Psychology
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Most Topular Stories
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My Mother, Myself
Psychology Today Features11 May 2012 | 1:00 am -
The Psychological Influences of Weight
What is psychology?15 May 2012 | 6:26 pmIn many languages around the world (English, Russian, Spanish, Latvian, Chinese, Dutch, etc.), weight is associated with importance, influence and emphasis. For example, in English we might say such things as (1) “the manager has some weighty decisions to make” or (2) “get the president to sign because his signature carries more weight” or (3) “you need more facts in order to add greater weight to your argument.” But does the link between weight and importance only exist in the realm of linguistics? Research published in 2009 by Nils B. Jostmann, Daniel… -
What Makes Them Click–The Brain Lady
PsychSplash12 May 2012 | 12:00 pmURL: http://www.whatmakesthemclick.net/Learn how to be able to better communicate and get your thoughts and feelings across with others. For: AnyoneTopics: TeachingFeatures: Advertising, Author Lists, Commentary and Blogs, Information, Links, Productivity Tips, Resources, e-learning From Susan Weinschenk: “If you’ve ever eavesdropped on a conversation in a country where you did not speak the language, you might have been surprised to find yourself following along and picking up the feeling of the conversation even though you didn’t understand any of the words or literal… -
Polanski’s Movie “Carnage” and Personality Types Part II
Personality14 May 2012 | 11:25 pmThis is Part II of my blog on Roman Polanski’s Carnage, starring Kate Winslet, Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly, and Christoph Waltz.read more -
Facebook Trends: Women Tend and Men Befriend
Personality14 May 2012 | 1:45 pmMy research has examined how men and women use Facebook and found that they differ in their Facebook use. This research also found differences based on personality.read more
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Scientific American - Mind & Brain
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Whales Adjust Their Hearing Sensitivity
15 May 2012 | 8:05 pmHave you ever wanted to turn down the volume at a deafening concert or noisy bar? Envy the whale: a new study finds that toothed whales can reduce their own auditory sensitivity when they expect a loud sound. The work is presented at this week’s Acoustics 2012 meeting. [Paul E. Nachtigall and Alexander Ya Supin, Immediate changes in whale hearing sensitivity ] [More] -
The Football Concussion Crisis Part 1
15 May 2012 | 7:15 pmNFL Hall of Famer Harry Carson joins former NBC anchor Stone Phillips and pathologist Bennet Omalu for a discussion of chronic traumatic encephalopathy among football players. [More] -
Searching for the Onset of Autism
15 May 2012 | 3:43 pmDiffusion tensor image shows white matter pathways in infant at risk for autism. Warmer colors represent higher fractional anisotropy, a measure of white-matter organization. (Credit: Image created by Jason Wolff, University of North Carolina.) Early behavioral intervention has shown some promise as a way to help children with autism. But it s difficult to see the hallmarks of autism before two years of age with today s diagnostic criteria. Could we find other methods? [More] -
Do Psychedelics Expand the Mind by Reducing Brain Activity?
15 May 2012 | 12:50 pmWhat would you see if you could look inside a hallucinating brain? Despite decades of scientific investigation, we still lack a clear understanding of how hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide), mescaline, and psilocybin (the main active ingredient in magic mushrooms) work in the brain. Modern science has demonstrated that hallucinogens activate receptors for serotonin, one of the brain’s key chemical messengers. Specifically, of the 15 different serotonin receptors, the 2A subtype (5-HT2A), seems to be the one that produces profound alterations of thought and… -
ADHD: behavioral and cognitive therapies
15 May 2012 | 10:35 amSci has a piece up over at the main site on recent advances in behavioral and cognitive therapies for ADHD treatment. I got a note that people would like the reference list (and I’m always a fan of a reference list!), and so once you’ve checked out the article , here are the references:Advokat C, Lane SM, Luo C. “ College students with and without ADHD: comparison of self-report of medication usage, study habits, and academic achievement .” J Atten Disord. 2011 Nov;15(8):656-66. Epub 2010 Aug 2. [More]
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Psychology Today Features
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Difficult People
16 May 2012 | 1:00 amManipulation comes in many forms. -
A Show of Confidence
15 May 2012 | 1:00 amSwallow your fear and be a success in every part of life. -
The Allure of the Bad Boy
14 May 2012 | 1:00 amWhy do we love them? -
The Top Reads of the Past Week
12 May 2012 | 1:00 am -
My Mother, Myself
11 May 2012 | 1:00 am
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Personality
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Icy Intimacy: A Three Step Solution
15 May 2012 | 10:08 pmDo you find your spouse controlling, but not intimate? Is she too easily angered after sex or avoids it altogether? Does he hold back while devoting all his warmth to the kids? Are you living like room mates, without the sweet softness of devoted lovers?read more -
Freud’s Not Dead; He’s Just Really Hard to Find
15 May 2012 | 11:05 amNews of Freud’s death is over-rated. His work lives on in many areas of contemporary research, teaching, and practice. From defense mechanisms to unconscious motivation to the practice of psychotherapy, if you look hard enough, you can find plenty of evidence to support his continued influence in psychology and beyond.read more -
Polanski’s Movie “Carnage” and Personality Types Part II
14 May 2012 | 11:25 pmThis is Part II of my blog on Roman Polanski’s Carnage, starring Kate Winslet, Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly, and Christoph Waltz.read more -
Boredom: The Devil and Divine Discontent
14 May 2012 | 7:29 pmMost of us know what it feels like to be bedeviled by boredom. read more -
Facebook Trends: Women Tend and Men Befriend
14 May 2012 | 1:45 pmMy research has examined how men and women use Facebook and found that they differ in their Facebook use. This research also found differences based on personality.read more
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Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin current issue
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Fertile Green: Green Facilitates Creative Performance
11 May 2012 | 3:03 pmThe present research sought to extend the nascent literature on color and psychological functioning by examining whether perception of the color green facilitates creativity. In four experiments, we demonstrated that a brief glimpse of green prior to a creativity task enhances creative performance. This green effect was observed using both achromatic (white, gray) and chromatic (red, blue) contrast colors that were carefully matched on nonhue properties, and using both picture-based and word-based assessments of creativity. Participants were not aware of the purpose of the experiment, and… -
Suppression Sours Sacrifice: Emotional and Relational Costs of Suppressing Emotions in Romantic Relationships
11 May 2012 | 3:03 pmWhat happens when people suppress their emotions when they sacrifice for a romantic partner? This multimethod study investigates how suppressing emotions during sacrifice shapes affective and relationship outcomes. In Part 1, dating couples came into the laboratory to discuss important romantic relationship sacrifices. Suppressing emotions was associated with emotional costs for the partner discussing his or her sacrifice. In Part 2, couples participated in a 14-day daily experience study. Within-person increases in emotional suppression during daily sacrifice were associated with decreases… -
Your Love Lifts Me Higher! The Energizing Quality of Secure Relationships
11 May 2012 | 3:03 pmThree studies tested and confirmed the hypothesis that secure attachment relationships lead to feelings of security and energy, as well as willingness to explore. In Study 1, priming a secure attachment relationship increased felt security and energy. In Studies 2 and 3, felt energy mediated the effect of (primed) secure attachment relationships on willingness to explore. In Study 3, the effect of (primed) secure attachment relationships on felt energy and willingness to explore was independent of general positive affect. Secure attachments energize partners, thus enabling exploration. -
Low-Effort Thought Promotes Political Conservatism
11 May 2012 | 3:03 pmThe authors test the hypothesis that low-effort thought promotes political conservatism. In Study 1, alcohol intoxication was measured among bar patrons; as blood alcohol level increased, so did political conservatism (controlling for sex, education, and political identification). In Study 2, participants under cognitive load reported more conservative attitudes than their no-load counterparts. In Study 3, time pressure increased participants’ endorsement of conservative terms. In Study 4, participants considering political terms in a cursory manner endorsed conservative terms more than… -
Of Animals and Objects: Men's Implicit Dehumanization of Women and Likelihood of Sexual Aggression
11 May 2012 | 3:03 pmAlthough dehumanizing women and male sexual aggression are theoretically aligned, the present research provides the first direct support for this assumption, using the Implicit Association Test to assess two forms of female dehumanization: animalization and objectification. In Study 1, men who automatically associated women more than men with primitive constructs (e.g., animals, instinct, nature) were more willing to rape and sexually harass women, and to report negative attitudes toward female rape victims. In Study 2, men who automatically associated women with animals (e.g., animals, paw,…
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WordPress.com News
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Stay In The Conversation
15 May 2012 | 6:01 pmIt’s now much easier for you and your commenters to keep track of the conversations you’re involved in across WordPress.com. Some recent tests have shown that by subscribing commenters to new comments by default, they are more likely to stay engaged and come back and comment more on your blog. With that knowledge, we’ve changed the default comment following behavior to help you get more conversations going on your blog. We made the initial changes last week and after great feedback from you we just launched an update. Here’s how it works: By default, posting a comment… -
Look at These Gorgeous Blogs
15 May 2012 | 1:05 pmWe’ve added a user showcase where you can view stunning customizations made by people just like you. From complete redesigns with CSS to adding pizzazz with Custom Fonts to clever use of options like background and header, this showcase will spark your imagination and inspire creativity. Discover details about what each showcase blog is doing with WordPress.com themes and customizations by clicking a thumbnail to see a colophon-style list of credits on the left. We’ve also updated footer links so blog owners can show off the types of customizations they’ve made and visitors can… -
Photo Blogging 101, Part 1
14 May 2012 | 10:00 amSpring is in the air. With the weather warming up, now is a great time to get started on a photo blog. Creating a photo blog is a wonderful introduction to blogging on WordPress.com or an opportunity to refresh your current site. Ready to get started? You can sign up for a new blog right over here. Getting started Photo blogs, sometimes called phlogs, use pictures instead of words. While many photo bloggers choose a type of photo that they want to focus on, such as portraits, others use their photo blog to document their life’s events. Photo blogs come in a variety of styles, including… -
New Themes: Just Desserts and Oxygen
10 May 2012 | 8:11 amHappy Thursday! We’ve added some exciting new themes to our ever-growing collection, and we’re happy to tell you all about them. First out of the oven is…Just Desserts. Yep, that’s a theme! Designed by Andy Rutledge, Just Desserts is a deliciously stylish premium theme that’s perfect for blogs centered on food. With its responsive, single-column layout and unique presentation of images and posts on the front page, Just Desserts gives you a delectable canvas on which your mouthwatering photos and text can really shine — even when viewed on smaller mobile devices… -
Find Friends Who Use WordPress
1 May 2012 | 2:32 pmAre you curious to see how your friends are using WordPress? Give the new and improved Friend Finder a try to connect with your Twitter, Facebook, and Google contacts who have WordPress sites! After authorizing WordPress.com to use your Twitter, Facebook, or Google account to find your friends (don’t worry — none of this account information is saved!) you’ll see a list of people you know who have WordPress sites. Click Follow and each time your friend publishes a new post it will show up in your Reader under Blogs I Follow. If you have multiple blogs, make sure to set the…
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PsyBlog
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How To Encourage People To Change Their Own Minds
9 May 2012 | 10:08 amSelf-persuasion: let people talk themselves around to your point of view. Changing people's minds is hard. We resist having our attitudes adjusted by others, especially when the message isn't directly relevant to us and we aren't paying that much attention. But what if you could get people to change their own minds? People will listen to themselves and will automatically generate arguments that have personal relevance for them. It's not as crazy as it sounds. Actually people are being encouraged to persuade themselves all the time. Here are a few examples: When a parent wants to change a… -
Five Effortless Postures that Foster Creative Thinking
27 Apr 2012 | 4:28 amLiterally sitting outside a box, rather than in it, makes you more creative, according to new psychological research. There are lots of metaphors floating around in creativity. We talk about 'thinking outside the box', 'putting two and two together' and 'seeing both sides of the problem'. But are these only metaphors or can we boost our creativity by taking them literally? We know our minds interact in all sorts of interesting ways with our bodies, so what if we enacted these metaphors physically? That's the question Leung et al. (2012) examine in a new study published in the journal… -
What “The Love Bridge” Tells Us About How Thoughts and Emotions Interact
17 Apr 2012 | 12:11 pmHow much control do you have over your emotions? Have you ever wondered why one person can speak in public without apparent nerves while another crumples under pressure? Or why one elite athlete can shake off their nerves to win Olympic gold while another chokes? Even with ample experience some people never seem to learn to cope with their emotions. A key insight comes from a controversial psychology study carried out on a rickety bridge by Dutton and Aron (1973). The love bridge Men crossing the bridge were approached by an attractive woman who asked them to fill out a survey. The men were… -
Do Posh People Cheat More Than the Lower Classes?
3 Apr 2012 | 12:24 pmWho cheats more: the lower classes to escape poverty or the upper classes because they feel entitled? Imagine two people: one from the upper classes and one from the lower classes. Let's say our lower class individual works in a factory, lives in a small house in an average area and receives a relatively small salary. Our upper class individual, though, has inherited money, lives in a large house in a beautiful area and doesn't need to work for money. Now let's say both these individuals are driving along in their cars (one cheap, one expensive), when they approach a pedestrian crossing… -
Want to Improve Your Attention? Wear a White Coat
30 Mar 2012 | 11:39 amThe power of 'enclothed cognition': how what you wear affects how you think. It's surprising how much simple movements of the body can affect the way we think. Using expansive gestures with open limbs makes us feel more powerful, crossing your arms makes you more persistent and lying down can bring more insights (read more here: 10 Simple Postures That Boost Performance). So if moving the body can have these effects, what about the clothes we wear? We're all well aware of how dressing up in different ways can make us feel more attractive, sporty or professional, depending on the outfit, but…
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Psychology Today Blogs
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500 Francs says language is housed in the frontal lobes!
16 May 2012 | 3:56 amIn 1825, the French physician Jean-Baptiste Bouillaud published a book and a journal article documenting brain-damaged patients who had lesions in their frontal lobes and who'd lost the ability speak, often with no other obvious impairment.read more -
Does Intercourse Hurt? A Guide to Women’s Sexual Pain
15 May 2012 | 10:44 pmMany women suffer sexual pain, chronic genital pain independent of lovemaking, and/or pain during sex. The landmark “Sex In America” survey estimates that sexual pain afflicts 20 percent of American women—15 percent before menopausal, 33 percent after.read more -
Icy Intimacy: A Three Step Solution
15 May 2012 | 10:08 pmDo you find your spouse controlling, but not intimate? Is she too easily angered after sex or avoids it altogether? Does he hold back while devoting all his warmth to the kids? Are you living like room mates, without the sweet softness of devoted lovers?read more -
The Start of a Panic Disorder
15 May 2012 | 9:33 pmThe start of a panic disorder.read more -
Health Anxiety: a scale
15 May 2012 | 8:31 pmIn order to recover from an agoraphobia and panic disorder, only two things need to be learned:read more
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Det intelligenta samhället
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Dags för mer ledighet
15 May 2012 | 9:36 amDet är ju helt fantastiskt med våren här när man får lite klämmdagar här och var. Kändes som att Valborg var igår ungefär och redan nu är det dags att ta ännu några dagar ledigt. Får ledigt både torsdag och fredag nu i veckan så har tänkt att åka till en kompis sommarställe för att hinna mysa lite och träffa goda vänner. Ska bli helt underbart, dessutom så kan man väl hoppas på lite bra väder så att man får vara utomhus lite nu och kanske äntligen börja fira in sommaren och allt härligt som kommer i och med denna. Jag har dock blivit uppdaterad på att det… -
Är våren äntligen här?
1 May 2012 | 9:42 amDet verkar ju faktiskt som att våren äntligen har hittat hit. Jag hoppas att ni andra också fått lite ledigt under Valborg och lyckats få njuta lite av det underbara vädret. Precis som vanligt så kommer solen och värmen precis när jag börjat ge upp. Det var faktiskt bara några dagar sedan jag beställde ett par helt nya stövlar. Så de verkar ju inte som att jag får använda på ett tag nu.:) Men det ska jag väl kunna överleva. Brukar ju dessutom kunna komma ett och ett annat skyfall när man som minst anar det även i dessa tider, så då är jag i alla fall redo för detta. -
En uppdatering!
27 Apr 2012 | 11:22 amHar ju glömt att skriva att jag faktiskt har skaffat mig ett nytt jobb. Gnällde ju lite tidigare här på bloggen om att jag hade tröttnat på det gamla. Så numera jobbar jag på ett nytt företag och än så länge måste jag säga att jag trivs hur bra som helst. Det gör väldigt stor skillnad att man trivs med sina kollegor och det gör jag verkligen. Dem är hur underbara som helst. Igår var det dags för första after worken med jobbet (på en torsdag, jag vet!) och det blev absolut inte sämre efter detta. Det var hur kul som helst och sent blev det definitivt. Så inte alltför… -
I found it!
15 Mar 2012 | 8:47 amNu kan detta inlägg hamna en bit ifrån det intelligenta samhälle som denna blogg egentligen skall handla om. Men tycker att man ibland måste strunta i sådant och bara skriva vad som faller mig in. Därför måste jag berätta att jag ÄNTLIGEN har lyckats hitta ett schampo som jag letat efter hur länge som helst. Lite hjärndött och kanske inte alls intressant tänker ni. Men jag har verkligen letat överallt efter detta av den enkla anledningen att det luktar så sagolikt gott. Hittade det som sagt äntligen på den sidan som jag länkade till här innan. Visste inte ens att man kunde… -
Dags att inreda ny lägenhet!
27 Feb 2012 | 6:16 amSnart flyttar jag som sagt in i nya lägenheten. Så det blir mycket plock med att försöka få allt på plats, bara någon dag kvar nu innan det är dags att flytta in. Ska som sagt bli vansinnigt skönt att äntligen få en större lägenhet. Nu när det börjar närma sig har jag dock kommit fram till att problemet med att flytta till en större lägenhet är att jag även behöver mer möbler och annat för att lyckas fylla upp den nya lägenheten. Tänkte försöka köpa så mycket förvaringsmöbler som möjligt eftersom att jag är så dålig på att hålla koll på mina saker. I min…
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About.com Psychology
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Overcoming Test Anxiety
15 May 2012 | 4:20 amAre you fretting over your final exams or standardized tests? Do you ever feel so nervous during a test that you can't concentrate on the material or even forget the answers to questions? Test anxiety is quite common among students. For some, this might mean dealing with a bad case of "butterflies in the stomach," while other students might even have a full-blown anxiety attack....Read Full Post -
What Can You Do With a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology?
14 May 2012 | 4:15 amWhile earning a graduate degree is required for many psychology jobs, the fact is that approximately 75% of students who earn a bachelor's degree in psychology do not go to graduate school. According to one study, only about 25% of psychology undergraduates end up working in a field that is closely related to their major....Read Full Post -
INTJ - Psychology Definition of the Week
11 May 2012 | 4:05 amDefinition: Do people often describe you as quiet, creative, and analytical? Then you might be an INTJ, one of the 16 different personality types identified by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)...Read Full Post -
Important Dates in Psychology History
10 May 2012 | 3:59 amHermann Ebbinghaus once said, "Psychology has a long past, but a short history." While the foundations of psychology are influenced by both philosophy and physiology, the scientific field of ...Read Full Post -
Does a Sweet Tooth Equal a Sweeter Personality?
9 May 2012 | 4:02 amWould you rather eat your dessert before dinner or maybe even instead of dinner? According to a series of studies published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, people with a "sweet tooth" were rated as more agreeable and willing to help others. While consuming sweets might not be good for your waistline, lead author Brian Meier suggests that positive social behavior and sugary foods might activate the same areas of the brain. "It is striking that helpful and friendly people are considered 'sweet' because taste would seem to have little in common with personality or behavior.
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Books for Work and Organizational Psychology Arena
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The Dynamics of Organizational Collapse
9 May 2012 | 7:00 pmBy Helga Drummond. The collapse of Barings’ Bank was a commercial catastrophe that resonated worldwide, showing what kind of secrets can lie behind an apparently successful organization. Following Nick Leeson’s arrest and subsequent conviction for fraud, investment banks anxiously reviewed their risk management… ISBN: 9780415542708 Published May 09, 2012 by Routledge -
Work Stress and Coping in an Era of Globalization
25 Apr 2012 | 7:00 pmBy Rabi S. Bhagat, James Segovis and Terry Nelson. This book examines the phenomena of how individuals experience work stress and coping in both developed and developing countries in the world. Rabi Bhagat, known for his cross-cultural scholarship in this area, and his co authors, help us recognize the causes and consequences of work stress.… ISBN: 9780805848472 Published Apr 25, 2012 by Routledge Academic -
Personal Relationships
23 Apr 2012 | 7:00 pmEdited by Lillian Turner de Tormes Eby, and Tammy D. Allen. We know that positive, fulfilling and satisfying relationships are strong predictors of life satisfaction, psychological health, and physical well-being. This edited volume uses research and theory on the need to belong as a foundation to explore various types of relationships, with an emphasis on… ISBN: 9780415876476 Published Apr 23, 2012 by Routledge Academic -
The Handbook of Work Analysis
11 Apr 2012 | 7:00 pmEdited by Mark Alan Wilson, Winston Bennett, Jr., Shanan Gwaltney Gibson and George Michael Alliger. This new handbook, with contributions from experts around the world, is the most comprehensive treatise on work design and job analysis practice and research in over 20 years. The handbook, dedicated to Sidney Gael, is the next generation of Gael’s successful Job Analysis Handbook for Business… ISBN: 9781848728707 Published Apr 11, 2012 by Routledge Academic -
The Psychology of Negotiations in the 21st Century Workplace
11 Apr 2012 | 7:00 pmEdited by Barry M. Goldman, and Debra L. Shapiro. The "litigation explosion" in the 21st century workplace means increasing costs and risks of lawsuits. Negotiation appears the attractive alternative to litigation. This new volume, with contributions from experts in psychology, management and other disciplines, bridges the gap between management… ISBN: 9780415871150 Published Apr 11, 2012 by Routledge Academic
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Mind Hacks
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She’s lost control
15 May 2012 | 7:38 amAn article in Slate claims to have detectected a ‘logic hole’ in how much sympathy we feel for people with mental illness as both psychopathy and autism are ‘biological disorders’ that people ‘can’t help’ but we feel quite differently about people affected by them. The ‘logic hole’, however, doesn’t exist because it is based on misunderstanding of the role of neuroscience in understanding behaviour and a caricature of what it means to have ‘no control’ over a condition. Here’s what the article claims: In the piece… -
A look inside digital humanity
11 May 2012 | 7:25 amBBC Radio 4 has just started an excellent series called The Digital Human that looks at how we use technology and how it affects our relationship to the social world. It’s written and presented by psychologist Aleks Krotoski and the first two episodes are already online. The first discusses the tendency to capture and display personal media through sites like Flickr and YouTube but, so far, the stand-out episode has been the second which discusses the presentation of self online and how much control we have over it. I think it’s going to be a six-part series so there should be… -
Sex survey a let down in bed
9 May 2012 | 3:27 pmA ‘saucy sex survey’ has been doing the rounds in the media that claims to be one of the largest studies on the sex lives of UK citizens. Unfortunately, it seems to be a bit of a let down in bed. The study has been carried out by an unholy alliance between one of the country’s most respected relationship counselling charities, Relate, and the Ann Summers chain of sex shops but, sadly, it seems the commercial fluff has won out over the genuine insight. I’m a big fan of Relate. They provide sex and relationship counselling regardless of status, sexuality or income and do… -
How the British missed a trip
8 May 2012 | 8:18 amThe first ever medical report on the effects of magic mushrooms is featured in an article in Current Biology. The excerpt is from a 1799 report entitled ‘On A Poisonous Species of Agaric’ from an issue of The London Medical and Physical Journal. The psychological effects of hallucinogenic, or ‘magic’ mushrooms were first documented in the medical literature in 1799: a forty year-old father of four, JS, collected wild mushrooms in London’s Green Park and cooked them as a stew for breakfast for himself and his four young children. The apothecary Everard Brande described… -
As addictive as cupcakes
7 May 2012 | 6:51 amIf I read the phrase “as addictive as cocaine” one more time I’m going to hit the bottle. Anything that is either overused, pleasurable or has become vaguely associated with the dopamine system is compared to cocaine. In fact, here is a list of things claimed to be as addictive as the illegal nose powder in the popular press: World of Warcraft Power Nicotine Junk food High-Fructose Corn Syrup Ice cream Cannabis Love Gambling Fatty foods Porn Facebook Sugar Cupcakes Running Stories And here is a scientifically verified list of things genuinely addictive as cocaine: Cocaine In…
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Channel N
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Changing Perspective Leads to Happiness
10 May 2012 | 11:00 amPerspective is Everything - Perspective is essential to happiness, says Rory Sutherland. He gives examples of applied perspective and argues that the element of choice is what makes a situation more tolerable. Psychological factors should be added to mechanistic ideas in cost-benefit analyses. Things like train arrival clocks and traffic light timers have improved lives because they address human anxieties. People believe that a company that only sells one type of product is better than a company that sells a wide array of products, which means “Google is as much a psychological success… -
Encouraging Poem
9 May 2012 | 2:31 pmMay My Words Be Your Wings - A young poet performs a poem written for people undergoing emotional turmoil. “You are stronger than your sorrow,” he urges YouTube viewers. Earnest and authentic encouragement for people with mental health issues. -
What Happens When We Laugh
30 Apr 2012 | 8:56 pmLaughter: Love, Joy, and Language - What happens during laughter? It has to do with breathing, as neuroscientist Sophie Scott explains, as well as emotions, and the voice. Studying the mechanisms of laughter, she discovered it’s a social, universal expression not just in humans but even chimpanzees and rats. Brain scans revealed the areas of the brain active during laughter (interestingly, similar to yawning, another socially contagious expression). Her lab also examined polite, posed laughter vs. uncontrollable mirth, and revealed how we tell the difference. -
Funny Friday: Make It Get Better
27 Apr 2012 | 12:00 am“It Gets Better? Ingrid and Desiree” - From The Slope, a comedy web series about “superficial, homophobic lesbians” living in Park Slope, Brooklyn, this episode spoofs the It Gets Better video campaign against bullying and suicide. Serious subjects, It Gets Better has been a massive success with tens of thousands of videos made by people encouraging gay youth to hold on past high school. I’d never seen a spoof video – surely too sensitive a subject? – but this one is right on target. Potentially offensive if you take yourself too seriously, but watch it in… -
The Fantasy Bond
24 Apr 2012 | 5:39 pmThe Fantasy Bond - A presentation about the “fantasy bond,” defined as an illusion of a close relationship with a parent that is replayed later in life with romantic partners. Idealizing partners reinforces negative self-image formed early on. Firestone lists ways it manifests in a relationship, such as withholding emotions, polarizing, denigrating, and/or idealizing partners, and having form instead of substance, not really relating to each other. She describes three states of fantasy involvement, discusses personal differentiation, and looks at types of healthy and unhealthy…
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The Last Psychiatrist
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Are You Mom Enough? The Question Is For What
13 May 2012 | 8:41 amat what age does it become incest? -
Thank God The 'Heart Attack Grill' Is A Great Name; Also, How To Learn French
11 May 2012 | 10:29 amThe Son Of Man will watch over you -
Why We Love Sociopaths
24 Apr 2012 | 10:07 amaccording to this, it's sociopaths that we love -
The Hunger Games Is A Sexist Fairy Tale. Sorry.
10 Apr 2012 | 12:03 amthis isn't going to have a happy ending -
What's Wrong With The Hunger Games Is What No One Noticed
2 Apr 2012 | 9:42 pmguess what happens next
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BPS Research Digest
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Blogging for mental health
16 May 2012 | 4:23 amTo coincide with the Mental Health Month Blog Party organised by the APA, I've collated some highlights from our coverage of mental health issues here at the BPS Research Digest. What is mental illness? In 2010 I reported on a Psychological Medicine editorial that dissected the definition used by the fourth edition of US psychiatry's diagnostic manual. Another post from 2006 explored differences in the way the public and experts view mental disorders. How we conceive of mental illness isn't only of theoretical interest, it can have an impact on people's lives. For example,… -
When are two heads better than one?
16 May 2012 | 2:59 amThe Challenger disaster, the Bay of Pigs fiasco, the botched invasion of Iraq ... all these historical calamities have in common that they've been blamed on dud group decision making. Bang heads together, it seems, and you dull people's minds. And yet there's the almost-magic "Wisdom of Crowds" effect - average people's verdicts together and you'll arrive at a more accurate answer than any one person would have achieved on their own. How to solve this paradox? A new series of intriguing studies by Asher Koriat provides part of the answer, highlighting the roles played by people's confidence… -
The Special Issue Spotter
15 May 2012 | 5:40 amWe trawl the world's journals so you don't have to: Focus on social neuroscience (Nature Neuroscience). Complexities of mild traumatic brain injury and posttraumatic stress disorder (virtual issue of Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society). Spatial neglect and attention (Neuropsychologia). Neuropsychiatric disorders (Trends in Neurosciences). Neuropsychiatric disorders (Trends in Cognitive Sciences). World Autism Awareness Day (virtual special issue from Wiley). Metacognition: computation, neurobiology and function (Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B). Why has the neuroscientific… -
Skilled liars make great lie detectors
14 May 2012 | 4:25 amAbagnale runs a security consultancy Frank Abagnale Jr, the confidence trickster whose escapades inspired the hit film "Catch Me If You Can", later became a security consultant for the FBI. There's intuitive logic to the agency's recruitment strategy - if you want to catch con artists, who better to spot them than a master con artist. But does this logic apply at a more basic level? Do skilled liars really make skilled lie detectors? Surprisingly, psychologists haven't investigated this idea before. Dozens of studies have shown that most people are very poor at detecting lies, and other… -
Be careful when comforting struggling students
11 May 2012 | 3:00 amPrevious research tells us that students who see intelligence and ability as fixed will tend to give up when confronted by a difficult problem, whereas those who see intelligence as growable will persevere. But how do teachers' beliefs about ability affect the way they perceive and respond to their students' performance? A new investigation led by Aneeta Rattan, together with Carol Dweck, the doyenne of this area, and Catherine Good, began by asking 41 undergrads about their beliefs regarding maths ability (e.g. did they agree that "You have a certain amount of math intelligence and…
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SharpBrains
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On Music, Dopamine, and Making Sense of Sound
15 May 2012 | 9:35 amDaniel Levitin, in This Is Your Brain On Music, suggests the following sound experiment. Situate yourself someplace where you can close your eyes and focus on the sounds around you. When you open your eyes, write down each sound you heard and the object that made that sound. If you are in a relatively quiet spot, try this experiment the next time you are in a more sound-rich environment. I began this article while sitting outdoors on an unusually warm day in the suburbs. I heard: rustling of leaves from a squirrel scampering buzz of gardener’s trimming tools roar of an airplane tweets and… -
Agenda @ 2012 SharpBrains Virtual Summit (June 7-14th)
11 May 2012 | 10:08 am82% of respondents to a 2012 SharpBrains survey (n=3,165) agreed/ strongly agreed with “Adults of all ages should take charge of their own “brain fitness” without waiting for their doctors to tell them to,” and 77% agreed/ strongly agreed with “I would personally take a brief assessment every year as an “annual mental check-up.” This growing awareness demands new ways to harness neuroplasticity across the lifespan to optimize health, productivity and quality of life, and highlights market opportunities. Click Here to see… -
Music as Therapy: Music, Movement, Cognition!
10 May 2012 | 2:25 pmThe Sound of Music Whether you realize it or not, you already know a lot when it comes to music. According to Daniel Levitin, former record producer, current neuroscientist, psychologist and author of This Is Your Brain On Music, you know: how your body responds to familiar or specific tunes your brain can differentiate between international rhythms (Latin, Indian, Arabic…) bits and pieces of song lyrics that are memorized specific songs can conjure up memories a song can impact your mood If I hear certain types of music, my body starts moving in synch to the rhythm, and if there are… -
The Next Frontier: Neuroscience, Business and the Arts
9 May 2012 | 10:28 am“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.” — Oh The Places You’ll Go, Dr.Seuss. The space between creativity and entrepreneurship is one of the most exciting areas unfolding in our modern world right now. Although this relationship has been acknowledged by every true entrepreneur for many years, it has taken too long for the correlation between the two areas to be understood, encouraged, and expanded upon in a broader sense. Our entire sense of values has shifted dramatically in the last 20 years. A creative economy… -
New Sponsors @ 2012 SharpBrains Summit: Bracket, Alzheimer’s Research and Prevention Foundation
8 May 2012 | 5:02 pmWe are proud to announce two new Sponsors @ 2012 SharpBrains Virtual Summit: Optimizing Health through Neuroplasticity, Innovation and Data (June 7-14th, 2012): Founded in 2011, Bracket is the union of United BioSource Corporation’s (UBC) Specialty Clinical Services and Clinical Technologies divisions. Bracket is a specialty services provider dedicated to helping pharmaceutical sponsors and contract research organizations achieve greater certainty and accurate outcomes in their clinical trials by seamlessly leveraging science, technology and operational…
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PsychSplash
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What Makes Them Click–The Brain Lady
12 May 2012 | 12:00 pmURL: http://www.whatmakesthemclick.net/Learn how to be able to better communicate and get your thoughts and feelings across with others. For: AnyoneTopics: TeachingFeatures: Advertising, Author Lists, Commentary and Blogs, Information, Links, Productivity Tips, Resources, e-learning From Susan Weinschenk: “If you’ve ever eavesdropped on a conversation in a country where you did not speak the language, you might have been surprised to find yourself following along and picking up the feeling of the conversation even though you didn’t understand any of the words or literal… -
Authentic Happiness
11 May 2012 | 12:00 pmURL: http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/default.aspxAuthentic Happiness is the homepage of Dr. Martin Seligman, Director of the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania and founder of positive psychology, a branch of psychology which focuses on the empirical study of such things as positive emotions, strengths-based character, and healthy institutions. This website has more than 2 million users from around the world, and you are welcome to use all of the resources available here for free. For: Anyone, AnyoneTopics: Teaching, Psycho-educationFeatures: Advertising,… -
Psychotherapy Brown Bag
10 May 2012 | 12:00 pmURL: http://www.psychotherapybrownbag.com/psychotherapy_brown_bag_a/Psychotherapy Brown Bag is an online magazine on the use of science in clinical psychology. Our goal is to facilitate conversations and provide information regarding effective treatments and recent research findings. For: Anyone, Anyone, Clinicians, ResearchersTopics: Teaching, Psycho-education, ADHD, Abnormal, Academia, Addiction, Anger, Anxiety, Aspergers, Attachment, Autism, Behaviour Management, Biological Psychology, Bipolar, Clinical Psychology, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Counselling, Depression, Diagnosis, Eating… -
The National Association for Males with Eating Disorders (NAMED)
3 May 2012 | 12:00 pmURL: http://www.namedinc.org/Established in 2006, N.A.M.E.D. is the only organization in the United States exclusively dedicated to representing and providing support to males with eating disorders. With a lack of attention, research, support, and prevention directed to boys and men with eating disorders, N.A.M.E.D. plays a vital role in filling this gap by offering information and resources about and support to this underrepresented population and their families. N.A.M.E.D.’s vision is to become a clearinghouse of information on the subject, thereby, becoming a valuable central source… -
Fenichel’s Current Topics In Psychology
2 May 2012 | 12:00 pmURL: http://www.fenichel.com/Current.shtmlThis site provides useful general references for both professionals and the general public. It is not intended as a substitute for individualized professional evaluation or treatment. There are many good resources here, including information, support groups, and clinical treatment providers. For: Anyone, Anyone, Clinicians, Researchers, Anyone, Consumers, AnyoneTopics: Teaching, Psycho-education, ADHD, Abnormal, Academia, Addiction, Anger, Anxiety, Aspergers, Attachment, Autism, Behaviour Management, Biological Psychology, Bipolar, Clinical…
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Dr. Deb
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Living with Depression Book Giveaway
14 May 2012 | 4:31 pmIn honor of May as Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm hosting a "Living with Depression" book giveaway at Goodreads.com. Go check it out! Goodreads Book Giveaway Living with Depression by Deborah Serani Giveaway ends May 20, 2012. See the giveaway details at Goodreads. Enter to win -
May is Mental Health Awareness Month
1 May 2012 | 6:00 amMay is Mental Health Awareness Month. The designation of Mental Health Awareness Month was created more than 60 years ago by Mental Health America to raise awareness about mental health conditions and the importance of mental wellness and promoting good mental health for all. During Mental Health Awareness Month professionals, organizations, schools, communities, hospitals and even media outlets will join together in an effort to raise the awareness about mental health and attempt to decrease the stigma that prevents people from getting the help they need. If you have a… -
Book of the Year Awards: Living with Depression
17 Apr 2012 | 9:01 amForeWord Magazine announced its list of 2011 Book of the Year Awards, and "Living with Depression" was named a finalist in the Psychology category. I'm so thrilled.ForeWord's Book of the Year Awards program was designed for booksellers and librarians to share in the process of discovering distinctive books across a number of genres with judgments based on their own authority and on patron interests. After months of winnowing down the award finalists' list, the editors at ForeWord are confident in their selections, and our judges agree, saying this year's titles are the… -
Top 5 Regrets of the Dying
7 Apr 2012 | 5:53 pmAuthor, Bronnie Ware, took her experiences working with dying patients and wrote a beautiful book called The Top Five Regrets of the Dying. The wisdom she imparts from helping people die with dignity is inspiring, poignant and apt to make you think twice about how you are leading your own life.Here is an excerpt of the Top Five Regrets:1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me."This was the most common regret of all. When people realise that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how… -
Overcoming Depression Interview at HealthyPlace.com
15 Mar 2012 | 11:06 amHealthyPlace Mental Health TV Show. Depression information here.Many thanks to host, Gary Koplin, for a great television interview on America's Mental Health Channel: Healthy PlaceHealthyPlace.com is the largest consumer mental health site, providing comprehensive, trusted information on psychological disorders and psychiatric medications from both a consumer and expert point of view. The website is an active mental health social network for support, online psychological tests, breaking mental health news, mental health videos, a live mental health TV and radio show, unique tools like a "mood…
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ScienceDaily: Psychology News
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This is your brain on sugar: Study in rats shows high-fructose diet sabotages learning, memory
15 May 2012 | 2:09 pmA new study is the first to show how a diet steadily high in fructose slows the brain, hampering memory and learning -- and how omega-3 fatty acids can minimize the damage. -
Chronic child abuse strong indicator of negative adult experiences
15 May 2012 | 12:13 pmChild abuse or neglect are strong predictors of major health and emotional problems, but little is known about how the chronicity of the maltreatment may increase future harm apart from other risk factors in a child’s life. Scientist have now taken a closer look at how chronic maltreatment has impacted the future health and behavior of children and adults. -
Mice with big brains provide insight into brain regeneration and developmental disorders
15 May 2012 | 8:41 amScientists have discovered that mice that lack a gene called Snf2l have brains that are 35 percent larger than normal. The research could lead to new approaches to stimulate brain regeneration and may provide important insight into developmental disorders such as autism and Rett syndrome. -
Looks matter more than reputation when it comes to trusting people with our money
15 May 2012 | 8:41 amOur decisions to trust people with our money are based more on how they look then how they behave, according to new research. -
Female terrorists' bios belie stereotypes, study finds
15 May 2012 | 8:39 amMuch like their male counterparts, female terrorists are likely to be educated, employed and native residents of the country where they commit a terrorist act, according to new research.
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Sports Are 80 Percent Mental
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NBA Fans Hurt Their Home Team's Free Throws
25 Apr 2012 | 10:25 pmAsk any NBA player or coach where they would prefer to play a high stakes game, home or away, and the vast majority will choose being in the friendly confines of their home arena. Overall, the win-loss records of most teams would support that, but they would do even better if they taught their home fans a lesson in performance psychology. When it comes to sports skills, research has shown that we’re better off to just do it rather than consciously thinking about the mechanics of each sub-component of the move. Waiting for a pitch, standing over a putt or stepping up to the free… -
A Better Way To Evaluate NFL QB Draft Prospects?
7 Apr 2012 | 7:36 pmAndrew Luck - Robert Griffin III Your favorite NFL team breaks the huddle for the first time in 2012 and your shiny, new first-round draft pick quarterback comes to the line. As he peers out over the defense, everyone, from the general manager to the fans, is confident they chose the right player in the NFL draft because of his dead-on answer to this question, “A train travels 20 feet in one-fifth of a second. At this same speed, how many feet will it travel in 3 seconds?” Although he struggled with the next question, “What is the ninth month of the year?”, his overall… -
Daniel Wolpert On Why You Have A Brain
31 Mar 2012 | 8:35 pmDaniel Wolpert is absolutely certain about one thing. “We have a brain for one reason and one reason only, and that’s to produce adaptable and complex movements,” stated Wolpert, Director of the Computational and Biological Learning Lab at the University of Cambridge. “Movement is the only way you have of affecting the world around you.” After that assertive opening to his 2011 TED Talk, he reported that, despite this important purpose, we have a long way to go in understanding of how exactly the brain controls our movements. Daniel Wolpert The evidence for this is… -
Michel Bruyninckx Trains Soccer Brains
22 Jan 2012 | 6:22 pmMichel Bruyninckx When describing what’s wrong with today’s youth soccer coaching, Michel Bruyninckx points to his head. “We need to stop thinking football is only a matter of the body,” the 59-year old Belgian Uefa A license coach and Standard Liège academy director recently told the BBC. “Skillfulness will only grow if we better understand the mental part of developing a player. Cognitive readiness, improved perception, better mastering of time and space in combination with perfect motor functioning.” We’re not talking about dribbling around orange cones here. -
"Quiet Eye" Can Help A Surgeon's Patients And Golf Game
13 Dec 2011 | 2:33 pmSurgeons now have a really good excuse to be out on the golf course. Researchers have shown that the same training technique that will improve their putting can also improve their operating skills. Dr Samuel Vine and Dr Mark Wilson, from Sport and Health Sciences at the University of Exeter, tested both elite golfers and surgical residents in two separate experiments using the gaze control technique known as the “Quiet Eye.” First, they divided 22 elite golfers, (handicaps less than 6), into two groups after their baseline putting performance was measured. The control…
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Herd - the hidden truth about who we are
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Decision making landscape - towards a better map
4 May 2012 | 7:21 amIn a recent post about what BE is missing, I referred to this Crawford chart that I feel captures the individualist model clearly: it places individuals - like a Ptolemaic Earth - at the heart of things. The alternative is not a Copernican one - shifting the focus from one planet/individual to another while retaining the structure of concentric circles around the focal point. No, a better conceptual map would be more like this: a repeated pattern of Crawford's individual circles or a series of interacting individual balls: And most importantly of all, a dynamic pattern - one that… -
"All that matters in the end...
26 Apr 2012 | 6:27 am...is other people". That's what the priest said at my mother's funeral, two years ago this week. Today I'm off to another funeral (second one this week). Our dear friend John Cronk died on 12th April in the Royal Marsden. Although he'd been ill for a while, it still seems like a ghastly adminstrative mistake. A real friend, through thick and thin. A genuine 'mensch' who made our lives better just by being part of them. I'll post the professional appreciation I've done for him at a later date.= but today, just do this for me: whatever else you're… -
Blinded by the technolight
23 Apr 2012 | 7:34 amAs if by magic: Tom's cartoon explores the underlying technophilia which dogs marekting and policy-making too much. Brain porn or Digital Everything - it's all technophilia, I'm afraid -
Neuroscientism and neuroporn (updated)
23 Apr 2012 | 6:15 amAm feeling for Jonah Lehrer this weekend, following Steven Poole's review of his latest book, Imagine - How Creativity Work in the Guardian. I've met Jonah a couple of times and read his work frequently and - as is often the case - feel for the real person I've construed in my head. Unflattering reviews are never pleasant to receive (I've had a few in my time and much as I'd like to pretend they don't hurt, they genuinely do) but at the heart of this one is a critique that I have a lot of sympathy with, if it's true - namely Imagine's overwhelming… -
Habit and the HERD (I)
20 Apr 2012 | 7:06 amAm ploughing my way through Charles Duhigg's new book on Habits at the moment and - the basic point about habits and our tendency default to low-level cognitive activity aside - am finding it all rather disappointingly and over familiar territory. Not just in terms of the overkill of neuro-cartography ("we know that this is important because there's something going on in the brain here...") but in terms of the ideas of habits being shaped by rewards and repetition (in what way is this not classical conditioning?). Add to that the lionising of dead Mad Men and their…
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e! Science News - Psychology & Sociology
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People see sexy pictures of women as objects, not people
15 May 2012 | 1:31 pmPerfume ads, beer billboards, movie posters: everywhere you look, women's sexualized bodies are on display. A new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, finds that both men and women see images of sexy women's bodies as objects, while they see sexy-looking men as people. read more -
Female terrorists' bios belie stereotypes, study finds
15 May 2012 | 10:22 amMuch like their male counterparts, female terrorists are likely to be educated, employed and native residents of the country where they commit a terrorist act, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association. read more -
Research: Too much, too little noise turns off consumers, creativity
14 May 2012 | 2:32 pmThe sound of silence isn't so golden for consumers, and both marketers and advertisers should take note, says new research from a University of Illinois expert in new product development and marketing. read more -
Pay-to-play sports keeping lower-income kids out of the game
14 May 2012 | 11:35 amIn an era of tight funding, school districts across the country are cutting their athletic budgets. Many schools are implementing athletic participation fees to cover the cost of school sports. But those fees have forced kids in lower-income families to the sidelines, according to a new poll that found nearly one in five lower-income parents report their children are participating less in school sports. read more -
Urban landscape's power to hurt or heal
14 May 2012 | 11:34 amResearch shows that street furniture, barriers, parks, public spaces and neighbourhood architecture can stir up powerful emotions in local residents. This should be taken into account in programmes designed to reduce tensions and foster community cohesion. read more
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I Choose Change
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Change Challenge 52: Week 13
9 May 2012 | 11:29 amWeek 13′s Change Challenge: Be More Present photo from Family Values Club I read a blog entry recently about the message we send our kids when we are constantly on our smart phones. The message rings loud and clear in our children’s subconscious minds, as we constantly check Facebook or e-mail, that they don’t matter as much as this little device in our hands. The premise of the blog hit home as I am that parent. My iPhone is addicting, this constant flow of information and communication fuels my unhealthy desire to find significance in what I do and how well I do it. -
Early Learning Matters (Part 10)
3 May 2012 | 3:40 pmI may have [purposely] created a pretty bleak picture in my last post, Momma Trauma: “We all face issues from childhood that ‘mess us up.’” “When a child enters into adulthood without the foundation of this secure base (otherwise known as a “secure attachment”) there are many, many problems that surface in their relationships.” “How you manage friendships, intimate relationships, work relationships, sibling relationships, parental relationships – all relationships! – are a direct result of what was encoded early on – what was taught.”… -
Change Challenge 52: Week 12
2 May 2012 | 10:05 amWeek 12′s Challenge: Have some TEA photo from The Times of India This month we will turn it to I Choose Change’s director and founder, Jennifer M. Ryan, M.Ed, LPC-S. She has written a great, wonderful, amazing series titled “How People Change” on I Choose Change’s blog. The theme for the month of May is “Growth”, and I automatically thought of “Change” as the main component of personal growth. If you’ve been to counseling at I Choose Change, you”ll know that the theories that we use in our counseling sessions are… -
The Things of Which We Do Not Speak
2 May 2012 | 7:47 amI often like to use movies I’ve seen to drive home a point I’m making in my therapy sessions. Four movies come up again and again, and for specific reasons. (WARNING: The movie descriptions below MIGHT be spoilers, AND some clips are rated R! Proceed with caution.) They are: The Ring This is a scary movie, no doubt about it. But it’s not scary just because there’s a dead zombie girl haunting innocent people when they “activate” her by watching a VHS tape. The girl was hoisted into a well as a young girl and left there to die by her abusive mother. -
Change Challenge 52: April’s Change Evolution
1 May 2012 | 10:55 amphoto from Life Coach Mark Anthony’s website Rebirth and Renewing Your Spirit Change Evolution Here is your opportunity to enter to win a $25 Amazon.com gift card! Anyone who participated in the April Change Challenges is eligible, even if you were too shy to post. Post your personal evolution of change in just a few sentences by midnight, May 8th. How did your work on April’s weekly challenges help you grow in the area of changing your understanding of yourself, your story and your personal impact in the world? Thank you for joining us on this journey! It has been a joy…
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Tri-City Psychology Services
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Peak risk about 16 years old for teens misusing prescription drugs
15 May 2012 | 11:32 amThe peak risk for misusing prescription pain relievers occurs in mid-adolescence, specifically about 16 years old and earlier than many experts thought, according to a new study by Michigan State University researchers.The results, based on recent nationwide surveys of nearly 120,000 U.S. adolescents, suggest prevention programs may need to be introduced earlier, in childhood and early adolescence, said James C. Anthony of MSU’s Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics.Recent trends show clinicians and public health professionals are prescribing more pain relievers, and research… -
Low-cost test may screen for autism
1 May 2012 | 1:33 pmWhen children with autism were randomly compared with typically developing children or children with other developmental disorders, biomarkers correctly identified more than thirty percent of autistic children without incorrectly identifying a single non-autistic child. Image: istockphotoAutism is difficult to diagnose because of a lack of specific biological markers and a variability of symptoms, ranging from mild in some individuals to severely disabling in others.Now a team of University of Washington and Battelle scientists have identified metabolites in urine that could potentially… -
Blueberries and strawberries could slow cognitive decline
26 Apr 2012 | 6:38 pmThe flavanoids in strawberries and blueberries could help delay dementia. EPA/Bilawal ArbabPeople who eat greater amounts of blueberries and strawberries could delay their cognitive ageing by years, according to data from a large-scale study conducted over more than three decades.In a paper published in the journal Annals of Neurology, German and US researchers report that cognitive decline could be delayed by up to 2½ years in elderly people who eat more of the flavonoid-rich berries.Flavonoids are compounds found in fruits, nuts and vegetables that have been linked to disease prevention… -
Anti-Depressants Likely Do More Harm Than Good
24 Apr 2012 | 6:09 pmCommonly prescribed anti-depressants appear to be doing patients more harm than good, say researchers who have published a paper examining the impact of the medications on the entire body. “It’s important because millions of people are prescribed anti-depressants each year, and the conventional wisdom about these drugs is that they’re safe and effective.” “We need to be much more cautious about the widespread use of these drugs,” says Paul Andrews, an evolutionary biologist at McMaster University and lead author of the article, published today in the online journal Frontiers… -
First blood test to diagnose teen depression
20 Apr 2012 | 1:50 pmA new blood test diagnoses major depression in teens—an approach that offers an objective diagnosis by measuring a specific set of genetic markers.The current method of diagnosing depression is subjective. It relies on the patient’s ability to recount his or her symptoms and the physician’s ability and training to interpret them.Diagnosing teens is an urgent concern because they are highly vulnerable to depression and difficult to accurately diagnose due to normal mood changes during this age period.The test also is the first to identify subtypes of depression. It distinguished between…
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Neuro-Linguistic Programming | NLP | Sales Training Techniques
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Assertive versus Aggressive: Which Side are You On?
9 May 2012 | 1:06 pmLearning to behave more assertively is an important part of being successful in life. Whether your newfound assertive behaviors enable you to push for that big salary raise you’ve deserved for years or simply to command more respect from your peers and colleagues, identifying and modeling assertive behaviors is a great way to improve your [...] -
Affirmations: BS or Valuable Personal Development Technique?
1 May 2012 | 1:06 pmIf you’ve read my past posts, you know I think that the “Law of Attraction” – by itself – is pretty much bogus. I mean, really – you can sit around on the couch all day, wishing and hoping for a fit body, a million dollars and a supermodel girlfriend. But until you actually take [...] -
Fake it ‘Til You Make it: How to Convince Others You’re Confident
26 Apr 2012 | 10:13 amAre you frustrated by feelings of low self-esteem, inadequacy and shyness? Do you struggle seeing “naturally” confident people and wish that – just once – you could feel like they do throughout your daily life? Well get over yourself! Really, there are very few people in the world who are born confident. For the rest [...] -
3 Techniques That’ll Get You a Date
24 Apr 2012 | 10:12 amIn today’s ultra-connected society, getting a date just isn’t as easy as it used to be! Pick up lines are overplayed, while the constant stream of information provided by popular dating websites makes screening potential partners easier than ever. So if you’re struggling to find love in this frustrating situation, consider the following NLP techniques: [...] -
3 Proven Negotiation Tactics to Control Salary Negotiations
19 Apr 2012 | 8:05 amNo one really *likes* salary negotiations, but the truth is, these five minutes of your time – when executed correctly – can have a tremendous impact on the strength and stability of your financial life over time. Here’s why… Suppose you’re interviewing for a mid-level engineering position and have been offered a low salary of [...]
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Brain Blogger
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Intelligence – Do You Need it to be Successful?
13 May 2012 | 7:00 amAs early as 1976, the Carnegie Institute of Technology presented a study that attributed 85% of financial success to human engineering skills, namely, self-management and relationship-management, rather than intrinsic or hereditary qualities such as IQ and analytical abilities. Over the last decade, popular culture has embraced the notion of emotional intelligence as a set of skills central to achieving happiness and attaining personal goals. However, popular belief seldom associates emotional intelligence with success in business; it is most often assumed to be connected to success in… -
A Trip for Terminal Patients
10 May 2012 | 7:00 amFor patients diagnosed with a terminal illness, the end of their physical days can be wrought with anxiety, depression, and fear. Now, these patients may have more options for relieving this emotional stress, and it falls somewhere in between Nancy Reagan (“Just Say No!”) and Timothy Leary (“the most dangerous man in America” per Richard Nixon).Sixty years ago, research into the effects of psychedelic drugs was accepted — and, dare I say, frequent — among certain institutions and researchers. But, with the rise in the recreational use of drugs and the… -
Memory Ain’t What It Used to Be – And That’s Good for Psychotherapy
7 May 2012 | 6:59 amNew insights into memory are helping to explain treatments for serious problems, and guide us to making them better. Many psychotherapies use the one-two punch of targeting (focusing on a memory or other source of anxiety, flash backs, or related symptoms) and state change (the best-known being relaxation, as in systematic desensitization, and bilateral stimulation in EMDR). Now, researchers are exploring other ways to accomplish this, and they are being guided by new insights into how memory works.The theory in play is that memories are more vulnerable to change when they are brought to… -
The Science of Stuttering
3 May 2012 | 7:00 amA holistic examination of the condition of stuttering, particularly in young children, lends itself naturally to the science of psychology rather than biology. Stuttering is increasingly becoming recognised not as an isolated condition specific to those with an unfortunate genetic heritage but a deep psychological response to an increasingly alienated world. Stuttering affects 68 million people worldwide, with children between 3 and 8 years of age accounting for over 80% of these people. A child is incredibly sensitive and receptive to social stimulus, particularly from birth and during… -
Are Your Friends Making You Fat?
30 Apr 2012 | 7:00 amMany factors contribute to the epidemic of overweight and obesity, but new research suggests that other people’s eating habits could be influencing your food intake more than you realize.The study, published online by PLoS One, examined the eating habits of 70 pairs of female strangers sharing dinner in a lab setting made to look like a restaurant. The authors observed the meal and assigned codes to each bite taken, noting whether it was within 5 seconds of the other woman’s bite. (“Mimicked bites” were those that were taken within 5 seconds of each other, and “nonmimicked bites”…
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World of Psychology
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Is Comfort Food Causing Your Depression?
15 May 2012 | 2:45 pmThis guest article from YourTango was written by Nicole Burley. Well, it’s official. There is now absolutely zero reason to be eating fast food whatsoever! For those of you who always knew that fast food wasn’t healthy but ate it anyway because it made you feel happy, I have some unfortunate news. A recently published study in the Journal Of Public Health Nutrition showed that people who ate hot dogs, hamburgers, and pizza were 51% more likely to suffer from depression than those who rarely or never ate the stuff. Yikes! Do you get what that means? It means that your Happy Meal… -
Introducing Sorting Out Your Life
15 May 2012 | 10:15 amWe all face problems and difficulties in our lives. What often differentiates a person from being able to cope with the challenge or not is understanding what’s really going on. Why did we overreact to that comment from our boss? Why can’t we let that painful end of a relationship go 5 years later? Sometimes gaining perspective and psychological insight means looking beyond the surface, and digging a little deeper. And we hope that our new blog, Sorting Out Your Life, will help you do just that. This blog will be focused on helping people sort out their lives. Blog topics may include tips… -
Best of Our Blogs: May 15, 2012
15 May 2012 | 5:30 amA lot of suffering comes from things we don’t have control over. It’s all that worrying about the state of our health, our normalcy, our lack. Spend a minute listening to your thoughts and you might even hear it. How many times have I caught myself worrying about the weather, or whether I offended a friend, or over the potential of negative outcomes (bad health/career/relationship)? Too many. You can get sucked into the things you will never be able to control or you can stop that tape, focus on what you can control and get on with your life. This week you’ll read about the… -
An Epidemic of Mental Disorders?
14 May 2012 | 2:35 pmEvery month, I run across a newspaper or online article about how such-and-such mental disorder is an “epidemic.” I can rattle off the disorders that have been paired with this word so far this year — bipolar disorder in children, ADHD, depression and anxiety, a lesser form of schizophrenia… and the list goes on. In fact, it makes me wonder whether there’s really any journalism done any more, or if it’s just, “Let’s pair one expert’s opinion with the word ‘epidemic,’ and there’s our story!” The problem with a word… -
The Moment I Knew I Was Depressed
14 May 2012 | 10:29 amI have stopped describing what depression feels like to the person with no experience of this “black dog,” as Winston Churchill called it, or even an occasional bout of melancholy, because my inability to express the physical and mental deterioration, the frustration at trying to articulate my madness, tends to make my black dog growl and attack strangers. I agree with the ever-wise William Styron who wrote in his classic, Darkness Visible: Depression is a disorder of mood, so mysteriously painful and elusive in the way it becomes known to the self — to the mediating…
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idle thoughts
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Letter on Jacoby's Criticism of Obama
30 Apr 2012 | 6:00 amLetter in Boston Globe -
Liberty Mutual
19 Apr 2012 | 5:55 amMr. Syre is quite correct, the policy holders and owners of LibertyMutual are quite powerless to affect the fate of the Company (TedKelly's pay shocking on several levels, Boston Globe, April 13, 2012).Several years ago in 2002, with no compensation to policy holders andowners, the Company adopted a byzantine legal and organizationalstructure that seems to have allowed the Board to spend freely withlittle or no accountability! * The lines of insurance are provided by three companies which arewholly owned subsidiaries of Liberty Mutual Group, Inc.. * Liberty Mutual Group… -
Draw Down Oil Reserves
1 Apr 2012 | 3:44 pmSo the US and Europe are considering releasing oil from the strategic reserve in order to cut gas prices (Global Agreement Said to Be Near on Drawing From Oil Reserves. New York Times, March 30, 2012: B1, B6).To do this would be sheer madness!If gas prices were at European levels -- due to high taxation -- there might be a weak case for doing so.But look at the purpose of the reserve: it is to ensure that the US will have sufficient oil if there is a constriction in overseas supply. If the Straits of Hormuz are closed so that imports from the middle east dry up, then that is the time to… -
Responses to Questions the Justices Asked about Obamacare
29 Mar 2012 | 3:40 pmMemo to Justice Kennedy who asked: "Can you create commerce in order to regulate it?"Interstate commerce exists when uninsured New Hampshire residents, living the State's motto "Live Free or Die," go to emergency rooms in Massachusetts hospitals.Memo to Justice Scalia: who asked why people should have to pay for maternal care or pediatric care if they did not intend to use it?Everyone in the courtroom received pediatric care; everyone in the courtroom's mother received maternal care. Our generation has not been very good at ensuring inter-generational equity. We need to pay forward… -
Death by Order of your President
28 Mar 2012 | 3:35 pmt is very rarely that I agree with John Sununu. Today he has it exactly right (Boston Globe, March 19, 2012: A11)!To attack and kill American citizens is an outrage. Even if these people are giving aid and comfort to our enemies, it is not acceptable to kill them without due, judicial process.I am very much afraid that Obama's Justice Department has suffered cognitive capture by President Bush's Justice Department. The ideas and values that were inculcated in the Department by that disastrousadministration have continued to the present day. The whole idea of checks and balances in…
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School Psychology Blog
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Deborah is featured in Good Health Magazine
5 May 2012 | 5:03 amDeborah talked to Good Health Magazine in December 2011 about the importance of knowing your children’s friends. Check out the full article here in Good Health Magazine. -
Deborah talked to Practical Parenting Magazine
5 May 2012 | 5:03 amDeborah talked to Practical Parenting Magazine in February 2012 about starting school. Check out the full article: Deborah Jepsen talks to Practical Parenting_Feb 2012 Check out the magazine website here. -
Dr Christina Tuke Flanders joins us!
2 May 2012 | 5:37 amDr Christina Tuke Flanders We are very privileged to have Dr Christina Tuke Flanders join the team in April, 2012. Christina has a doctorate in Child, Educational and Community Psychology. She is also a qualified teacher and has worked in schools and the National Health Service in the UK. Christina is friendly and engaging and is quickly becoming a highly valued member of the team at SPS. Her attention to detail and depth of analysis is remarkable. Main areas of focus: Assessment and diagnosis of learning difficulties such as dyslexia Assessment and diagnosis of ASD (in conjunction with a… -
Clare Ivens Joins the Team
2 May 2012 | 2:59 amClare Ivens Clare has joined School Psychology Services on a part-time basis while she continues her full-time role as a School Psychologist. Clare is seeing one or two clients per week and will occasionally run specialised programs on a Saturday. Clare explains why she loves working with children: I love working with children and teenagers because I appreciate that life can sometimes feel like you are on a rollercoaster blindfolded! Counselling can provide a young person with support, coping skills and insight to help them manage the ups and downs, gain a sense of control and foster an… -
Kristina Armstrong joins the team at School Psychology Services
2 May 2012 | 2:52 amKristina Armstrong Kristina joined the team in September, 2011. She is energetic and caring and loves working with children and adolescents. When asked why she likes working with kids, her response was, “My main focus is to assist and support children in the development of their ‘self’ – their self-esteem, self-confidence, self-concept and resilience. The rest follows!” Krissie works four days a week at School Psychology Services and enjoys a mid-week break when she works on the Mornington Peninsula and visits her family. Main areas of focus: Assisting…
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Teaching High School Psychology
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More on using Radiolab in psych classes
12 May 2012 | 6:41 amIt's no secret that we here at the blog are big fans of the Radiolab podcast - we've posted about it previously here, here, here, here, here, here and here. So I was delighted to read a Radiolab post on the AP Psych listserv today from teacher Kim Freund, who teaches just down the road from me (Steve) in Greensboro, NC. I'm posting below Kim's message describing what episodes she uses in her class: My kids took their class evaluation yesterday and by far the most popular thing we did this year was to listen to different Radiolab clips. The kids love it... it's a little goofy, but REALLY… -
Summer Reading and DVDs for Next Year (Schallhorn 2012 Edition)
10 May 2012 | 9:43 pmIt's that time of year when we are thinking about assigning summer reading for ourselves and our kids and getting ready for next year. Below are some resources that I have either seen and/or read. I make these recommendations since I have positive personal experience with each one. I am certainly not saying that these are the only good resources out there, they are only a list of items on my bookshelf--that I can see/recall. I have many more. Each link below takes you to the Amazon.com site where you can order the books immediately should you wish. (note: As I… -
Last minute AP mnemonics
6 May 2012 | 9:41 amThis was created by a student in Maria Vita's class. (Twitter: @MariaVita1) Here are some student and teacher-created mnemonics that may work great for a last-minute review for your AP Psych students. From my perspective, some of them are awesome and some not so, but that's always true of mnemonics. Check out the mnemonics here: http://tsappsych.blogspot.com/2012/04/add-on-to-list-of-mnemonic-devices.html Also, one final reminder about using #appsychreview on Twitter - please encourage your students to post questions they have, but please DO NO encourage them to post questions that… -
Putting the AP Test in Perspective
4 May 2012 | 12:49 pmChuck Schallhorn sent a great email to the AP Psychology email listserve, and I thought it might be appropriate to post it here too (with some additions of my own). Chuck was responding to a teacher who was very concerned about her students' scores, because they didn't perform well on an FRQ practice item, and she is judged by her school based on student AP scores. I liked Chuck's emphasis on what is truly important about all our classes: Student learning. We do this gig because we think that learning psychological knowledge and the skill of "thinking like a psychologist" are useful for… -
Another great TED talk!
4 May 2012 | 4:15 amI always teach sensation and perception at the end of the school year. With so many cool activities and demonstrations, it keeps the students engaged and busy. A friend sent me a link to this TED talk, “Michael Shermer on Strange Beliefs.” This is a great clip to use when discussing top-down processing and/or perceptual set. "Why do people see the Virgin Mary on a cheese sandwich or hear demonic lyrics in "Stairway to Heaven"? Using video and music, skeptic Michael Shermer shows how we convince ourselves to believe -- and overlook the facts. Michael…
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Advances in the History of Psychology
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New Issue! History of Psychology
14 May 2012 | 7:24 pmThe May 2012 issue of History of Psychology is now online. Included in this issue are a number of all new articles, including pieces on the history of postpartum depression, a late-nineteenth century nerve training controversy, and the use of psychology by American ministers in the mid-twentieth century. Other items in this issue include an interview with Philip Zimbardo on the 40th anniversary of the Stanford Prison Experiment, the incorporation of cross-cultural examples in teaching, and a look back at the Holocaust interviews conducted by psychologist David Boder in the 1940s. -
Situating Science Podcasts: Rose & Borck
13 May 2012 | 12:10 amAHP’s readers may be interested in some of the podcasts recently made available by Situating Science. Situating Science is a seven year project funded the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada’s Strategic Knowledge Cluster grant in order to promote “communication and collaboration among humanists and social scientists that are engaged in the study of science and technology.” While there are a number of talks from Situating Science’s Trust in Science and Trust in the New Sciences series available online, two in particular may be of especial… -
New Hist. Psych. Discipl. Talks: Vidal & Mülberger
12 May 2012 | 11:49 amAs discussed previously on AHP (here, here, here, and here) the British Psychological Society’s History of Psychology Centre, in conjunction with UCL’s Centre for the History of the Psychological Disciplines, has organized an ongoing seminar series. The latest additions to the series’s lineup include upcoming talks by Fernando Vidal (right) and Annette Mülberger. On May 17th, Vidal will be speaking on “The Brains of Cinema and the Brains of Science” and on June 6th Mülberger will be speaking on “The Dangerous Path of Practical Psychometry.” Full… -
New! Special Issue History of the Human Sciences
4 May 2012 | 3:49 pmThe April 2012 issue of History of the Human Sciences is now online. This month’s issue is a special issue, guest edited by Elizabeth Valentine, on the topic of parapsychology, occultism, and spiritualism. The eight all new articles in the issue explore the history of psychology’s relationship to spiritualism and other occult matters across the globe; most specifically in the Netherlands, the United States of America, Germany, Britain, France, Spain, Hungary, and Japan. (Pictured above is medium Eusapia Palladino, the subject of one of the issues articles, in a seance in 1898.)… -
New JHBS! James, Mead, & Peace Psych
3 May 2012 | 10:06 amThe Spring 2012 issue of the Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences is now online. Included in this issue are articles on the history of peace psychology, the importance of mind cure for William James, and George Herbert Mead’s (left) development of his social psychology. Full titles, authors, and abstracts follow below. “Finding Patrons for Peace Psychology: The Foundations of the Conflict Resolution Movement at the University of Michigan, 1951–1971,” by Teresa Tomás Rangil. No abstract provided. “Interpreting “Mind-Cure”: William James and the…
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Denying AIDS and other oddities
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Death by Denial: Maria Papagiannidou dies of AIDS
19 Apr 2012 | 3:44 pm"It is said that a cure for 'AIDS' cannot be found, but I was 'HIV-positive' for 10 years, had full-blown 'AIDS' for another 12 years and have now become perfectly fine again without any doctor's intervention or medication."Maria PapagiannidouWord has spread that Maria Papagiannidou has died. She became hooked into AIDS Denialism and paraded about by her pals at The Rethinking AIDS Society. She gained media attention in her home country of Greece when she proclaimed AIDS was a myth. She chronicled her denial in her book Goodbye AIDS! Did you ever exist?Ms. Papagiannidou is the most… -
AIDS Denialist Marco Ruggiero: Destined for a Duesbergian Career
19 Mar 2012 | 1:53 pmInquiry launched over AIDS contrarian's teachingAcademic freedom should not be misused to spread theories that opponents say lack scientific evidence.Zoë Corbyn Nature News 19 March 2012The University of Florence has launched an inquiry into the teaching activities of an academic who assisted on a course that denies the causal link between HIV and AIDS, and supervised students with dissertations on the same topic.The Italian university's internal 'special commission' will examine the "teaching behaviour and responsibility" of molecular biologist Marco Ruggiero, a university… -
Death by denial: The campaigners who continue to deny HIV causes Aids
21 Feb 2012 | 10:21 amAs each of their followers dies, those who campaign against HIV treatments simply move on to the next level of denialBy Brian Deer, The Guardian, February 21, 2012Karri Stokely is a poster girl for a different way to look at health. After receiving an Aids diagnosis in 1996, at the age of 29, she was treated for 11 years with a cocktail of drugs. But then she saw an internet video saying that HIV was a hoax, stopped taking her medicines – and felt terrific."I'm not getting any answers from the mainstream as to why I'm healthy, and why my husband is negative, and why I can quit these drugs,"… -
Southern Poverty Law Center's HateWatch and the AIDS Deniers
12 Jan 2012 | 9:36 pmAFA’s Bryan Fischer: HIV Doesn’t Cause AIDSPosted in Anti-LGBT by Leah Nelson on January 6, 2012It’s tempting to describe American Family Association spokesman Bryan Fischer as a close-minded, reactionary bigot. But when it comes to embracing fresh ideas that support his beliefs – heck, he pretty much outdoes us all.Remember when he said that gays were responsible for the Holocaust? Or the time he claimed that states can require public officials to pass religious tests, directly contradicting both a 50-year-old Supreme Court decision and the express wishes of the… -
5 Jan 2012 | 12:13 pm
5 Jan 2012 | 12:13 pmNATURE | NEWSPaper refuting HIV–AIDS link secures publicationWork by infamous AIDS contrarian passes peer review.Zoë Corbyn 05 January 2012A controversial research paper that argued “there is as yet no proof that HIV causes AIDS" and met with a storm of protest when it was published in 2009, leading to its withdrawal, has been republished in a revised form, this time in the peer-reviewed literature.The reworked version of the paper, led by Peter Duesberg of the University of California, Berkeley, who is well known for denying the link between HIV and AIDS, was published in the…
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Psychology of Media:
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Revising Maslow’s Hierarchy for a Socially-Connected World
21 Apr 2012 | 1:29 pmIn my November 2011 Psychology Today post “What Maslow Misses,” I argued that Maslow’s popular Hierarchy of Needs pyramid undervalues the role of social connection in human basic survival needs and, therefore, as a driver of behavior. Recently, storytelling and management guru and Forbes contributor Steve Denning picked up this idea in the context of how management can better meet the psychological needs of employees by focusing on social connection in a recent article: “What Maslow Missed.” Revising Maslow: My model places social connection at the hub, as fundamental to… -
Media Psychologist, Clinical Psychologist or Media Personality?
18 Apr 2012 | 6:50 pmI get lots of questions about media psychology, such as ‘What is media psychology?’ and ‘What does a media psychologist do?’ A big stumbling block is the common understanding of a media psychologist as a psychologist who appears in the media. That’s the wrong answer. Here is a recent question: Dear Dr. Rutledge, I am conducting research in media psychology and stumbled upon this dissertation and I am more confused than anything. A recent dissertation defines a “media psychologist” as a psychologist that conducts a session with a patient on air. She compares what a… -
Does ‘No Such Thing As Bad Publicity’ Apply To Psychologists?
26 Mar 2012 | 12:06 pmThe ethical questions surrounding psychologists who appear in the mass media are emotionally-loaded and subject to much debate. But we also have to realize that there really is no such thing as just ‘mass’ media anymore in the traditional sense of uni-directional broadcast one-to-many media. The information flows are much more fluid and networked which has had a profound effect on society as a whole and individual behaviors, beliefs and expectations. It’s impossible to isolate broadcast media within the broad spectrum of media channels, including Internet and social… -
‘Pointless humor’ Isn’t Pointless: It Rewires & Inspires Us
4 Mar 2012 | 11:56 amAs I told Carrie Cummings from OMMA (interview excerpted below), I so rarely get asked questions about the positive side of social media or the Internet, it was a joy to talk about the benefits of humor. Even the act of smiling has powerful impact on how you feel and the way you interact with others. (For a wonderful discussion of this, check out Ron Gutman’s charming ebook from his TED talk Smile: The Astonishing Powers of a Simple Act ). We often underestimate the importance and power of our ability to self-soothe and the impact of our mood on others. So getting to talk…
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One Among Many
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Fuori Servizio
15 May 2012 | 12:34 pmRick Steves travels a lot in Europe and is followed around by a camera crew. I travel alone with a Nikon in my bag. Visiting Italy for a teaching gig raises a stream of psychological issues—most of them pleasant. read more -
Barrett's Banalogies
18 Apr 2012 | 9:55 pmGod cleverly continues to refuse being cast as a testable hypothesis. When scientists try to use their craft to prop of belief, the results are amusing. read more -
Disorderly Discourse
10 Apr 2012 | 7:49 pmIn earlier posts, I idiotically relied on rational arguments to dispute a line of reasoning that sought to prop up Christian theism with psychological science. No more. Here, I retreat to analogies. read more -
Anchoring Base Rates
7 Apr 2012 | 11:55 amTo conclude the trilogy of posts on the representativeness heuristic, I here propose that base rate neglect can be reduced if base rates are first presented as judgmental anchors. read more -
Superficial Psychology: Undeep Thoughts and Paralipomena
2 Apr 2012 | 4:25 amNotes from April 2012 read more
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Science Of Small Talk
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Sex Objects in a World Turned Upside-Down
26 Apr 2012 | 9:18 pmJust how often do people objectify women? According to recent research, we're so used to treating women as sex objects that we can do it even when standing on our heads.read more -
Is the Man Who Killed Trayvon Martin a Racist? Who Cares?
25 Mar 2012 | 3:58 pmThe story of the tragic death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin continues to unfold. A great deal of attention is being devoted to debating whether George Zimmerman–the neighborhood watch captain who shot and killed the African-American 17-year-old–is a racist. But does the answer to this question really matter?read more -
Getting the Most Out of Life, One Chocolate at a Time
15 Mar 2012 | 1:54 pmOne of the many reasons why studying human nature makes for such an intriguing pastime (or career, for that matter) is the frequency with which there's divergence between the factors that we *think* influence our decisions and those that actually shape how we see the world around us...read more -
The Power of Hello
6 Mar 2012 | 8:20 amLittle things make a big difference in social interaction. Data indicate, for example, that smiling is contagious. That employees who smile more have customers who are more satisfied. And even that holding a pen in your teeth so that the ends of your lips curl upward—forcing your mouth into a smile you aren't even aware of—leads you to enjoy what you're doing more.read more -
Looking for Love in all the Web Places
13 Feb 2012 | 9:28 pmWith Valentine's Day upon us, there are some interesting conclusions to note from soon-to-be-published research regarding that most 21st Century of romantic developments: the dating website.read more
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The Situationist
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The Facial Situation of Presidential Candidates
15 May 2012 | 11:01 pmFrom InMind (an outstanding article by Dr. Theresa DiDonato from a few years ago): If your citizenship comes with the responsibility – and privilege – of voting, then every few years you face an interesting challenge. Who will you vote for? Whether you choose to support an incumbent, a celebrated war hero, an experienced government official, or a new face on the political scene, psychologists are incredibly curious about the process by which you come to that decision. There is reason to believe that, coming from a thoughtful and prepared voter, your ballot will reflect an… -
Elizabeth Loftus on False Memories
15 May 2012 | 7:44 amFrom Beyond Belief Conference in 2006 (includes discussion of the role of litigation in altering people’s memories): Related Situationist posts: The Situation of False Confessions Elizabeth Loftus and the Situation of False Memories Emotional Content of True and False Memories – Abstract Mood & Memory The Situation of Confabulation Emotional Content of True and False Memories – Abstract The Situation of Memory Mistakes Were Made (but not by me) -
Sam McFarland Interview on The Situation of Empathy
12 May 2012 | 11:03 pmFrom WKU Public Radio: WKU Psychology professor Sam McFarland has long been fascinated by individuals who put their lives–and the lives of loved ones–at risk in order to save people of a different race, ethnicity, or religious group. Dr. McFarland has an article that’s set to be published in a social psychology journal called “All Humanity is My Ingroup: A Measure and Studies of ‘Identification with All Humanity.’” In his paper, Dr. McFarland describes the idea of “identification with all humanity” as the ability to view all peoples of the… -
Jonathan Haidt Changes His Situation
11 May 2012 | 11:01 pmFrom BusinessWire: New York University Stern School of Business today announced that Jonathan Haidt will join its faculty in the fall of 2012 as the Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership. Haidt has served as the Henry Kaufman Visiting Professor of Business Ethics at Stern for the 2011-12 academic year. “Every economic crisis seems to evoke a renewed call for business schools to redouble their emphasis on ethics. The repeated nature of these exhortations suggests that the problem may not be a lack of attention to the issue but the need for thoughtful new approaches. As one of the… -
Random Assignments
10 May 2012 | 11:01 pmSocial Psychologist Dave Nussbaum recently launched his blog, Random Assignments. The blog already contains several posts worth reading, including a series on the important topic of replication in social science. The first two parts are “Replicating Dissonance” and “Conceptual Replication.” Here’s a sample of Nussbaum’s writing: The 1950s were a bleak time if you were a social psychologist interested in the empirical study of thoughts and feelings and how they affect human behavior. At that time, experimental psychology was dominated by behaviorism, an…
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Ulterior Motives
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Creativity, Persistence and Working Memory
15 May 2012 | 3:38 pmOn Sunday nights, I play in the horn section of a blues band. Each week, musicians come from all over town to play with us. So, over the course of the night, I get many opportunities to hear people play solos on a variety of instruments. And sometimes, I am just blown away by the quality and creativity of people’s solos. read more -
What Does Guilt Do?
8 May 2012 | 8:42 amIf you do something wrong that hurts someone else, you feel guilty. Guilt is a valuable emotion, because it helps to maintain your ties to the people in your community. It provides a painful consequence for actions that would weaken the groups that you belong to.read more -
Changing Your Own Mind
4 May 2012 | 10:08 amThe old joke says that you only need one psychologist to change a light bulb, but the light bulb has to want to change. What can you do to change your mind about something?read more -
Size Does Matter—When You’re Putting
1 May 2012 | 8:52 amIt is tempting to think of our eyes as video cameras that take in information about the world and try to give us a reasonably accurate picture of what is going on in the outside world. The reality is that what we see relates to what we can do.read more -
Thinking Fast Promotes Risky Behavior
27 Apr 2012 | 8:57 amWe’re approaching the playoffs in hockey and basketball. An exciting win by a team creates a lot of excitement, and in that excitement people often engage in behaviors that carry some risk. What factors promote this kind of risky behavior?read more
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National Institutes of Health (NIH) Podcast
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NIH Research Radio - May 4, 2012
4 May 2012 | 12:00 pmIn this episode Healthy Vision Month, and gestational diabetes, plus a news update. Episode #0158 show notes Podcast archives -
NIH Research Radio - April 20, 2012
20 Apr 2012 | 12:00 pmIn this episode a series of stories on stem cell therapies, and insight on clinical trials, plus a news update. Episode #0157 show notes Podcast archives -
NIH Research Radio - April 06, 2012
6 Apr 2012 | 12:00 pmReports on TB, Alzheimer's disease, rare disease research and narcolepsy, plus a news update, in this episode of NIH Research Radio. Episode #0156 show notes Podcast archives -
NIH Research Radio - March 23, 2012
23 Mar 2012 | 12:00 pmIn this episode vitamin D and fibroids, partial-breast radiation for breast cancer, and understanding rashes, plus a news update. Episode #0155 show notes Podcast archives -
NIH Research Radio - March 9, 2012
9 Mar 2012 | 11:00 amPeer-to-peer ASD training, a bilingual advantage, seizure insight, and NIH publications, plus a news update, in this episode of NIH Research Radio. Episode #0154 show notes Podcast archives
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Books from Psychology Press
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Communication and Social Cognition
14 May 2012 | 7:00 pmEdited by David R. Roskos-Ewoldsen, and Jennifer L. Monahan. Communication and Social Cognition represents the explosion of work in the field of social cognition over the past 25 years. Expanding the contribution made by Social Cognition and Communication, published in 1982, this scholarly collection updates the study of communication from a social cognitive… ISBN: 9780415541084 Published May 14, 2012 by Routledge -
European Review of Social Psychology: Volume 22
14 May 2012 | 7:00 pmEdited by Wolfgang Stroebe, and Miles Hewstone. The European Review of Social Psychology (ERSP) is an e-first journal published under the auspices of the European Association of Social Psychology. ERSP is an international journal which aims to further the international exchange of ideas by providing an outlet for substantial accounts of… ISBN: 9781848727663 Published May 14, 2012 by Psychology Press -
Psychologisation in Times of Globalisation
13 May 2012 | 7:00 pmBy Jan De Vos. Today more than ever, our understanding of ourselves, others and the world around us is described in psychological terms. Psychologists deeply influence our society, and psychological-discourse has invaded companies, advertising, culture, politics, and even our social and family life. Moreover,… ISBN: 9780415682022 Published May 13, 2012 by Routledge -
The Dynamics of Organizational Collapse
9 May 2012 | 7:00 pmBy Helga Drummond. The collapse of Barings’ Bank was a commercial catastrophe that resonated worldwide, showing what kind of secrets can lie behind an apparently successful organization. Following Nick Leeson’s arrest and subsequent conviction for fraud, investment banks anxiously reviewed their risk management… ISBN: 9780415542708 Published May 09, 2012 by Routledge -
Applied Statistics for the Social and Health Sciences
8 May 2012 | 7:00 pmBy Rachel A. Gordon. Applied Statistics for the Social and Health Sciences provides graduate students in the social and health sciences with the basic skills that they need to estimate, interpret, present, and publish statistical models using contemporary standards. The book targets the social and health science… ISBN: 9780415875363 Published May 08, 2012 by Routledge
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Psychology / Psychiatry News From Medical News Today
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Religion Replenishes Self-Control
16 May 2012 | 2:00 amThere are many theories about why religion exists, most of them unproven. Now, in an article published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, psychologist Kevin Rounding of Queen's University, Ontario, offers a new idea, and some preliminary evidence to back it up... -
Study Suggests Nature Walks Improve Cognitive Abilities For People With Clinical Depression
15 May 2012 | 6:00 amA walk in the park may have psychological benefits for people suffering from depression. In one of the first studies to examine the effect of nature walks on cognition and mood in people with major depression, researchers in Canada and the U.S. have found promising evidence that a walk in the park may provide some cognitive benefits... -
The Brain's Neuronal Circuit Excitability May Be Altered By Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, Lead To Brain Network Dysfunction
14 May 2012 | 3:00 amEven mild head injuries can cause significant abnormalities in brain function that last for several days, which may explain the neurological symptoms experienced by some individuals who have experienced a head injury associated with sports, accidents or combat, according to a study by Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine researchers... -
New Genetic Findings: Gifts Of The MAGI In Schizophrenia And Bipolar Disorder
14 May 2012 | 2:00 amThese findings are not about the classic story of gift-giving, although the MAGI genes (officially named membrane associated guanylate kinase, WW and PDZ domain containing proteins) do influence brain function in important ways. MAGI1 and MAGI2 are genes that code for the MAGI proteins... -
New Study Finds Military Marriages Are Not More Vulnerable To Divorce
14 May 2012 | 2:00 amDespite the fact that military service means working long hours with unpredictable schedules, frequent relocations, and separations from loved ones due to deployment, a new study published in the Journal of Family Issues (a SAGE journal) finds that marriages of military members are not more vulnerable than civilian marriages...
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NIMH | Recent Updates
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Science News » Awake Mental Replay of Past Experiences Critical for Learning
4 May 2012 | 5:36 pmAwake mental replay of past experiences is essential for making informed choices, suggests a study in rats. Without it, the animals’ memory-based decision-making faltered, say scientists funded by the National Institutes of Health. -
Blog Post » Citizen Science
26 Apr 2012 | 4:12 pmPresentations at a recent meeting in San Diego showed how new technologies are being used to change the culture of science, empowering patients, and fueling innovative research approaches. -
Science News » Agent Reduces Autism-like Behaviors in Mice
15 May 2012 | 4:34 pmAutism-like behaviors in mice have been reduced, using an experimental agent being tested in patients for a related disorder. -
Video » Agent Reduces Autism-like Behaviors in Mice
25 Apr 2012 | 3:15 pmAgent reduces autism-like behaviors in mice -
Video » Agent Reduces Repetitive Behavior in Mice
25 Apr 2012 | 2:50 pmAgent Reduces Repetitive Behavior in Mice
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The Essential Read
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Occupying Econ 101
15 May 2012 | 2:12 pmLast September, as the Occupy demonstrations were picking up steam in lower Manhattan, I found myself struggling with a distinctly different set of problems. Though my university, Brown, attracts plenty of the idealistic, socially active kids you might associate with its image of progressive education, our economics department, whose undergraduate program I was helping to oversee, was dealing with a large number of disappointed students for whom there weren’t enough seats in overcrowded classrooms. Principles of Economics had become the most popular course on campus, and economics the most… -
Freud’s Not Dead; He’s Just Really Hard to Find
15 May 2012 | 11:05 amAccording to a claim made several years ago in the New York Times, Freud’s theory is still taught in universities, but not in psychology classes. When asked to explain why, the article puts forward the assertion (backed by two prominent psychologists) that psychoanalysis doesn’t have a solid evidence-based grounding. I recently heard a talk in which the speaker, a physicist, referred to the Times article as “proof” that there’s not a shred of validity to the Freudian perspective. It seems like a good time to set the record straight. Using the criteria established… -
Why Do Munchies Taste so Good When You’re High?
15 May 2012 | 10:58 amAnyone who has ever smoked marijuana is well aware that this drug induces the consumption of food, particularly sweet tasty foods. Neuroscientists have used this action of the drug to explore the mechanisms within our brain that make us crave sweets and how we control our appetite. We have discovered that our brain’s endogenous cannabinoid system does far more than just induce us to eat; it also rewards us with a feeling of euphoria for doing so.A group of scientists, led by Maria Antonietta De Luca from the University of Cagliari in Italy, recently published a study in the… -
The Precarious Couple Effect
15 May 2012 | 7:27 am(Part II of the series “When Not to Trust an Intuition of Compatibility”)Research shows that certain types of couples don’t work very well together. Bill Swann at UT Austin and his colleagues have identified one such type of couple, whom they dub the “Precarious Couple.” Precarious couples are the specific combination of a quiet, verbally inhibited man with a verbally disinhibited but highly critical woman. These couples have been shown to have extremely poor relationship quality, in part because the man may feel like he can never get a word in, and the woman feels like he has no… -
Dietary Fats That Improve Brain Function
14 May 2012 | 1:57 pmWe have a fatty brain. Fat plays many vital roles in brain function. In the past, very little attention was given to the influence of dietary fats upon our mental state. Recent multiple lines of evidence indicate that it might be possible to manipulate our dietary fat intact in order to treat or prevent disorders of cognitive function.A study to be published in the Journal of Neurochemistry by a group from Universite Laval in Quebec compared the effects of monounsaturated fats from olive and canola oils with polyunsaturated fats from meat, fish and vegetable oils upon…
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Frontier Psychiatrist
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Institute of Psychoanalysis event
9 May 2012 | 1:34 pmOedipus Through the Life Cycle: Childhood Location: The Institute of Psychoanalysis, 112a Shirland Road, off Elgin Avenue, London, W9 2EQ (tube: Maida Vale or Warrick Avenue) Saturday, 19 May 2013 Time: 9.30am – 1.00pm Tickets: £45 (trainees £40, students £35) Web Site: http://www.beyondthecouch.org.uk/ The story of Oedipus can be used to explore significant aspects of emotional development from many perspectives. The myth was the foundation for Freud’s theory of the Oedipus complex, mainly unconscious feelings of wanting to posses the parent of the opposite sex. Melanie… -
Review of ‘The Greatest Silence: Rape in Congo’ screened at the RSM Global Health film club 28 March 2012
27 Apr 2012 | 11:58 amThe author Philip Gourevitch once wrote: “Oh Congo, what a wreck. It hurts to look and listen. It hurts to turn away”. Exploited and misruled for much of its modern history, this country has spent more than a decade in a state of semi-permanent civil war. 5.4m people have died, mostly from disease and starvation, and Congo’s abundant mineral resources bring nothing but the worst kind of exploitation. Directed in 2006 by Lisa F Jackson, and shown recently at the RSM’s global health film club, The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo concerns a further tragic facet of this conflict:… -
Can incarceration be thought of as disease?
19 Apr 2012 | 3:27 pmThis review by me in the BMJ It’s fashionable to treat social problems as if they were diseases. Stephen Ginn reflects on a book that considers an epidemiological solution to the huge and rapidly rising prison population in the United States Among its many marvels, some things about the United States of America are stubbornly unfathomable. The persistent, widespread opposition to socialised medicine is one of them. And despite a murder rate impressive for all the wrong reasons, US gun laws remain unreformed. Add to this America’s prisons. This is not an area in which the United Kingdom… -
Interview with writer Will Self part 2
16 Apr 2012 | 4:05 pmWill Self interview by Prof Femi Oyebode (part 1 with me found here) in November 2010 WS: I’ve been very interested in the psychiatric profession and though out my fiction and my nonfiction and have written on visions related to psychiatry, so in a way when it comes to reading to you I’m presented with an embarrassment of riches. So I’m going to confine myself to my latest book, available in all good bookshops at the seductive price of £17.99. No one, not even the most exalted mental health professionals would see this for a second as being in any way analogous to £18 but will see it… -
“One in four”: the anatomy of a statistic
24 Feb 2012 | 2:44 am(From a bus stop Archway – if you look carefully you can see the reflection of me and my bike) This written by me and Jamie Horder published this week in the BMJ Despite a lack of supporting evidence, the claim that one in four people will have a mental health problem at some point in their lives is a popular one. Where does this figure come from, and why does it persist, ask Stephen Ginn and Jamie Horder “It’s time to talk” is a campaign currently being promoted by Time to Change, a charity whose aim is to change attitudes to people with mental ill health. On the charity’s…
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N E U R O N A R R A T I V E
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New Website!
10 May 2012 | 9:34 amHi everyone. I’ve just launched a new website called The Daily Brain. We’ll be providing daily doses of science and tech news … please come by and visit! -
If You’re Looking for Me…
17 Jun 2011 | 10:07 pmHere’s where to find me: Neuronarrative on Psychology Today.com Neuropsyched on Forbes.com My book website Twitter -
John Cleese on Creativity
18 Aug 2010 | 1:40 pmIn this remarkable short talk, comic genius John Cleese explains what he has learned about the creative process. Be ready to take notes, because he passes along insights worth remembering every day. -
Going Live on ‘Psychology Today’
16 Aug 2010 | 12:55 pmWanted to let everyone know that Neuronarrative is now officially a Psychology Today blog, here. Please subscribe to the RSS feed for updates. Best, David -
Bargaining with Monkeys Like Us
3 Aug 2010 | 10:06 amIn this excellent TED talk, primatologist Laurie Santos discusses the roots of human irrationality by uncovering the way our primate relatives make decisions. Is it possible that the errors we make–like failing to save money–are not “mistakes” (in the conventional sense) but actually hardwired into our natures? Santos’ experiments in “monkeynomics” suggest answers to that question that might make human exceptionalists a little nervous.
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In the news by Karen Franklin PhD
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Confidentiality and jail forensic evaluations (Part I of II)
13 May 2012 | 11:33 pmProsecutor secretly records forensic psychology evaluation Alameda County Courthouse, OaklandThe other day, I was evaluating an inmate at the county jail, when we both heard a series of faint clicking sounds. He immediately jumped to the conclusion that "they" were eavesdropping on us.Nonsense, I thought.They were probably just opening the door of an adjacent visiting room. But in the nearby county of Alameda (Oakland, California), the legal community is abuzz over an incident in which jail deputies actually did eavesdrop on at least one confidential interview between a forensic… -
Research: Romney's anti-gay assault fits typical pattern
11 May 2012 | 12:18 pmRomney thenOuted for physical and verbal abuse of gay classmates during high school, U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney is trivializing the incidents as "pranks" and "dumb things," and claiming not to know the boy he assaulted was gay.To me, his response came as no surprise. This is precisely what most gay-bashers think and say, according to my groundbreaking research on the motivations of perpetrators.In the first empirical research into prevalence rates of and motivations for antigay harassment and violence by noncriminal young adults, I found antigay behaviors like Romney's to be… -
Hebephilia update: DSM-5 workgroup stubbornly clinging to pet diagnosis
4 May 2012 | 10:02 amSalvador Dali*: The Average BureaucratA few weeks ago, I reported on an open letter to the American Psychiatric Association, calling for it to reject three controversial expansions of sexual paraphilia diagnoses that are being promoted by government evaluators in civil commitment cases.A lot has happened since then. The only one of the three controversial diagnoses still in the running for official status has been altered for the umpteenth time. An esteemed journal is issuing a scathing critique. And the open letter is generating buzz in the blogosphere.The open letter has garnered more than… -
The homicidal triad: Predictor of violence or urban myth?
2 May 2012 | 10:28 amFor at least half a century, legend has told of a "triad" of ominous childhood behaviors -- cruelty to animals, firesetting, and enuresis – said to predict future violence.The so-called "Macdonald triad" (also known as the homicidal triad or the Hellman and Blackman triad) is taught in criminology and psychology courses, used by forensic practitioners in assessing risk, and has even made its way into Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. Especially, it’s become a staple among aficionados of the trendy serial killer.But is the syndrome valid?Providing the most definitive exploration to date… -
Composites illustrate problems with eyewitness recall
27 Apr 2012 | 11:09 amTake a minute to examine this display of composites. Notice the wide variations in features -- eyes, apparent age, bone structure, etc.DNA evidence links 11 rapes in East Los Angeles over the past 16 years to this so-called "Teardrop Rapist." Based on the similarities in modus operandi and description, police believe he is responsible for at least 17 other rapes, for a total of 28 or more. But, as these sketches show, the victims have strikingly different recall. They give his height as between a pint-sized 5 foot 2 inches and 6 feet. His weight fluctuates between 130 and 200 pounds. His age…
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Child Psychology and Parenting Blog: Child-Psych.org
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Special Editorial: Does your child need therapy? Thoughts on parental fears and why we need you involved
10 May 2012 | 8:35 amHistorically, psychiatry has not been kind to mothers. Early (and mostly wrong) ideas about what ‘caused’ emotional/behavioral difficulties and psychiatric disorders made it easy for clinicians to blame parents for all childhood conditions. Autism is a classic example. In the 1940s Leo Kanner, one of the most influential child psychiatrists of the time, stated that children with autism were kept in “refrigerators that did not defrost.” By refrigerators, he was referring to mothers, who he believed were emotionally and interpersonally distant. As most of you likely know by now, Kanner… -
I Need a Nap!
11 Apr 2012 | 7:47 amHave you had one of those days when there just wasn’t a good time to put your toddler down for the blessed afternoon nap? Did his behavior and emotions look any different than they do after having a nap? Take a moment to think about how you feel and react when you are sleep-deprived. It gets harder to think clearly and to be in a good mood. It’s pretty easy to feel irritable, though, right? It’s probably not a surprise to you that toddlers would have a similar response to not getting enough sleep. That’s exactly what the study below found, too. While sleep studies… -
It Wasn’t Me: How to Handle Your Child’s Dishonesty
26 Mar 2012 | 2:06 pmAwhile back, I posted about some research done on lying in children. A very brief explanation of the study was that kids lied more often and more effectively when punishment was on the line. Because so many children go through a lying phase, or more than a phase, I am writing this post to talk about ways to consider and deal with dishonesty. Let’s first think about why lying gets under our skin so terribly. Well, as parents we know that honesty is critical to healthy relationships, to having integrity, and to resolving problems. Dishonesty can land you in a heap of interpersonal,… -
ADHD Outcomes: Being Rejected Can Have a Bigger Impact than Having Friends
16 Mar 2012 | 11:40 amAs with any childhood disorder, we want to know what can protect the child from long-term negative outcomes. When it comes to ADHD, studies demonstrate all sorts of long-term problems that we would rather prevent, such as delinquency, depression, and anxiety. As I mentioned in a recent editorial, data from the Multimodal Treatment Study of ADHD (MTA) revealed some surprising results about long-term outcomes for children with ADHD. Among the results include a finding that what we typically do to treat ADHD (medication and/or psychosocial treatment) does not significantly improve peer… -
Special Editorial: Shooting Holes in the Argument for Ritalin
24 Feb 2012 | 7:44 amI became intrigued by an article that I read a few weeks ago in the NY Times and I keep finding myself coming back to it as I work with parents. The topic? Medication may not be as magical in treating ADHD as we had all hoped. Now before I go any further, let me make clear that I am not a medical doctor and I am in no way trying to urge parents to discontinue their child’s ADHD medication. I am, however, suggesting that parents continue to inform themselves of research findings in this area so they can discuss new information with their child’s treating physician and make informed…
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Your Mind Your Body
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Mental Health Month Blog Party Preview
15 May 2012 | 7:40 pmThe third annual Mental Health Month Blog Party begins tomorrow morning, and we can’t wait to read and share the many, many posts that bloggers everywhere will create, talking about why mental health matters and stigma hurts. We’ll begin publishing a round-up of submitted links at about 10 a.m. EDT. Our round-up blog post linking to participating blogs and their mental health party-dedicated posts will be updated about every two hours throughout the day until about 6 p.m. EDT. Wednesday. We’ll then take a break from blogging (because sleep is important to good mental health)… -
What a Blood Test for Depression Really Means
15 May 2012 | 11:45 amBefore I begin talking about the recent news of a blood test detecting depression, I want to remind everyone that May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and tomorrow this blog is hosting its annual Mental Health Month Blog Party. If you have a blog or contribute to one, please join us and spread the word that good mental health is about good health. We’ll be updating throughout the day, sharing links and comments about mental health. A blood test to check cholesterol levels is part of a routine physical exam. And people trust the results, even if they can’t see the cholesterol in… -
Share Your Story for Mental Health on May 16
9 May 2012 | 3:46 pm(This guest post is by mental health advocate Lee Horbachewski, who shares personal reflections in honor of May as Mental Health Awareness Month. Lee is joining the Mental Health Month Blog Party on May 16 and encourages anyone with a blog to participate.) Blogging about my mental health, inner thoughts and deepest emotions is not only cathartic–it is healing! Last week I experienced severe anxiety. Even after applying my personal tools to help get through it, the anxiety continued. So my next plan was to write. Thankfully I’m quick at typing and can type while my eyes are… -
Preventing Teenage Pregnancy in Rural America
2 May 2012 | 2:42 pm(Guest post by Diana Prescott, PhD, psychologist, and chair of the American Psychological Association Committee on Rural Health) How can parents and health care professionals reduce teen pregnancy in rural areas? bit.ly/JDKJ0g #nd12 — APAHelpCenter (@APAHelpCenter) May 2, 2012 May 2 has been designated the National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, a day that carries significant meaning to me, as a woman, a parent and a psychologist. Recently released statistics reveal that while teen pregnancy rates have declined throughout the country, states with large rural populations have the… -
April is Sexual Assault and Prevention Awareness Month
12 Apr 2012 | 3:46 pmI have spent much of my career working with both children and adults who have been victims of sexual assault. The results of sexual trauma can be devastating to victims and their families. April is Sexual Assault and Prevention Awareness Month. Here are some startling facts: 1. Every 2 minutes someone is sexually assaulted in the United States. 2. Every year there are 207,754 victims of sexual assault. 3. 44% of victims are under age 18. 4. 80 % of victims are under age 30. 5. 2/3 of sexual assaults are committed by someone known…
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Where the Client Is
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Careers in Counseling — An Interview with Shannon Hodges
14 May 2012 | 9:23 amShannon Hodges is the author of 101 Careers in Counseling and several other titles. He spoke to WTCI via email about his career and what he’s learned from it. What’s your background? What do you do now? My background includes some 20 years of personal and career counseling in community mental health agencies, university counseling centers, and in student affairs (supervising college residential living communities and other roles). I have also directed a county mental health clinic in Oregon and run a university counseling center in Minnesota. I am currently an Associate… -
Talking Money — An Interview with Sally Palaian, PhD
8 Apr 2012 | 3:06 pmSally Palaian, PhD is a Michigan-based psychologist and author of Spent: Break the Buying Obsession and Discover Your True Worth. She talked to WTCI via email about working with clients who struggle with spending. What’s your background? What do you do now? I grew up in a financially dysfunctional home — so in young adulthood I was on my own to figure out how to make my way with the financial aspect of life. I found a therapist who recognized that the financial dysfunction from my childhood was similar to having alcoholism in the home. That gave me a framework for my struggles… -
Does Couples Therapy Work?
5 Mar 2012 | 11:14 amThe New York Times jumps in: Couples Therapists Confront Stresses in Their Field. With individuals, a therapist can stall. “You can always say, ‘Tell me more about that,’ and take a few minutes to figure out what to do next,” he says. “In couples therapy, the emotional intensity of the couple’s dynamics doesn’t give you that luxury”… “You often see Partner A dragging in Partner B because Partner B is behaving in ways that are unfulfilling and insufferable,” Dr. [Terry] Real says. “On the intake I’ll ask, ‘What’s wrong with the marriage?’ and Partner A… -
On Couples Therapy
10 Nov 2011 | 11:27 amThe latest issue of Psychotherapy Networker spotlights couples therapy. Articles online include: Facing Our Fears - Why We Avoid Doing Couples Therapy, by Ellyn Bader and Peter Pearson Removing the Masks, by David Schnarch A Matter of Choice - Deciding Whether to Be Right or Be Married, by Terry Real In or Out? - Treating the Mixed-Agenda Couple, by William Doherty -
The Mindfulness Movement
20 Sep 2011 | 6:40 pmThe latest Psychotherapy Networker wonders, “Do we even need psychotherapy anymore?” On line: West Meets East As mindfulness practices work their way into the therapy mainstream, we’re asking more clinically sophisticated questions: Who needs what practice when? What are the downsides? Suggesting Mindfulness As a clinical intervention, mindfulness is best understood by stripping away its aura of mystical spirituality and understanding the crucial role suggestion plays in the change process. When Meditation Isn’t Enough A psychotherapist discusses how to help clients…
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Dr. Jennifer Howard Changes That Last Blog
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Glorious May
3 May 2012 | 12:00 amI almost missed May Day, the first day of a glorious month. I didn’t notice much in the way of traditional celebration around New York. You don’t see much in the way of May Poles, with young people dancing around with ribbons. -
Yikes! The Dangers of the Fight or Flight Response
27 Apr 2012 | 12:00 amA friend told me that she once loved horror movies until she realized she was jumpy for hours after viewing them. Even though, rationally, she knew it was just a movie, some part of her brain (the amygdala) believed the danger was real. Her sympathetic nervous system took charge and this primal response insured my friend was ready to fight, freeze or flee if necessary. Unfortunately, it also created stress in her body that, accumulatively and over time, could cause a whole slew of negative consequences. First described by Harvard physiologist Walter Cannon, symptoms of the “fight or… -
Take a Breath
23 Mar 2012 | 12:00 amRight now you are breathing. You inhale, you exhale, from birth to death. You can go months without eating, days without drinking, but only a few minutes without breathing. Of course we need oxygen to survive, but breath is also a path to our highest awareness. -
St. Patrick: Truth, or Blarney?
16 Mar 2012 | 12:00 amIt’s almost St. Patrick’s Day, and here in New York it’s a huge holiday. Thousands of people hold this day sacred as they remember their Irish ancestry. There are also thousands without a drop of Irish blood who use it as a good excuse to tie one on. The St. Patrick’s Day parade is one of the biggest of the year, and folks flock to pubs in droves to show off their green, drink whiskey and beer and pretend their Irish. -
Woman to Woman
8 Mar 2012 | 11:00 pmYesterday, March 8, the world celebrated International Women’s Day. Countries all over the world recognized the profound achievements of women, as well as their struggles, issues and inequalities.
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Ellen Langer - blog
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Why We Play Games
14 May 2012 | 8:52 pmI have a different view from how I think most people regard the playing of computer games. They remind me of those who want to close casinos because of the money and time they think people waste. It is as if they think that closing the casino will lead these people to healthier activities—perhaps libraries and concerts. I very much doubt it. I think that if people are given alternatives that are exciting and that lead them to feel good about themselves, they will gravitate to them. How is this related to computer games? People usually prefer spending their time in ways that make them feel… -
Spring 2012 Program at Kripalu, June 1-3 [1]
5 Nov 2011 | 9:24 amI will be leading a program session at Kripalu June 1-3. A description of the program is below and you can get more information about it at the Kirpalu website. To register, call 1-800-741-7353. — Ellen Langer’s book, Counterclockwise, is being made into a movie starring Jennifer Aniston. Ellen’s groundbreaking studies, including the Counterclockwise study, have led to a remarkable set of findings on the practical applications of mindfulness for health: When people are taught to be mindful in a fashion very different from meditation, they become more creative, healthier, and… -
What will I do if I retire?
5 Nov 2011 | 9:20 amA problem for the large number of potential retirees is how to keep from going crazy if they retire. It’s an odd problem in that, if we’re thinking of retiring, we’re probably not our happiest at work or the issue probably wouldn’t come up in the first place. There is no reason to expect to know exactly what we’ll want to do when we’ve never been in the position before. Those of us who can’t find the time to do the things we love doing, probably won’t have a problem in retirement. This doesn’t represent a large number of us though. The… -
Share the Roses Interview [1]
8 May 2011 | 5:18 pmBelow you’ll find the video of an interview with me from the Seeing the Roses blog. -
GLADO [1]
24 Apr 2011 | 6:29 pmFor the past ten years I’ve ended my courses with one version or another of a powerpoint presentation of photos of my paintings with the most course appropriate one-liners as a way to help celebrate the end of the semester and to provide an easy way to remember some of the course highlights. The one-liners were culled from years of research. They include such sayings as “Predict Today and Lose Tomorrow” to remind them of the illusion of predictability and how our predictions lead to expectations that give us tunnel vision and may prevent noticing the unpredicted, for example. There is…
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Smart Zone Psychology Blog
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Time Magazine Cover on Breastfeeding
12 May 2012 | 4:55 pmThis Time magazine cover caused quite a stir. FOX 4 invited me to discuss it last week on the 9:00 news.Watch the footage and let me know what you think. -
How to Motivate Employees to Get More Done
9 May 2012 | 4:06 pmI recently asked my Facebook friends, "What would motivate you more: A $100 gift card in private or Recognition in front of all your peers at a meeting?" The responses: 1/3 said a $100 gift card 1/3 said recognition at a meeting 1/3 said both! Everyone is motivated differently. Stay in the Smart Zone by motivating people in a way that allows each person to do his/her best work. Use the following tips: Use meaningful rewards and recognition. A golf outing on the weekend or an after work happy hour isn't very motivating for a busy family person or a single parent. -
Ohio Mom Facebook Debate
26 Apr 2012 | 10:00 amI was asked to comment on another Facebook parenting debate on FOX 4 last night. This time it was an Ohio mom who was frustrated and posted comments on her daughter's Facebook page as a form of punishment. Here's the footage. What do you think about it? -
Do You Suffer From Compassion Fatigue
24 Apr 2012 | 10:03 amI recently spoke to group at the Texas Tech School of Nursing on the topic of Compassion Fatigue. The local FOX channel reported on the story, also. Click here to see the story. If you think you may be suffering from Compassion Fatigue - here are 5 strategies for how to cope with Compassion Fatigue. -
17 Apr 2012 | 1:25 pm
17 Apr 2012 | 1:25 pm
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Graphology World
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Elvis Presley’s Letter to Nixon – a Mirror of Inner Turmoil
11 May 2012 | 9:58 amElvis meets President Nixon Take a look at this fascinating letter written by Elvis Presley to President Nixon in 1970. The contents seem normal enough but underneath rages a river of inner turmoil and anxiety. Who would have guessed what was raging under the surface? Nixon certainly didn’t get the full implications though it is said that he found the meeting somewhat uncomfortable. In the letter Elvis requested a meeting with the president. In fact he had been so anxious to get the meeting approved that he delivered this five-page letter in person to the White House. Obviously his… -
J.K. Rowling’s Signature and why Forgers Love it
26 Feb 2012 | 11:51 amJ.K. Rowling (Wikipedia) When I first thought of writing about J.K. Rowling’s signature I had no idea that it would be so difficult. And I don’t mean the graphological analysis itself. I simply mean that finding an authentic J.K. Rowling signature is quite a mission. I searched high and low for a genuine J.K. Rowling signature but it appeared that so many are forged that it’s impossible to vouch for them. It seems that the author of Harry Potter has such a highly prized signature that it is much sought after by forgers. Apparently there is a huge market out there for… -
The Queen’s Charming Letter
6 Feb 2012 | 3:03 pmIt isn’t often that one finds such a charming letter written by a queen. But I did indeed find one! And this being a blog about handwriting how very appropriate that it should be brought to light on such an auspicious day! Because today marks the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth 11′s ascendancy to the throne of England. An amazing landmark. However, as you well know, this is a blog about handwriting so I thought we should take a look at Queen Elizabeth’s handwriting. Little did I expect to find such a charming and informal letter. I discovered it in the rather austere… -
Secret love letters of Charlotte Bronte discovered
29 Jan 2012 | 1:36 pmCharlotte Bronte wrote Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte the author of Jane Eyre was one of the most romantic writers of the 1800’s. Partly biographical, Jane Eyre is about the struggles of a strong independent young woman and her need for love. It is a deeply romantic book that positively sizzles with passion. In fact, largely because of its many biographical elements, I like many others have often wondered about Charlotte Bronte’s own search for love. But now her secret has been exposed. Because Charlotte’s secret love letters have just been discovered. And what an intriguing story it… -
Freddie Mercury’s Signature reflects his Dynamism and Showmanship
6 Dec 2011 | 5:34 amFreddy Mercury in Music and Handwriting The other day, I was listening to a CD of Freddie Mercury’s music which always blows me away. His dynamism and showmanship, his musicality and plain musical genius are quite unforgettable. I thought of his outstanding individuality and originality; of the power and strength he projected on the stage – and of course, his unique and imaginative approach. A handwriting sample always adds new dimensions of understanding for me so I tried to imagine what his signature and handwriting would look like. Fortunately, I managed to track down a rather…
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BPS Occupational Digest
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Perfectionists worry away the benefits of a break from work
16 May 2012 | 4:06 amGo on, have a few days off. Take a week - you've certainly earned it! Clear your mind, take a break - things will tick over til you return...Easier said than done, of course. But respites from work are valuable, replenishing resources and preventing negative loads (mental fatigue, adrenaline build-up) spiralling out of control. Sadly, the positive gloss of the holiday itself tends to slip quickly when we return to work - a 'fade-out effect' described well in this Psychologist article. What makes you more likely to fall prey to the fade-out? The quest for perfection, new research… -
A case for putting guilt-prone people in charge
9 May 2012 | 7:26 amLeadership research has gained an appetite for dispositional affect, a person's tendency to feel one way more than another. Individuals who regularly express positive affects like pride or enthusiasm are seen as better leaders and produce better outcomes. Negative affects, meanwhile, are less consistently useful: although bursts of appropriate anger can help to focus efforts, frequent expressions of negative emotions lead to poor outcomes for followers such as stress and poor coordination. But recent study may change the conversation, as it suggests that a dispositional affect towards… -
How can managers play a positive part in a coaching relationship?
3 May 2012 | 4:03 pmCoaching at work has become more common as a way to develop employees and improve performance. These coaches are often specialists from another function or from outside the organisation. Yet there is another person with stakes in the employee's developmental priorities... their line manager. To date, there has been little scrutiny of how they affect the coaching process, but a new study helps clarify the role of this third party.Helen Ogilvy and Vicky Ellam-Dyson's study performed semi-structured interviews with 18 coachees (those receiving coaching) and 12 of their line managers, then coded… -
How do occupational psychology lab experiments hold up in the real world?
1 May 2012 | 7:59 amA new paper combs meta-analytic data from across psychology to better understand how laboratory research translates to the real world. Here at the Occupational Digest, we report on evidence from a range of sources, often field work from within specific organisations (such as managers ratings of performance), or more general surveys of working individuals - but also from laboratory studies, typically involving students rather than participants with a working history. Are findings from such set-ups likely to be reliable?The answer from Gregory Mitchell's analysis is a qualified yes. He looked… -
How 'who you could have been' could shape your workplace identity
27 Apr 2012 | 7:59 amCarter is at a formal drinks for a colleague back from secondment, part of a fast-track management scheme. he remembers opting not to apply for the scheme five years ago and wonders how things would be now had he taken that plunge: the overseas experiences, the pressures, the opportunities. What would that Carter be like? In subsequent months he finds himself returning to this idea, finally setting up a meeting with his manager, who is surprised to hear him reveal that he feels dissatisfied and wants to reinvigorate his career.Carter has encountered an alternative self: a version of him that…
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In Pursuit of Meaning
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Yes I know your mother is a bitch…
9 May 2012 | 4:22 amRecently a young man (well not that young really, late thirties) came to see me for some coaching. He was fairly distressed; he felt a certain lack of direction, an absence of meaning in his life perhaps. Looking back on his life he saw a litany of failures, missed opportunities, could-have-been’s, should-have-been’s, mistakes, wrong turns, unfortunate turn of events and a few regrets thrown in for good measure. The young man was familiar with some pop-psychology and understood the importance of taking responsibility for his own life. He certainly didn’t wish to blame his problems on… -
To Have or Not to Have an Ego
3 May 2012 | 2:19 amIn western culture the ego has had a bad rap. Most people think that an ego is something negative. That it should be suppressed. You have an over inflated ego, or you are egocentric or egotistical. And Eastern religions say you should abandon it altogether, it just causes problems. But what is the ego? Is it something good or bad? Should you give up on it or hold on to it? In both analytical psychology (Jungian) and psychoanalysis (Freudian), the Ego plays an important part in the development of a healthy psyche. Without the Ego, there is no central point, or driver of the psyche. Freud’s… -
The experience machine and Jung’s symbolic attitude
25 Apr 2012 | 12:48 amI heard from one of my lecturers at Wits recently about a book called Better never to have been: the harm of coming into existence, written by a local lad, Professor David Benatar, HOD of the philosophy department at the University of Cape Town. As the title suggests Benatar proposes that it is far better never to be born; that one is irreparably harmed by coming into existence. The two arguments that Benatar offers for this view are: 1.By bringing someone into existence, one harms her by causing all the bad aspects of her life. By bringing someone into existence, one does not benefit her at… -
Have you swallowed another’s shadow?
18 Apr 2012 | 3:48 amHave you ever met one of those couples, where the one is just perfect and fantastic and their partner is a walking disaster? One is incompetent, inappropriate, a total bitch or bastard, etc. Yet their partner is charismatic, socially skilled, an all round good person. And you think to yourself what on earth is he doing with her (or vice versa). Whilst I was doing research on Persona, I came across a story told by Jung which illustrates this very well. […] one might easily call him a saint. I stalked round him for three whole days, but never a mortal failing did I find in him. My feeling of… -
Personal Branding and the Jungian Persona
9 Apr 2012 | 9:24 amJung identified the persona as the bridge between the ego and the external world; in just the same way as the anima forms the bridge to the inner world. The persona is simply your public personality, the face you show the world. The better developed your persona is the better you will get on in the world. This is a generalisation and suffers the limitations of all generalisations. Naturally some people get on pretty well with a very poorly developed persona, but these are the exceptions not the rule and then almost undoubtedly their progress in the world would have been enhanced had they a…
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Psychology Matters Asia
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How nature's beauty can restore yourself mentally, physically, and spiritually
4 May 2012 | 2:33 pmOver 200 years ago, William Wordsworth alluded to the idea that nature has the power to restore our weary hearts and minds. In his poem “Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, On Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour, July 13, 1798”, he eloquently describes how the beauty of nature can provides us with tranquil restoration. -
Top Ten Specific Mental Disorders
16 Apr 2012 | 4:46 pmMost of us worry about the possibility of getting physically sick at some time in our life and that is why insurance coverage of medical diseases is so common. However, how many of us even think about developing a psychological illness let alone get insurance coverage for it? -
Is love for somewhere you previously lived preventing you from enjoying fully where you now?
27 Mar 2012 | 3:46 pmSometimes memories of enjoyable and rewarding attachments in the past interfere with forming similar positive attachments in the present. This post is about psychological strategies to prevent such maladaptive memories of places where we have lived in the past from interfering with the formation of positive new attachment to where you are living today. -
4 most common classes of Mental illness and their prevalence
13 Mar 2012 | 11:02 pmWhat is our risk of developing a mental illness over the course of our entire lives and which types of mental illnesses are we most likely to develop? These questions are not just academic in nature because the answers are of great practical importance to all of us. We need this information if we are to be prepared for its occurrence, or even prevent it from occurring. The fact is that most of us are quite likely to go through life without ever thinking about mental illness until it occurs in a family member, a friend, or ourselves. In this event we may react with surprise, shock and perhaps… -
The story of the two wolves: Managing your thoughts, feelings and actions
21 Feb 2012 | 3:12 pmHave you ever had thoughts, feelings or acted in ways that were unacceptable to yourself but felt powerless to control? The purpose of this post is to help you find ways to manage your mind so that you can live your life more in accordance with what your own judgment says is best for you. As we grow up, we gradually become aware of the many things in the external world which are largely beyond our ability to control. These include other people in general and most events in our lives. Initially this is difficult to accept, but a more shocking realization is that there are many things about…
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CorePsych Blog
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CoreBrain Training: College and Goodbye
22 Apr 2012 | 7:04 amThe college guy in this picture is smiling, and being brave about it. Mom is having a hard time. Mom is closer to the truth in 2012 - because college just isn't all roses any more. There are no guarantees. Planning makes a difference. -
ADHD Coaching: Thinking About Thinking
25 Mar 2012 | 12:40 pmIf you are an ADHD coach and haven't yet connected with the ACO, the ADHD Coaches Organization, now is the time to get on it and get cracking -
Psych Meds or No Psych Meds
27 Feb 2012 | 5:52 amMind science is full of polemic possibilities, and it's our collective team mission, if you read CorePsych News, or Core Psych Blog, or work with us at CoreBrain Training, to spread the word on the confusions present in some of the current mind-care delivery debate. -
Brain Science and ADD/ADHD Coaching – Notes On The Rubber and The Road
30 Jan 2012 | 5:21 amI have always believed that in order to understand what's going on in the mind of ADD/ADHD clients, a coach must first understand what's going on in the brain of ADD clients. Only then can coaching be effective in guiding ADD individuals toward lives of power, effectiveness and the joy of accomplishment. -
ADHD And Cognitive Anxiety – Now 3 Types
19 Dec 2011 | 5:19 amADHD Anxiety Is More Than Just A Feeling - Cognitive abundance and ADHD: To fully understand ADHD symptoms you/we must understand unmanageable cognitive abundance, and if you do, you will think Executive Function Disorder, not Deficit.
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Connecting Hypnotherapy...
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Are Those Easily Embarrassed More Trustworthy?
14 May 2012 | 2:51 pmIf tripping in public or mistaking an overweight woman for a mother-to-be leaves you red-faced, don’t feel bad. A new study from the University of California, Berkeley, suggests that people who are easily embarrassed are also more trustworthy, and more generous.In short, embarrassment can be a good thing.“Embarrassment is one emotional signature of a person to whom you can entrust valuable resources. It’s part of the social glue that fosters trust and cooperation in everyday life,” said UC Berkeley social psychologist Robb Willer, a coauthor of the study published in this month’s… -
Video: Ancient Use of Drugs
12 May 2012 | 3:00 pmDrugs have been used throughout human history to delve into altered states of mind. These altered states produce visions and thought process that have inspired religion and our belief systems. This fascinating documentary explores this historical and spiritual ritual that is shared across the world by numerous different cultures. (for my own personal experience of spiritual plant ritual read here)For Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ca2x29xuPrw&feature=relmfuFor Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH_1MGtMkbs&feature=relmfuFor Part… -
10 Facts About Bedwetting
10 May 2012 | 3:00 pmHypnosis has been used to successfully treat bedwetting (mainly) in children for many years now. Dr Sears here gives some interesting points in what is an often misunderstood behaviour. 1. The medical term for bedwetting is "enuresis," which refers to bedwetting that is not due to an abnormality of any portion of the urinary tract. Primary enuresis means the child has never been dry, whereas secondary enuresis is the term used for a child who has previously been dry but then starts wetting his bed. Bedwetting is sometimes referred to as "nocturnal enuresis" or "nightwetting." Sometimes… -
Why Celebrities Use Hypnosis
8 May 2012 | 3:00 pmNow and again you see articles about celebrities going for hypnotherapy. And for many people this may come as a surprise. Hypnotherapy has been recognized as a totally natural thing, just as any other natural healing such as meditation, reiki or yoga. Due to the significant and permanent advantages of hypnotherapy, it has already gained huge popularity amongst celebrities as well.Those celebrities visit their hypnotherapists for a variety of reasons. Either it can be to earn a sporting edge, give up smoking, overcome a phobia or to lose weight etc. Hypnotherapy is now more popular… -
Video: Gaming to Re-engage Boys in Learning
6 May 2012 | 3:00 pm
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What is psychology?
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The Psychological Influences of Weight
15 May 2012 | 6:26 pmIn many languages around the world (English, Russian, Spanish, Latvian, Chinese, Dutch, etc.), weight is associated with importance, influence and emphasis. For example, in English we might say such things as (1) “the manager has some weighty decisions to make” or (2) “get the president to sign because his signature carries more weight” or (3) “you need more facts in order to add greater weight to your argument.” But does the link between weight and importance only exist in the realm of linguistics? Research published in 2009 by Nils B. Jostmann, Daniel… -
The Amazing Color Changing Card Trick
14 May 2012 | 4:59 pmIn this video, celebrated psychologist Dr. Richard Wiseman shares his amazing color changing card trick. Watch carefully. -
Big Secrets Can Burden You Physically
13 May 2012 | 5:29 pmWe all have secrets. Some are big, some are small and some we can barely even remember. What are the effects of keeping secrets? While it might preserve a friendship, it can also lead to stress, the depletion of cognitive resources and adverse health outcomes (Penebaker, 1990, cited in Slepian, Masicampo, Toosi & Ambady, 2012). Additionally, a number of persons have deep dark secrets – the type of secret that, if made public, will bring about swift, life-altering and usually unwanted consequences. Individuals in this situation often complain about carrying a secret, being burdened by… -
5 Psychological Reasons Gambling is so Addictive
12 May 2012 | 5:36 pmGambling has become one of the most popular pastimes for people today. Whether it’s betting on your favourite football team, playing the slot machine at a local casino, or pulling the trigger in a risky round of Russian roulette, gambling never seems to lose its appeal. It’s easy to understand why people decide to take up gambling – who wouldn’t want to earn a few extra dollars without having to break a sweat? We could even explain why a person who has already hit the jackpot decides to play again; he’s likely riding on a high and obviously has a few extra bucks to spare. But how do… -
World’s Quickest Personality Test
10 May 2012 | 6:08 pmA fun and insightful video from world renowned psychologist Richard Wiseman. What is your personality like? Follow the instructions carefully and find out!
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Insight from the ordinary
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Unfinished
16 May 2012 | 4:01 amThe wood was smooth and unblemished. It would be easy to cover with a coating of mahogany red stain and be perfect for my dining room buffet. It would be very satisfying to see it transform. But it was expensive… more than I wanted to spend on my budget. I went to the thrift store and found one.It was well loved and showed its age. But with a little work, i thought, it could be as good as new. I liked its character. Maybe I could just touch it up. A little sanding and the blemishes would fade. I pondered the task, having refinished furniture… -
Ticking
15 May 2012 | 3:14 amI am surrounded by clocks. A quick count indicates that there are more than ten clocks in my apartment, more than a dozen watches and two cell phones at my glance to tell me what time it is to the minute. No matter which way I look, there is a clock. I even have one that projects on my bedroom ceiling so I don’t even have to be awake to know the time. I have two that chime, never in sync, so I don’t even have to look. Batteries, wind-up and even solar power. And yesterday, I even considered buying a grandfather clock in a thrift store – as… -
The Space Between
14 May 2012 | 4:06 amOf course, whenever I drop something it ends up in the worst possible place. I was cleaning up and my favorite knife fell right in the gap between the refrigerator and the counter. Damn! If it was something else I might have shrugged and kept going, but it was my favorite. Try as I might, using a coat hanger and everything, it was stuck. It landed point down and was embedded in the floor. And since the fridge is so tight against the counter, it was an ordeal. I guess I am lucky that way. Found all kinds of crud and grime and an old fork that… -
My mother's son
13 May 2012 | 4:38 amI can’t believe it’s been almost 6 months. The days crawled by near the end and for a long time since. The years melt away as melancholy draws at my heart and mind. I long to tell you of my achievements and daily triumphs. To hear your laugh and see your smile.Mom, I hope you were proud of me. I tried and try each day to be the son you wanted to be. To live from your sacrifice for us. You set aside your world for the enduring love of our dad and your children. Strength beyond belief as you struggled to make ends meet and provide for… -
Line down the page
12 May 2012 | 5:30 amDecisions Decisions! We face them every day. Easy ones are dispatched quickly with barely a nod but others present challenges of diametrics. The land of what if creates many uncertainties. It seems that for each option there is a Newtonian equal and opposite reaction. Everything has implications. We get lost in pondering the possibilities. Our brain hurts.So we draw a line on the page and list the pros and the cons. Quickly jot down the first few on each side and contemplate the others. Slowly the list builds and there are more on one side than…
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Southwestern College Blog » New Thoughts from President Nolan
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I Want To Be a Therapist, But I Am Worried…
14 May 2012 | 8:24 amI Want To Be a Therapist, But I Am Worried…Graduate School: What You Are Worried About You’re worried about $$, Jobs and Whether You Can Really Be a Therapist. Worry #1: I have written four blogs recently about this topic. At Southwestern College, we have increased scholarships seven-fold, we are keeping tuition the same NEXT year, no increases; Uncle Sam will loan you up to $20,500. Per year, and your soul cannot afford for you to turn your back on being a Healer if that is your calling. Go read those blogs. http://swc.edu/blogs/category/new-thoughts-from-president-nolan/ Worry #2:… -
Why Study Counseling at Southwestern College?
13 May 2012 | 11:19 pmWhy Study Counseling at Southwestern College?What is the difference among Counseling Programs? Why Should You Study Counseling at Southwestern College? We have a team of seven people—Robert Waterman, founder of the College (1977), Katherine Ninos (Vice President and member of the first graduating class in 1981), President Jim Nolan, Academic Dean Webb Garrison, and faculty members Deborah John, Laura Lansrud-Lopez, and Tatha Viethen. We have evolved into a leadership group, reading multiple texts about introducing (or, in Southwestern College’s case, keeping) “soul” in the curriculum. -
Addressing Affordability of SWC’s Graduate Education: Part Three: “Option Three”
6 May 2012 | 4:15 pmAddressing Affordability of SWC’s Graduate Education: Part Three: “Option Three”Part Three OK, so here is what got me going on this “Affordability” thing—or at least it served as a kickstart, in addition to Craig McAdams saying at the Trustee meeting “Jim, you should BLOG about this!” He was right. Thanks, Craig… I was looking at the web sites of some of our sister schools, wondering how high they had raised their tuition for next year. In my own language (poetic liberty being take), here is what I see at the first one, the Institute of Infinite Coolness (not its… -
Three Part Series on Affordability at Southwestern College: Part Two–New Scholarships for 2012-13
6 May 2012 | 4:07 pmThree Part Series on Affordability at Southwestern College: Part Two–New Scholarships for 2012-13Addressing Affordability of SWC’s Graduate Education: Part Two New Scholarships For academic year 2012-13, we have increased our scholarship offerings approximately SEVEN-FOLD. There are approximately thirty some opportunities through the year for students to get some help making ends meet as they negotiate the complicated waters of graduate school. Honorary Scholarships, Donor Scholarships, Graduate Assistantships, Quimby Scholarships, Diversity Scholarships, not to mention scholarships… -
Three Part Series on Affordability at Southwestern College: Part One–We are NOT raising tuition for 2012-13
6 May 2012 | 4:04 pmThree Part Series on Affordability at Southwestern College: Part One–We are NOT raising tuition for 2012-13Addressing Affordability of SWC’s Graduate Education: Part One We Are Not Raising Tuition for Academic Year 2012-13 Southwestern College has made a decision to NOT raise tuition for academic year 2012-13. Not only are we NOT raising tuition, but we increased our scholarship offerings next academic year SEVEN-FOLD. That’s SEVEN TIMES what we have ever offered before. Ever. More about that in the next blog… Yes, the Board of Trustees voted Friday, May 4th, to hold tuition…
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Carl Jung Depth Psychology
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Carl Jung Depth Psychology: Service of the Soul ~Carl Jung,
11 May 2012 | 3:31 amCarl Jung Depth Psychology: Service of the Soul ~Carl Jung, [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] -
Carl Jung Depth Psychology: The Way of What is to Come ~Carl Jung
9 May 2012 | 4:30 amCarl Jung Depth Psychology: The Way of What is to Come ~Carl Jung [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] -
Carl Jung Depth Psychology: Service of the Soul ~Carl Jung,
23 Apr 2012 | 4:09 amCarl Jung Depth Psychology: Service of the Soul ~Carl Jung, [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] -
Carl Jung Depth Psychology: When the month of theTwins had ended....Carl Jung
16 Apr 2012 | 5:15 amCarl Jung Depth Psychology: When the month of theTwins had ended....Carl Jung [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] -
Deciphering the Cosmic Number: The Strange Friendship of Wolfgang Pauli and Carl Jung — Arthur I. Miller
15 Apr 2012 | 7:49 amDeciphering the Cosmic Number: The Strange Friendship of Wolfgang Pauli and Carl Jung — Arthur I. Miller [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
