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THE MBTI BLOG
Updated: What is the most common MBTI personality type on Twitter?

Breanne

15 Jun 2009 | 12:06 pm

I recently re-researched the most common Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) instrument personality type on Twitter via a SurveyMonkey.com survey. There were 215 participants (after filtering out duplicates, non-twitter users, and people who reported they did not know their MBTI preferences). Clearly this is a tiny sample of the overall Twitter population and the survey was meant to be fun (not scientific), but these were the results from my efforts.A few summary notes:The personality types that are OVER-represented on Twitter are highlighted in BlueThe personality types that are…
So You Wanna Be a MBTI Master Practitioner?

Breanne

11 Jun 2009 | 4:10 pm

I've recently had several questions from readers about how to become a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) instrument Master PractitionerFirst, and foremost, please check the official Master Practitioner page for details, applications, and Continuing Education opportunities. I will also provide a link to the Master Practitioner site on the right hand navigation column.However, I'd also like to address some of the most common questions here:What is the difference between a Certified Practitioner and a Master Practitioner?A Certified Practitioner is anyone who has successfully completed the…
Re-doing My Research on the Most Common MBTI Preferences on Twitter

Breanne

11 Jun 2009 | 8:36 am

One of the most popular blog posts on my site is the one where I researched the most popular personality type on Twitter. (By the way, back then the most common MBTI preference on Twitter was INTJ).I've decided to try to replicate that research in a more standardized/long-term way, so I created a 4 question survey on Survey Monkey to log responses.I will post the results once I have about 200 responses. So, if you're a Twitter user and know your MBTI preferences, please go here and participate in my survey.Spread the word!Click Here to take survey
Trimming the Training Budget During a Recession? You Will Pay Later

Breanne

27 May 2009 | 4:17 pm

I just ran across a well-written article that sums up the reason why you should never cut your training budget in a recession. I know it's tempting. Training and Organizational Development have always been challenged to show ROI. After all, the activities involved in training do not tie directly to the bottom line, and soft skills training is tough to measure.However, the statistics on this topic are clear. Michael Haberman, the author of the article, makes the point very clearly:People feel more valued when they realize the company is willing to invest money in their skill sets,…
In a Recession, What Cut Backs Do You Refuse to Make?

Breanne

27 May 2009 | 11:02 am

Several of my friends are out of work, and we've been discussing what they have had to cut out of their budget to make ends meet. Laurie Ruettimann even posted the question on her blog and had a great discussion in the comments: http://punkrockhr.com/2009/05/04/punk-rock-hr-recession-watch-toilet-paper/comment-page-1/#comment-8490I'm fascinated by the things people will or won't give up. I also often find that the things we give up often relate to the Thinking/Feeling preferences. So, I pose the question to you....what are you NOT willing to give up and what is your type? We'll have…

Scientific American - Mind & Brain
How Fructose Impairs the Memory

3 Jul 2009 | 7:00 am

Americans consume more fructose than ever before, yet concerns remain that the sugar, used to sweeten beverages and processed foods, poses health risks. In animals, fructose-rich diets increase the production of fat and promote resistance to the energy-regulating hormone insulin. New research suggests that memory suffers as well, at least in rats.Neuroscientist Marise B. Parent of Georgia State University and her colleagues fed 11 adolescent rats a diet in which fructose supplied 60 percent of the calories. For 10 other rats, cornstarch took the place of the sweetener. The scientists…
MIND Reviews: A Healthy Mind

3 Jul 2009 | 7:00 am

Healthy Mindswww.wliw.org/healthyminds [More]
Genetic Link For Perfect Pitch?

3 Jul 2009 | 6:00 am

[The following is an exact transcript of this podcast.]We might think perfect pitch is an innate talent. Well, a study in the American Journal of Human Genetics is providing some evidence for that. [More]
Do Brain Trainer Games and Software Work?

2 Jul 2009 | 7:00 am

The market for brain-training software continues to grow, but evidence of the programs’ ability to boost memory or intelligence in a broadly applicable way (rather than simply making people better at the task they are practicing) remains scarce. New studies offer a tantalizing suggestion that certain programs may work--but the bulk of the research is murky.Neuroscientist Peter Snyder of Brown University reviewed nearly 20 software studies and concluded that, as a group, they were underwhelming. They are marred by flaws that induce confounding factors, such as a lack of control groups…
Band of Bots Don't Play Musical Instruments--They Are the Instruments

1 Jul 2009 | 12:00 pm

GuitarBot couldn't keep a tune. "It's too high at the top, and too low at the bottom," Michael Hearst complained as he hopped onto the platform, giving the tuning knob a hopeful quarter-turn. But when he climbed down again and hit a button on his keyboard, the mechanical bridge slid back up the track, thumbing a note before wailing off-pitch once again. [More]

Psychology Today
Natural Element: The Extended Vacation

admin

2 Jul 2009 | 9:00 pm

How to hang on to paradise.
Being and Nothingness

lybi

2 Jul 2009 | 9:00 pm

There are two kinds of vacations--doing something and doing nothing.
What's Your Vacationing Style?

admin

2 Jul 2009 | 9:00 pm

Taking enough time to vacation? Take the quiz.
July 4th: Meaningful Holiday or Excuse to Drink?

lybi

2 Jul 2009 | 9:00 pm

Heavy drinking during the summertime.
Therapy Watch: Caught in the Middle

caralynn

1 Jul 2009 | 9:00 pm

Should you share your therapist?

PsyBlog
10 Rules That Govern Groups

Jeremy Dean

1 Jul 2009 | 6:28 am

Much of our lives are spent in groups with other people: we form groups to socialise, earn money, play sport, make music, even to change the world. But although groups are diverse, many of the psychological processes involved are remarkably similar. Here are 10 insightful studies that give a flavour of what has been discovered about the dynamics of group psychology. 1. Groups can arise from almost nothing The desire to form and join social groups is extremely powerful and built into our nature. Amongst other things groups give us a most valuable gift, our social identity, which contribute to…
Persuasion: The Right-Ear Advantage

Jeremy Dean

24 Jun 2009 | 9:17 am

If you want someone to comply with a random request for a cigarette, you should speak into their right ear, according to a new study by researchers in Italy. Marzoli & Tommasi (2009) had a female confederate visit a disco and approach 176 random people asking for a smoke. Clubbers were about twice as likely to hand one over if the request was directed at the right ear, whether or not the clubber was male or female. Whether these findings will hold good for other types of request is unknown. These findings confirm previous studies which have found a right-ear preference for attending to…
Why Left to Right Punches Are More Aggressive, Powerful and Shocking

Jeremy Dean

23 Jun 2009 | 2:14 pm

Reading and writing from left to right is a skill so well-practised, so ingrained in language, that it's easy to ignore. Yet, according to some research, the direction in which language flows could have implications that spread into many other areas of our experience. Consider that people are often found to envisage time flowing in a line from left to right; to look at objects like art works from the left to the right; and to imagine numbers from 1 to ∞ laid out from left to right. There is even something about the very movement from left to right that grabs the attention and holds it.
Consumer Psychology

Jeremy Dean

19 Jun 2009 | 2:41 am

· How and why we consume and how our beliefs, ideas and senses influence consumption. Peter Drucker, the management consultant, famously argued that about 80% of all products and services fail or fall well short of targets within six months of launching. Clearly markets have little understanding of what consumers want -- perhaps because people have little clue themselves. Although you, like me, may find it distasteful to be referred to as a 'consumer', with its robotic, slack-jawed connotation, in an age when money has become the ultimate measure, there is a certain fascination in the…
Live Happy with New iPhone Application

Jeremy Dean

18 Jun 2009 | 11:45 am

· Sponsored post: Live Happy is a new happiness-boosting iPhone/iPod app. Our happiness levels are influenced by three factors: our genes, our circumstances and what we choose to do every day. While there's nothing we can do about our genes and circumstances are hard to change, we can much more easily control our daily activities. Recent psychological research has begun to show particular types of activities which can increase our happiness levels over the short and even long term. But it can be difficult to keep up these activities over a period of time. That's where a new application…

MindBlink Blog
On Father's Day...

Linda

20 Jun 2009 | 8:12 pm

I’ve had the pleasure of watching a gifted writer grow from a delightful little girl into a lovely young woman with a bright future ahead of her. Recently, I was allowed a small peek into the precious and vulnerable words written from her heart. I was so moved by her writing that I asked for her permission to post it on my blog as a Father’s Day post. I promised her anonymity, as she was too shy to let anyone else read it, including her own parents. I hope someday, she will have enough courage to share it with the wonderful people she loves… I wonder if he has freckles dotting the…
Generation RX, the documentary

Linda

13 Jun 2009 | 6:36 am

I recently watched an important film by Kevin P. Miller (@kevinpmiller), Generation RX. I ordered the DVD through the website, but you can also find it on Amazon.We watched the video as a family, and we were captivated throughout. My teenage children, who are 17 and 15, sat through the entire length of the video. I was pleasantly surprised that they were able to sit through a documentary, which does not happen too often. We then had a long, sometimes heated, discussion about the issue. It made all of us think.Generation RX is a compelling documentary which contains disturbing and alarming…
Parenting w/ good intentions can stifle individuality

Linda

26 May 2009 | 9:22 am

I came across this today:Let us beware and beware and beware...of having an ideal for our children. So doing, we damn them. ~ D.H. LawrenceThe Pygmalion Project, almost unavoidable in mating, is perhaps even more of a temptation in parenting. Most parents believe quite sincerely that their responsibility is to raise their children, to take an active part in guiding them, or perhaps in steering them, on their way to becoming mature adults. Even more than the husband-wife relationship, the parent-child relationship has this serious factor of interpersonal manipulation seemingly built into it,…
Freedom and Fear of Loneliness

Linda

25 May 2009 | 8:15 am

My quest in life is freedom. Being free to think, free to choose, free to learn, free to speak, free to laugh, free to cry, free to love, and free to be this person behind the eyes through which I see the world. Being truly authentic, original and unique are my goals in everything that I do. I make a darn good effort to achieve this goal (at the cost of often humiliating myself). I have a going joke that I have a ministry called "Fall-down Ministry" where people come to watch me make a fool of myself. I think I'm beginning to get the hang of the falling down (and getting back up). :-)On the…
Simple vs. Complex (S/N)

Linda

21 May 2009 | 5:21 pm

According to the type theory (MBTI), the Sensing types are said to prefer simple and to-the-point information, and the iNtuitives are said to prefer the complex.Therein lies my problem of not being able to explain anything simply. My extremely "N" brain is so intertwined around so many ideas and concepts that connect to each other in some way. As soon as someone asks for my opinion and I have a thought, it immediately starts to network with hundreds of other thoughts previously stored, looking for connections. And since I'm a master at finding connections between everything (yes, I think…

World of Psychology
6 Quick Sanity Tricks

Therese J. Borchard

3 Jul 2009 | 3:02 am

Awhile back I asked you for your sanity tricks, techniques that help you fight the forces of the dark side. Here are some of the gems. 1. Learn the alphabet. Do you know why the vowel “I” comes well before the vowel “U”? Because a person must take care of herself before trying to help someone else or the world. It’s the same logic that flight attendants use when they swear to you that your plane isn’t going to crash, but in the event that it does, you’d be smart to fasten your own oxygen mask before helping the kiddies. Do it in reverse, and…
Breakthrough for Schizophrenia and Bipolar

John M Grohol PsyD

2 Jul 2009 | 12:00 pm

Earlier today, we reported that NIMH-funded researchers at three different genetic research institutes from around the world collaborated and published three new studies yesterday in the journal, Nature, that suggested a true breakthrough in our understanding of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. And to think that just earlier this week, I was dismissing the largely inconclusive findings of genetics research in mental illness. One of the researchers commented on the findings: “There was substantial overlap in the genetic risk for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder that was specific to…
Declaring Independence from Fear

John M Grohol PsyD

2 Jul 2009 | 8:42 am

Independence Day in the U.S. is the day that America declared its independence from a tyrannical government, but real independence took many longer, hard years of war. The sacrifice of tens of thousands of people was needed first, before our declaration of independence had any real effect. And so it is with any change in our lives. We can make the declaration, “Today, I’m going to start losing weight,” or “Today, I’m going to try and reply to every cognitive distortion by examining the evidence and answering it back.” But declarations are only starting…
Why Do Kids Behave the Way They Do? Listen to Doctor Radio this July 4th

John M Grohol PsyD

1 Jul 2009 | 12:04 pm

Ever wonder why kids behave the way they do? Satellite radio Sirius XM and a team of medical experts from NYU Langone Medical Center have the answer with a special on the Doctor Radio channel on July 4th. Doctor Radio is heard on SIRIUS channel 114 and XM channel 119. 24 Hours About Our Kids is a July 4th weekend marathon of Doctor Radio’s weekly child psychiatry and psychology show, exploring important topics that all parents and kids face today including ADHD, mood disorders, the effects of online social networking, issues related to coming out of the closet, Autism, depression and…
Dads, Daughters and Body Image

Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S.

1 Jul 2009 | 4:59 am

We’ve already talked about how moms and daughters can help boost each other’s body image. However, moms aren’t the only influential ones. Dads, too, play a pivotal role in shaping their daughter’s body image. And parents today have a lot to contend with; our society isn’t getting any easier on girls (or boys). It’s tough enough on full-grown women to navigate the treacherous world of women’s magazines, double-zero clothing and weight-loss ads. Add to that peer teasing and cyberbullying, and it’s understandable why some dads are voicing their concern. Paul Nyhan in The Seattle…

The Latest
Active procrastination: Thoughts on oxymorons

Timothy A. Pychyl, Ph.D.

3 Jul 2009 | 1:12 pm

Oxymoron – a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction. We are all familiar with common oxymorons: jumbo shrimp, boneless ribs, deafening silence or sweet sorrow, for example. Here’s my favorite, “active procrastination.” These terms are not just apparently contradictory, the term reveals a problem in understanding the difference between procrastination and delay.Oxymorons can take a number of forms including inadvertent errors in our speech where we might say things like “extremely average” or “objective opinion.” They can be used…
Michael Jackson and Sexual Abuse

Deborah King

3 Jul 2009 | 10:57 am

I've been asked a number of time how I can be sympathetic to Michael Jackson when he was a possible child molester.As an expert in sexual abuse, I have long suspected that Jackson was sexually abused (along with the well-documented physical and emotional abuse he suffered). I've worked with both victims and predators, and every predator I worked with was repeating behavior that had once been done to them.I can admire Michael Jackson's talents and gifts, and be sympathetic about his lost and difficult childhood, yet not condone behavior in him that may have been abusive to others. When I…
Still Living with Your Parents?

Stephen Mason, Ph.D.

3 Jul 2009 | 9:40 am

For as long as I can remember, the older generation never seemed to think much of the younger generation. Kids today don't respect their elders, they don't work as hard to succeed and they certainly aren't as willing to make the same sacrifices their progenitors made...at least that's what it says in a short essay attributed to Socrates some 2500 years ago in ancient Greece. But even with all that aside, I have to wonder, what is it with kids living at home into their 20's and 30's? Is it possible that the drive to leave the nest, which was always so much a part of growing up, is now being…
Sorry, Still No Comments

Jean Mercer, Ph.D.

3 Jul 2009 | 8:29 am

I'm sorry to say that I still need to block comments to this blog. I really regret this fact, as I would like to hear what readers think about some of the issues I've been discussing. However, the flamers who made it necessary to block are still waiting around the corner. I know this because they have commented rather freely on my Amazon author page, complaining that they have been censored. On the Amazon page, however, they have to register in order to comment, and when their comments plainly go too far, they can be deleted. (That mechanism doesn't yet exist on the PT blog.) …
Body Image Lessons From My Daughter

Dara Chadwick

3 Jul 2009 | 7:38 am

As an author who writes frequently about mothers, daughters and body image, I'm forever preaching about the importance of teaching our girls to feel good about their bodies -- and about who they are. After all, how we feel about our bodies affects not only what we allow ourselves to do, but what we believe is possible for us. I got a lesson in this very subject from my daughter recently. She's a competitive fast-pitch softball player and her team just began its summer tournament schedule. As she was getting ready for her game, she was trying to decide what to do with her hair (hair is a…

About.com Psychology
Can I Get a Graduate Degree in Psychology If My Undergrad Degree Is in a Different Field?

3 Jul 2009 | 1:00 am

A reader writes: "I graduated from college a few years ago with an undergraduate degree in economics. Lately, I've been thinking a lot about pursuing a career in psychology. Can I apply to a psychology graduate program if my previous degree is in a completely different field?" Earning a graduate degree in a field that differs from a student's undergraduate program is more common than you might think. For example, students with an undergraduate degree in psychology sometimes choose to earn a graduate degree in an alternative field such as counseling, social work or law. You can certainly study…
What's the Difference Between a Psychologist and a Psychiatrist?

1 Jul 2009 | 1:00 am

One Reader Asks: "I read a lot of articles on psychology websites and I often see the terms 'psychologist' and 'psychiatrist,' but I'm not really clear on what those titles mean. What exactly is the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist?" Many people are not quite sure of the distinction between these two professions, but if you are planning a career in mental health or seeking a mental health provider, it is important to understand exactly how these two professions differ. The simplest answer lies in the educational background required for each profession. A psychiatrist has a…
Harry Harlow and the Nature of Love

29 Jun 2009 | 12:30 am

While parental demonstrations of affection are often taken for granted today, there was was a time during the early twentieth century when experts warned parents about the dangers of holding their children. Behaviorist John B. Watson once even went so far as to warn parents, "When you are tempted to pet your child, remember that mother love is a dangerous instrument." According to many thinkers of the day, affection would only spread diseases and lead to adult psychological problems. However, research on attachment soon changed how we view affection and love. In a series of controversial…
Perspectives In Social Psychology

26 Jun 2009 | 12:40 am

There are a number of different approaches to the study of social psychology, each with a different area of focus. For example, the evolutionary perspective emphasizes the importance of genetic influences on social behavior while the social learning perspective stresses the importance of unique experiences. Learn more about some of the perspectives in social psychology.
Counseling Psychology - Psychology Definition of the Week

23 Jun 2009 | 6:42 pm

Definition: Counseling psychology focuses on providing therapeutic treatments to clients experiencing a wide variety of symptoms. It is also one of the largest specialty areas within psychology. The Society of Counseling Psychology describes the field as " a psychological specialty [that] facilitates personal and interpersonal functioning across the life span with a focus on emotional, social, vocational, educational, health-related, developmental, and organizational concerns." Learn more about counseling psychology. Related Reading Clinical Psychology Sports Psychology Forensic Psychology…

organizational-psychology « WordPress.com Tag Feed
The Motivation Problem: Good Goals, Bad Goals

stacifoss

27 Jun 2009 | 2:20 pm

Employee motivation is not created equally. Not all employees are motivated by the same things or in the same way. There are numerous surveys out there to tell us “what employees really want”, but these will give you percentages and averages. These will not tell you what Joe Employee wants and needs. You want to know what motivates each person to do the job you want them to do. Motivation is simply based on goals. If my goal is to run a marathon, I will train very differently than if I want to run a fast 5K. My motivation –…
What I'm Doing...and stuff...

Brittian Bullock

25 Jun 2009 | 8:29 pm

I’ve been out of the blog world a bit these days. It’s been unintentional…I just feel like I haven’t really had that much to say. I’m in a weird place–strangely. I don’t know what to say about it actually. So here’s life right now–in some small dim snapshot. Bummers * Impending financial ruin * The continued recognition of the END of a community that I spent a decade pouring my energies into creating and continuing. The exhausting realization that many of the people who I dedicated much of my life to, will simply not remember me…
The end of the "Glass Ceiling"?

RichardMacKinnon

12 Jun 2009 | 10:53 am

Marks & Spencer’s Chairman, Sir Stuart Rose, caused quite a bit of comment recently when he questioned the existence of a “glass ceiling” regarding women’s careers in the UK. Citing examples of roles in which women now found themselves, such as soldiers and astronauts, Rose seemed to have missed the point when he asked “What is it you haven’t got?” in an interview with The Observer: “Apart from the fact that you’ve got more equality than you ever can deal with, the fact of the matter is that you’ve got real democracy and there…
UK Police Forces rapped over Work-Life Balance

RichardMacKinnon

25 May 2009 | 9:06 am

Personnel Today reports that four UK Police Forces have been highlighted for their poor record on officers’ work-life balance. The Police Federation has named the Metrolpolitan, Thames Valley, Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire forces as failing to implement necessary changes to improve WLB standards. The Federation made a number of recommendations in 2008 after surveying their members on workplace wellbeing and health – they now believe these four named forces have done nothing to implement their recommendations. Several aspect of Police work combine to make the roles extremely…
Employees Reacting to the Downturn, Part 1

George Guajardo

11 May 2009 | 12:55 pm

Employees in the Downturn: Part 1 Before I left for my weekend shenanigans, I met with Christy to ta

Work and Organizational Psychology Arena
Social Decision Making

24 Jun 2009 | 5:24 pm

Social Decision Making Social Dilemmas, Social Values, and Ethical Judgments Edited by Roderick M. Kramer, Ann Tenbrunsel, Max H. Bazerman This book, in honor of David Messick, is about social decisions and the role cooperation plays in social life. Noted contributors who worked with Dave over the years will discuss their work in social judgment, decision making and ethics which was so important to Dave. The book offers a unique and valuable contribution to the fields of social psychology and organizational behavior. Ethical decision making, a central focus of this volume, is highly relevant…
Destructive Organizational Communication

19 Jun 2009 | 12:19 pm

Destructive Organizational Communication Processes, Consequences, and Constructive Ways of Organizing Edited by Pamela Lutgen-Sandvik, Beverly Davenport Sypher This volume provides an in-depth consideration of destructive communication in organizations -- including workplace bullying, racism, stress, and harassment. It brings together communication scholars from theoretical and applied perspectives to assess current understandings, explore ways to integrate theory and practice, identify areas for change, and outline a research agenda for the coming decade. Each chapter examines a specific…
Gossip and Organizations

15 Jun 2009 | 8:15 am

Gossip and Organizations By Kathryn Waddington, Grant Michelson Gossip is a complex and ubiquitous phenomenon, widely found and variously practiced by different individuals and groups. Gossip and Organizations provides the reader with an analysis of gossip and informal knowledge across different national, organizational and cultural contexts, drawing upon empirical findings and the authors' experiences of researching gossip in nursing and healthcare organizations, higher educational institutions, non-government organizations and private sector organizations in Australia and the UK. Co-authors…
Exploring Positive Identities and Organizations

28 May 2009 | 9:28 pm

Exploring Positive Identities and Organizations Building a Theoretical and Research Foundation Edited by Laura Morgan Roberts, Jane E. Dutton In the new world of work and organizations, creating and maintaining a positive identity is consequential and challenging for individuals, for groups and for organizations. New challenges for positive identity construction and maintenance require new theory. This edited volume uncovers new topics and new theoretical approaches to identity through the specific focus on positive identities of individuals, groups, organizations and communities. This volume…
Auditing Organizational Communication

24 Mar 2009 | 5:24 pm

Auditing Organizational Communication A Handbook of Research, Theory and Practice Edited by Owen Hargie, Dennis Tourish Auditing Organizational Communication is a thoroughly revised and updated new edition of the successful Handbook of Communication Audits for Organizations, which has established itself as a core text in the field of organizational communication. Research studies consistently show the importance of effective communication for business success. They also underscore the necessity for organizations to put in place validated techniques to enable them to systematically measure and…

Mind Hacks
2009-07-03 Spike activity

3 Jul 2009 | 1:00 am

Quick links from the past week in mind and brain news: The 'men agree on female attractiveness, women don't on male attractiveness' story has been a little exaggerated. There was consensus in both groups, just more in men than women. The British Journal of Psychiatry has started putting fantastic art on its covers with a brief discussion of the piece. This month 'Welcome to my Psychosis'. A piece from BBC News on psychologists studying their own children to understand language development is clearly ripped off the New York Times, but it's still very good. The Economist reports on a study…
Eight way distortion

2 Jul 2009 | 3:00 pm

Petra's written up her barnstorming talk she gave last night at the Troublemaker's Fringe where she discussed 'eight problems with science/health journalism and what we can do about it' from her perspective as a social psychologist specialising in sex and relationships. It's a fantastic guide to how health stories get badly spun and why sexual health material is most likely to be misrepresented as it is considered 'light' and so not worthy of serious attention. One of the main culprits seem to be the reliance on PR surveys which are intuitively easy to understand but are specifically designed…
A touch from a phantom third arm

2 Jul 2009 | 1:00 pm

A 64 year old woman developed a phantom third arm after a stroke, but unusually, the patient was able to see and feel the illusory limb. A study just published online in the journal Annals of Neurology used brain scans to examine the patient. They established that the phantom sensations were accompanied by similar sorts of brain activity as you'd get from a real arm. Unlike a classic 'phantom limb', where a patient feels sensations as if they're coming from the previously amputated body part, a 'supernumerary phantom limb' is where a phantom seems to appear additional to the already existing…
Sign O' The Neuro Times

2 Jul 2009 | 5:00 am

The Neuro Times is a fantastic new blog about the history of neurology written by a historian with a passion for the development of brain science. The author is Stephen T Casper, whose own work has focused on how the US-UK collaborations and rivalries during the 20th century shaped our understanding of the brain. Although the blog has a similar 20th slant it also casts its net a little wider making it a wonderful historical resource. It has book reviews, profiles of influential neuroscientists from times past, and discussions of key moments and debates. Excellent stuff. Link to The Neuro…
Fringe benefits

2 Jul 2009 | 1:00 am

Thanks to everyone who came along to the Troublemaker's Fringe last night and I hope you all enjoyed the evening as much as I did. The slides for my talk "Don't touch that dial! Technology Scare and the Media" are online as a PowerPoint file and everything was captured as audio recordings so you should be able check out the evening's events, including Ben and Petra's excellent talks, as they appear online. Apparently, they'll be a discussion kicking off on badscience.net about some of the issues raised by the speakers, so I'll keep you posted as the links appear.

Cognitive Daily
When are highly-anxious women most anxious? When you least expect it

2 Jul 2009 | 10:04 am

Take a group of 18- and 19-year-old women, college freshmen and sophomores. Then test them to find out who has the most social anxiety: who's most nervous about dealing with other people, particularly in public situations. What would be the most difficult thing you could ask these high-social-anxiety women to do? How about this: I would like you to prepare and deliver a four-minute talk. This talk will be videotaped and viewed later by several professors and graduate students.... It is extremely important that you do the best job that you can with this talk.... Your talk should be about the…
The end of Cognitive Monthly

1 Jul 2009 | 3:04 pm

Due to exciting new career developments, I've decided to shelve Cognitive Monthly. I still think this sort of thing is a good idea, and CogMonthly was selling about as well as I expected. But I'm in the process of making a major career change (which should not affect Cognitive Daily), and something needed to be done to free up the time to do it. Expect another announcement here soon! Read the comments on this post...
Do babies like color? If so, which ones?

30 Jun 2009 | 2:23 pm

New parents can come up with a seemingly endless array of vexing questions about their infants, from the best brand of stroller to the ideal song to sing them to sleep. The questions begin well before the child is born: what type of clothing should you purchase? What kind of crib? One question Greta and I dwelled on quite extensively when Jim was an infant was color. We were renting an apartment and couldn't paint the nursery, so we wondered about the color of the toys we bought and the blankets and other bedding for the crib. Would a purple outfit be appreciated? What about a multi-colored…
Interview with Dave on guitar website

26 Jun 2009 | 11:57 am

Jemsite, a website, forum and blog about guitars, has posted a fairly extensive interview with me about the psychology of music, Cognitive Daily, and other projects I'm working on. Plus, you can find out the name of Jim's Southern rock band, so head on over and check it out! Read the comments on this post...
Nice analysis of why the Iranian election is probably fraudulent

25 Jun 2009 | 7:59 am

There's an interesting article in the Washington Post today exploring one line of reasoning suggesting that the Iranian election is fraudulent. Basically, it comes down to this: the results aren't random enough. In a fair election, you'd expect that each digit, from 0 to 9, would be the final digit the results in each region roughly ten percent of the time: you'd see a vote count like 12,437 just as often as 12,435. But in fact certain digits come up more often: The numbers look suspicious. We find too many 7s and not enough 5s in the last digit. We expect each digit (0, 1, 2, and so on) to…

Channel N +
Promoting Rational Decisions

sandra@psychcentral.com (Sandra Kiume)

3 Jul 2009 | 9:00 am

Nobelist Daniel Kahneman on Behavioral Economics The Georgetown 2009 graduation ceremony included this short lecture by psychologist and Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman on irrationality and how to promote rational decisions when “coherence is unachievable.” The FORA.tv enhanced player presentation includes an indexed transcript, more info and a bio. Here’s another, longer, 2003 lecture on decision analysis and another on “Deal or No Deal” decisions given at Princeton University in 2008.
Ethical Alcoholism Treatment

sandra@psychcentral.com (Sandra Kiume)

26 Jun 2009 | 9:00 am

[Image by Liber Conference on Alternative Strategies for Alcoholism Treatment Alcoholism treatment strategies and ethical challenges, with video archives in three parts. Part one features David Musto on temperance history, and starting at 00:40:15 Charles O’Brien details modern pharmacological treatments. Part two has Kathleen Carroll in an animated talk about trials of behavioural therapies and combined approaches, then at 00:57:35 Arthur Caplan speaks about ethical issues around why drug treatment for alcoholism feels threatening to some and their sense of autonomy. Part three is a…
Web Therapy

sandra@psychcentral.com (Sandra Kiume)

25 Jun 2009 | 8:00 pm

Web Therapy - Gossip Girl, part 1-3 Comedy about dubious web psychotherapist Fiona Wallice, who offers three minute sessions online using her theory that 50 minutes is too long and all the real work happens in three minutes. Features Lisa Kudrow of Friends fame, and other well-known actors playing her clients. Season two has just been uploaded to YouTube, beginning with “Gossip Girl” (in three parts) about a woman who comes to therapy for help because she thinks she’s too pretty, but ultimately reveals a shocking secret about Wallice’s husband. I recommend all the…
Cognitive Enhancers for Mental Illness

sandra@psychcentral.com (Sandra Kiume)

24 Jun 2009 | 9:00 am

The New Brain Science of Cognitive Enhancement: Future Reality or Fool’s Gold? At the 2008 Staglin Music Festival for Mental Health, opening for the Pointer Sisters, Trevor Robbins (Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at Cambridge University) talks about using cognitive enhancement drugs including atomoxetine, modafanil, Ritalin, d-cycloserine, and ampakines to treat diminished cognitive function in psychiatric disorders. The slides are mostly too blurry to read, unfortunately, but the audio is fine. The solar-powered, organic-farmed Staglin Family Vineyard in Napa Valley organizes…
Links for 2009-06-23 [del.icio.us]

Sandra Kiume

24 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am

Seventh International Conference on Bipolar Disorder complete 2008 video archives. 2009 conference begins June 25

The Last Psychiatrist
Bait And Switch

30 Jun 2009 | 7:55 am

I saw the movie Surveillance.It was so stupid (to me) that I actually felt like I had been tricked into watching it. I was angry at myself for being tricked. The movie wasn't the problem. The problem was the trick.
It's Either Narcissism Or Dementia

29 Jun 2009 | 3:12 pm

Michael Jackson's father gets interviewed.
Why Do Politicians Cheat?

26 Jun 2009 | 7:43 am

You all are not going to believe this-- the answer is not completely narcissism.
It's Not A Lie If It's True

24 Jun 2009 | 12:07 pm

Starring Megan Fox.
Radio Host Has Drug Company Ties

16 Jun 2009 | 8:19 am

No, not Rush Limbaugh.

Of Two Minds
Color after image demonstration - Seeing color when there is none.

1 Jul 2009 | 9:29 am

I'm teaching about opponent processes in color vision today and thought I'd share one of my favorite examples. This is how you use the human visual system to turn a black and white photo into color. Try it out: Read the comments on this post...
The difference between objects and scenes... random thoughts

16 Jun 2009 | 2:34 pm

I'm in the middle of my qualification exams and ran across this interesting paper: Liu, Z Kersten, D Knill, DC Dissociating stimulus information from internal representation--a case study in object recognition. Vision research. 1999; 39(3): 603-12. However, I'm very confused about them calling the figure on the left an object. This is a collection of objects in 3D space - making it a scene. I'm not sure that this nullifies their model - but this is not object recognition. People should really start using ideal observer analysis with scene perception... Read the comments on this post...
Is it me or is the Swine Flu waaay overrated? A case of the Availability Heuristic.

30 Apr 2009 | 12:42 pm

I think it's a bit like terrorism. It scares the shit out of you but there's next to zero chance it will actually happen to you. Seriously... you have a much much higher chance of choking on a twinky (even if you've never eaten one) than catching the swine flu and dying or being or even seeing a terrorist attack. Talk about a great case of the Availability Heuristic... Here's a demo for you to try out (I use this to teach Psych 100). The correct answers are below the fold. Which is the more common cause of death in the USA? 1. A) Asthma B) Meningitis 2. A) Breast Cancer B) Stomach Cancer 3.
How to tell if you have swine flu

30 Apr 2009 | 12:34 pm

Go here to tell with 100% accuracy. Read the comments on this post...
More thoughts on student blogging in class

1 Apr 2009 | 10:51 am

Jason, a graduate student at USC, shot me an email asking for more information about my blogging experiment and I thought I'd post some of the things I sent back to him. Totally unpolished and stream of consciousness but here it is... Hi Jason, This is really the first time around that I've tried the blogging thing. I've been thinking about doing it for a while but having 2 classes with 50 people in each meant a blog would be a bit unwieldy. If there are that many people in the class a discussion board is a much better choice (like on blackboard or something). If you have under 20 people or…

BPS Research Digest
It's called sfdkshfsk ... Stand back!

Digest

2 Jul 2009 | 10:44 pm

If you want people to recognise that a substance is dangerous - give it a complicated, hard-to-pronounce name. That's the implication of a new study that suggests we use a simple rule-of-thumb when judging risk. If something is easy to process and digest - for example, by virtue of being easy to pronounce - we tend to assume that it's familiar and safe. By contrast, if it seems hard to process, we assume it's novel and likely to be risky. These kinds of mental short cuts are known as heuristics and psychologists enjoy uncovering them because they show how our minds have evolved to cope with…
A computerised learning tool helps boost study effectiveness

Digest

2 Jul 2009 | 12:25 am

Much of psychology's efforts over the last few decades have been spent on understanding the nature of memory. Increasingly, though, psychologists are beginning to apply what we've learned about memory, so as to help enhance people's performance. In 2007, the Digest reported on a study that investigated the optimal interval to leave between study periods if you want to remember material long term. Now Claudia Meltzer-Baddeley and Roland Baddeley have tested a related approach to study, known as adaptive training, and found that it too helps boost learning.Adaptive training is a strategic form…
The Special Issue Spotter

Digest

30 Jun 2009 | 9:00 pm

We trawl the world's journals so you don't have to:Sport & Exercise Psychology in Europe: Building on 40 years of FEPSAC - the European Federation of Sports Psychology (Psychology of Sport and Exercise).Psychology in an economic world (Applied Psychology).Shyness and language (Infant and Child Development).Episodic Memory and the Brain (Neuropsychologia).Genetics of High Cognitive Ability (Behavioural Genetics).
Walking in other people's digital shoes could back-fire

Digest

29 Jun 2009 | 9:00 pm

They say you should walk a mile in a person's shoes before judging them. Virtual reality technology offers this possibility by allowing us to control a digital representation of another person. Unfortunately, the first ever investigation of racial perspective-taking in an immersive virtual environment has found that assuming a different racial identity leads to increased racial bias, not less.Victoria Groom and colleagues invited 98 participants, half of whom were of White ethnicity, to view a photograph of either a Black or White person of the same gender as themselves, and to imagine they…
Our changing attitudes to time

Digest

28 Jun 2009 | 10:51 pm

Youngsters tend to live for the moment whilst older folks are more concerned about their futures. But when in a person's life does this change in perspective usually occur? A new study identifies a period between the ages of thirteen and sixteen as being critical. Laurence Steinberg and colleagues asked 935 people between the ages of ten and thirty years to answer questions regarding how much they think about the future, and to complete a time-discounting task. Briefly, this required them to make a number of hypothetical choices between less money now or more money at a later date. Choosing…

SharpBrains
Bird's Eye View of Cognitive Health Innovation

Alvaro Fernandez

3 Jul 2009 | 1:51 am

My presentation to open our Games for Health Conference track is now available via SlideShare: See Bird's Eye View of Cognitive Health Innovation Description: Scientific, technological and demographic trends have converged to create a new $265m market in the US alone: serious games, software and online applications that can help people of all ages assess and train cognitive abilities. Alvaro Fernandez will provide a Bird’s Eye View of the science, market segments and trends, competitive landscape, and main challenges ahead, based on The State of the Brain Fitness Software Market 2009…
The Best Memory Tests: Mini-Mental and Beyond (Alzheimer's Action Plan)

Dr. Murali Doraiswamy

27 Jun 2009 | 5:36 pm

(Editor's Note: I recently came across an excellent book and resource, The Alzheimer's Action Plan: The Experts' Guide to the Best Diagnosis and Treatment for Memory Problems, recently released in paperback. Dr. Murali Doraiswamy, one of the authors and leading Alzheimer's expert, kindly helped us create a 2-part article series to share with SharpBrains readers advice on a very important question, "How can we help the public at large to distinguish Alzheimer's Disease from normal aging --- so that an interest in early identification doesn't translate into unneeded worries?" What…
Free Brain Fitness Webinar

Alvaro Fernandez

25 Jun 2009 | 10:00 am

Dr. Elkhonon Goldberg and I, co-authors of The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness, will cover the main highlights from our new book and address the questions submitted by readers. When: Tuesday July 21st, 10am Pacific Time; 1pm Eastern Time. How to Register: Click HERE for more information and to Register. Title: The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness: 18 Interviews with Scientists, Practical Advice, and Product Reviews, to Keep Your Brain Sharp Book description: While most of us have heard the phrase “use it or lose it,” very few understand what “it” means, or how to properly “use…
Kindle version of The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness

Alvaro Fernandez

23 Jun 2009 | 9:34 pm

Given the fact I love Kindle, and some of our Twitter friends had been asking for a Kindle version of our new book The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness...well, here it is: Amazon.com: The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness (Kindle Edition, $9.99) The book has also received two excellent new endorsements: "Kudos for an excellent resource! This SharpBrains Guide is full of top notch information, provides practical tips and helps separate hype from hope in the brain health arena." --- Elizabeth Edgerly, Ph.D., Chief Program Officer, Alzheimer's Association "The SharpBrains'…
Debunking 10 Brain Training/ Cognitive Health Myths

Alvaro Fernandez

20 Jun 2009 | 10:52 am

Think about this: How can anyone take care of his or her brain when every week brings a new barrage of articles and studies which seem to contradict each other? Do supplements improve memory? Do you need both physical and mental exercise –or is one of them enough? Which brain training approach, if any, is worth one's time and money? We tried to address these questions, and many others, in our recent book, The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness (182 pages, $24.95), that we presented at Games for Health Conference last week. The book is the result of over two years of extensive research…

PsychSplash
Canine Comapions for Independence

Psych Central Resource Editor

3 Jul 2009 | 10:00 am

URL: http://www.cci.org/site/c.cdKGIRNqEmG/b.3978475/k.BED8/Home.htmCanine Companions for Independence provides assistance dogs to people with developmental or physical disabilities who can demonstrate that a Canine Companion will enhance their independence or quality of life. CCI dogs are provided at virtually no cost to the graduates. All the expenses of breeding, raising, and training a Canine Companion is funded through private donations. For: ConsumersTopics: Chronic Disease, Depression, Emotional Health, Health Psychology, Health and Social Services, Quality of LifeFeatures: Articles,…
Couple Connection

Psych Central Resource Editor

2 Jul 2009 | 10:00 am

URL: http://thecoupleconnection.net/This interactive, self-help site will provide you with resources and practical tools that will enable you to improve your relationship. Before progressing, we strongly recommend that you read the Helping Process and guidance “is this for me?”. By using the Check it Out, Talk it Out and Work it Out you will be working through the Helping process and in this way you will be getting the best from thecoupleconnection.net and from your relationship! For: Consumers, AnyoneTopics: Chronic Disease, Depression, Emotional Health, Health Psychology, Health…
Tardive Dyskinesia Center

Psych Central Resource Editor

1 Jul 2009 | 10:00 am

URL: http://www.tardivedyskinesia.com/Tardive dyskinesia is a condition typically caused by certain psychoactive drugs such as anti-depressants, or “dopamine antagonists” (drugs that block dopamine receptors, used to treat disorders of the nervous or circulatory system). For: Consumers, Anyone, ConsumersTopics: Chronic Disease, Depression, Emotional Health, Health Psychology, Health and Social Services, Quality of Life, Attachment, Fatherhood, Parenting, Relationships, Youth, Medicine, Medico-LegalFeatures: Articles, Information, Networking, Information, Peer Recommendation,…
PostSecret

Psych Central Resource Editor

20 Jun 2009 | 10:00 am

URL: http://postsecret.blogspot.com/Everyone has a secret. Everyone (well, usually everyone) keeps a secret or two from others. This site, established by Frank Warren, enables ordinary every day you and me’s to put out a secret we have been keeping inside ourselves. For: Consumers, Anyone, Consumers, AnyoneTopics: Chronic Disease, Depression, Emotional Health, Health Psychology, Health and Social Services, Quality of Life, Attachment, Fatherhood, Parenting, Relationships, Youth, Medicine, Medico-Legal, ADHD, Abnormal, Academia, Addiction, Anxiety, Child and Adolescent, Clinical Decision…
Whole Family

Psych Central Resource Editor

19 Jun 2009 | 10:00 am

URL: http://www.wholefamily.com/Strengthen your personal and family relationships and solve the most challenging issues facing you and your family today. For: Consumers, Anyone, Consumers, Anyone, AnyoneTopics: Chronic Disease, Depression, Emotional Health, Health Psychology, Health and Social Services, Quality of Life, Attachment, Fatherhood, Parenting, Relationships, Youth, Medicine, Medico-Legal, ADHD, Abnormal, Academia, Addiction, Anxiety, Child and Adolescent, Clinical Decision Making, Clinical Psychology, Counselling, Depression, Eating Disorders, Emotional Health, Family Therapy,…

The Tangled Neuron
Mike Donohue Reports on Early Stage Needs

riverwren

30 Jun 2009 | 3:08 pm

All too often, people are diagnosed with early stage Alzheimer’s or other dementias, then sent home with little advice on what to do next. Although many of their capabilities are still retained, their cognitive problems can affect their social and...
How Do People React to a Diagnosis of MCI?

riverwren

26 Jun 2009 | 7:40 am

William Haley, Ph.D. In my last report from the Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) Symposium, I wrote about research on disclosing a diagnosis of dementia. But what if the diagnosis is MCI, not dementia? Bill Haley, Professor at the School of...
New Change of Shift

riverwren

26 Jun 2009 | 5:40 am

Change of Shift is up at RehabRN, with a vacation theme. The posts included in Change of Shift are always a good reminder of the realities of the nursing profession.
Grand Rounds is Up

riverwren

23 Jun 2009 | 5:14 am

Grand Rounds is up at florencedotcom, a blog about fixing health care. This week's Grand Rounds has links to blog posts on diabetes, brain fitness and health care reform - all of interest to people with memory loss. Happy reading!
Disclosing a Diagnosis of Dementia

riverwren

22 Jun 2009 | 11:27 am

Alexandra Zaleta and Brian Carpenter, Ph.D. My last few reports from the Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) Symposium were about the symptoms seen in people with MCI and the conditions that may underlie it. These are researchers' views. But what do...

Rumors of Glory
Passive-Aggressive People (part 2)

Lucille

2 Jul 2009 | 7:44 pm

If you would like to read the first part of this series on Passive-Aggressive People click here. Have you ever been around someone who routinely makes you feel frustrated? On the defensive? Angry? Do you know people who always have stormy relationships and go from one argument to the next? Passive-Aggressive people are some of the most miserable people you will encounter. The Passive-Aggressive (P/A) person lives to provoke you. He goads; you respond. P/As are contrary, demeaning, and insulting. Unless you agree with them, everything is an argument. P/As are oppositional by nature. Even…
Passive-Aggressive People (part 1)

Lucille

1 Jul 2009 | 6:13 pm

Scenario 1 - Your mom calls and invites you to a party, which requires you to change work schedules and make a 5-hour drive. She lets you know that it’s no big deal if you come, but she also implies that if you don’t make it, she is going to be very disappointed. This feeling of mixed messages is how you know you’re dealing with someone who cannot be direct. Often the inability to talk about the feelings and emotions honestly causes them to be Passive-Agression (P/A). P/A is a way for someone to handle his or her anger or hostility in a way that is difficult for others to prove. The…
Beth Moore simulcast - Littleton, CO

Lucille

29 Jun 2009 | 1:37 pm

On August 28 – 29, 2009 Beth Moore is bringing Living Proof Live to her hometown of Green Bay, Wisconsin. Thanks to simulcast satellite technology, she’ll spend the weekend here in our hometown too. The same soul-stirring worship, the same life-changing teaching – right here in Littleton, in real time. West Bowles Community Church 12325 W. Bowles Ave. Littleton, CO 80127 (303) 972-4904 $15 includes both days Friday, August 28th 8 p.m. (doors open at 7 p.m.) Saturday, August 29th 9:30 a.m. (doors open at 8:30 a.m.) www.lifeway.com/women Beth Moore - Live Simulcast 2009 from Kris…
Death of Michael Jackson - grief tips

Lucille

25 Jun 2009 | 5:56 pm

The world is grieving as Hollywood has lost three great names in the last day: Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon, and now news is breaking that Michael Jackson has died of a heart attack.TMZ first broke the news this afternoon. So far, not much about Michael Jackson’s health is known, even though there have been persistent rumors about him for years. I don’t know how you’re feeling, but I’m feeling shock and sadness: People are comparing this to the death of Elvis Presley. Sometimes the death of celebrities taps into memories of other loved ones we have lost, and also…
What will counseling be like?

Lucille

25 Jun 2009 | 2:13 pm

Recently I received an email from an anonymous person asking what counseling would be like. She had several questions: What if the counselor yells at me? What if she can’t hear me when I speak? What if at this age (mid 20’s) she finds it ridiculous that I am in this situation? What if i get to the office and don’t like her? Is this normal for someone seeking therapy, or does this mean I have something worse wrong with me? During the first session, I know the therapist will ask a lot about me — is it okay to skip some things? For instance, there are questions I will answer…

Dr. Deb
LEGO-ize Yourself

Dr. Deb

22 Jun 2009 | 10:14 am

Go make yourself a LEGO and have some fun.I am totally Jedi-fied, ready for the force to be with me while I take a vacay from the old blogerino.Play is good for your well-being. So is taking a time out.See you in July.
Your Worry Factor Quiz

Dr. Deb

17 Jun 2009 | 6:59 am

Your Worry Factor is 31%You worry a little, but you usually don't go overboard.You know it's good to recognize your fears, as long as you let go of them.So whenever you start to worry too much, just take a deep breath and relax.You're not the worrying kind - and there's no reason to start.Do You Worry Too Much?
Chastity Bono Brings Awareness To Transgender Issues

Dr. Deb

12 Jun 2009 | 4:09 pm

Longtime American activist for LGBT rights, Chastity Chaz Bono, born to Sonny & Cher, is beginning the process of transitioning from female to male. Bono says he will avoid being in the lens of the public eye as surgery and reassignment proceed, but hopes that his journey will educate others.Having a healthy gender identity means that a person experiences harmony with their sense of self and their own physical sex. However, Transgender people find their sense of self differs from their physical sex. There is anguish about being in the wrong body. Research over many years has shown that…
Dealing With People Who Drain You Dry

Dr. Deb

8 Jun 2009 | 9:15 am

I just heard an expression the other day. Emotional Vampires - Psychological slang for the kind of person who sucks the life out of you because they demand so much.Click here to learn more and to find tips to help ward off these behaviors if you have vampire tendencies. There's also compassionate suggestions to deal with those who drain you dry. No garlic needed.
Funny Words

Dr. Deb

2 Jun 2009 | 11:38 am

I love words.Especially funny ones.Studies on humor tell us there are a variety of reasons why things are funny. For words, having an abundance of similar sounds within it (assonance) or the drumming sound of repetitive hard letters that roll through the word (consonance) can render the word funny. Then again, maybe the word just tickles you for your own personal reasons.My favorite funny word is Kerfuffle - which, defined, is a fuss or disturbance. What's your favorite funny word? Bell, N. (2007). Humor comprehension: Lessons learned from cross-cultural communication Humor -…

UrbanMonk.Net
A Light Unto Yourself / In Case Of Emergency

Albert

27 Jun 2009 | 9:02 pm

Editor’s Note: This guest post is by John J. Patton, a spiritual seeker I am good friends with. He doesn’t have a blog, but writes and compiles many beautiful articles. In this double post, John presents two things. First – a series of statements, to be kept near as a reminder, or perhaps a mantra. Second – a series of steps, for when we are overwhelmed by a potential problem. Thanks John! If you are looking for someone to discuss spirituality with, please email John. A Light Unto Yourself I make the conscious choice to be free, and to hold my freedom as a priority, not to be…
What Is Your Personality Trying To Tell You? Overcoming Shyness

Albert

15 Jun 2009 | 10:43 am

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Believe in Change. Thanks! What is personality? While each of us is inevitably shaped by our backgrounds, culture, society etc, and we develop preferences, likes, dislikes, interests, and so forth, we also develop what we call personality traits. If someone asks what kind of person you are, you might say, “I’m outgoing” or “I’m shy” or any number of ‘good’ or ‘bad’ but equally identifiable qualities that indicate how we present ourselves to the world. What about ego? When discussing personality, the word ‘ego’ has it’s own…
Love and Compassion Can Defeat Suffering And Depression

Albert

27 May 2009 | 1:00 am

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Lisis Blackston of Quest For Balance. I recently learned about the power of love and compassion from someone who had all but given up on life. I met him, if you can call it that, in the comments section of another blog, where he posted that he was contemplating suicide. What really bothered me was that no one had addressed his comment. Did they not see it? Were they uncertain of what to say? Was it a breach of blogger protocol to address a serious issue in someone else’s comments section? I didn’t know, but one thing was certain: this person…
Your Mind Plays Tricks

Albert

19 May 2009 | 2:00 am

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Tim Brownson of The Discomfort Zone. Thanks Tim! Have you ever listened to two politicians debating about the same issue and wondered how on earth they managed to arrive at such different opinions and conclusions from the same facts? Have you ever been to a sporting event and raved over your favorite player only for an accompanying friend to look at you blankly and declare they were unimpressed? Have you known anybody that has been through really tough times and never stopped smiling and looking on the bright side? Whereas somebody else you knew in…
The Inner Child – An Introduction to Dialoguing

Albert

12 May 2009 | 11:30 pm

“So, like a forgotten fire, a childhood can always flare up again within us.” ~Gaston Bachelard Have you ever noticed that, despite our best efforts, we sometimes behave like children? There is a child inside all of us, whether we realize it or not. And sometimes we return to that child like state. Often, this is a good thing – letting us tap into our playfulness, innocence, and amazement at the world. But at other times, it is the child’s vulnerabilities, dependencies, and insecurities are reactivated. A neglected and denied child – reflecting unresolved wounds, old beliefs, and…

ScienceDaily: Psychology News
Overweight Kids Experience More Loneliness, Anxiety

3 Jul 2009 | 8:00 pm

As childhood obesity rates continue to increase, experts agree that more information is needed about the implications of being overweight as a step toward reversing current trends. A new study has found that overweight children, especially girls, show signs of the negative consequences of being overweight as early as kindergarten.
Second Life Data Offers Window Into How Trends Spread

3 Jul 2009 | 11:00 am

Do friends wear the same style of shoe or see the same movies because they have similar tastes, which is why they became friends in the first place? Or once a friendship is established, do individuals influence each other to adopt like behaviors?
Lonely Old Men?

2 Jul 2009 | 9:00 pm

Researchers have studied loneliness among older people. A common stereotype about older people is that loneliness is typical for older women, rather than for older men. One problem with this stereotype is that feelings of loneliness are not particularly common among either men or women in the Nordic countries.
Brain Functions That Can Prevent Relapse Improve After A Year Of Methamphetamine Abstinence

2 Jul 2009 | 8:00 pm

Researchers report that it takes at least a year for former methamphetamine users to regain impulse control. The results tell recovering substance abusers, their families and drug-treatment specialists that it can take an extended period of time for the brain functions critical to recovery to improve.
In Pursuit Of A Happiness Gene

2 Jul 2009 | 11:00 am

The pursuit of happiness characterizes the human condition. But for those suffering from stress, money trouble or chronic illness, a positive outlook on life can be difficult to find. Now, a researcher says we should look to our genes.

PsycPORT.com
People more empathetic to their own race

developer@apa.org

3 Jul 2009 | 5:36 pm

July 03, 2009 BEIJING, Jul 3, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- A bystander feels more empathy for someone in pain when that person is in the same social group, researchers in China said.
New PTSD program answers need for comprehensive treatment

developer@apa.org

2 Jul 2009 | 5:36 pm

July 02, 2009 Jul 02, 2009 (DEFENSE DEPARTMENT DOCUMENTS AND PUBLICATIONS/ContentWorks via COMTEX) -- 7/1/2009 - LANDSTUHL REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER, Germany (AFNS) -- Symptoms of combat stress and post-traumatic stress disorder for wounded warriors include continual nightmares, avoidance behaviors, denial, grief, anger and fear.
TV ads make children choose more junk foods

developer@apa.org

1 Jul 2009 | 5:36 pm

July 01, 2009 LOS ANGELES, Jul 01, 2009 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Influenced by TV ads, children tend to choose more junk food, increasing the risk of weight gain, a new study suggests.
Surprising number of teens think they'll die young

developer@apa.org

29 Jun 2009 | 5:36 pm

June 29, 2009 CHICAGO - A surprising number of teenagers - nearly 15 percent - think they're going to die young, leading many to drug use, suicide attempts and other unsafe behavior, new research suggests.
Study: Women look away more from abnormal babies

developer@apa.org

24 Jun 2009 | 5:36 pm

June 24, 2009 WASHINGTON - Puzzling new research suggests women have a harder time than men looking at babies with facial birth defects. It's a surprise finding. Psychiatrists from the Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital, who were studying perceptions of beauty, had expected women to spend more time than men cooing over pictures of extra-cute...

Psychology / Psychiatry News From Medical News Today
Alzheimer's Gene Risk Higher For Those Widowed in Mid Life and Stay Without a Partner

3 Jul 2009 | 2:00 am

Researchers in Sweden found that people who have the APOE Alzheimer's gene and who live alone in middle age after being widowed or separated from a life partner, are at higher risk of developing dementia. The study is the work of Dr Krister Hakannson, a research fellow at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, and colleagues, and is published in the 2 July online issue of the BMJ.
Teens Influenced By Movie Characters Who Smoke, Both The Good Guys And The Bad Guys

3 Jul 2009 | 12:00 am

Dartmouth researchers have determined that movie characters who smoke, regardless of whether they are "good guys" or "bad guys," influence teens to try smoking.
What Is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder? What Is PTSD? What Causes PTSD?

3 Jul 2009 | 12:00 am

PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) is triggered by a traumatic event - it is a kind of anxiety. The sufferer of PTSD may have experienced or seen an event that caused extreme fear, shock and/or a feeling of helplessness. Most of us experience a brief period of difficulty adjusting and coping with traumatic events. However, we gradually get better with time and healthy coping methods.
When Husbands Work In US, Mexican Wives' Mental Health Dives

2 Jul 2009 | 4:00 am

Selected highlights from a new study on immigration, health and gender roles: Mexican wives who stay home when their husbands immigrate to the United States for work have poorer mental health than a comparison group. Shifting gender roles seem to be equally as stressful as the husbands' absence. "Popular American psychology would suggest that their newfound independence might ease the stress of single-handedly managing the household.
Scientists Uncover Patterns Of Genetic Changes In Mental Retardation

2 Jul 2009 | 3:00 am

Researchers at Radboud University Medical Centre, together with UK Medical Research Council scientists at Oxford University, have uncovered some of the central characteristics of genes underlying mental retardation. The research, which shortens the list of genes whose changes lead to this disorder from thousands to several dozen, is published June 26 in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics.

Psych Central News
Sexist Jokes May Be Linked to Domestic Violence

Rick Nauert PhD

3 Jul 2009 | 6:04 am

New research suggests sexist jokes and accompanying humor are associated with mental mechanisms that could predispose violence and battering against women. Men with strong macho attitudes appear to demonstrate the risky behavior. The theory will be present at a seminar about humor and its scientific applications (’International Summer School and Symposium on Humor and Laughter: Theory, Research and Applications’) that will be held in Granada. In order to carry out this research work, the scientists applied several questionnaires to a group of 109 university male students aged…
Mental Stress Induces Brain Rush

Rick Nauert PhD

3 Jul 2009 | 5:55 am

New research discovers mental stress causes carotid artery dilation and increases brain blood flow. A series of ultrasound experiments, described in BioMed Central’s open access journal Cardiovascular Ultrasound, also found that this dilatory reflex was absent in people with high blood pressure. University of Southern California and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center researchers evaluated carotid artery reactivity and brain blood flow in response to mental stress in 10 healthy young volunteers (aged between 19 and 27 years), 20 older healthy volunteers (aged 38 to 60 years) and in 28 patients…
Early Health Ed Reduces Risky Adult Behaviors

Rick Nauert PhD

3 Jul 2009 | 5:55 am

A new study explores the link between early education programs and adult health, and how early educational interventions affect health outcomes. Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health researchers found that early education reduces health behavioral risk factors by enhancing educational attainment, health insurance coverage, income, and family environments. However, since the follow-up survey was conducted at age 40, the cohort may still be too young for these reductions in behavioral risk factors to translate into improvements in overall physical health outcomes. The study,…
Loneliness and Anxiety Accompany Child Obesity

Rick Nauert PhD

3 Jul 2009 | 5:53 am

As childhood obesity rates continue to increase, experts agree that more information is needed about the implications of being overweight. Researchers believe this knowledge may represent a step toward reversing the current obesity trends. A new study has found that overweight children, especially girls, show signs of the negative consequences of being overweight as early as kindergarten. “We found that both boys and girls who were overweight from kindergarten through third grade displayed more depression, anxiety and loneliness than kids who were never overweight, and those negative…
Postpartum Depression Compounds Poor Sleep Cycle

Rick Nauert PhD

2 Jul 2009 | 6:56 am

Depression after childbirth has always been a chick and egg conundrum. That is, does sleep quality influence development of depression, or is poor sleep a characteristic of post-partum depression. A new study suggests that postpartum depression may aggravate an already impaired sleep quality. The findings, published in the July 1 issue of the journal SLEEP note that experiencing difficulties with sleep is a symptom of depression. Twenty-one percent of depressed postpartum women included in the study reported having also been depressed during pregnancy and 46 percent reported at least one…

PSYCHOLOGY NEWS - Google Blog Search
Conspirama - Astral Projection – You Can Do It! | Psychic ...

2012

3 Jul 2009 | 1:34 am

In general, the majority of the population has heard of astral projection. They may have heard of it from a reading a book, watching a movie or from an. Discuss Add this link to... Bury Add to: submit 'Astral Projection – You Can Do It! ...
Psychology of the Private Individual Critique of Bourgeois ...

unknown

2 Jul 2009 | 9:55 pm

Related News. Psychology of the Private Individual Critique of Bourgeois Consciousness (Part II) · Our Needs Do Not Fit on Their Ballots · Immigration Fueled by "Race to the Bottom" · Colombia Still Undisputed Leader in Trade Unionist ...
A Visit to Auschwitz: Reflections on Biology and the Psychiatric ...

admin

2 Jul 2009 | 3:00 pm

If I closed my eyes, it would have been easy to imagine that I was visiting a peaceful city park. The sounds of birdsong and children's laughter rang in the air, and the odor of freshly cut grass filled my nostrils.
Alzheimer's Symptoms Reversed: Blood Stem Cell Growth Factor ...

admin

1 Jul 2009 | 3:00 pm

A human growth factor that stimulates blood stem cells to proliferate in bone marrow reverses memory impairment in mice genetically altered to develop Alzheimer's disease, a new study finds.
” (Film Review) UP: The Power of Now for New & Old Adventures " on ...

Louis Alloro

28 Jun 2009 | 9:22 am

Positive Psychology News Daily - Daily boost of research-based happiness. Authored by University of Pennsylvania graduates of the Master of Applied Positive Psychology program (MAPP).

Ionian Enchantment
Fun with skeptical songs

25 Jun 2009 | 12:31 am

The most excellent Daniel Loxton (author of the important manifesto "Where do we go from here?" [pdf]) has put together a fun list of freely-available skeptical songs. There are some pretty cool songs, I especially recommend "Carbon Cycle" [mp3] by Hard ’n Phirm and "Cosmic Carl" [mp3] by Dr. SETI...
New Scientist on AIDS denialism

24 Jun 2009 | 5:01 am

New Scientist magazine has a pair of fantastic articles on AIDS denialism: "AIDS denial: a lethal delusion" (by Jonny Steinberg, author of Three Letter Plague) and "Five Myths about HIV and AIDS". Though entirely fringe in the medical literature, AIDS denialism continues to claim lives, so public education -- especially in southern Africa, the epicentre of the pandemic -- is extremely important.See also: Nicolli Nattrass'fantastic Skeptical Inquirer piece (which I linked to before).
An open letter to the MCC

24 Jun 2009 | 4:37 am

The Treatment Action Campaign (an AIDS activist NGO) recently published an important open letter by physicians and academics to the Medical Control Council (South Africa's equivalent of America's FDA) about its failure to adequately regulate quack remedies.The summary:"*The Complementary Medicines 2002 call up has resulted in an untenable regulatory hiatus where medicines of unknown quality have flooded the South African market.*The South African public has been put at risk – not only health-wise but in terms of potentially fruitless expenditure of their disposable income on products which…
The return of the Carnival of the Africans

24 Jun 2009 | 4:14 am

After a hiatus of a couple of months, the Carnival of the Africans is returning on the 28th of this month at Simon Halliday's Amanuensis. If you're an African science blogger or have blogged about African-related science, please check out the guidelines and then email your submissions to Simon at simon(dot)d[dot]halliday(at)gmail{dot}com.Also see Simon's call for submissions...
Exploring Ötzi

24 Jun 2009 | 2:00 am

Discovered in 1991 on a glacier in the Ötztal Alps in Austria, Ötzi the Iceman is a beautifully preserved mummy of a man who died in around 3300 BCE. Amazingly, scientist have pinpointed where he lived (by analyzing the isotopic composition of his teeth), what his last meal was (chamois, red deer and some plants), his possible occupation (copper smelter), among many other details. Importantly, it was also determined that he was a victim of violence: an arrowhead was lodged in his shoulder, there were bruises and cuts to various parts of his body, and he apparently received a blow to the…

Sports Are 80 Percent Mental
Kids' Baseball Injuries Down But Some Still Play "Until It Hurts"

30 Jun 2009 | 2:37 pm

At a recent baseball game, the 12-year-old second baseman on my son's team had a ground ball take a nasty hop, hitting him just next to his right eye. He was down on the field for several minutes and was later diagnosed at the hospital with a concussion. Thankfully, acute baseball injuries like this are on the decline, according to a new report. However, several leading physicians say overuse injuries of young players caused by too much baseball show no signs of slowing down. Our unlucky infielder's hospital injury report may become part of a national database called the National Electronic…
NASCAR Fans Drive Faster

21 Jun 2009 | 2:49 pm

If you plan on watching your favorite NASCAR driver this weekend, you may want to have your designated driver take you home. Not only should he be sober, but he also should have no interest in motor sports. According to Australian researchers, being a race fan makes you more likely to not only speed in your own car but also to see little wrong with it. Several factors have been found to influence a driver's attitude towards speeding and aggressive driving, including age, gender and what psychologists call "sensation seeking propensity." This thrill-seeking behavior may also be a result of a…
For Kids' Health, Just Let Them Play

15 Jun 2009 | 4:35 pm

As usual, your Mom was right. When she told you to get outside and play, she instinctively knew that would be good for you. Researchers at the University of Exeter have found that kids' natural short bursts of play energy contribute just as much to a healthy lifestyle as longer bouts of organized exercise, such as gym class. As of 2008, 32 percent of U.S. children were overweight or obese, as measured by their body mass index. While many organized programs have studied this epidemic, the prescription remains the same: less food, more exercise. In fact, a previous study of 133 children found…
Your Heart Can Warn You Of Future Attacks

7 Jun 2009 | 7:28 pm

Many people exercise to improve the health of their hearts. Now, researchers have found a link between your heart rate just before and during exercise and your chances of a future heart attack. Just the thought of exercise raises your heart rate. The new study shows that how much it goes up is related to the odds of you eventually dying of a heart attack. More than 300,000 people die each year from sudden cardiac arrest in the U.S., often with no known risk factors. Being able to find early warning signs has been the goal of researchers like Professor Xavier Jouven, of the Hopital Européen…
Thoroughbred Horse Injuries Rise But Race Times Stay Flat

1 Jun 2009 | 6:37 pm

Imagine trying to walk on all fours using just your big toes and your middle fingers. That is similar to what modern thoroughbred racehorses endure when racing around a track at up to 30 mph. This weekend's Belmont Stakes will be missing one of this year's stars, Rachel Alexandra, on the precaution that she needs to rest. Just before last month's Kentucky Derby, three top contenders, Quality Road, I Want Revenge and Square Eddie were forced out of the race due to hoof and shin injuries. Critics claim selective breeding may be producing an unstable horse anatomy that is prone to injury.

Helping Psychology
Clinical Psychology Today

Admin

30 Jun 2009 | 1:33 pm

Clinical psychology today has many facets. From biological psychology known as neurobiology or how the mind works, to psychology of groups called sociology, to studying aspects of sensation and perception in experimental psychology there are many areas a student of psychology can pursue. Psychology, the science of behavior, began as a formal discipline of study under the influence of Willhem Wundt and practical applications of psychology were made in the field of education by Lightner Witmer, who began the first psychological clinic at the end of the nineteenth century. Clinical psychology is…
Degrees in Psychology

Admin

28 Jun 2009 | 7:07 am

Psychology is perpetually one of the most popular majors for incoming college freshman. Second only to Business Administration, students who major in this field study human behavior and the thoughts behind it, which is a fascinating topic to be sure. No other topic has consumed so much human interest since the discovery of fire. Students today have a wide range of coursework on psychology offered to them and many choices in universities at which they can pursue their undergraduate degree in psychology. Getting a BS (Bachelor of Science) in psychology does not however give a person the ability…
Clinical Psychology – A Brief Overview

Admin

26 Jun 2009 | 9:48 am

Clinical psychology has evolved over the years since its inception. Originally started in 1896, by Lightner Witmer, clinical psychology focuses on diagnosing and treating psychologically based dysfunction rather than merely studying it. Witmer was a student of Wilhelm Wundt (who is widely regarded as the “Father of Psychology”), and was the head of the Psychology Department at the University of Pennsylvania. He opened the first psychological clinic after his groundbreaking work with a boy who had trouble spelling led him to feel that there was a therapeutic value to psychology. Early…
Mental Health Clinical Research Guide

Admin

24 Jun 2009 | 7:50 am

In the past, mental illness and disorders of the mind were feared and misunderstood, to devastating effect. These days, willing participants have enabled ambitious researchers to greatly expand their knowledge base. Great strides have been made in the field thanks to these volunteers, resulting in development of many effective treatments.Serious brain diseases such as schizophrenia, manic-depression and anxiety orders are now being addressed, and thousands of patients with mental illness are now able to lead fulfilled, productive lives. Acknowledging the advances already made due to volunteer…
The Unconscious Mind Versus the Conscious Mind

Admin

22 Jun 2009 | 3:55 am

Malcolm Gladwell, the author of the book called Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, wrote his book to convey that most of our decisions teeter on accuracy far better, when we make it in a hurried and non-thoughtful fashion. The outcome of our decisions don’t go over as well, when we tend to make them in a more calm, time-taking manner. He also tells us of a gentleman that had the ability to detect false antiques so quickly, even when they had fooled the men that were considered to be experts. Another story he tells is of another man that could correctly make a determination…

Herd - the hidden truth about who we are
Me, Jacko and the HERD: free gift

Mark Earls

3 Jul 2009 | 8:45 am

Here's the piece I did for the Spectator on what the Jacko story tells us about ourselves...Hope you like!
Book covers

Mark Earls

2 Jul 2009 | 3:26 am

Very amused that Seth nails the debate I've been having with certain folk recentlyLet's not have the debate again, hey?
It's the human stuff, stupid (again)

Mark Earls

2 Jul 2009 | 2:35 am

"Why are milk jugs more important than people? In 2008, Doug McMillon...the CEO of Sam's Club, a division of Wal-mart, expounded on innovation in milk jugs and his company's introduction of a rectangular, and therefore, stackable jug. He proudly noted how the new design extended the shelf life of milk, reduced costs by between 10 and 20 cents and elminated more than 10,000 delivery trips, thereby saving the company money. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart paid its employees almost 15 percent less than other large retailers and, because of the lower pay, Wal-Mart employees made greater use of…
Crowdsourcing lessons from the Grauniad

Mark Earls

1 Jul 2009 | 5:14 am

Top piece here from the Nieman Journo labIt didn't pass me by that i. making the task like a game (i.e. interesting) really helps encourage participation ii. showing the mugshots of the politicians whose expenses were being examined did also (and big time)
Monkey see, monkey do

Mark Earls

30 Jun 2009 | 1:48 pm

Had this great book by neuroscientist Marco Iacoboni around for a while and have been re-reading it properly, prompted by contact with the great man. The way It describes the story of the discovery of 'mirror neurons' by the team in Palma is excellent. [If you've not been paying attention, these 'mirror neurons' are the unusual braincells which provide the basis for our species' extraordinary ability for interpersonal skills by straddling the motor and cognitive systems in every way.] I think it's just tiptop. This opening passage gives you a taster:"When we…

eScienceNews: Psychology
Stanford bioethicist and colleagues call for federal regulation of genetic ancestry testing

3 Jul 2009 | 5:34 am

Imagine donating a sample of your DNA to help researchers study the genetics of diabetes. The disease is common among your friends and family, and you're proud of your role in finding out why. Now, imagine that some time later, you learn that your DNA has been used for other studies on topics you never expected — schizophrenia, human migration, inbreeding. Although your name isn't attached to the sample anymore, scientists are using your DNA to draw conclusions about your community and your ancestors. Some of these studies violate your cultural beliefs. read more
Poor health among indigenous peoples a question of cultural loss as well as poverty

2 Jul 2009 | 4:08 pm

The health problems of Indigenous peoples around the world are intimately tied to a number of unique factors, such as colonization, globalization, migration, and loss of land, language and culture. These factors remain even after the "typical" social problems facing the poor, such as inadequate housing, unemployment, and low education levels are addressed, according to Dr. Malcolm King, lead author of a paper to be published tomorrow in the Lancet, a prestigious UK medical journal. read more
Doubts cast on credibility of some published clinical trials

2 Jul 2009 | 4:08 pm

Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs) are considered the 'gold standard' research method for assessing new medical treatments. But research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Trials shows that the design of a remarkable 93 percent of 2235 so-called RCTs published in some Chinese medical journals during 1994 to 2005 was flawed, casting doubt on the reliability of research that is likely to influence medical decision-makers. read more
Perfect pitch study offers window into influences of nature and nurture

2 Jul 2009 | 2:15 pm

Practice, practice, practice might get you to Carnegie Hall, but for aspiring musicians, there's new evidence that genes may influence one's ability to get there, as well. read more
Overweight kids experience more loneliness, anxiety, MU study finds

2 Jul 2009 | 9:15 am

As childhood obesity rates continue to increase, experts agree that more information is needed about the implications of being overweight as a step toward reversing current trends. Now, a new University of Missouri study has found that overweight children, especially girls, show signs of the negative consequences of being overweight as early as kindergarten. read more

I Choose Change
Relationship Rollercoaster: When to Stay and When to Go

Jennifer M. Ryan, M.Ed.

15 Jun 2009 | 7:11 pm

photo credit: Jim Grady When relationships are at their best we are like teenagers on a rollercoaster ride. We are excited, our heart is racing, we are anticipating, “the ride of a lifetime.” Every moment of a “relationship roller coaster” ride is filled with a new rush.As we do with the rollercoaster, so do we with relationships in that we are in position to take a risk.Granted it, it might be something you like and want to continue to do or not, and once you have had enough you want off or out.We trust the rollercoaster ride to keep us safe, secure, and not hurt us.In spite…
Why Vacation is NOT an Option!

Erica Gould, M.A., LPC

8 Jun 2009 | 2:42 pm

photo credit: muha… I love taking vacations (don’t we all?). Unfortunately, like most people, I am only able to get away about once a year. After my recent trip to Mexico, I decided that taking vacations are NOT optional! This was a much needed trip—we have both been worn out from everything life has thrown our way: work stress, family stress, and general social stress. And, to top if off, we are two people who are not always the most pleasant to be around when we haven’t fed our own “down time” needs! Vacation Equals Mental Health Most of us weather…
The ABCs of Friendship, and Why It’s REALLY Important

Jennifer M. Ryan, M.Ed.

21 May 2009 | 6:32 am

photo credit: tray One of the first things I do when working with a client is ask them about their support group. From friends, family, spouse, co-workers, church members, and others, I want to know who around this client knows what’s going on with them, and will support them no matter what. Usually, I’m met with a “deer-in-headlights” look. Rarely do clients want to take their “therapy issue” to their support system. Spouses may know an angry side of the problem, but that’s not REALLY knowing. But who helps us keep balanced? By REALLY knowing…
3 Reasons We Just Won’t Change

Jennifer M. Ryan, M.Ed.

15 May 2009 | 6:16 am

photo credit: voteprime The reason we don’t change is pretty simple when you think about it. Habits, beliefs, thoughts, and “paradigms” all have a lot to do with it, but before we jump right in, let’s recap exactly how our belief system works: Whatever we practice becomes a habit (or belief). Habits (Beliefs) are rooted in our subconscious, where they function without our awareness or our permission. Since habits (beliefs) are alive, they will, like anything living, fight to stay alive. We have learned to feel certain ways, out of habit (belief). It may not seem…
“It’s Not My Fault!”: Taking Personal Responsibility in Difficult Situations

Jennifer M. Ryan, M.Ed.

9 May 2009 | 6:48 am

photo credit: gilesclement Stop pointing fingers. In difficult situations, being able to examine ourselves in a full-length mirror is crucial. We want to be able to ask, “What part did I play in this situation? What were my errors? Where are my flaws?” Taking responsibility of our own thoughts, emotions and actions is empowering! It means we are able to step back from a situation and view it from a different perspective. We’re able to look beyond ourselves and see an alternative way of thinking - an alternative belief. Personal responsibility is a choice. Blame…

The Shrink Rap
What is happiness?

Kathy

3 Jul 2009 | 1:04 pm

Sam Harris on Happiness Source: big think According to Albert Schweitzer - ‘Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory’. A recent study on aging by Pew Research Centre ... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Dr. O’s Rap: Vroom Vroom

Kathy

3 Jul 2009 | 11:24 am

For a while now, I have been plagued with envy. I have come to realize that Jeremy Clarkson has my ideal job. For those of you reading this who have no idea who Clarkson is take a look at the BBC,... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
A Tail of Identity

Kathy

2 Jul 2009 | 2:07 pm

We spend much of our lives trying to “find ourselves” within the realms of what we know, but do we ever stop to consider that our identity may lie outside of our experience? Our identity... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
The problem with self-help books

Kathy

2 Jul 2009 | 9:37 am

Study shows the negative side to positive self-statements In times of doubt and uncertainty, many Americans turn to self-help books in search of encouragement, guidance and self-affirmation. The... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Lack of sleep could be more dangerous for women than men

Kathy

2 Jul 2009 | 8:59 am

This piece of research has me worried! My husband can snore for England and causes me interupted slumber most nights. New research has found that women who get less than the recommended eight hours... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Persuasive.net
10 Douche Bag Leaders You Probably Hate

AGalvin

2 Jul 2009 | 11:43 am

Being a persuasive communicator is absolutely a skill that everyone should learn. Your persuasion skills are what will ultimately get your further life. Some exceptions do apply, but your average everyday folk need to learn the skills to pay the bills. With that said, sometimes people who use their skills of persuasion or influence, let the power go to their head. Here’s a list of 10 leaders from around the world during the last century who hold (held) a high rank in power and misused it for their own benefit. This list is in no particular order. Vladimir Putin If his pants were any…
5 Techniques That Make You Powerful, Persuasive, & Influential

Yehuda

25 Jun 2009 | 9:25 am

Power. Persuasion. Influence. These are things that we all lust over day in and day out. It is part of human nature to want to be in control (hence the reason we fear death and public speaking, the outcomes are unsure and hence, we are frightened of them.) What this article is going to do is teach you five of the most EFFECTIVE techniques you will learn to being powerfully influential and gain control, whether it is in your business dealings or when you are out and about trying to gain access to that really exclusive club. This is roughly based on the training seminar I gave recently at Axa…
5 Reasons Why Billy Mays is Annoyingly Persuasive

AJ Kumar

23 Jun 2009 | 7:21 am

“Hi Billy Mays here…” If you live in the United States, chances are you have see his commercials or heard his unique voice somewhere. Oxi-Clean, Orange Glo, and KaBOOM are just some of the many products you probably have in your home! I know my mom’s tried a few of his products before. In fact, I just saw a tub of Oxi-Clean sitting above my washer. His voice is strong and powerful, yet so authentic and sincere. This guy should have been #6 on the 5 Most Persuasive People on Planet Earth. What the hell is it about Billy Mays that makes you want to run, not walk, to buy the…
Top 4 Reasons Why Gary Vaynerchuk is so Incredibly Persuasive

AJ Kumar

18 Jun 2009 | 2:44 pm

Host of Winelibrary.tv, Gary Vaynerchuk has recently exploded into a superstar celebrity. He’s appeared on national TV shows like on The Conan O’Brien and just yesterday, The Jimmy Fallon Show. Gary’s also been in countless news stories, talk shows, magazines, and blogs from around the world. He’s starting to do for wines what Oprah’s done for reading books. How is Gary able to persuade so many people to listen to what he has to say? 1. He Chose To Be an Expert in a Niche Market Choosing a niche doesn’t only apply in the online world, it works just as well in every day…
The 5 Most Persuasive People On Planet Earth

AJ Kumar

17 Jun 2009 | 7:30 am

These Persuasive Communicators are so good, they’ll sell the shirt right off your back! 5. Donald Trump He would fire is own mother if he had to. He was able to convince hundreds of investors to re-invest millions when he was down close to a billion. 4. Bill Clinton “I did not have a sexual relationships with that women.” 3. Tony Robbins You can’t help but to get excited just looking at this guy! Tony can easily sell ice to an Eskimo. Tony is famous for selling you on why you should sell you. 2. Oprah She mentions a book and it goes into the top 10. If she puts a…

iOrgPsych
10 Reasons for Executive Failure

Eva

25 Jun 2009 | 7:00 am

A derailed executive is an previously-named high-potential employee who has reached the middle management level, only to find that there is little chance of future advancement (as previously thought) due to a misfit between job requirements and personal skills. Thus, the executive either plateaus or leaves the organization altogether. That is the original CCL studies definition. Sometimes the term also refers to leaders who experience big failures after reaching the executive spot and, more recently, those involved in ethical scandals.Whatever your definition of a bad leader is, most have…
The Executive Selection Mystery

Eva

18 Jun 2009 | 11:50 am

The skill set that is required for success at an individual contributor and entry-level job gets old quickly. As you achieve results by doing things right, you get put into a position that now requires you to do the right things. As this happens, your technical expertise matter less and less. That's pretty well-known by now. But past that mid-managerial level is where it gets fuzzy. How is success defined at executive levels?Well, it's not really. The hallmark of an exec/strategy role is that it's undefined. So there's no prescriptive way to do it, meaning there is no job analysis or a job…
Advice to Grad Students

Eva

18 Jun 2009 | 5:28 am

To provide graduate students with insights from practitioners, Ben Baran from Foster Excellence has launched an “Early-Career Practitioner Conversations” series, which provides advice from successful practitioners who earned a graduate degree in industrial/organizational psychology, human resource management, or a related field within the past five years.For the first feature, Ben interviewed me. Check it out here:http://www.fosterexcellence.com/2009/06/io-psychology-graduate-students-get.html
Psychology of Change

Eva

8 May 2009 | 6:47 am

When hearing about change, the concept of inertia comes to mind. Imagine a hockey puck and the level of force it takes to make it move initially. Then imagine the level of force it takes to stop one that’s coming fast. Contrast both of those scenarios to the effort it takes to keep a puck moving or to keep it still. Therein lies the difficulty of change. Well, human behavior is not too much different. To read the rest, go here. I wrote it as a guest post for Matt Cheuvront's blog, Life Without Pants (yes, it's work safe). Matt has rounded-up about a dozen of the most brilliant bloggers to…
The Right Way to Do Teamwork

Eva

24 Apr 2009 | 6:39 pm

In this May's issue of HBR, there is an article called Why Teams Don't Work, which sort of caught me by surprise with the negativity. Because I know a good amount of teams that DO work. But as I read through, I realized I've been part of more failed teams than I originally thought.Two brains are better than one. Unless the two brains can't communicate. Says the article, "research consistently shows that teams underperform, despite all the extra resources they have. That's because problems with coordination and motivation typically chip away at the benefits of collaboration."5 Basic Conditions…

Universitas Psychologica - Pontificia Universidad Javeriana
Humanización: hacia una educación crítica en Derechos Humanos

18 Jun 2009 | 7:47 am

Artículo de la Revista: Volumen 8, Número 1, Año 2009Autores : Jairo Hernando Gómez EstebanEl propósito de este ensayo es problematizar las tres dimensiones fundamentales en la educación en Derechos Humanos, a saber: la dialogicidad, la alteridad y la juridicidad; no sin antes haber discutido unas condiciones éticas, políticas y jurídicas mínimas para una educación crítica. Concluye con unos presupuestos metodológicos para adelantar esta discusión
Relación entre promedio escolar y tres indicadores de ansiedad en estudiantes de medicina

8 Jun 2009 | 1:06 pm

Artículo de la Revista: Volumen 8, Número 1, Año 2009Autores : Marisol Torres Nolasco, María del Rocío Hernández Pozo, Pilar Castillo Nava, Osmaldo Coronado Álvarez, Sandra Cerezo ReséndizEl ingreso a la universidad trae consigo cambios que pueden vulnerar la estabilidad emocional y afectar las probabilidades de éxito escolar. Con el fin de explorar la relación entre ansiedad y desempeño académico en estudiantes de Medicina, participaron, en este estudio, 81 estudiantes mexicanos, que se sometieron a tres tipos de evaluaciones (verbal, conductual y fisiológica), en…
Panorama 8-1

28 May 2009 | 9:42 am

Artículo de la Revista: Volumen 8, Número 1, Año 2009Autores : Universitas Psychologica
Charles Darwin (1809-1882): su legado para la Psicología

28 May 2009 | 8:13 am

Artículo de la Revista: Volumen 8, Número 1, Año 2009Autores : Germán GutiérrezSe celebra este año el bicentenario del nacimiento del científico inglés Charles Darwin, y con ese motivo se presenta un breve perfil de su vida y una caracterización crítica de su obra y de la duradera influencia de esta sobre la Psicología
Adquisición del responder bajo condiciones de reforzamiento demorado en programas temporales señalados

28 May 2009 | 8:11 am

Artículo de la Revista: Volumen 8, Número 1, Año 2009Autores : Carlos Javier Flores Aguirre, Laura Rebeca Mateos MorfínEl estudio se diseñó con el propósito de evaluar los efectos de diferentes duraciones de demora de reforzamiento sobre la adquisición de la respuesta de presión de la palanca en ratas, empleando un programa definido temporalmente señalado. Manteniendo un ciclo T constante (64 s), para cada tres ratas se empleó una duración de demora de reforzamiento (8,24 y 56 s) que resultó de variar la posición temporal del subciclo Td al interior del ciclo T…

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