February 2012
16 posts
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“I constantly struggle with the backlash against the DSM 5 — the latest revision...”
– psychcentral
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The Last is Liked Best
If it’s the last, you’ll like it the best. That is the finding of a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
“Endings affect us in lots of ways, and one is this ‘positivity effect,’” says University of Michigan psychologist Ed O’Brien, who conducted the study with colleague Phoebe C....
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Emotions Are Expressed More Strongly on Left Side...
psych-facts:
In my biopsychology class for the topic of emotions, one of the things that I learned is that the right hemisphere of brain processes emotions more than left. And I learned that this shows when the left side of face expresses emotions more strongly than the right (Right Hemisphere controls Left Side of Body).
Digging further into the fact, I found a study that shows this. The study...
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The Environment and Intelligence
What kinds of experiences hinder intellectual development and what kinds of environmental “nutrients” promote it?
Here are some of the factors associated with reduced mental ability:
Poor prenatal care. If a pregnant woman is malnourished, contracts infections, smokes, is exposed to secondhand smoke, or drinks alcohol regularly, her child is at risk of having learning disabilities and a lower...
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Contagious Weight Changes
“We know that obesity can be socially contagious, but now we know that social networks play a significant role in weight loss as well, particularly team-based weight loss competitions,” said lead author Tricia Leahey, Ph.D., of The Miriam Hospital and Alpert Medical School. “In our study, weight loss clearly clustered within teams, which suggests that teammates influenced each...
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Do beautiful people have more desirable traits?
Is the “beautiful is good” stereotype accurate? Do beautiful people indeed have desirable traits?
For centuries, those who considered themselves serious scientists thought so when they sought to identify physical traits (shifty eyes, a weak chin) that would predict criminal behavior.
Or, on the other hand, was Leo Tolstoy correct when he wrote that it’s “a strange illusion … to suppose...
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"HOW I GOT BANNED FROM PSYCHOLOGY TODAY’S FACEBOOK...
psychology-studyofthesoul:
So, I found this interesting because:
1) …I really don’t like PsychologyToday anymore; after taking Introduction to Clinical Psychology, I realized how…um…biased they are. In a way. If you like it, that’s cool. But personally, I’m not into it anymore.
2) …a popular psychology magazine refuses to accept facts PROVED by psychology research. What?
3) …MEN AND WOMEN ARE...
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Why group work is ineffective
Have you ever been a member of a group that got virtually nothing accomplished? If so, you may have been a victim of social loafing, a phenomenon in which people slack off in groups (Latané,Williams, & Harkins, 1979; North, Linley, & Hargreaves, 2000). As a consequence of social loafing, the whole is less than the sum of its parts. Some psychologists believe that social loafing is a...
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No scientific basis justifies gay marriage ban
The American Psychological Association praised a newly released court decision from California today (Feb. 7) that declared the state’s same-sex ban unconstitutional.
The ban, known as Proposition 8, is a ballot measure banning same-sex marriage in California that passed by 52 percent in 2008. The measure came after the California Supreme Court struck down two anti-gay marriage laws five...
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Does the Moon Affect How You Sleep?
Nope.
When there’s a full moon are you more restless, finding it difficult to sleep well? If you answered yes, you’re not alone. But it’s just not true.
Even though popular belief has long held that a full moon interferes with a good night’s sleep, Austrian scientists have shown that sleep patterns are not affected by the phases of the moon.
Reuters reports that...
January 2012
4 posts
8 tags
WatchHelen Fisher studies the brain in love
Why do we crave love so much, even to the point that we would die for it? To learn more about our very real, very physical need for romantic love, Helen Fisher and her research team took MRIs of people in love — and people who had just been dumped.
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Transactive Memory
jinavie:
It is common to find couples, families or teams where someone always asks another member about a certain memory, while the opposite happens for a different memory. For example, a mother might always consult his son about computers and technical difficulties, while the father might always consult the mother about his plans for the month. This kind of “shared memory” is named...
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People with mental illnesses still live 15-20... →
“If such a disparity in mortality rates affected a less stigmatised section of the population, then we would witness an outcry. The fact that life expectancy remains about 20 years less for men with mental illness and 15-years less for women with mental illness, denotes a cynical disregard for these lost lives and shows, in stark terms, by just how much people with mental illness are valued less...
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Physical Abuse and Domestic Violence Change a... →
psychotherapy:
When children have been exposed to family violence, their brains become increasingly “tuned” for processing possible sources of threat, a new study reports. The findings, reported in the Dec. 6 issue of Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, reveal the same pattern of brain activity in these children as seen previously in soldiers exposed to combat.
The study is the first...
December 2011
7 posts
4 tags
Individuals with mood disorders are particularly...
psych-facts:
Individuals with Depression or Bipolar Disorder are particularly sensitive to the consumption of aspartame, an artificial sweetener, and should be discouraged from consuming it.
Those who suffer depression or bipolar disorder be considered part of the general population? In 1993, Dr Walton, who is a psychiatrist, conducted a study of 40 patients with unipolar depression and a...
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Are High Neurotic People More Absorbed Into the...
psych-facts:
In 2011, Weibel, Wissmath, and Stricker study whether people who are more neurotic are more absorbed into the films they watch. Using a 3 by 2 factorial design, 64 student participants complete the Neo Personality Inventory (NEO-FFI) that assesses neurotic level. Next, the participants are put into a Low or High Neurotic Groups based on NEO-FFI scores. Participants are also then...
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Do British Accents Make People Sound Smarter?
It’s not exactly clear why people with British accents sound smarter to Americans, but several studies show that Americans who have not lived outside of the United States tend to rate British English speakers as having higher intelligence and social status than non-British English speakers. Americans who have lived outside the U.S. for at least three months tend to rate British English...
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Monkeysphere
jinavie:
How many friends can a person have? Believe it or not, science has solved this question. An anthropologist called Robin Dunbar studied various societies, tribes and primate groups to determine how many members a group can have to maintain stability. He discovered that the ideal size for a group of humans was about 150.
What happens if there are more than 150 people in a group? This is...
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WatchBenefits of Bilingualism (Source: bigthink)
Being exposed to two languages before the first birthday involves unanticipated benefits for a child.
November 2011
13 posts
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Are Your Genes To Blame?
Study after study has shown that genes can affect behavior and mental life. Identical twins separated at birth (who share their genes but not their environment) are similar in their intellectual talents, their personality traits (such as introversion, conscientiousness, and antagonism), their average level of lifelong happiness, and personal quirks such as giggling incessantly or flushing the...
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“I’ve found that where mental treatment is concerned, therapy holds some sort of...”
– Antidepressants and Strength of Character « Brute Reason
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grevedelafaim replied to your post: This morning I had to read a psychoanalytical…
The interpretation or the topic itself?
The interpretation, it was a bit heavy.
For those of you asking for the link, it was in German and in printed form, so I don’t have one, but if you want to look for it it’s by Steff Bornstein.
skypirates replied to your post: This morning I had to read a...
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This morning I had to read a psychoanalytical interpretation of Sleeping Beauty. It was horrible.
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'Attraction-Rejection' Game
This is the classic romantic pursuit game:
B is attracted to A
B advances towards A.
A moves away from B.
B stops pursuing A.
A is attracted to B.
A advances towards B.
B moves away from A.
A stops pursuing B.
The pattern then repeats ad infinitum.
Purpose:
Primary: Attention
Secondary: Social capital
It can happen at very subtle ways, for example:
Girl fancies boy and makes eye...
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attentioninconsistency:
But isn’t punishment and discipline a good way to teach kids a lesson? Not so, according to Alfie Kohn, author of Unconditional Parenting and a host of other books on discipline and education. “To punish or discipline a child is to deliberately make a child feel bad in the hopes that this will have a positive result,” says Kohn. “But all that punishment can ever buy you...
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Theories about emotions
It has always been assumed that the first thing that happens is that we have the experience an emotion, and then and only then do we start reacting to the situation physiologically. But over a hundred years ago, William James, the father of American psychology, and Carl Lange, a Danish psychologist, separately introduced the idea that we have it all backwards: First, they said, we...
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The psychology of gift giving - just give them...
xxzulaxx:
By spending days hunting for that special gift for your friend or partner, you’ll show them just how much you care, and also what incredible insight you have into their needs and interests. Right? Not exactly. A new study by a pair of researchers at Harvard and Stanford suggests that most people, at least in North American culture, would prefer that you simply buy them something...
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Music and Intelligence
Brain development is still incomplete at birth. Early experiences that stimulate the brain are involved in enhancing its neural growth. A child’s brain develops its full potential with exposure to enriching experiences in early childhood. These stimuli received during the early parts of childhood are thus crucial to brain growth and connections made in nerve cell networks. Studies indicate...
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October 2011
23 posts
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The Ugly Side of Happiness
Having too much of a good thing, even happiness, can turn out badly, warn experimental psychologists who study that warm, fuzzy feeling. When it comes to income levels, life expectancy, education and being attentive to risks, too much happiness can drag you down. “Psychologists have documented a set of cognitive deficits, dangerous in some contexts, that come with the warm wash of feeling...
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In Love, Better To Be Blind
A study published in May in the journal Psychological Science helps show how rosy-tinted views affect a relationship down the line. “Researchers followed 222 newlyweds for three years—time enough, science has shown, for the marital blahs to set in. Everyone in the study started out relatively happy and then their satisfaction declined—except in one group. ‘People who were the most...
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Eye movements might reveal unconscious memories
You may remember more than your conscious brain knows, according to a nifty new study that will soon be published in the journal Neuron. Researchers gave college students memory tests while closely monitoring both their eye movements and their brain activity, and found that certain patterns revealed that a student was retrieving the memory of the right answer–although his conscious brain often...
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Illusory Optimism...Ignorant Bliss will keep you...
brainmtters:
Your brain won’t allow you to believe the apocalypse could actually happen
by Analee Newitz
You may love stories about the end of the world, but that’s probably because, deep down, you don’t believe it could ever happen. But that’s not because you’re realistic. It’s actually a quirk of the human brain, recently explored by a group of neuroscientists, which prevents us from...
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Optimism Is a Brain Defect, says mighty fMRI scans →
psydoctor8:
Pervasive, persistent optimism is one of those uniquely human traits/flaws — we tend to believe things are better than they really are, or that negative consequences won’t befall us, even if they befall others. It stands to reason that people would adjust their expectations when confronted with harsh reality, yet they don’t. Our brains are to blame, according to a new study —...
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Why is a touch on the arm so persuasive?
neuropsy:
A gentle touch on the arm can be surprisingly persuasive. Consider these research findings. Library users who are touched while registering, rate the library and its personnel more favourably than the non-touched; diners are more satisfied and give larger tips when waiting staff touch them casually; people touched by a stranger are more willing to perform a mundane favour; and women...
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A Fold in the Brain is Linked to Keeping Reality... →
neuroticthought:
The researchers looked at MRI brain scans of a large group of healthy adults. In particular, they were looking for the paracingulate sulcus (PCS), a fold near the front of the brain. There’s a lot of variability in the PCS: some people have quite distinctive folds, others have barely any. It’s in a part of the brain known to be important in keeping track of reality, which is...