Psychology posts
- April 11, 2013
- 10:43 AM
- 119 views
Rubber Hand Experiment Shows Kids Have More Flexible Body Boundaries
by Elizabeth Preston in Inkfish
Close your eyes. Do you know where all your fingers and toes are? Can you pinpoint the exact edges of your body in space?
You may think your knowledge of your body is unshakeable, but a simple trick with a rubber limb can sway you. In kids, the effect is even more extreme—a finding that gives intriguing hints about how our body sense develops.
The new research relies on the "rubber hand illusion," first published in 1998. To produce this illusion, an experimenter sits across a table from........ Read more »
Cowie, D., Makin, T., & Bremner, A. (2013) Children's Responses to the Rubber-Hand Illusion Reveal Dissociable Pathways in Body Representation. Psychological Science. DOI: 10.1177/0956797612462902
- April 11, 2013
- 09:20 AM
- 108 views
Bad Grades Lead to College Dropout Even When They Don’t Have To
by Eric Horowitz in peer-reviewed by my neurons
An important new working paper (NBER, pdf) from Todd and Ralph Stinebrickner helps pinpoint an overlooked cause of college dropout. They were interested in the non-financial reasons for dropout, particularly the role played by grades. The longitudinal survey data they collected was uniquely suited to this question because it came from Barea College, a small [...]... Read more »
Stinebrickner, T., & Stinebrickner, P. (2013) Academic Performance and College Dropout: Using Longitudinal Expectations Data to Estimate a Learning Model. NBER Working Papers. DOI: 10.3386/w18945
- April 11, 2013
- 01:28 AM
- 57 views
Mothers And Others (With Benefits)
by Jesse Marczyk in Pop Psychology
Understanding the existence and persistence of homosexuality in the face of its apparently reproductive fitness costs has left many evolutionary researchers scratching their heads. Though research into homosexuality has not been left wanting for hypotheses, every known hypothesis to date … Continue reading →... Read more »
Kuhle BX, & Radtke S. (2013) Born both ways: The alloparenting hypothesis for sexual fluidity in women. Evolutionary psychology : an international journal of evolutionary approaches to psychology and behavior, 11(2), 304-23. PMID: 23563096
- April 10, 2013
- 12:06 PM
- 84 views
The Effects of Social Media Monopolies
by Mark Fonseca Rendeiro in United Academics
Though some new statistical reports show signs of slowing down, we are still very much in the era of social media euphoria, where more and more people join up, sign in, and check their feeds as often as possible. ”Like” it or not- grievances are aired, ideas are sometimes exchanged, and a never ending stream of baby photos are shared at every minute of the day. On the surface, both regular users and professional researchers have observed and chronicled the list of achievements and p........ Read more »
Gehl, R. (2013) What's on your mind? Social media monopolies and noopower. First Monday, 18(3). DOI: 10.5210/fm.v18i3.4618
- April 10, 2013
- 11:09 AM
- 129 views
Getting Science Right: Staring at Large Breasts Makes you Live Longer
by Andrew Porterfield in United Academics
What’s the story?
It’s great news for leering men! A study in none other than the New England Journal of Medicine found that men who stare at large breasts live longer than men who don’t. A German research group, headed by an aging specialist named Karen Weatherby, found that staring at large breasts for longer than 10 minutes is equivalent to a 30 minute workout. The study, which took five years, revealed that breast watching men had lower blood pressure, slower resting pulse........ Read more »
Campbell, J. (2011) Getting it wrong: ten of the greatest misreported stories in American journalism. Choice Reviews Online, 48(12), 48-48. DOI: 10.5860/CHOICE.48-6722
- April 10, 2013
- 09:40 AM
- 117 views
Not Quite Like a Rolling Stone
by Miss Behavior in The Scorpion and the Frog
Dung beetles are competitive little critters. And who can blame them? When a fresh pile of poo is at stake, wouldn’t we all be a bit competitive? …Okay, maybe not. But animal dung is actually chock-full of nutrients, which makes it a precious resource to the animals that can make use of them. The approximately 6,000 species of dung beetles and their babies are among the animals that make excellent use of those resources.Mmmm... A poo-pile worth fighting for! Image by Duwwel at Wikimedia.But........ Read more »
Dacke M, Byrne M, Smolka J, Warrant E, & Baird E. (2013) Dung beetles ignore landmarks for straight-line orientation. Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology, 199(1), 17-23. PMID: 23076443
- April 10, 2013
- 09:12 AM
- 75 views
The Effects of Social Media Monopolies
by Mark Fonseca Rendeiro in United Academics
Though some new statistical reports show signs of slowing down, we are still very much in the era of social media euphoria, where more and more people join up, sign in, and check their feeds as often as possible. ”Like” it or not- grievances are aired, ideas are sometimes exchanged, and a never ending stream of baby photos are shared at every minute of the day. On the surface, both regular users and professional researchers have observed and chronicled the list of achievements and p........ Read more »
Gehl, R. (2013) What's on your mind? Social media monopolies and noopower. First Monday, 18(3). DOI: 10.5210/fm.v18i3.4618
- April 10, 2013
- 08:30 AM
- 96 views
Is having many cats an early sign of animal hoarding?
by CAPB in Companion Animal Psychology Blog
In January of this year, 99 live cats and 67 dead ones were removed from a woman’s home near Albany, New York. The cats were living in crates surrounded by faeces, and the woman was subsequently charged with animal cruelty. If situations like this could be predicted, psychological help at an early stage might prevent animals from being harmed. A study published this month by Ramos et al in Brazil investigates whether or not the early stages of cat hoarding can be identified. Animal h........ Read more »
Ramos, D., da Cruz, N.O., Ellis, S.L.H., Hernandez, J.A.E., & Reche-Junior, A. (2013) Early stage animal hoarders: Are these owners of large numbers of adequately cared-for cats?. Human-Animal Interaction Bulletin, 1(1), 55-69. info:/
- April 10, 2013
- 07:02 AM
- 78 views
The dilemma of the ‘Expert’ Witness
by Doug Keene in The Jury Room
In any case that includes a dispute over professional standards, science, technology, or an area of specialized knowledge, expert witnesses are going to be involved. Selecting someone who will be viewed as knowledgeable and credible to jurors is often difficult. You obviously are going to choose someone who knows the content at issue, but that’s [...]
Related posts:
Expert witness influence: Interrogation tactics and false confessions
What happens when a juror agrees [or disagrees] with your ........ Read more »
Schauer, F., & Spellman, B. (2013) Is Expert Evidence Really Different?. SSRN Electronic Journal. DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.2210397
- April 9, 2013
- 11:37 PM
- 63 views
Diabulimia: A Dangerous Duet
by Shelly in Science of Eating Disorders
Type 1 diabetes (DMT1, or T1DM) is a lifelong disease often diagnosed in children or adolescents. Though causes of DMT1 are complex and not fully understood, it results from the body’s immune system destroying its own insulin-producing cells. This drastically lowers insulin levels and leads to high blood sugar (insulin is crucial for regulating blood sugar). If not managed properly, DMt1 can wreck havoc on the nerves, heart, and retina. The onset of DMT1 often results in dramatic weight l........ Read more »
Walker, J., Young, R., Little, J., & Steel, J. (2002) Mortality in Concurrent Type 1 Diabetes and Anorexia Nervosa. Diabetes Care, 25(9), 1664-1665. DOI: 10.2337/diacare.25.9.1664-a
Alejandra Larrañaga, María F Docet and Ricardo V García-Mayor. (2011) Disordered eating behaviors in type 1 diabetic patients. World J Diabetes., 2(11), 189-195. info:/10.4239/wjd.v2.i11.189
- April 9, 2013
- 05:28 AM
- 114 views
The autism spectrum and the job interview
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
I'm very conscious of the fact that I tend to talk quite a lot about biological research on this blog and its potential implications for people on the autism spectrum and beyond. To some, this can seem a little one-sided in terms of how autism is viewed and indeed at the expense of a large proportion of people on the autism spectrum who are not necessarily looking to understand how cytokines or dietary intervention for example, might impact on their signs, symptoms or everyday quality of life.Yo........ Read more »
Strickland DC, Coles CD, & Southern LB. (2013) JobTIPS: A Transition to Employment Program for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Journal of autism and developmental disorders. PMID: 23494559
- April 9, 2013
- 04:52 AM
- 84 views
Would It Ever Be Possible To Predict Dreams?
by Katja Keuchenius in United Academics
Have you ever been able to perfectly tell what you dreamt last night? Your dreams probably are always too fuzzy for clear stories. That’s why they will never be part of objective science, right? Japanese researchers don’t agree. They have been busy ‘decoding’ dreams and now talk about predicting them.
To bridge the gap between the objective world of measuring and the subjective experience of dreams, they monitored the dreaming patterns of three people looking at their ........ Read more »
Horikawa, T., Tamaki, M., Miyawaki, Y., & Kamitani, Y. (2013) Neural Decoding of Visual Imagery During Sleep. Science. DOI: 10.1126/science.1234330
- April 8, 2013
- 04:56 AM
- 82 views
'Figuring out what they're after': a common thread between assessment performance and job performance?
by Alex Fradera in BPS Occupational Digest
A while back we shared a review of the Ability To Identify Criteria (ATIC), suggesting that difference in how people perform on a selection process like an interview is due partly how good they are at figuring out what the process wants to hear. The article suggested that this may not be entirely bad, as ATIC appears to have a role in job performance as well. Now the authors have published empirical work looking closer at this issue. Their data suggests that figuring out situational demands may ........ Read more »
Jansen A, Melchers KG, Lievens F, Kleinmann M, Brändli M, Fraefel L, & König CJ. (2013) Situation assessment as an ignored factor in the behavioral consistency paradigm underlying the validity of personnel selection procedures. The Journal of applied psychology, 98(2), 326-41. PMID: 23244223
Kleinmann, M., Ingold, P., Lievens, F., Jansen, A., Melchers, K., & Konig, C. (2011) A different look at why selection procedures work: The role of candidates' ability to identify criteria. Organizational Psychology Review, 1(2), 128-146. DOI: 10.1177/2041386610387000
- April 8, 2013
- 04:31 AM
- 110 views
Nine-month-olds prefer looking at unattractive (read: normal) male bodies
by Christian Jarrett in BPS Research Digest
When faces were hidden or schematic, 9-month-olds preferred looking at the "unattractive" male bodies
Out-of-shape new dads around the world take heart - your little munchkin thinks your fuller figure is nicer to look at than the ripped, six-pack-boasting torsos so often seen in magazines and after-shave adverts.
Michelle Delaney at the University of Sheffield and her colleagues presented dozens of babies with pictures of pairs of Caucasian male bodies wearing only underwear: one w........ Read more »
Heron-Delaney, M., Quinn, P., Lee, K., Slater, A., & Pascalis, O. (2013) Nine-month-old infants prefer unattractive bodies over attractive bodies. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 115(1), 30-41. DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2012.12.008
- April 8, 2013
- 04:05 AM
- 78 views
Sexual Harassment Has a Cost—to Males and Females
by Andrew Porterfield in United Academics
Sexual harassment is seen through the animal kingdom, from beetles to fish to humans. Forced attempts at copulation—whether grabbing a female frog with a claw-like thumb, or grabbing someone’s breast in the workplace—are usually seen as acts of male dominance. But a few studies have shown that these behaviors are costly in evolutionary terms—and for both sexes.... Read more »
Makowicz, A., & Schlupp, I. (2013) The direct costs of living in a sexually harassing environment. Animal Behaviour, 85(3), 569-577. DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2012.12.016
Studd, M., & Gattiker, U. (1991) The evolutionary psychology of sexual harassment in organizations. Ethology and Sociobiology, 12(4), 249-290. DOI: 10.1016/0162-3095(91)90021-H
- April 8, 2013
- 01:44 AM
- 119 views
Insurance Is a Criminal’s Best Friend
by Eric Horowitz in peer-reviewed by my neurons
Most residents of developed Western nations assume their justice systems are relatively infallible. Going through life without constantly worrying about whether people are capable of upholding a certain standard of objectivity and fairness is easier than the alternative. But with human decisions come human biases, even in situations that demand objectivity. For example, crimes involving [...]... Read more »
van de Calseyde, P.P., Keren, G., & Zeelenberg, M. (2013) The insured victim effect: When and why compensating harm decreases punishment recommendations. Judgment and Decision Making. info:/
- April 8, 2013
- 01:00 AM
- 99 views
Should Psychological Neuroscience Research Be Funded?
by Jesse Marczyk in Pop Psychology
In my last post, when discussing some research by Singer et al (2006), I mentioned as an aside that their use of fMRI data didn’t seem to add a whole lot to their experiment. Yes, they found that brain regions … Continue reading →... Read more »
Singer, T., Seymour, B., O'Doherty, J., Stephan, K., Dolan, R., & Frith, C. (2006) Empathic neural responses are modulated by the perceived fairness of others. Nature, 439(7075), 466-469. DOI: 10.1038/nature04271
- April 7, 2013
- 11:01 PM
- 37 views
Jury Decision Making and Psychological Science: A Give and Take Relationship
by Dan DeFoe in Psycholawlogy
Jury decision-making has implications for psychological research. Psychological research has implications for jury-decision making. Leading jury and decision-making researchers recently discussed how psychological science can examine individual and group decision-making as well as a number of other topics. They offered possible focus points for basic and applied research. According to this team, the “good [...]The post Jury Decision Making and Psychological Science: A Give and Tak........ Read more »
Bornstein, B., & Greene, E. (2011) Jury Decision Making: Implications For and From Psychology. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 20(1), 63-67. DOI: 10.1177/0963721410397282
- April 7, 2013
- 01:51 PM
- 122 views
The fantastic organ
by Perikis Livas in Tracing Knowledge
‘we now know that one of the main reasons expressionist art appeals to us so strongly is that we have evolved a remarkably large, social brain. Moreover, the brain’s mirror neuron systems, theory of mind system and biological modulators of emotions and empathy endow us with a great capacity for understanding other people’s minds and emotions.’... Read more »
Friston, K. (2013) The fantastic organ. Brain, 136(4), 1328-1332. DOI: 10.1093/brain/awt038
- April 7, 2013
- 04:55 AM
- 109 views
Asperger syndrome in first-episode psychosis
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
There are some key 'go-to' peer-reviewed texts which I've found to be useful when talking about the various conditions on the autism spectrum. On the topic of Asperger syndrome, I've always tended to come back to the paper by Tom Berney* (open-access) charting the progression of the condition through childhood into adulthood.The whisper of the Muse @ Wikipedia Despite being published nearly 10 years ago, the paper by Dr Berney weathers well and covers many of the discussions which have come........ Read more »
Davidson C, Greenwood N, Stansfield A, & Wright S. (2013) Prevalence of Asperger syndrome among patients of an Early Intervention in Psychosis team. Early intervention in psychiatry. PMID: 23472601
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