287.01.
What’s a Peer Support Group?

Sandra Kiume

25 Jan 2012 | 1:58 pm

Inspiration Through Empathy: Peer Support A short documentary by a student filmmaker about a peer support group in Kelowna, BC, Canada. A group of mental health consumers meets weekly, views a presentation on a topic of their choice, then breaks into smaller groups to talk about their mental health issues and building wellness. Peer support is different than other support services (not a replacement, it’s complementary to professional services) because it’s a space for people to come together with others who truly understand what it’s like to live with a mental illness,…
Remembering a Mother

Sandra Kiume

19 Jan 2012 | 2:00 pm

Remember A moving story about Alzheimer’s, beautifully illustrated with charcoal drawings, set to a jazz song written and performed by a woman whose mother succumbed to the disease. An entry advocating brain research in the 2012 Neuro Film Festival sponsored by the American Academy of Neurology, this video is an early favourite (watch all the entries in this playlist). But there’s still time to enter – submit until January 31.
Rise Up

Sandra Kiume

17 Jan 2012 | 1:33 pm

Come out, Come Out Wherever You Are A call to shake off shame, come out of the closet and be open about mental health issues in order to fight social stigma. Compelling and well-written narration by Michael Kimber of the Colony of Losers blog, along with slick edited images including examples of famous people known to have psychiatric labels.
Public Speaking to Fight Stigma

Sandra Kiume

13 Jan 2012 | 1:47 pm

Myths of Madness: Media Representations of Mental Illness, Part 6 of 7 A clip from the Q&A after a panel presentation about mental illness in the media, discussing how people can share stories with public speaking to fight stigma. A women with bipolar disorder asks how people like her can contribute, and the reply describes a consumer who told her personal stories that were negative, and how they were resolved, and that sharing what worked for her was powerful. Another person in the audience talks about his experience with a speaker’s bureau and the importance of training and…

The Last Psychiatrist
Superman's A Baby, But He's Still Superman

26 Jan 2012 | 9:06 am

it's so pretty
Couple Reveals Child's Gender Five Years Too Late

23 Jan 2012 | 12:31 am

oh boy
Greece To Pay Disability Benefits To Pedophiles: America To Report On It

10 Jan 2012 | 10:39 am

this story is exactly the opposite of what is happening everywhere else in the world
Sara Ackerman Is Both a Nut, and X

7 Jan 2012 | 3:16 pm

pic removed by administrator
Ocean Marketing Supports Obama

4 Jan 2012 | 8:42 am

this better be worth it

BPS Research Digest
Feast

Christian Jarrett

27 Jan 2012 | 12:58 pm

Links to the best psychology and neuroscience writing and broadcasting, compiled for your weekend pleasure: The latest issue of The Psychologist magazine is online (browse the contents or view the free preview). It includes an open-access feature on self-control by Roy Baumeister. You can also listen to Baumeister's recent talk at the RSA in London. How are you going to read all these links? Fear not: This Saturday's Guardian comes with a free supplement on time management. New Yorker podcast of Jonah Lehrer explaining why brain storming doesn't work, but coffee breaks and criticism…
The life-long curse of an unpopular name

Christian Jarrett

27 Jan 2012 | 2:30 am

Receiving an unpopular name can have lifelong consequences, according to new research Making assumptions about someone based on their name is ridiculous. A few attention-seeking celebrities aside, most of us were given our names, rather than choosing them, so why should they be any indicator of the kind of person we are? And yet a new European study claims that people with unfashionable first names suffer from prejudice, with life-long implications for their self-esteem and well-being. Jochen Gebauer and his team used data collected from the German eDarling dating website. With the consent of…
Easily embarrassed people are more altruistic, and onlookers can tell as much

Christian Jarrett

25 Jan 2012 | 3:32 am

Social interactions can feel like walking a tight-rope, an excruciating pit of embarrassment always just one tiny misstep away. Well, here is some comforting news for the easily embarrassed. A new study claims that people prone to embarrassment are better citizens - more selfless and cooperative (more "prosocial" in the psychological jargon). What's more, onlookers interpret expressions of embarrassment as a sign that a person is prosocial, and as a consequence are more likely to cooperate with and trust them. This makes sense if you consider that signs of embarrassment signal to onlookers…
Do smells really trigger particularly evocative memories?

Christian Jarrett

23 Jan 2012 | 3:56 am

We wore ankle-length blue coats at my school, in the Tudor-style. When it rained, the wool of the coat gave off a pungent smell, rather like wet dog. Now when I encounter a similar scent, it propels me back in time to my school days. This effect is called the "Proustian phenomenon". The name comes from Proust's description in Remembrance of Things Past of how the smell of a tea-soaked madeleine biscuit transported him back in time to his childhood. Smells do have this uncanny, evocative power, don't they? It's because of the relative proximity of the olfactory bulb (which…
Win a BPS-approved textbook on evolutionary psychology

Christian Jarrett

23 Jan 2012 | 3:08 am

We've got two copies of Evolutionary Psychology: A Critical Introduction by Dr Viren Swami to give away, kindly donated to us by Wiley-Blackwell. For your chance to win, answer the following question: Who first coined the phrase "Survival of the fittest"? Post the answer to us on Twitter (mention @researchdigest and use the hashtag #Swamicomp) or post the answer as a comment to this post (if you use the comment option, please provide a way for us to contact you). At the end of the week, we'll pick randomly one correct answer from all entries on Twitter and one…

SharpBrains
Update: The Future of Preventive Brain Medicine

SharpBrains

27 Jan 2012 | 7:03 am

Time for SharpBrains’ January 2012 eNewsletter, featuring in this occasion multiple thought-provoking perspectives on how emerging neuroscience can and should make us rethink prevailing practices in education, healthy aging and preventive medicine. Featured Perspectives: The Future of Preventive Brain Medicine: Breaking Down the Cognition & Alzheimer’s Disease Alphabet Soup, by Dr. Dharma Singh Khalsa When 1 + 1 = 5: Dyscalculia and Working Memory, by Dr. Tracy Alloway New Review of Neurofeedback Treatment for ADHD — Current State of the Science, by Dr. David Rabiner The Business…
Q&A on Online Course: How to Be Your Own Brain Fitness Coach in 2012

SharpBrains

26 Jan 2012 | 11:15 am

We have received many excellent questions about SharpBrains’ upcoming online course How to Be Your Own Brain Fitness Coach in 2012 (March 2012); let us answer the most common ones below. Question: Who has registered to participate so far? Answer: 80 individuals have registered so far, representing a fascinating diversity of backgrounds. We have health and medical professionals, educators, business executives, traders, consultants, coaches, software engineers, therapists, and more. Question: Is this a train-the-trainer? are you offering CME/ CEUs? Answer: No. This is a course designed…
When 1 + 1 = 5: Dyscalculia and Working Memory

Dr. Tracy Alloway

25 Jan 2012 | 9:40 am

Jacob’s mother writes that ‘Jacob, 10-years-old, still struggles with number bonds to 10. Learning to tell the time is still slow – he has not mastered half-past. Although he managed to learn his 5x tables because we practiced all summer, this has now gone’. Jacob has dyscalculia, a math disability where students struggle to learn or understand mathematics. Students with dyscalculia find it difficult to decipher math symbols (e.g. +, –), counting principles (‘two’ stands for 2), solving arithmetic problems, and usually transpose numbers (e.g. 75 becomes 57). However, dyscalculia…
Lifelong cognitive exercise may ward off Alzheimer’s protein beta amyloid

SharpBrains

24 Jan 2012 | 11:48 am

Very significant findings reported today. Keeping brain sharp may ward off Alzheimer’s protein (Reuters): “People who challenge their brains throughout their lifetimes — through reading, writing and playing games — are less likely to develop protein deposits in the brain linked with Alzheimer’s, researchers said on Monday.” “Prior studies have suggested that people who are well educated and stay mentally active build up brain reserves that allow them to stay sharp even if deposits of the destructive protein called beta amyloid form in the brain.” “But the latest study,…
Upcoming Talk & Book Signing in Washington, DC

SharpBrains

23 Jan 2012 | 11:52 am

On Tuesday, February 7, at 7 p.m., Cleveland Park Library in Washington, DC will host Alvaro Fernandez as he discusses The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness: 18 Interviews with Scientists, Practical Advice, and Product Reviews to Keep Your Brain Sharp (book also available via DC library system). The book expands on the concept of neuroplasticity that recent works such as the New York Times bestseller, The Brain that Changes Itself, and the PBS Brain Fitness Program have introduced to the world. Neuroplasticity, or the the brain’s capacity to change itself based upon experience, means…

PsychSplash
John Suler’s Teaching Psychology

Psych Central Resource Editor

25 Jan 2012 | 11:00 am

URL: http://users.rider.edu/~suler/tcp.htmlThis site is devoted to sharing ideas and resources for teaching clinical psychology, especially undergraduate courses on abnormal psychology, psychotherapy, group dynamics, psychological testing, and clinical components of introductory psychology. For: Anyone, Students, TeachersTopics: ADHD, Abnormal, Academia, Addiction, Anxiety, Behaviour Management, Clinical Psychology, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Depression, Diagnosis, Eating Disorders, Educational Psychology, Forensic, General Psychology, Health Psychology, Mental Health, Obsessive Compulsive…
Neuropsychology Central

Psych Central Resource Editor

24 Jan 2012 | 11:00 am

URL: http://neuropsychologycentral.com/The one-stop metasource for neuropsychology information on the Internet. Includes online forum, links, and search pages. For: Anyone, Students, Teachers, Anyone, Clinicians, ResearchersTopics: ADHD, Abnormal, Academia, Addiction, Anxiety, Behaviour Management, Clinical Psychology, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Depression, Diagnosis, Eating Disorders, Educational Psychology, Forensic, General Psychology, Health Psychology, Mental Health, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Psychodynamic, Psychology and Technology, Psychometrics,…
B.F. Skinner Foundation

Psych Central Resource Editor

23 Jan 2012 | 11:00 am

URL: http://www.bfskinner.org/BFSkinner/Home.htmlThe B. F. Skinner Foundation promotes the science founded by B. F. Skinner and supports the practices derived from that science. In so doing, the Foundation advances a more humane world by replacing coercive techniques with positive procedures. For: Anyone, Students, Teachers, Anyone, Clinicians, Researchers, AnyoneTopics: ADHD, Abnormal, Academia, Addiction, Anxiety, Behaviour Management, Clinical Psychology, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Depression, Diagnosis, Eating Disorders, Educational Psychology, Forensic, General Psychology, Health…
American Association for Technology in Psychiatry

Psych Central Resource Editor

13 Jan 2012 | 11:00 am

URL: http://www.techpsych.org/The American Association for Technology in Psychiatry (formerly, the Psychiatric Society for Informatics), a nonprofit membership organization of physicians and mental health professionals, is dedicated to the development and use of information technology to improve the quality and availability of psychiatric and mental health care. AATP aspires to be our members’ primary forum for association, for accessing colleagues who share interests and ambitions, and for communicating our work and vision. For: Anyone, Students, Teachers, Anyone, Clinicians,…
KidsPeace.Org

Psych Central Resource Editor

12 Jan 2012 | 11:00 am

URL: http://www.kidspeace.org/KidsPeace is a private charity dedicated to serving the behavioral and mental health needs of children, families and communities. For: Anyone, Students, Teachers, Anyone, Clinicians, Researchers, Anyone, Clinicians, Researchers, ConsumersTopics: ADHD, Abnormal, Academia, Addiction, Anxiety, Behaviour Management, Clinical Psychology, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Depression, Diagnosis, Eating Disorders, Educational Psychology, Forensic, General Psychology, Health Psychology, Mental Health, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder,…

Dr. Deb
January is Stalking Awareness Month

Dr. Deb

20 Jan 2012 | 4:38 pm

January has been designated Stalking Awareness Month in the United States.Stalking, as defined by Dr. J. R. Meloy, is defined as "the willful, malicious and repeated following and harassing of another person." Stalking can affect anyone no matter gender, race, socio-economic status or geographic location. According to data in the United States, 1 in 12 women and 1 in 45 men will be stalked in their lifetime.Although significant attention has been devoted to adult perpetrators and victims of stalking, there is persuasive evidence that stalking begins at a much younger age. Research suggests…
January is National Mentoring Month

Dr. Deb

11 Jan 2012 | 10:45 am

There are few relationships in life that are more influential than those between a mentor and a young person. I know this from both sides of the coin. You see, I have had many a mentor in my life growing up. A person who took a unique interest in me, fostered my growth and guided me onward. And I've also been a mentor to many as well., paying the experience forward.Being involved in mentoring has been so rewarding and meaningful to me. In fact, research shows that mentoring is an extraordinary experience for all involved.January is National Mentoring Month. Be mentor. Change a life. And…
5 Tips for Kicking Post-Holiday Blues

Dr. Deb

26 Dec 2011 | 10:26 am

As the holiday season comes to an end, so, too, does the high octane way you've planned, shopped, traveled, and socialized. The holiday momentum of go, go, go, going screeches to a grinding halt. Problem is, all the neurochemistry you needed to help you get through the holidays - stress hormones called cortisol and adrenaline – are leaving you feeling burned out, irritable, and just plain cranky.Maybe your hopes for holidays with family and friends were unmet, and you now have to deal with emotional let-down. Then there's the march of the holiday bills -and thinking about paying the piper…
Tips for Keeping the "You" in Yuletide

Dr. Deb

7 Dec 2011 | 8:25 am

The holiday season is not just a time for traditional festivities, merry making, good will and celebrating with loved ones. For some, it's the loneliest time of the year. For others, sadness of missing a loved one or recovering from a life-changing trauma tinges the season. Many fall into despair as self-reflection takes hold, measuring past accomplishment and failures. And then there are those who begin a downward spiral into the depths of depression.Worries about job security, foreclosures, the ailing economy, and everyday living can make us all vulnerable during the holiday crush. Here are…
Sexual Abuse in Sports

Dr. Deb

30 Nov 2011 | 2:40 pm

Research shows that sexual abuse happens in all sports and at all levels, with a greater prevalence occurring within the arena of high performance and elite sports. The sporting culture, with its larger-than-life coaches, fierce competition, the need for recognition and funding, and a "win at all costs" philosophy, creates an environment that contributes to the sexual exploitation of athletes.Sexual abuse is both a physical act and a psychological experience. As a physical act, sexual abuse involves touching and non-touching behaviors. This can be done in coercive or seductive ways. As a…

ScienceDaily: Psychology News
The pupils are the windows to the mind

27 Jan 2012 | 3:28 pm

The eyes are the window into the soul -- or at least the mind, according to a new article.
The amygdala and fear are not the same thing

27 Jan 2012 | 3:27 pm

In a 2007 episode of the television show Boston Legal, a character claimed to have figured out that a cop was racist because his amygdala activated – displaying fear, when they showed him pictures of black people.
Making memories last: Prion-like protein plays key role in storing long-term memories

27 Jan 2012 | 3:24 pm

Memories in our brains are maintained by connections between neurons called "synapses." But how do these synapses stay strong and keep memories alive for decades? Neuroscientists have discovered a major clue from a study in fruit flies: Hardy, self-copying clusters or oligomers of a synapse protein are an essential ingredient for the formation of long-term memory.
Family history of psychiatric disorders shapes intellectual interests, study suggests

26 Jan 2012 | 9:43 pm

A family history of psychiatric conditions such as autism and depression could influence the subjects a person finds engaging, new research suggests. Although preliminary, the findings provide a new look at the oft-studied link between psychiatric conditions and aptitude in the arts or sciences.
Are you a happy shopper? Research website helps you find out

26 Jan 2012 | 1:36 pm

Psychologists have found that buying experiences makes people happier than possessions, but who spends their spare cash on experiences? Extraverts and people who are open to new experiences are more likely to make a habit of "experience shopping" and are happier as a result, according to new research.

PSYCHOLOGY NEWS - Google Blog Search
Can Sex Ever Be Casual? | Psychology Today - Call of Duty ...

News Reporter

27 Jan 2012 | 2:50 pm

Groups · Albums · Member List. Forum Actions. Mark Forums Read. Quick Links. View Forum Leaders · What's New? Advanced Search · Home · Forum · Offtopic Forums · In The News; Can Sex Ever Be Casual? | Psychology Today
Psychology of Medicine: American Medical News

Gary

27 Jan 2012 | 2:18 pm

The complete content of American Medical News can be found online atwww.amednews.com. The site, updated Monday through Friday, features all the content of the print edition plus Web-only reporting. The print edition is
Psychiatrist Explains the Psychology of Fear | fox4kc.com – Kansas ...

Sarah Clark

27 Jan 2012 | 11:16 am

makes us so fearful of certain things? John Wisner Jr., M.D., Psychiatrist at KU Hospital, explains the psychology of fear and how we can overcome it. See complete forecast ›. Up Next: Morning News Schedule. Search
Positive Psychology News Daily » Home for the Holidays

Sulynn

27 Jan 2012 | 10:25 am

Our second departure from home is psychological and often a separate, more critical and impossible task during the second half of life. No matter how far away we move and how many years pass, we somehow seem to keep
Hope for those with a depressive disposition | Psychology in the News

unknown

27 Jan 2012 | 9:00 am

(Lund University) Good news for the 13 percent of the population with depressive personality traits: their negative outlook does not have to be permanent. This has been shown by psychologist Rachel Maddux in new research from Lund

Sports Are 80 Percent Mental
Michel Bruyninckx Trains Soccer Brains

22 Jan 2012 | 6:22 pm

Michel Bruyninckx When describing what’s wrong with today’s youth soccer coaching, Michel Bruyninckx points to his head. “We need to stop thinking football is only a matter of the body,” the 59-year old Belgian Uefa A license coach and Standard Liège academy director recently told the BBC. “Skillfulness will only grow if we better understand the mental part of developing a player. Cognitive readiness, improved perception, better mastering of time and space in combination with perfect motor functioning.” We’re not talking about dribbling around orange cones here.
"Quiet Eye" Can Help A Surgeon's Patients And Golf Game

13 Dec 2011 | 2:33 pm

Surgeons now have a really good excuse to be out on the golf course. Researchers have shown that the same training technique that will improve their putting can also improve their operating skills. Dr Samuel Vine and Dr Mark Wilson, from Sport and Health Sciences at the University of Exeter, tested both elite golfers and surgical residents in two separate experiments using the gaze control technique known as the “Quiet Eye.” First, they divided 22 elite golfers, (handicaps less than 6), into two groups after their baseline putting performance was measured. The control…
Is This How Barcelona's Xavi Makes Decisions?

1 Dec 2011 | 8:35 am

When Xavi Hernandez receives the soccer ball in his offensive half of the field, the Barcelona maestro has a world of decisions waiting for him. Hold the ball while his teammates arrive, make the quick through pass to a slicing Lionel Messi or move into position for a shot. The question that decision researchers want to know is whether Xavi’s brain makes a choice based on the desired outcome (wait, pass or shoot) or the action necessary to achieve that goal. Then, could his attitude towards improvement actually change his decision making ability? Traditionally, the decision…
Aaron Rodgers, Working Memory and 10,000 Hours Of Practice

6 Nov 2011 | 2:01 pm

After a great Aaron Rodgers performance, you will usually hear at least one of two phrases uttered by post-game football analysts, “he has a great ability to see the field,” or “the game has really slowed down for him.” Assuming the Packers’ quarterback does not have super-human vision or a time machine, these comments must refer to his ability to recognize opposing defensive formations, adjust quickly to their movements and pick out an open receiver. It is a skill that all young players would like to have and their coaches would like to teach. Of course, the ongoing debate in…
Apolo Ohno Trains His Legs And His Mind For The NYC Marathon

30 Oct 2011 | 8:15 pm

Of the roughly 45,000 brave souls who will line up for the start of the New York City Marathon in less than two weeks, there’s a good chance that at least a few will have doubts of crossing the finish line. They have put in the training miles, eaten the right foods and picked out their playlist. Yet, the biggest obstacle to a finisher’s medal is not their legs, but their brain. Like an overprotective mother, the brain not only runs the show but also decides when enough is enough. However, exercise science researchers now believe that it is possible to fool mother nature…

e! Science News - Psychology & Sociology
The amygdala and fear are not the same thing

28 Jan 2012 | 12:31 am

In a 2007 episode of the television show Boston Legal, a character claimed to have figured out that a cop was racist because his amygdala activated -- displaying fear, when they showed him pictures of black people. This link between the amygdala and fear -- especially a fear of others unlike us, has gone too far, not only in pop culture, but also in psychological science, say the authors of a new paper which will be published in the February issue of Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. read more
Survey suggests family history of psychiatric disorders shapes intellectual interests

26 Jan 2012 | 11:34 pm

A hallmark of the individual is the cultivation of personal interests, but for some people, their intellectual pursuits might actually be genetically predetermined. Survey results published by Princeton University researchers in the journal PLoS ONE suggest that a family history of psychiatric conditions such as autism and depression could influence the subjects a person finds engaging. read more
Visual nudge improves accuracy of mammogram readings

26 Jan 2012 | 11:34 pm

In 2011 -- to the consternation of women everywhere -- a systematic review of randomized clinical trials showed that routine mammography was of little value to younger women at average or low risk of breast cancer. read more
Believing the impossible and conspiracy theories

26 Jan 2012 | 4:35 pm

Distrust and paranoia about government has a long history, and the feeling that there is a conspiracy of elites can lead to suspicion for authorities and the claims they make. For some, the attraction of conspiracy theories is so strong that it leads them to endorse entirely contradictory beliefs, according to a study in the current Social Psychological and Personality Science (published by SAGE). read more
Are you a happy shopper? Research website helps you find out

26 Jan 2012 | 2:35 pm

Psychologists have found that buying life experiences makes people happier than buying possessions, but who spends more of their spare cash on experiences? New findings published this week in the Journal of Positive Psychology reveal extraverts and people who are open to new experiences tend to spend more of their disposable income on experiences, such as concert tickets or a weekend away, rather than hitting the mall for material items. read more

I Choose Change
A New Year-Ish How-To Guide

Jennifer M. Ryan, M.Ed.

25 Jan 2012 | 1:48 pm

The New Year provides a great opportunity to “Press the Reset Button on Your Life.” Many resource guides out there (and there are quite exceptional ones, I might add!) purport to tell you exactly how to reflect back on your year and how to finally find the happiness you’ve been looking for. January is a loaded month, full of anticipation and “musts” for many of us. I’ve scoured some of my favorite blog posts from around the Web and found what I think to be the best advice for creating the exact life you want in 2012. Certainly, it sounds so…
Four Anxiety Types and What To Do About Them

Jennifer M. Ryan, M.Ed.

19 Jan 2012 | 10:23 am

photo credit: visibleducts Do you have tasks you want to accomplish or dreams you want to pursue, but seem to always have something standing in your way? 100% of all clients that step into my office come for one of only two reasons: They’re doing something they don’t want to do (or want to do something they aren’t doing), and They feel something they don’t want to feel, like anxiety, depression, loneliness, sadness, guilt, fatigue, or fear. Anxiety is biggie. That heart-racing, skin-sweating, heavy-breathing, I’m going to die feeling overtakes some people so…
Acceptance Paradox: Finding Truth in Criticism

Jennifer M. Ryan, M.Ed.

9 Jan 2012 | 9:30 am

photo credit: zen In my most recent article, I wrote about the “Acceptance Paradox” providing the sample case of Jon and Kate from the reality show Jon & Kate Plus 8. (I won’t be upset if you clicked away.) I feel the need to drive home this concept a bit more, and I think you’ll find value too, so stick with me! This topic was first introducted to me in David Burn’s book “Feeling Good Together.” Although called by a different name, the concept is the same: Instead of putting up a defense against your own or other’s criticisms and…
“Terry & Jen Plus 3″ and The Acceptance Paradox

Jennifer M. Ryan, M.Ed.

3 Jan 2012 | 3:30 pm

photo credit: victoriapeckham I have a confession to make. But before I reveal my secret in full, which will surely prompt you to click away from this article altogether, I’ll give a snippet of my revelation meant only as a way to entice you to keep reading (I admit). Reality TV (stay with me) is a psychotherapists DREAM. Riveted by the personalities that are thrown together for the sake of a good storyline, I turn into “analyze” mode instantaneously. Think “evangelical mom meets pagan dad” in Wife Swap. Or, “bachelor seeks wife in 8 weeks by…
10 Ways to Raise a Happy, Healthy, Child in a Busy Home

Jennifer M. Ryan, M.Ed.

30 Dec 2011 | 9:10 am

photo credit: tlh3rd How you parent your child will create a blueprint for all other relationships in your child’s future. Yes, it’s a big statement to make, but it’s true. And, parenting has as much to do with the environment you create around him, as much as the basic parenting needs like feeding, bathing, and clothing. Your child’s friend, dating partner, employer, sibling, and spousal relationships depend largely upon your interaction to the temperament of your child. The parenting style within the home helps set the pace for how a child’s temperament will be nurtured and…

Tri-City Psychology Services
People Lie More When Texting

Admin

26 Jan 2012 | 11:56 am

Image : Creative Commons by JhaymesiviphotographySending a text message leads people to lie more often than in other forms of communication, according to new research by David Xu, assistant professor in the W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University.Xu is lead author of the paper, which compares the level of deceit people will use in a variety of media, from text messages to face-to-face interactions.The study will appear in the March edition of the Journal of Business Ethics. The other co-authors are professor Karl Aquino and associate professor Ronald Cenfetelli with the…
Mild Cognitive Impairment is Common, Affects Men Most

Admin

26 Jan 2012 | 11:22 am

Getty ImagesResearchers involved in the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging reported today that more than 6 percent of Americans age 70 to 89 develop mild cognitive impairment (MCI) every year. Also, the condition appears to affect men and those who only have a high school education more than women and those who have completed some higher education. People with MCI are at the stage between suffering the normal forgetfulness associated with aging and developing dementia, such as that caused by Alzheimer’s disease.People with MCI have mild problems with thinking and memory that do not interfere…
Could Alzheimer’s disease be diagnosed with a simple blood test?

Admin

26 Jan 2012 | 9:57 am

Flickr: By Pedro Moura PinheiroPilot study suggests infrared analysis of white blood cells is a promising strategy for diagnosis of Alzheimer’s diseaseSpanish researchers, led by Pedro Carmona from the Instituto de Estructura de la Materia in Madrid, have uncovered a new promising way to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease more accurately. Their technique, which is non-invasive, fast and low-cost, measures how much infrared radiation is either emitted or absorbed by white blood cells. Because of its high sensitivity, this method is able to distinguish between the different clinical…
Being Ignored Hurts, Even by a Stranger

Admin

25 Jan 2012 | 1:37 pm

Feeling like you’re part of the gang is crucial to the human experience. All people get stressed out when we’re left out. A new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, finds that a feeling of inclusion can come from something as simple as eye contact from a stranger.Psychologists already know that humans have to feel connected to each other to be happy. A knitting circle, a church choir, or a friendly neighbor can all feed that need for connection. Eric D. Wesselmann of Purdue University wanted to know just how small a cue could…
Teen Passengers: “The Other Distraction” for Teen Drivers

Admin

24 Jan 2012 | 11:25 am

A pair of studies by The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and State Farm® identify factors that may lead teens to drive with multiple peer passengers and, then, how those passengers may affect their driver’s behavior just before a serious crash. The studies were published today in the Journal of Adolescent Health.Experts have long known that peer passengers increase teen driver crash risk. What hasn’t been well understood was how they increase crash risk. “These studies help us understand the factors that may predispose teens to drive with multiple friends and how those…

Eva Rykr
About Those New Year’s Resolutions…

Eva Rykr

2 Jan 2012 | 6:23 am

Each year, many people make resolutions and each year, most of those resolutions are broken. Part of this may be because of the length of the year itself (doesn’t 1/1/2013 seem so far away?) as well as the artificial timing (is January always the best time to think about your goals?). The result is that we set ’should’ goals out of obligation instead of committing to something that is truly important to us. I wrote about six different types of goals a while ago. As a quick recap: Behavior versus Outcome Goals: focusing on what you can solely control (your behavior) can…
Holiday Gift Ideas for the Office

Eva Rykr

12 Dec 2011 | 10:09 am

Now that Thanksgiving is over, the holiday shopping season has officially begun. But deciding what to buy for all those close to you can be downright paralyzing with all the choices that are out there. It can be even more difficult to shop for those we know professionally but maybe we don’t know so well personally. Here is a starting point for brainstorming your holiday gift list: For Your Employees One of my favorite gift ideas for an employee is to give a business book. The trick is to personalize your selection so that the person will want to read the book you choose. For the aspiring…
Playing Nice: Getting Along with Difficult Colleagues

Eva Rykr

5 Dec 2011 | 7:00 am

Today’s article is a guest post (a rarity)! The author, Ashley Davis Bush, LCSW, is a psychotherapist in southern New Hampshire and the author of three self-help books, including the recently-published Shortcuts to Inner Peace: 70 Simple Paths to Everyday Serenity. This book capitalizes on the ironic insight that most stressed-out people are “too busy” to meditate, a practice that can dramatically decrease our stress levels and increase our capacity to perform at our best each day. Here is her advice on how to achieve inner peace at the office when the circumstances make it…
How to Deal With Criticism and Harsh Feedback

Eva Rykr

28 Nov 2011 | 11:20 am

We will all face developmental feedback many times over our career. Often, it can be a great tool to use for learning and self-improvement. Some people even call it a gift. Reader Angela Hey, says “some people are more emotionally resilient than others and can respond positively to harsh criticism which breeds excellence.” But despite its usefulness, it can hurt – a lot. I know this all too well because I have found I am more sensitive to critical feedback than I would like to be. I truly am my own harshest critic, and when someone else points out a flaw or mistake I haven’t seen, it…
Thanksgiving Spirit at the Office

Eva Rykr

21 Nov 2011 | 10:03 am

This Thanksgiving I am making three desserts – a chocolate chip pumpkin cheesecake, layered pumpkin cheesecake brownies, and white chocolate peanut butter oatmeal cookies. While I do love to bake, this is above and beyond even for me. It’s in the spirit of the season – and judging by the empty shelves and long checkout lines at the store, I am not alone. Think about that – and consider all the work that goes into preparing a Thanksgiving dinner. Is there any way to replicate this productivity and motivation in our professional work? There just might be. Dissecting the situation, we…

Brain Blogger
Media Violence Leads to Real Violence

Jennifer Gibson, PharmD

27 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am

A few short decades ago, the most violent scenes we were exposed to in the media involved Wile E. Coyote and an anvil. The nightly news did not display graphic evidence of riots or murders or even war. Movies did not market themselves based on the amount of gunfire packed into two hours. Video games were little more than a bouncing ball controlled by a joystick. But, society has changed and, now, violence is everywhere. Children and adolescents are exposed to violent images everyday and the line between reality and fiction is blurred. Now, the consequences of such exposure are becoming…
Intelligence – Are You Holding Back Your Brain?

Radhika Takru, MA

24 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am

Is intelligence fluid or crystalline? Is it a function of nature or nurture? Are you born smart, or is the power of your brain under no one’s control but your own?You might have cruised through classes at school, or you might have struggled and wondered how your peers managed to pass their classes so effortlessly. In the first case, perhaps you met your match at university when you found you were no longer at the top of the class. In the second, perhaps you had just spent your life assuming some people were born smarter than others. In both cases you are treating intelligence as if it…
Childhood Aggression Predicts Health Care Use Later in Life

Jennifer Gibson, PharmD

21 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am

Young children can be physically aggressive, owing to a combination of instinct, temperament, cultural and social influences, and (sometimes) not getting what they want. But, by the time most kids reach preschool age, they have learned to control their aggression with coping skills and relational techniques. However, children who do not learn to regulate aggressive behavior are at risk for physical and mental health issues, as well as serious patterns of aggression and violence, as adults. A new study, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, shows that the more aggressive a…
The Brain’s Border Patrol – Blood Brain Barrier

Emily Haines, MSc, PhD student

18 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am

The blood brain barrier (BBB) forms a tight security gateway between blood vessels and brain tissue. Blood flow throughout the brain is crucial to deliver the oxygen and nutrients required for the brain to function properly. Even though the brain comprises only about 2% of body mass, it is responsible for nearly a quarter of the body’s oxygen consumption. Blood flow is so crucial to the brain that when blood flow stops, brain functions halt within seconds. At the same time the brain also requires a very specific environment in order to function properly. Miniscule changes in pH,…
Risks of Personalized Medicine

Jennifer Gibson, PharmD

15 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am

Anyone who has taken high school biology has probably heard one of the corniest biology jokes around: How do you tell a girl chromosome from a boy chromosome? Pull down its genes. While this has been a useful (if not really funny) mnemonic for teaching students about life science, now individuals are beginning to play genetic versions of I’ll-show-you-mine-if-you-show-me-yours by actually examining their genes. Not much more than a decade has passed since the completion of the Human Genome Project, but, already, direct-to-consumer (DTC) genome mapping and genetic testing are available…

World of Psychology
Want To Feel Happier? Enjoying Childish Pleasures

Gretchen Rubin

27 Jan 2012 | 10:35 am

My children make me happy for many reasons, of course. But it strikes me that one reason that they make me happy is that they encourage me to engage more deeply with the physical world. Left to my own instincts, I’d drift absent-mindedly through the apartment, reading, writing, and eating cereal for dinner every night. Through my daughters, I become much more alive to ordinary pleasures — the comfort of our weirdly soft fleece blanket, the vanishing sweetness of cotton candy, the textures and colors of the Play-Doh, scented markers, and velvety pipe cleaners left scattered around the…
Best of Our Blogs: January 27, 2012

Brandi-Ann Uyemura, M.A.

27 Jan 2012 | 5:30 am

It’s very easy to fall down what I like to call the, “Woe is me rabbit hole.” It can start innocently enough. Maybe you’re having a particularly difficult day or you’re feeling tired, fed-up or emotionally exhausted. It’s during these times that the question you’ve been ruminating on such as, “Why this?” can easily be turned into, “Why me?” Negative thoughts like these can be seductive. Spend enough time focusing on them and they can grow into self-pity. And even worse? When you start asking yourself, “Why even…
Faking ADHD for Special Treatment

John M. Grohol, PsyD

26 Jan 2012 | 11:45 am

You might ask, “Why would anyone want to fake attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)?” Many years ago, when ADHD was first proposed as a diagnosis, you would’ve been right — few people would’ve bothered faking the diagnosis because it brought you little reward to do so. But as ADHD diagnoses bloomed over the past two decades, so did special accommodations in the school systems for children and teenagers diagnosed with the disorder. And one of the primary treatments for attention deficit disorder is stimulant medication, something that can be used for…
4 On-the-Spot Energy Boosters

Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S.

26 Jan 2012 | 7:31 am

It’s hard to get anything done when you’re dragging your feet. You might have a tough time concentrating on work or even play. Even participating in your favorite activity may not raise your energy. Many factors can explain your sluggish system. Worrying excessively or feeling overwhelmed, unhappy or angry can deplete your energy, according to Kristin Taliaferro, Master Certified life and career coach. Your habits also can lower energy levels. Not getting enough nutrients, exercise or sleep slows you down. Here are four simple ways to lift that lethargy. 1. Enjoy the great outdoors. Take…
Johnson & Johnson Settles 3rd Risperdal Lawsuit for $158M

John M. Grohol, PsyD

25 Jan 2012 | 1:44 pm

If companies are people, my friend, like Mitt Romney famously described in Iowa in August 2011, then we’re feeling a little bad for our fellow person called Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a division of health care giant Johnson & Johnson. They just got dinged with a $158 million settlement in a Medicaid fraud case in Texas for “making false or misleading statements about the safety, cost and effectiveness of the expensive anti-psychotic medication Risperdal, and improperly influencing officials and doctors to push the drug.” But we won’t feel too badly, because Janssen…

idle thoughts
Where were the Republicans?

12 Jan 2012 | 6:23 am

Comment in Cambridge Chronicle on lack of choice in this week's State Senate election.
Frank's Redistricting Complaint

6 Dec 2011 | 9:52 am

MetroWest Daily News op-ed
Nationalize the Ratings Agencies

30 Oct 2011 | 9:13 pm

MetroWest Op-Ed on Ratings Agencies
Manifesto for the Occupiers

23 Oct 2011 | 7:14 pm

Op-Ed in Cambridge Chronicle on Manifesto for the Occupiers
Re-evaluating Mitt Romney

9 Oct 2011 | 7:11 pm

OpEd on Mitt Romney in MetroWest Daily News

Teaching High School Psychology
Another disturbing educational trend

22 Jan 2012 | 12:35 pm

This morning I read Kristin's post on Michael Mendillo's trashing of high school courses - of course, only after I spent time using the Hubble Space Telescope -- and just sighed when I followed her link to read the original column and the comments there. It seems so fashionable to bash teaching of all kinds these days, to look for ways to get rid of all these "bad" teachers and replace them with all the "good" ones that are apparently just standing in lines all over the country, ready to swoop in. Or inevitably someone will offer another solution, invoking an entity like Khan Academy and say…
Stop Letting High-School Courses Count for College Credit

20 Jan 2012 | 4:19 pm

A friend sent this link to a piece in the Chronicle of Higher Education entitled, "Stop Letting High School Courses Count for College Credit." For you A.P. Psychology teachers, I thought you might find Michael Mendillo's perspective interesting. I found it alarming. His basic premise is that high school courses cannot provide the richness of experience or expertise that is found at the college level. Here is a passage from the article:"Lost to these nonscience students is an exposure to cutting-edge science and the methods of science taught by professors active on a daily basis in their…
Using motivation with students - and a great motivator for teachers

17 Jan 2012 | 10:46 am

Two big fans of high school psychology: Dr. Lee Gurel and Dr. Nancy Budwig (Clark University)My favorite part* of writing this blog is when I get feedback from readers who enjoy reading the site regularly, so I was thrilled last year when I learned that Dr. Lee Gurel looks forward to reading THSP in his inbox each day that we publish. If you don't know who Dr. Gurel is - and you should - he's an amazingly generous man who is a big fan of high school psychology and who has contributed his time and resources to fund a number of amazing programs from the APA/Clark University workshop each summer…
Resources for mastering APA style

16 Jan 2012 | 1:36 pm

In response to a member's query, a few members of the PsychTeacher listserv* shared some excellent resources about APA Style and I wanted to pass them on. Honestly, I was surprised that we haven't posted something like this before, but I couldn't find anything similar in the archives.Here are the resources:APA Style at the Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab) - a terrific resource for anything to do with writing, and this APA Style Overview and Formatting Guide look great. (posted by Tammy SteinerThe Basics of APA Style - an excellent Adobe Presenter tutorial with an audio narration from the APA.
Get the scoop on Twitter and Psychat

11 Jan 2012 | 8:05 pm

I am delighted to share this guest post with you. I met Heather last year on Twitter and was thrilled to meet her face-to-face at the National Social Studies Conference in DC last month. Take it away, Heather!Heather (@irishteach) on the right, with the extraordinary Charlie Blair-Broeker (@ctbb) on the left, at the 2011 NCSS Conference)Hi, I'm Heather and I teach high school psychology and sociology in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago. At the NCSS conference, I told Steve and Rob, I would love to do a guest blog post about #psychat. A few years ago, I was introduced to the social media site…

Advances in the History of Psychology
SRCD Oral Histories Go Online

Jacy Young

17 Jan 2012 | 9:45 pm

The Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) has just posted online a number of transcripts from its Oral History Project. Over the course of its 25 year history, the SRCD Oral History Project has interviewed 135 important scholars in the field of child development. Now online are 16 interviews with individuals such as Mary Ainsworth, Eleanor Gibson, and Jerome Kagan (left). A full list of the available oral history transcripts is provided below and efforts are underway to post transcripts of further SRCD oral histories. For those interested in the history of developmental psychology,…
2012: The Year of Alan Turing

Jacy Young

5 Jan 2012 | 8:32 pm

In recognition of the 100th anniversary of Alan Turing‘s birth, 2012 has been declared Alan Turing Year. Centenary celebrations of Turing’s life and work are well underway and will continue throughout 2012 at locations around the world. Turing, a mathematician, logician, and early computer scientist, is probably best known within the history of psychology for his proposal of what has come to be known as the Turing Test. The test proposes that a machine may only be considered truly intelligent if, in the course of a conversation, a human judge can not tell it apart from another…
APA Monitor: The West Cure

Jacy Young

2 Jan 2012 | 12:29 pm

The January 2012 issue of the American Psychological Association‘s Monitor on Psychology has just been published online. This month’s Time Capsule article examines the male alternative to the rest cure often prescribed for nervous women in the nineteenth century. The rest cure saw neurasthenic women like Charlotte Perkins Gilman confined to bed, where they were to do little more than eat and avoid all “brain work.” Gilman recounted her experience with the rest cure in her well-known work, The Yellow Wallpaper (1892). In contrast, as Anne Stiles details in “Go…
Köhler’s Anthropoid Research Station, Circa 2011

Jacy Young

22 Dec 2011 | 6:20 pm

In 1913, Gestalt psychologist Wolfgang Köhler moved from Germany to the island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands. In Puerto de la Cruz on the island of Tenerife, Köhler assumed the directorship of the Prussian Academy of Science Anthropoid Research Station where he conducted important early work on tool use in apes. Famous images from Köhler’s ape research include that of apes stacking wooden crates to reach bananas hanging out of research. His research with apes led him to argue that it was insight rather than trial-and-error that allowed apes to problem solve. In 1917 he published…
CFP: Symposium of the Spanish Society for HoP

Jacy Young

6 Dec 2011 | 7:49 pm

The Sociedad Española de Historia de la Psicología (Spanish Society for the History of Psychology) has issued a call for papers for its forthcoming 25th annual symposium to be held in Santiago de Compostela in May 2012. Full details follow below. Announcement and Call for Papers: 25th Symposium of the Spanish Society for the History of Psychology (SEHP) The XXV Conference of SEHP will be held in Santiago de Compostela (North Spain) from May 10-12 at the University of Santiago. Submissions for papers and posters are invited. Although the main language in the symposium will be Spanish,…

Denying AIDS and other oddities
Southern Poverty Law Center's HateWatch and the AIDS Deniers

12 Jan 2012 | 9:36 pm

AFA’s Bryan Fischer: HIV Doesn’t Cause AIDSPosted in Anti-LGBT by Leah Nelson on January 6, 2012It’s tempting to describe American Family Association spokesman Bryan Fischer as a close-minded, reactionary bigot. But when it comes to embracing fresh ideas that support his beliefs – heck, he pretty much outdoes us all.Remember when he said that gays were responsible for the Holocaust? Or the time he claimed that states can require public officials to pass religious tests, directly contradicting both a 50-year-old Supreme Court decision and the express wishes of the…
5 Jan 2012 | 12:13 pm

5 Jan 2012 | 12:13 pm

NATURE | NEWSPaper refuting HIV–AIDS link secures publicationWork by infamous AIDS contrarian passes peer review.Zoë Corbyn 05 January 2012A controversial research paper that argued “there is as yet no proof that HIV causes AIDS" and met with a storm of protest when it was published in 2009, leading to its withdrawal, has been republished in a revised form, this time in the peer-reviewed literature.The reworked version of the paper, led by Peter Duesberg of the University of California, Berkeley, who is well known for denying the link between HIV and AIDS, was published in the…
Kim Bannon has Passed Away

17 Nov 2011 | 3:09 pm

Kim Bannon in AIDS Denialist film 'House of Numbers'Kim Marie Bannon-Barber, 48, certified court reporter, passed away Tuesday, November 15, 2011. A celebration of Kim's life will be held, 1 p.m., Saturday, November 19, West Heights United Methodist Church. Private family inurnment will follow at a later date. Kim was born in Topeka, Kansas, graduated from Goddard High School as salutatorian of her class and was captain of the Roaring Wheatchix Drill Team. She loved to be outdoors riding horses, water and snow skiing and rollerblading. Preceded in death by grandparents, Gordon Barber,…
The Truth, Nothing But the Truth: Celia Farber's Defamation Claim Against AIDS Activist Is Dismissed

8 Nov 2011 | 9:02 am

Journalist's Defamation Claim Against AIDS Activist Is DismissedBrendan PiersonNew York Law JournalNovember 8, 2011A state judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a journalist against a prominent AIDS activist for allegedly defaming her in a public dispute over an article she wrote challenging the scientific consensus that AIDS is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus.Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Louis B. York ruled last week in Farber v. Jefferys, 106399/09, that the journalist, Celia Farber, was a public figure for the purpose of the lawsuit and that her defamation claims against…
Don't Tell it so Straight: New Scientist Magazine takes on the anti-science movement

6 Nov 2011 | 11:59 am

Published in New Scientist MagazineOctober 31, 2011by Peter AldhousOpponents of science are experts at winning the battle for hearts and minds. It’s time to learn their game and beat them at it, says Peter AldhousJOHN HOLDREN, science adviser to President Barack Obama, is a clever man. But when it comes to the science of communication, he can say some dumb things. In January, Holdren welcomed the prospect of climatologists being called to testify before Congress: “I think we’ll probably move the opinions of some of the members of Congress who currently call themselves…

Psychology of Media:
SOPA and PIPA: Whose rights are we protecting?

Dr. Pamela Rutledge

19 Jan 2012 | 11:06 am

One of many anti-SOPA web pleas The NY Times article (In Fight Over Piracy Bills, New Economy Rises Against Old) by Jonathan Weisman on the proposed anti-piracy legislation in Congress highlights the conflict between old and new business models. The battle of the SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act) bills signals the changing times. It suggests that public understanding of media use is shifting. It highlights the reallocation of political heft, dollars and lobby power from the old to new economy. It also shows the power of the new communications model of…
Communicating the Value of a College Education

Dr. Pamela Rutledge

13 Jan 2012 | 3:58 pm

The following are the notes from my presentation as part of a panel on “Communicating in the New Normal” at the College Board 2012 Colloquium held in Newport Beach, CA January 7-9. I was part of very august company: moderator Phillip Ballinger, Assistant Vice President for Enrollment and Director of Undergraduate Admissions at University of Washington at University of Washington, Marie Groark, Executive Director of the Get Schooled Foundation, and Millree Williams, Executive Director for Public Affairs Strategy at the University of Maryland. The New Normal: The Changing Communications…
Dangerous Method: Engaging but Not Satisfying

Dr. Pamela Rutledge

11 Dec 2011 | 2:23 pm

The film, A Dangerous Method, is an ambitious effort to portray the complex and tumultuous evolution of the relationships and theories among the father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, his protégé Carl Jung, and the patient-turned-psychoanalyst, Sabina Spielrein. The movie is beautiful and engaging but not very satisfying. But then, it is based on the untidiness of real life, and titans of western thought though they were, Freud and Jung were still human beings. The film is well worth seeing, but be prepared to come out thinking ‘huh, interesting’ rather than…
Transmedia Storytelling: Meaning Comes from the Ability to Share, Explore, and Discover

Dr. Pamela Rutledge

2 Dec 2011 | 9:08 pm

Transmedia storytelling is not just for telling stories. Thanks to social technologies, the principles that drive transmedia storytelling ensure that it will emerge as the basis for effective communication and engagement. Transmedia — using multiple channels of communication and technologies — is unique in that it allows stories and messages to be constructed in the same the way we make sense of the world around us. Transmedia storytelling works like the brain thinks — constructing holistic meanings from bits and pieces of information and experience. We show ‘who we are’ through…

One Among Many
Requiem for the Banal Business Book

Joachim I. Krueger, Ph.D.

23 Jan 2012 | 2:43 pm

How much can be learned from the success of business organizations? Are there universally valid principles to be extracted? A popular genre of business books says the answer is ‘Yes.’ Scientists with a background in psychometrics, judgment and decision-making, however, curb their enthusiasm. Welcome to the Larry David School of Business. read more
A Paradox of Experimentation and Other Anadromous Thoughts

Joachim I. Krueger, Ph.D.

21 Jan 2012 | 7:32 pm

Research that presumably demonstrates “retrocausation” does no such thing. It rather throws the entire notion of causation into doubt. Can we recover from this? read more
Kahneman in Quotes and Questions

Joachim I. Krueger, Ph.D.

16 Jan 2012 | 9:22 pm

In this post, I’m having a postmodern conversation with Danny Kahneman. What he says is from his book Thinking, fast and slow. What I say was made to fit after the fact. So it’s probably not fair, but perhaps it will get you to read the book and make up your own mind, fastly or slowly. read more
What Is Your Work Worth?

Joachim I. Krueger, Ph.D.

15 Jan 2012 | 2:47 pm

It is good to value your work but how much will you get paid for it?read more
Second Thoughts in the Lavatory

Joachim I. Krueger, Ph.D.

10 Jan 2012 | 6:09 pm

The design of public bathrooms requires a balance between functionality and privacy (hence the need to de-emphasize the “public” aspect). Creativity and humor can help take the edge off. read more

Science Of Small Talk
When Professional Wrestling Meets Presidential Debate

Sam Sommers

17 Jan 2012 | 12:42 pm

There's an old tongue-in-cheek line about going to see a fight and a hockey game broke out. Well, last night TV viewers tuned in to see a Republican presidential debate and an episode of Maury broke out. What impact does this have on those of us watching from home?read more
Self-Help Is for Suckers

Sam Sommers

13 Jan 2012 | 8:44 am

Why can it be so hard to make the life changes we seek? Because we think about the idea of self-help in all the wrong ways, and it comes back to haunt us when the going gets tough.read more
Going with Your Gut in the Voting Booth

Sam Sommers

10 Jan 2012 | 11:47 am

Political pundits, campaign consultants, and exit pollsters can ask all the questions they want regarding how voters are making up their minds this election cycle. But when you get right down to it, our impressions of the candidates are also driven by forces we're not aware of. Like what the candidates look like.read more
Santorum: Slip of the Tongue or Stutter?

Sam Sommers

5 Jan 2012 | 1:53 pm

Reality's rarely as cut-and-dried as we assume it to be. It's not only beauty that's subject to the eye of the beholder. Just ask Rick Santorum.read more
Context, Gender, and Why Riley’s Right to Be Pissed Off About Toys

Sam Sommers

4 Jan 2012 | 2:53 pm

By now millions have watched and shared the Youtube video of Riley, the spirited 4-year-old who's sick of pink and wants toy companies everywhere to know that girls can like superheroes too. Why do we like Riley? Because she's right.read more

The Situationist
2011 SPSP Award Recipients (including Co-Founders of this Blog!)

The Situationist Staff

25 Jan 2012 | 10:01 pm

The Annual SPSP Conference is taking place in San Diego this week. Congratulations to the 2011 SPSP Award Recipients! The 2011 Jack Block Award Charles Carver This award is for career research accomplishment or distinguished career contributions in personality psychology and honors an individual who has demonstrated “analytic sophistication, theoretical depth, and wide scholarship.” Sponsored by SPSP The 2011 Donald T. Campbell Award John Dovidio This award is for career research accomplishment or distinguished career contributions in social psychology and honors an individual who…
Accept or Rebel?

The Situationist Staff

24 Jan 2012 | 11:18 pm

From Duke Today (a press release about research co-authored by Situationist Contributor Aaron Kay): The political unrest in the Middle East, which continues today in Syria, raises some intriguing questions: How can we explain the contagion effect of rebellion when revolution spreads from nation to nation? Is it possible to predict whether people will respond to limits on freedom with submission or rebellion? New research from Duke University and the University of Waterloo to be published in the February edition of the journal Psychological Science finds the certainty of a restriction is…
The Situation of Choice

The Situationist Staff

22 Jan 2012 | 10:02 pm

From the APS Monitor (excerpts from a terrific primer on “The Mechanics of Choice”): The prediction of social behavior significantly involves the way people make decisions about resources and wealth, so the science of decision making historically was the province of economists. And the basic assumption of economists was always that, when it comes to money, people are essentially rational. It was largely inconceivable that people would make decisions that go against their own interests. Although successive refinements of expected-utility theory made room for individual differences…
Officer Selection – Harvard SALMS

The Situationist Staff

21 Jan 2012 | 11:11 pm

SALMS is excited to announce the opening of 2012 Officer Selection process, and to prepare for the new year with a Board meeting on Friday, 1/27 at noon in Houser 101: 1. NEW OFFICER SELECTION: In the next few weeks, SALMS will begin a transition from its current officer class to the leadership that will direct SALMS into the New Year. Tentative Officer titles and descriptions for the 2012 year include: i. President - responsible for setting the vision and agenda of the organization, for delegating responsibilities to the SALMS officers and Board, and for collaborating with the Vice President…
If Guns Don’t Kill People, Sometimes Gun-Saturated Situations Do

The Situationist Staff

20 Jan 2012 | 9:46 am

Matty McFeely, former President of SALMS and current 3L, just had a situationist-inspired letter to the editor published in The New Yorker. The article to which he was responding (by Rachel Aviv’s “No Remorse,” January 2, 2012) was about a 15-year-old sentenced to life without parole for shooting his grandfather. Before the murder, the boy’s girlfriend had just dumped him and a number of other things weren’t going his way, and the article asked whether putting a minor away for life was appropriate. Matty’s letter read as follows: Aviv’s article forces us…

Ulterior Motives
Why Isn’t Language Clearer?

Art Markman, Ph.D.

27 Jan 2012 | 8:47 am

Anyone who has spent any amount of time with me knows that I am addicted to puns. Wouldn't language be a whole lot better if it were clearer and didn't allow for all this word play?read more
Why Regret Makes Buying Experiences Better than Buying Stuff

Art Markman, Ph.D.

20 Jan 2012 | 8:51 am

Research suggests that people are happier when they buy experiences than when they buy objects. The kinds of regrets you experience after making a choice may explain why.read more
No More Senior Moments

Art Markman, Ph.D.

17 Jan 2012 | 11:35 am

As you get older, you may start to worry that your memory is getting worse. Chances are, that worry is having a bigger impact on your memory than any actual changes to your brain are having.read more
Even People Who Don’t Vote Would Vote Like I Do

Art Markman, Ph.D.

10 Jan 2012 | 10:20 am

In many first-world countries like the United States, only a fraction of the eligible voters actually vote. That means that we could speculate about what would happen if all of the available voters turned out for an election. How do voters think elections would change if everyone voted?read more
Why We Love Independence, Individuality, and Starbucks

Art Markman, Ph.D.

6 Jan 2012 | 8:54 am

American culture takes great pride in individuality. Yet at the same time, chain stores dominate our landscape. Could our incredible mobility be the culprit?read more

National Institutes of Health (NIH) Podcast
NIH Research Radio - January 27, 2012

27 Jan 2012 | 11:00 am

News about a link between animal fat and a kind of diabetes, top-ranked eating plans, how an app--and coaching--can help with weight control, and a story about sleep, plus a news update. Episode #0151 show notes Podcast archives
NIH Research Radio - January 13, 2012

13 Jan 2012 | 11:00 am

#0150 Report from NIH Research Radio - Topics for Friday, January 13, 2012 Teen-related stories: trends in cigarette and alcohol use, quitting smoking with their mobile phones, and a guide to help screen for teen drinkers; plus news on prostate cancer screening plus a news update in this episode. Episode #0150 show notes Podcast archives
NIH Research Radio - December 16, 2011

16 Dec 2011 | 11:00 am

#0149 Report from NIH Research Radio - Topics for Friday, December 16, 2011 In this episode: risk of cancer in transplant recipients, cells that super-size the gut, getting a family health history during the holidays, and women in science, plus a news update. Episode #0149 show notes Podcast archives
NIH Research Radio - December 2, 2011

2 Dec 2011 | 11:00 am

#0148 Report from NIH Research Radio - Topics for Friday, December 2, 2011 In this episode: reports on the dangers of smoking, risk factors for cognitive problems, focus on fitness, and details on jaw pain, plus a news update. Episode #0148 show notes Podcast archives
NIH Research Radio - November 18, 2011

18 Nov 2011 | 11:00 am

#0147 Report from NIH Research Radio - Topics for Friday, November 18, 2011 Coming up in this episode Secretary of State Clinton's recent visit and speech at NIH President Obama's 2009 visit and mosquito research, plus a new update. Episode #0147 show notes Podcast archives

Books from Psychology Press
The Development of Emotional Intelligence

26 Jan 2012 | 6:00 pm

By Nadja Reissland. How do children learn about the expression and meaning of emotions – both happy and sad? This book answers questions regarding the foundation of emotional intelligence, and examines how children become emotionally literate as they are socialised into their family environment from birth to 2… ISBN: 9780415359528 Published Jan 26, 2012 by Routledge
Father-Daughter Relationships

24 Jan 2012 | 6:00 pm

By Linda Nielsen. The first research-based text that focuses on the impact of the father-daughter relationship, this provocative book examines the factors that can strengthen or weaken these relationships and the impact that these relationships have on society. The research is brought to life with compelling… ISBN: 9781848729346 Published Jan 24, 2012 by Routledge Academic
Interactional Coaching

23 Jan 2012 | 6:00 pm

By Michael Harvey. Interactional Coaching is a powerful, one-to-one learning approach, used successfully for over fifteen years, that enables executives to make the choices that work for them. Drawing on existential philosophy, psychotherapy and business theory, interactional coaching uses innovative techniques… ISBN: 9780415614726 Published Jan 23, 2012 by Routledge
Judging Passions

19 Jan 2012 | 6:00 pm

By Roger Giner-Sorolla. Psychological research shows that our emotions and feelings often guide the moral decisions we make about our own lives and the social groups to which we belong. But should we be concerned that our important moral judgments can be swayed by "hot" passions, such as anger, disgust, guilt, shame and… ISBN: 9781848720688 Published Jan 19, 2012 by Psychology Press
Writing

19 Jan 2012 | 6:00 pm

Edited by Elena L. Grigorenko, Elisa Mambrino and David D. Preiss. This book captures the diversity and richness of writing as it relates to different forms of abilities, skills, competencies, and expertise. Psychologists, educators, researchers, and practitioners in neighboring areas are interested in exploring how writing develops and in what manner this… ISBN: 9781848728127 Published Jan 19, 2012 by Psychology Press

Psychology / Psychiatry News From Medical News Today
Family History Of Psychiatric Disorders May Shape Intellectual Interests

28 Jan 2012 | 2:00 am

A hallmark of the individual is the cultivation of personal interests, but for some people, their intellectual pursuits might actually be genetically predetermined. Survey results published by Princeton University researchers in the journal PLoS ONE suggest that a family history of psychiatric conditions such as autism and depression could influence the subjects a person finds engaging...
Genes Influence Criminal Behavior According To Criminologist's Research

28 Jan 2012 | 2:00 am

Your genes could be a strong predictor of whether you stray into a life of crime, according to a research paper co-written by UT Dallas criminologist Dr. J.C. Barnes. "Examining the Genetic Underpinnings to Moffitt's Developmental Taxonomy: A Behavior Genetic Analysis" detailed the study's findings in a recent issue of Criminology. The paper was written with Dr. Kevin M...
A Path To The Brain Through The Nose Aids Schizophrenia Research

27 Jan 2012 | 2:00 am

A significant obstacle to progress in understanding psychiatric disorders is the difficulty in obtaining living brain tissue for study so that disease processes can be studied directly. Recent advances in basic cellular neuroscience now suggest that, for some purposes, cultured neural stem cells may be studied in order to research psychiatric disease mechanisms...
Link Between Prenatal Testosterone And An Increased Risk Of Language Delay For Male Infants

27 Jan 2012 | 2:00 am

New research by Australian scientists reveals that males who are exposed to high levels of testosterone before birth are twice as likely to experience delays in language development compared to females...
Feeling Left Out? Being Ignored Hurts, Even By A Stranger

27 Jan 2012 | 2:00 am

Feeling like you're part of the gang is crucial to the human experience. All people get stressed out when we're left out. A new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, finds that a feeling of inclusion can come from something as simple as eye contact from a stranger...

NIMH | Recent Updates
Science News » Ethnic Disparities Persist in Depression Diagnosis and Treatment Among Older Americans

Colleen Labbe

26 Jan 2012 | 10:33 am

Older racial and ethnic minorities living in the community are less likely to be diagnosed with depression than their white counterparts, but are also less likely to get treated, according to a recent NIMH-funded analysis published online ahead of print December 15, 2011, in the American Journal of Public Health.
Blog Post » Balancing Immediate Needs with Future Innovation

Thomas Insel

26 Jan 2012 | 10:54 am

Dr. Insel responds to discussion from the National Advisory Mental Health Council concerning the need to balance research funding for basic science and mental health services.
Audio » 2011 Society for Neuroscience Conference Highlights

National Institute of Mental Health

26 Jan 2012 | 3:34 pm

The 2011 Society for Neuroscience Conference was held in Washington, DC.
Concept Clearance » New Experimental Medicine Studies: Fast-Fail Trials (FAST)

National Institute of Mental Health

27 Jan 2012 | 9:05 am

This initiative seeks to expeditiously test and analyze novel pharmacological interventions and their molecular and/or clinical targets for treating clinical dimensions of psychopathology associated with traditional psychiatric disorders.
Concept Clearance » Development of Tools to Explore the Synaptome

National Institute of Mental Health

27 Jan 2012 | 1:47 pm

The purpose of this initiative is to encourage applications to develop novel technologies and/or tools to facilitate the study of genes and proteins at the synapse on a large scale.

The Essential Read
The Dark Side of Altruism

Michael E. Price, Ph.D.

27 Jan 2012 | 1:05 pm

The true-crime book Wiseguy [1], on which the movie Goodfellas is based, vividly portrays the Brooklyn Mafia's social world in the 1950s-70s. A main player in this world, Jimmy "the Gent" Burke, was renowned for his spectacular generosity: "(Jimmy would) walk in the door (of the makeshift casino) and everybody... would go wild. He'd give the doorman a hundred just for opening the door. He shoved hundreds in the pockets of the guys who ran the games. The bartender got a hundred just for keeping the ice cubes cold. I mean, the guy was a sport..." (p. 28). Sounds like a great guy, right? Except…
Embracing Darwin in an Uncertain World

Tania Lombrozo, Ph.D.

26 Jan 2012 | 9:00 pm

February 12th is Darwin Day, the anniversary of Darwin's birth and an excuse for scientists, educators, and Darwin enthusiasts worldwide to celebrate the theory of natural selection and its central role throughout the biological and social sciences.While scientists overwhelmingly accept natural selection as a well-established scientific theory, it's rejected by a sizable minority of Americans, especially as an explanation for human origins.What makes natural selection so unpalatable to so many people? And what makes alternatives, such as Intelligent Design and creationism, so attractive?The…
The Power to Be Me

Michael W. Kraus, Ph.D.

26 Jan 2012 | 11:07 am

We certainly have a wealth of anecdotes about what having power does to people: Power has led political figures like Herman Cain (allegedly) and John Edwards to engage in adultery, facilitated unethical financial practices on Wall Street, and contributed to some of the most overconfident moments in our nation'sAmerican history. On the one hand, we could conclude from these examples that power leads people to immoral, unethical, and deviant behavior, and some research is suggestive of this possibility. Of course, power can't always be bad for us, like it was for the American economy or…
Can a Candidate Be Too Religious?

David Niose

26 Jan 2012 | 9:58 am

When Rick Santorum did surprisingly well in the Iowa caucuses on January 3, many Americans started taking a serious look at his views. One revelation that quickly came to light was that the former Pennsylvania senator, a devout Catholic, takes his religion very seriously. In fact, via news accounts appearing immediately after the Iowa caucuses, many Americans learned that Santorum, like his church, is highly critical of birth control and believes that nonprocreative sex is wrong. This makes Santorum more Catholic than the typical American Catholic. Although the Vatican considers contraception…
Quitting Facebook Could Make You Happier

Michael W. Austin

25 Jan 2012 | 12:36 pm

A recent study shows that people who are on Facebook believe that others have happier lives than is actually the case. This ends up influencing them to think wrongly about their own lives, because they don't seem to measure up to the lives others are having as represented on their Facebook accounts.That last statement is the key one, according to a study conducted by Hui-Tzu Grace Chou, which focused on 425 undergraduate students at Utah Valley State University. One interesting finding in the study is that the more time you spend on Facebook, the more you will think that others have happier…

Frontier Psychiatrist
Interview with writer Will self part 1

Frontier Psychiatrist

12 Jan 2012 | 4:56 am

The writer Will Self came to talk at a conference I organised in November 2010. Here is a transcript of a conversation we had. I started off by asking him about the Quantity Theory of Insanity, which was one of his first published works. SG: What was the inspiration for your short story the Quantity Theory of Insanity? WS: Well, it’s a long time ago… SG: Eighteen years ago? WS: The story was written in 1990, more like twenty years ago. All sorts of things came together in that story, but the most significant things were an exposure to the psychiatric…
Mobile phones: the future of health

Frontier Psychiatrist

5 Jan 2012 | 8:48 am

Also published on BMJ blogs I learnt some interesting facts about mobile phones the other day. For instance, there are 59 countries where mobile phones outnumber people. This refers to mobile phones actually in use, rather than forgotten ones in drawers, under sofas, or in the glove compartment of your car. Worldwide there are six trillion texts sent a day, about which unexceptional Western teens are exceptionally keen as they send/receive an impressive 3,400 per month. The average user of a mobile phone looks at it 150 times a day. That’s every 6 minutes 30…
Disability and the Military

Frontier Psychiatrist

28 Dec 2011 | 4:49 am

Image credit War may not be good for much, but it has proved to be an effective incubator for innovation. I’m not just talking about the Slinky: the development of nylon, polythene, and aerosol sprays also benefitted from conflict. The urgency of war has also lead to many of the most important innovations in medicine. It was the battlefield surgeon Ambroise Paré who in the 16th century introduced the ligature of arteries (instead of cauterization) during amputation. An effective treatment for leukaemia emerged from nitrogen mustard’s use as a poisonous gas and Dwight Harken…
Psychiatric eponyms: Fregoli delusion

Frontier Psychiatrist

14 Dec 2011 | 4:42 pm

Fregoli delusion is a delusional misidentification syndrome which describes an individual’s mistaken belief that different people are in fact the same person in disguise who is able to change their appearance. Misidentification syndromes all involve a belief that the identity of a person, object or place has somehow changed or has been altered. The Fregoli delusion was first described in 1927 in the paper Syndrome d’illusion de Frégoli et schizophrénie. In it the authors described a case of a 27-year-old woman living in London who believed she was being…
Occupy LSX report

Frontier Psychiatrist

21 Nov 2011 | 11:34 am

This was originally published on BMJ Blogs Established on 15 October outside St Paul’s and watched over by a statue of Queen Victoria, the Occupy London Stock Exchange (LSX) camp continues its controversial settlement in central London. Paul, a doctor whose day job is as a sexual health specialist in South London, shows me around. For a movement with no apparent leadership, lurking somewhere must nevertheless be an effective organising team. The camp is clean and alongside the accommodation are larger tents with information, welfare, first-aid, and…

In the news by Karen Franklin PhD
Juror’s bad dream becomes defense nightmare

26 Jan 2012 | 10:42 pm

What would you do if you were defending a man accused of bludgeoning someone to death with a baseball bat, and a juror disclosed having a nightmare in which the defendant chased her around with a baseball bat?You might request that the juror be dismissed.That’s what happened this week in a murder trial St. Lawrence County, New York.But the judge denied the defense request, despite a plea from the juror's family that she is emotionally overwhelmed by the case. Besides her nightmare, the juror also told the court that she started crying when she saw her father sitting in a recliner that…
Federal judge tosses hebephilia as basis for civil detention

20 Jan 2012 | 10:27 pm

Hebephilia is too controversial for the government to use it to claim that a sex offender has a serious mental disorder meriting civil commitment in order to protect the public, a federal judge ruled Thursday.Judge Terrence BoyleIn ordering the release of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Neuhauser, the judge also found that the government had failed to prove that the prisoner was at high risk to reoffend or would have serious difficulty controlling his impulses. "The Court finds that it would be inappropriate to predicate civil commitment on a diagnosis that a large number of clinical…
Tearing the child apart: Free training in San Francisco

18 Jan 2012 | 10:13 am

What motivates parents to -- either consciously or unconsciously -- damage or destroy their own children?We know the complex psychological effects of high-conflict divorce, but how do we understand the contribution of narcissism, envy and perverse thinking? This Saturday, Jan. 21, forensic psychologist Michael Donner, a psychoanalyst, child custody evaluator and ethicist, will take an analytic approach to questions usually considered part of the family court system.Sponsored by the San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis, Saturday's event features H. Spencer Bloch, MD, author of…
SEX PANIC: Highly recommended

16 Jan 2012 | 10:25 am

As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such twilight that we all must be most aware of change in the air – however slight – lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness.-- Justice William O. Douglas The strands of modern American containment were woven so gradually that today's prison culture has come to feel almost natural. But imagine how the landscape might look to someone who was experimentally cryopreserved in, say, 1981, and thawed out 30 years…
Martin Luther King Jr. on maladjustment

15 Jan 2012 | 12:36 am

Last year, in honor of Martin Luther King Day, I excerpted a large portion of a keynote speech the visionary civil rights leader delivered at the 1967 convention of the American Psychological Association, just seven months before he was gunned down and at a time when he was drawing larger connections between racial oppression and the Vietnam War. This year, I am excerpting only one short section, but I have made the entire speech, "The Role of the Behavioral Scientist in the Civil Rights Movement," available for download (HERE). It's 45 years old, but still remarkably relevant today. There…

Child Psychology and Parenting Blog: Child-Psych.org
APA Guidelines for Parenting Coordination for High Conflict Separated & Divorced Parents

Anita M. Schimizzi, Ph.D.

26 Jan 2012 | 1:19 pm

While splitting from a mate is rarely easy, it can be hugely difficult for couples that have children together. In this situation, it is most likely that you will still remain in one another’s life for a very long time in order to co-parent your children. For most couples, the stress and conflict of divorce gradually subsides to reasonable levels over the first few years. For others, however, the conflict rages on and oftentimes it is the children who suffer the most. Research suggests that divorce in and of itself is not destructive to children, but rather it is ongoing parent conflict…
Depression during pregnancy may lower your child’s IQ.

Nestor Lopez-Duran PhD

19 Jan 2012 | 1:03 pm

Can depression during pregnancy impact your child’s intelligence? How about postpartum depression? Maternal depression has some significant negative consequences on kids. Among them, some studies have shown that maternal depression may impact the cognitive development of the offspring. But it is still unknown how maternal depression impacts the child’s cognitive skills. For example, are there sensitive periods during the child’s early development that makes them more susceptible to maternal depression? One could think that maybe the most important period is during pregnancy, since…
Aggression in the Toddler Can Be Traced to Hostility in the Marriage

Anita M. Schimizzi, Ph.D.

6 Jan 2012 | 12:00 pm

It makes sense if you think about it. Mom and Dad are angry and at each other more often than they care to admit. In comes junior. It may not be so easy to put aside the hurt and anger caused by the marital conflict and turn toward the tot with a warm and patient approach. Stover and colleagues describe the “spillover” theory to explain this process. That is, high conflict marriages can breed emotional distress in the parents that leads to decreased parenting quality. Another interpretation of the theory is that the emotional arousal that happens in one family relationship (in…
Boys With ADHD and Their Dads

Anita M. Schimizzi, Ph.D.

14 Dec 2011 | 8:20 am

A couple of months ago, I wrote about a study that looked at moms and children with ADHD. Some readers responded with wanting more information on the role of dads in their child’s ADHD. Well, I found an article in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology that studied dads and looked at the impact that their early relationships with their children have on later ADHD symptoms. And, yes, the study suggests that the early father-child relationship does indeed seem to be related to middle-childhood ADHD symptoms. (The study looked at the maternal role also, but I am going to focus on the…
Diagnosing ADHD: What every parent should know.

Nestor Lopez-Duran PhD

1 Dec 2011 | 6:52 am

A few weeks ago the American Academy of Pediatrics published the new practice guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). These guidelines are supposed to help pediatricians and other primary care physicians in the care of kids with ADHD. Although I agree with most aspects of the guidelines, I am not surprised that the guidelines created significant controversy among psychologists because many aspects of these guidelines are limited, and arguably may not improve the care of kids with this condition. So, here are some thoughts that may help…

Your Mind Your Body
Talking With Kids About Trauma

drstephaniesmith

25 Jan 2012 | 9:18 am

One of the teachers in my daughter’s school was recently in an accident. While she was able to come back to work after a period of time, she looked different and had some limitations in what she could do. As we all know, accidents are common and injuries happen. When accidents happen, it’s important to talk to kids honestly about what has occurred. Graphic and detailed information is typically not needed. Brief, accurate, and age-appropriate information can be provided, followed by lots of time for questions and discussion about kids’ thoughts about the incident. An example might be:…
Stress in America: Why It Matters

educharme

21 Jan 2012 | 11:46 am

There has been a lot of buzz about the American Psychological Association’s recent Stress in America survey. Some question whether it really represents the state of the nation’s stress, others question whether or not we can really do anything about our stress, and some wonder if it even matters. After all, everyone always has to deal with some stress, right? Deborah Kotz of the Boston Globe’s Daily Dose questioned whether the APA’s survey results were accurate. She did her own (though admittedly unscientific) poll online. Interestingly at the time I wrote this post, her…
How to Get Healthier and Stress Less at the Same Time

drbourdeau

18 Jan 2012 | 11:07 am

When we are stressed we have higher levels of a chemical (cortisol) that damages our system. It’s like a little hammer chiseling away at our healthy insides. (Watch the effects of stress on the body with this cool graphic.) The problem is that not everyone understands just how unhealthy this is on our physical health. Because of this, many people may be less likely to use stress management strategies that improve their health. Have you looked at the recent findings of APA’s Stress in America survey? This survey highlights the negative impact of stress on physical health, and it…
Why Your Stress Problem is Everyone’s Problem

knordal

12 Jan 2012 | 2:38 pm

APA released its annual Stress in America survey yesterday, and we have again found that our nation is under pressure. Yes, average stress levels have declined somewhat from their max in 2007 and 2008, but that was at a time of extreme economic uncertainty when the housing crisis began to bubble, and the nation’s economy was on the cliff, about to take a deep fall. But even as the nation’s economy begins to improve, we found that yet again, the majority of people surveyed said they are experiencing very high degrees of stress at levels that are higher than they consider healthy. Our…
Stress in America Live Tomorrow

ymyb

10 Jan 2012 | 8:28 pm

Stress affects all of us, and there’s no way to always avoid it. Stress can help us thrive, but it can also make us sick. The difference often rests in how we handle it. For the sixth year, the American Psychological Association has again asked Americans about their stress for its annual Stress in America report and findings. We found out what is causing people stress, how they are managing it, and what effects stress has on their bodies and lives. This year, we also focused our survey on caregivers and people with chronic conditions, such as depression, obesity and diabetes. We wanted…

Personality Plus in Business
Projection and the Enneagram

Sandy McMullen

25 Jan 2012 | 10:41 am

Oh yes Virigina, we all project aspects of ourselves onto others – both the good and the shadow. This is an unconscious act propelled by our defense mechanisms. This focusing outward to look for the source of what is happening leads us to give positive attribution to others for the things that we like about ourselves and conversely hold some others who share the qualities that we deem as negative in a bad light. Each Enneagram type will project according to the worldview of their type: for example, sixes reading the danger in the other. Hopefully we grow to realize that we often misread…
Venegeance Might Not Be As Bad As You Think

Sandy McMullen

20 Jan 2012 | 7:38 pm

Let’s suppose that you were told that Vengeance was one of your motivators. People often frame this in a more personal way as “I am vengeful.” Would you have a reaction to this in your profile? When you are working with personality assessments, you need to make sure that everyone understands the meaning of the terminology being used in this particular circumstance. As a general rule the terms used to describe personality types or traits are neutral and imply no preferred value. According to the Reiss Motivation Profile “Vengeance” is the desire to get even with…
Mastery – Antidote to Worry

Sandy McMullen

4 Sep 2011 | 9:42 pm

You don’t need to know a person’s Enneagram type to recognize that they might be currently in the grip of a particular Enneagram energy however fleeting the moment. I recently had a request for information from someone who watched one of my painting videos on YouTube. The word “worry” occurred several times in reference to various aspects of their work… in not one but in two emails. This is territory that an Enneagram Six knows like the back of the hand. The issue for Sixes is trust – trust in the exterior world and trust in self. Mastery through practice…
Do You See Yourself as a Leader?

Sandy McMullen

23 Jun 2011 | 6:52 pm

The Situation Once upon a time there was an bright talented young woman. She went to work for a global organization and did very well indeed. She went to work and did her job. Efficient, effective, likable, team-player… the list of stellar adjectives go on and on. The Wake-Up During a leadership workshop, exercise after exercise brought insights and an emotional connection awakening something within. At the very end of the 2 days an exercise gave this young woman feedback on just how many of her peers saw her as a leader. The Surprise The surprise to me is that this was news to this…
Needs… Can’t Live Without Them

Sandy McMullen

19 Jun 2011 | 11:30 am

Do you know what your needs are? I’ll be you haven’t really consciously thought about this question recently. Of course Maslow has put them into a hierarchy for us, starting with the basics of food, shelter and ending with self-actualizing needs. But I will wager that other than our daily cave man like morning mantra “need coffee now” or monthly whine “really ought to hit the gym” most of us don’t pay attention to our needs. What happens when a particular need goes unmet? Ahhhh…hhhaaaa Unmet needs make themselves known. If you don’t notice…

Workplace Psychology
Distracted Doctoring is a Workplace Safety Issue

Steve Nguyen

17 Jan 2012 | 4:40 pm

“Surgery” by Army Medicine I came across a fascinating article (Richtel, 2011) posted on the New York Times. The article talked about doctors, nurses, and other hospital staff who are distracted by texting, surfing the web, doing online shopping, and/or using social networks (e.g., Facebook). The NY Times article said that the unintended consequence of depending on computers and smartphones to access patient data, drug information, and patient care resources is that doctors and nurses are now fixated on these devices and not their patients, even during critical care (such as…
charity: water – Water Changes Everything

Steve Nguyen

30 Dec 2011 | 12:05 am

Water Changes Everything I want to wish all visitors and loyal readers of WorkplacePsychology.Net a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Instead of doing a wrap-up of posts for 2011, I want to talk about water. Yes, water. As many loyal visitors to this blog already know, I am very passionate about charity and philanthropy (remember it’s not how much you give, but that you give). In April 2010, I wrote about the World Food Programme (WFP), and in August 2011 I talked about its social media initiative called WeFeedback. Several days ago I stumbled upon a new charity program that…
Virtual Workplaces and Telework

Steve Nguyen

21 Dec 2011 | 4:13 pm

“Railay Beach Office” by EvanLovely I saw an article on Time magazine’s website today called, “The Beginning of the End of the 9-to-5 Workday?” (Schawbel, 2011). The article maintained that companies need to embrace workplace-flexibility programs. The author of the article stated that “between new technology and global workplace dynamics, companies are implementing flexible work arrangements for everyone.” The article also quoted a flexibility-strategy leader who said: “This notion of an eight-hour day is rapidly disappearing, simply because we…
Using Reappraisal to Handle an Angry Face

Steve Nguyen

25 Nov 2011 | 3:57 pm

“Thinking” by Hans Kristian Aas An interesting study by a team of researchers (Jens Blechert, Gal Sheppes, Carolina Di Tella, Hants Williams, and James J. Gross at Stanford University) has found that when you tell yourself (i.e. reappraise) that someone is mean to you is simply having a bad day, you may be able to fend off bad feelings. Reappraisal isn’t anything new. It goes by the name of reframing and is used by cognitive-behavioral psychologists to help clients reframe a distressing problem using a more positive perspective, making it a more a manageable one. Professor…
Employees Misbehave When They Are Bored

Steve Nguyen

22 Oct 2011 | 10:37 pm

Bruursemaa, Kesslerb, and Spector (2011) conducted a study in which they found that employees who were bored are more likely to also misbehave. Previously, counterproductive work behavior (CWB) were viewed as made up of five types: abuse against others, production deviance, sabotage, withdrawal, and theft. In this study, the researchers added a sixth type, horseplay. Bruursemaa, Kesslerb, and Spector (2011) studied responses from 211 participants recruited via email in North America. They discovered that being prone to boredom (boredom proneness) and job boredom was strongly associated with…

Dr. Jennifer Howard Changes That Last Blog
28-Day Meditation Challenge with Sharon Salzberg

25 Jan 2012 | 11:00 pm

She's back! On February 1st I have the pleasure of visiting once again with Sharon Salzberg. And she has something wonderful to share!
Martin Luther King Day - In His Own Words

15 Jan 2012 | 11:00 pm

Almost 50 years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the Civil Rights March on Washington. Click below to listen to the recorded speech from August 28, 1963.
The Intimate Relationship between The Pope’s War the Christian Mystic

11 Jan 2012 | 11:00 pm

On January 11, 2012 I had the pleasure of interviewing Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox, one of the most creative, the most comprehensive, surely the most challenging religious-spiritual teachers on my radio show, 'A Conscious Life'.
Cut Yourself Some Slack! Ten Good Reasons to Break Your Resolutions

1 Jan 2012 | 11:00 pm

We’ve all done it. We start the New Year with the best of intentions. We resolve to be healthy, frugal and loving. Within a few weeks our resolutions are cast aside and we feel guilty and resigned.
Making New Year’s Resolutions You Actually Keep

31 Dec 2011 | 11:00 pm

It’s a new year and a fresh beginning! For most of us, it’s a time when we feel compelled to turn over a new leaf and resolve to do things better and different this year. We want to develop new habits and rid ourselves of the unhealthy ones. We want good change, but a whopping 88% of resolutions fail, and most by the end of January!

Smart Zone Psychology Blog
Would Warren Buffet Hire You?

Susan Fletcher, Ph.D.

26 Jan 2012 | 4:33 pm

I really love being consulted by the media on topics within my field. Several years ago when I first started appearing on TV I was intimidated and a little scared. But now I enjoy the challenge of discussing breaking stories and sometimes controversial issues. Barry Carpenter from The CW33 is particularly great to work with because he and his camera crew are professional and fun. And, more importantly, he shows integrity in his work. Watch his recent TV segment where he talks to me about gossip. Recently I was asked to appear in a national TV series on a cable network. The catch was - I would…
How Fear Factor Puts You in the Smart Zone

Susan Fletcher, Ph.D.

12 Jan 2012 | 1:42 pm

I recently posted on my Facebook page that I was watching Fear Factor with my three boys. I commented: "Talk about will power and talking yourself into doing something you don't want to do." One of my Facebook followers questioned me by posting: "Talk to us about 'how come' YOU are watching this. And, then, please address why the heck you are allowing your kiddos to view this. Please and thank you." Well, if you say "please and thank you" then I'm on it. Thanks for the invitation because when I'm watching something like Fear Factor with my kids, I'm deliberate about what I want them to…
Learning from Differences

Susan Fletcher, Ph.D.

20 Dec 2011 | 10:52 am

When did we start being afraid? Really. What has contributed to many people hesitating, fearing people who are different, and worrying way too much about what other people think? Many people stay inside their heads analyzing way too many things - halting any action that can move them forward. Josh Havens is the lead singer of the band, The Afters. He is a member of the church in Plano, Texas where my boys and I attend. Aren't we lucky to have him most Sunday mornings belting it out as we get grounded for the week? He recently posted photos (taken by his oh so talented sister, Esther Havens)…
Book Review: Great by Choice, Reviewed by Zan Jones

Susan Fletcher, Ph.D.

2 Dec 2011 | 5:02 pm

Jim Collins' new book Great by Choice (which he co-authors with Morten Hansen) made for a fun Thanksgiving break read. Susan had family in town last week and so I asked if I could review the book for her. If you enjoyed the book Good to Great then you will like this follow up. I enjoyed it more than his most recent book How the Mighty Fall...And Why Some Companies Never Give In, which we reviewed a few years ago. The most poignant quote is in the Epilogue and the entire book disproves this idea: "We sense a dangerous disease infecting our modern culture and eroding hope: an increasingly…
What To Do When You Have a Secret

Susan Fletcher, Ph.D.

27 Nov 2011 | 10:49 pm

Have you ever been afraid you might get in trouble at work for reporting something bad that you are told to keep secret? A horrible secret was revealed last week with Joe Paterno and Penn State. Secrets also come out during presidential campaigns and in some companies when someone leaves the company. As a psychologist I hear secrets and private information all the time. Many times when I'm told a secret, it's the first time that person has revealed it to anyone. There are many secrets that can be serious and harmful. No one should take this subject lightly. Harmful secrets like those…

BPS Occupational Digest
2012 Resolutions: manage perceptions, focus attention

Alex Fradera

26 Jan 2012 | 4:05 am

We know that subtle cues can influence how we behave in the world and in the workplace. For example, women give different ratings of work gender discrimination depending on whether they saw a phrase on a poster moments before. And perception can have a more overt influence, such as the way that external scrutiny encourages boards to dump compromised directors. What we notice and who notices us matters: it's the attention, stupid.So here are some ways to orient attention and create more helpful perceptions within your organisations.1. Dig into the impact of your incentive programs. Individual…
2012 Resolution: attract and keep the right people for your workplace

Alex Fradera

20 Jan 2012 | 10:57 am

Getting people inIt's all very well having the best methods of selection, but you need to get motivated, capable and well-fitted people interested in working with you.1. Cultivate a good word-of-mouth reputation to attract highly educated graduates. So treat existing employees well and avoid allegations of hypocrisy by ensuring your internal culture fits with your external brand. The received wisdom of 'campus presence' turns out to be on rather flimsier ground (it may even be counterproductive for world-wise candidates), but the evidence is that people trust word-of-mouth.2.
2012 resolutions: people differ (so now what?)

Alex Fradera

18 Jan 2012 | 1:05 am

This year, time to pay more attention to the fact that our people are different. Sometimes the best resolution is to not act on this - for instance, the fact that people's earnings relate to their weight almost certainly reflects a degree of bias that we would be better to shake off. And some research is currently too provisional to figure out what to do with: if a leader's facial width really is related to company success, the implications for what to do about that are far from clear.Yet some people may suit some work better, or approach things in very different ways. Here are some thoughts…
2012 resolution: get a handle on emotion and mood in the workplace

Alex Fradera

16 Jan 2012 | 10:28 am

Find ways to cope with problematic moodsYou don't need to be a believer in Blue Monday (thank goodness) to feel that January isn't the happiest month in the calendar. Here are some steps to smarter mood management.1. Take into account the emotional legacy of positive and negative events at work. This might mean rescheduling a challenging meeting that follows a day of inordinate strain. Note that people can differ in how much of an 'emotional hangover' they feel, so be especially sympathetic to those hit harder.2. Decide on how to manage anger in the workplace. Contrary to what some may think,…
2012 resolution: make better selection decisions

Alex Fradera

13 Jan 2012 | 8:00 am

A simple resolution, but how to go about it?1. Review practices to align with your organisation's unique context. As a whole, companies using 'best practice' approaches such as ability tests, structured interviews and monitoring recruitment sources do no better on aggregate than those who don't use these methods. This tells us that it isn't about slavishly following a right formula, but evaluating what's been proven to work elsewhere with your understanding of the local context of your organisation. So consider the below recommendations in this light.2. Consider introducing…

P1 Full Pype
How Do You Know When You Are Being Manipulated?

10 Jan 2012 | 11:37 pm

I believe that we have a 6th sense for detecting manipulation. Manipulation is seldom in our best interest and we tend to react to the peril by feeling uncomfortable or anxious.
Vroom! Being 110% Your Personality

16 Dec 2011 | 2:24 am

Being who you are meant to be, your unique personality, is a lifelong task filled with many stumbling blocks and crossing guards.
Is Herman Cain a Distraction?

4 Dec 2011 | 9:50 pm

As I said in my last article about Herman Cain - I like him. Or more precisely, I liked the way he appeared to answer questions honestly, without diversions and distractions.
Herman Cain, Truth, Justice and Women

17 Nov 2011 | 1:44 am

We have all seen the stories about Cain and sexual harassment, heard the witnesses and their attorneys and we have heard Herman Cain's rebuttal. What really bothers me is -- I like Herman Cain.
Ageism and Cousin Elizabeth - Do You Want to Be Here?

7 Nov 2011 | 10:41 pm

The primary question I wanted to ask and felt heavy in the atmosphere was - "Do you want to be here?" I knew in many cases, if not all, this might raise an emotional issue.

In Pursuit of Meaning
Where do you draw the line between accommodating others and being abused?

Anja

22 Jan 2012 | 11:32 pm

I am not an accommodating person. I draw a line quickly and if you cross it, well that’s it for our relationship. When I was younger, I was just too nice and accommodating and that allowed people around me really take advantage of me. I took a lot of abuse from my friends and peers. My feelings were always sacrificed for another’s happiness or needs. There were many times I felt badly hurt and neglected and ignored. I had to draw a line eventually. I still do this, protect myself from “abuse”. But a part of me is conflicted. As an adult, I have grown to believe that things are not…
Boardwalk Empire and the Human Experiment: Jung, Chopra and Harrow

Stephen

17 Jan 2012 | 12:07 am

“There are no extra pieces in the universe. Everyone is here because he or she has a place to fill, and every piece must fit itself into the big jigsaw puzzle.” Deepak Chopra Boardwalk Empire and the Human Experiment I recently watched the first two seasons of Boardwalk Empire. The series is set in and around Atlantic City, during the infamous Prohibition in the nineteen twenties. Tracking the fortunes of Enoch “Nucky” Thompson and his associates based on historical characters from the period and active in various criminal enterprises. It is exceptionally good and the second season in…
Steve Jobs

Anja

18 Dec 2011 | 10:44 am

Steve Paul Jobs (1955 – 2011) claims the title of the iconic leader of the personal computer (and digital device) revolution of the late 20th century and the first decade of the 21st century. Co-founder, Chairman and CEO of Apple Inc, Pixar and NeXT Inc, Jobs’ genius was behind the Apple brand, the iMac, iPod, iPhone and iPad. As well as the revolutionary wave of animation from Pixar, including the much loved Toy Story series. In this post I look at Jobs the man and his legacy through the lens of Jungian psychology. What can we learn about the psyche of Jobs, what motivated him, what…
I Just Can’t Stand Them! – What Are You Really Saying?

Anja

15 Dec 2011 | 5:25 am

When I was younger, I had a real issue with Summercon Developers. We stayed in one of their townhouses for a few months and just hated it. Stephen and I were in a young relationship and we were fighting like cats and dogs. And of course EVERYONE heard it. I could not understand why Summercon were allowed to put up these terrible little boxy houses, with no privacy that were ridiculously priced. Also only the bottom units actually ‘owned’ the land. They were built badly and quickly. They were all the same, and I felt like a prisoner in them. Yet they were building everywhere and…
Death: a Jungian perspective. What Face-the Grim Reaper?

Stephen

11 Dec 2011 | 4:37 am

When you lie in bed, alone, late at night, contemplating your own mortality, as the Grim Reaper grins at you, what face do you see? I frequently suggest both in my posts and to those I work with personally, the importance of facing up to the reality of death. To face the fact that you are not immortal. That the candle flame of your life will be blown out one day by the unfeeling and unrelenting wind of time. This fundamental truth has to be understood and come to terms with, by anyone wanting to get to grips with the basic coordinates of human existence. No spiritual system or teacher is…

Psychology Matters Asia
How can you help a family member or friend who may be suffering from Depression?

25 Jan 2012 | 3:04 pm

As a practising psychologist in Singapore, I often receive calls from distraught family members asking what they can do if they have a family member or friend who they suspect is suffering from depression but who is reluctant to see a mental health professional. The main goal in this situation, is to make sure the person gets an appropriate diagnosis and then start treatment by a mental health professional if he or she does in fact have depression. This article contains a list of suggestions and possible interventions on how you can help the person achieve this goal.
Thoughts on Addiction Treatment in Singapore

13 Jan 2012 | 2:40 pm

This brief article is meant for counselors, family members, and those suffering from addictions. By addictions, I mean both behavioral, such as gambling, and substance abuse, such as alcohol and drugs. I will only consider three areas of addiction treatment, as I consider these three crucial to favorable outcomes.
Top 5 articles on Psychology Matters Asia in 2011

30 Dec 2011 | 7:00 pm

A new year is fast approaching with a fresh start and new challenges. Let us take a look at some of the articles that had been previously posted on Psychology Matters Asia and have been well recieved by our readers.
Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and their Care giver

19 Dec 2011 | 8:07 pm

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to meet with several parents of children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), both in the UK and in Singapore. When discussing what life is like, regardless of their residency, availability of support seemed to be one of the greatest factors in determining their sense of wellbeing. As is the case with many severe mental health disorders, the disorder does not only affect the person who is suffering from it. For many caregivers, life is tough and even less support offered to them.
Book review of "My Voice: Overcoming"

6 Dec 2011 | 7:29 pm

On hearing of a newly published book on depression titled “My Voice; Overcoming”, I decided to contact the author, Mr Chua Seng Lee , to determine if there was some way of introducing this insightful book to readers of my blog. He was extremely friendly in our email exchanges and immediately agreed to meet up over coffee.

Facticity
Breaking Bad Habits

Dr. Tracy Ochester

1 Jan 2012 | 12:00 pm

A habit is any action that is performed so often that it becomes almost an involuntary or automatic response. Some people use the words "habit" and "addiction" interchangeably; however, there are important differences between them. A habit is something a person is inclined or accustomed to doing routinely, almost without thinking, There is often no forethought or planning in it and they may even
Learning Differences & Higher Education

Dr. Tracy Ochester

1 Dec 2011 | 5:10 pm

Getting into college is not always the biggest challenge for students with learning differences. It’s the adjustment to college level work and a more independent lifestyle that can be the greatest hurdle. Picking the Right College The first step in successful transition to higher education is picking the right college. Every college and university is different and some are more accessible than
Finding Balance in Relationships

Dr. Tracy Ochester

1 Oct 2011 | 8:00 am

Photo by Sean Ochester Most of us understand that being repeatedly selfish, cruel and neglectful in relationships is a sure way to destroy them. But, did you know you can also kill a relationship with kindness? If you have been told you are “too nice”, you may be inadvertently skewing the balance of equity required for healthy adult relationships. Successful long-term friendships and
Getting Motivated

Dr. Tracy Ochester

1 Sep 2011 | 8:00 am

Motivation is our drive to meet basic and higher needs and pursue desires. It energizes us and directs our behavior. We need to be able to meet our more basic needs before we can expect to meet higher needs. Basic and higher needs: Belonging - love, acceptance Survival – hunger, thirst, safety, shelter Esteem – achievement, competence, approval, recognition Self Actualization – personal growth,
How Talk Therapy Helps

Dr. Tracy Ochester

1 Jun 2011 | 8:00 am

Have you ever had somebody listen to you intently and objectively with the sole purpose of understanding you and assisting you in reaching your potential? For most of us, this is a luxury and very rare. Our loved ones are not very objective and they frequently have their own agendas for us. They give us well-intended, but biased advice. Our friends have busy lives and don't always have the time

Connecting Hypnotherapy...
Stage Hypnosis Explained

27 Jan 2012 | 10:57 am

I often get asked questions about hypnosis based on what people have seen in stage hypnosis shows, namely comedy stage hypnosis. Stage hypnosis is an art form quite different to what hypnotherapists do and the misconceptions that come through it are quite staggering. 'Can you make me cluck like a chicken?' Stage hypnosis is a mystery for many people that they cannot quite get their heads around, how is this person controlling these people in such a way? Could I be made to do something like that? The below article was written by Jonathan Groves and explains why stage hypnosis is not such…
Video: Spectacular Autistic Artist: The Human Camera: Stephen Wiltshire

26 Jan 2012 | 1:51 am

Steven Wiltshire (gallery) is an autistic man from North London and has the exceptional talent of drawing to an amazing accuracy through memory alone. In this video his mastery is tested and he takes one helicopter ride over Rome before being handed a pen and a wall of paper... the human brain is truly remarkable!!
More Research Necessary into Mind Altering Drugs?

24 Jan 2012 | 3:56 am

Drug taking is one of those highly controversial topics bound to offend someone at some stage and Professor Nutt's comments are bound to cause outrage on certain fronts. But all he is saying is that more research is necessary because there is a strong possibility mind altering drugs can have a medical benefit. The article comes from BBC News.Former government drugs adviser Prof David Nutt has said that regulations should be relaxed to enable researchers to experiment on mind-altering drugs. Prof Nutt told BBC News that magic mushrooms, LSD, ecstasy, cannabis and mephedrone all have…
The Alarm Clock for the Perfect Night's Sleep?

21 Jan 2012 | 9:27 pm

Being woken up at the wrong time can be a horrible feeling. You feel un-rested and wake up feeling grumpy to start the day on the wrong foot from the off. You want to throw your alarm clock out the window or berate the caring person who had kindly agreed to wake you up. Yet at other times you awaken feeling refreshed and ready to go despite perhaps only sleeping a few hours - why is this? Is there something that could be done to ensure a refreshing wake up every day? Perhaps this new alarm clock is the answer... Article taken from:…
Hypnobirthing: Hypnosis for Childbirth

19 Jan 2012 | 1:38 pm

I posted a Hypnobirthing video last month that was received with great interest (click here to view) and so to follow that up I found a great article by Cathal O'Briain, a published author of Hypnotherapy and secretary of the Hypnotherapy Association of Ireland. Enjoy reading.When giving birth, it is possible to change the sensation of pain to pressure. The more relaxed a mother-to-be is, the easier, faster, and less complicated labor and birth become. Some mothers become so relaxed, they find it almost impossible to identify when exactly they are having a contraction. Through…

Psychology

Most Topular Stories