Psychology posts
- April 18, 2010
- 05:35 PM
- 832 views
Why religion can lead to racism
Religious people are more racist than average. That fact has been known for decades, and it's rather surprising given that mainstream religions are unanimous in preaching racial tolerance. Just why this should be is not well understood.Does religion really cause racism, or is it that are racists drawn to religion? Three recent studies have shed a little light on that question, with fascinating results.Do subconscious religious prompts increase racism?Can you make someone more racist simply by su........ Read more »
Megan K. Johnson, Wade C. Rowatt, & Jordan LaBouff. (2010) Priming Christian Religious Concepts Increases Racial Prejudice. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 1(2), 119-126. info:/10.1177/1948550609357246
Hall, D., Matz, D., & Wood, W. (2009) Why Don't We Practice What We Preach? A Meta-Analytic Review of Religious Racism. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 14(1), 126-139. DOI: 10.1177/1088868309352179
Hathcoat, J., & Barnes, L. (2010) Explaining the Relationship Among Fundamentalism and Authoritarianism: An Epistemic Connection. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 20(2), 73-84. DOI: 10.1080/10508611003607884
- April 18, 2010
- 04:45 PM
- 695 views
Who will do well, who will not?
by Adiemusfree in Healthskills: Skills for Healthy Living
If I had a crystal ball, and could decide who would do well in self managing their pain, and who would not, what would I do? A holy grail for insurance companies and health economists and yes, clinicians, is to find some precise way to decide who needs the most help with their pain, and [...]... Read more »
Bergström, G., Bergström, C., Hagberg, J., Bodin, L., & Jensen, I. (2010) A 7-year follow-up of multidisciplinary rehabilitation among chronic neck and back pain patients. Is sick leave outcome dependent on psychologically derived patient groups?. European Journal of Pain, 14(4), 426-433. DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpain.2009.06.008
- April 18, 2010
- 07:59 AM
- 717 views
Is beat induction innate or learned?
by Henkjan Honing in Music Matters
This week a short entry with a selection of discussions related to the newborn study mentioned in last months entry.Discussion at ScienceNews by Bruce Bower. Discussion at Wired by Brandon Keim.Interview at WNYC Public Radio by John Schaefer: [soundfile]Report by Science Update by Bob Hirshon: [soundfile]Report by NewScientist by Hazel Muir, video by Sandrine Ceurstemont:For more media attention see Google news.Winkler, I., Haden, G., Ladinig, O., Sziller, I., & Honing, H. (2009). Newborn in........ Read more »
Winkler, I., Haden, G., Ladinig, O., Sziller, I., & Honing, H. (2009) Newborn infants detect the beat in music. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(7), 2468-2471. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0809035106
- April 18, 2010
- 12:06 AM
- 646 views
Dreaming as delirium, protoconsciousness or epiphenomenon?
by sandygautam in The Mouse Trap
Image via Wikipedia
J Allan Hobson, has never shied form making bold departures from existing trends when it comes to dream research. At the time when Freudian notions of dream interpretation and dreams-as wish-fulfillment were at it speak, he proposed a theory that dreaming or the subjective state be distinguished from the underlying REM sleep physiological More >Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
Related posts:Depression, Dreaming and Rehearsal learning We all know that depressi........ Read more »
Hobson, J. (2009) REM sleep and dreaming: towards a theory of protoconsciousness. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 10(11), 803-813. DOI: 10.1038/nrn2716
- April 17, 2010
- 04:39 PM
- 1,078 views
Are E-Readers Value-Added?
by Jason Goldman in The Thoughtful Animal
A recent paper from the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy came across my desktop yesterday called e-Reading and e-Responding: New Tools for the Next Generation of Readers.
In it, Lotta C. Larson describes her observation of 10 fifth-grade students who were given access to an e-reader containing two recent award-winning books, both by Christopher Paul Curtis: Bud, Not Buddy, and The Watsons Go To Birmingham-1963. Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post...... Read more »
Larson, L. (2009) e-Reading and e-Responding: New Tools for the Next Generation of Readers. Journal of Adolescent , 53(3), 255-258. DOI: 10.1598/JAAL.53.3.7
- April 16, 2010
- 10:28 PM
- 313 views
Suicide Screening and Profit Motivation
by Ultimo167 in Strong Silent Types
Wintersteen (2010) looks at the value of standardised screening of young people in primary care settings, for suicidal ideation.
... Read more »
Wintersteen MB. (2010) Standardized Screening for Suicidal Adolescents in Primary Care. Pediatrics. PMID: 20385627
- April 16, 2010
- 02:00 PM
- 1,166 views
How to choose a good profile picture
by eHarmony Labs in eHarmony Labs Blog
Recent research may help you decide on the best photo to post. Learn more. ... Read more »
Hancock, J., & Toma, C. (2009) Putting Your Best Face Forward: The Accuracy of Online Dating Photographs. Journal of Communication, 59(2), 367-386. DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-2466.2009.01420.x
- April 15, 2010
- 06:04 PM
- 559 views
Can Our Fantasy Life Affect Our Perceptions of Real Life?
by Darcy Cowan in Skepticon
Recently there’s been a television promotional advertisement that really bugs me. It shows a man watching events appearing before his eyes and has a voice-over that says something to the effect of “When you look back on your life are you going to see a life filled with interesting people and excitement?” and when is [...]... Read more »
Kanazawa, S. (2002) Bowling with our imaginary friends. Evolution and Human Behavior, 23(3), 167-171. DOI: 10.1016/S1090-5138(01)00098-8
Jeremy Freese. (2003) Imaginary imaginary friends? Television viewing and satisfaction with friends. Evolution and Human Behavior, 24(1), 65-69. DOI: 10.1016/S1090-5138(02)00109-5
Kanazawa, S. (2003) The relativity of relative satisfaction. Evolution and Human Behavior, 24(1), 71-73. DOI: 10.1016/S1090-5138(02)00108-3
- April 15, 2010
- 12:07 PM
- 846 views
Phonological Training Changes Brain Activation in Dyslexic Children
by Livia in Reading and Word Recognition Research
Note: Online Universities has included me in their list of top 50 female science bloggers. It’s not actually for this blog, but for my Brain Science and Creative Writing blog. Anyways, check out the list if you get a chance. There are lot of interesting bloggers.
Accessibility: Intermediate-Advanced
We’ve looked at the neuroscience of dyslexia and how the dyslexic brain processes words.
... Read more »
Shaywitz BA, Shaywitz SE, Blachman BA, Pugh KR, Fulbright RK, Skudlarski P, Mencl WE, Constable RT, Holahan JM, Marchione KE.... (2004) Development of left occipitotemporal systems for skilled reading in children after a phonologically- based intervention. Biological psychiatry, 55(9), 926-33. PMID: 15110736
- April 15, 2010
- 09:00 AM
- 513 views
Young children see the moon illusion
by sciencebase in Sciencebase Science Blog
Why does the full moon seem bigger when it’s near the horizon than when it’s high in the sky? The moon illusion, which also applies to the perception of the size of the sun in the sky, has intrigued artists and puzzled psychologists for many years.
The moon illusion refers to the fact that the sun [...]Young children see the moon illusion is a post from: Sciencebase Science Blog
... Read more »
Helen E. Ross, & Adele Cowie. (2010) The moon illusion in children’s drawings. Int. J. Arts and Technology, 3(2/3), 275-287. info:/
- April 15, 2010
- 07:06 AM
- 1,385 views
What Is Beauty? Your Kids' Newest Art Critic
by Jason Goldman in The Thoughtful Animal
Do animals create art? So far, this seems a uniquely human ability.
But do animals have a sense of the aesthetically pleasing? What about the ability to judge and critique art? Can an animal decide if a given work of art is beautiful or ugly? What is beauty in the first place? All good questions.
Shigeru Watanabe of Keio University in Tokyo wanted to investigate the questions, with pigeons. Did he introduce them to the works of Picasso? Or Rembrandt? Romero Britto? No. He used art created by ........ Read more »
Watanabe, S. (2009) Pigeons can discriminate “good” and “bad” paintings by children. Animal Cognition, 13(1), 75-85. DOI: 10.1007/s10071-009-0246-8
- April 15, 2010
- 04:52 AM
- 605 views
Don't start group discussions by sharing initial preferences
by Christian Jarrett in BPS Research Digest
When groups of people get together to make decisions, they often struggle to fulfil their potential. Part of the reason is that they tend to spend more time talking about information that everyone shares rather than learning fresh insights from each other. In a forthcoming paper, Andreas Mojzisch and Stefan Schulz-Hardt have uncovered a new reason groups so often make sub-optimal decisions. The researchers show that when a group of people begin a discussion by sharing their initial preferences, ........ Read more »
Andreas Mojzisch, & Stefan Schulz-Hardt. (2010) Knowing others' preferences degrades the quality of group decisions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. info:/
- April 14, 2010
- 12:22 PM
- 851 views
The Brain That Can't Do Bigotry
by David Berreby in Mind Matters
A rapidly forming stereotype about autistic people is that they can't use stereotypes. In the words of this site about kids with Asperger's Syndrome, for instance, "they are usually free from sexism or racism." Scientific tests suggest that this is false—another example of stereotypes revealing more about the fears and hopes of stereotypers than they do about the stereotypees. "Seeing everyone as an individual" is an American ideal (so strong that children pretend not to see race), so we'r........ Read more »
Santos, A., Meyer-Lindenberg, A., & Deruelle, C. (2010) Absence of racial, but not gender, stereotyping in Williams syndrome children. Current Biology, 20(7). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2010.02.009
Milne, Elizabeth, & Grafman, Jordan. (2001) Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Lesions in Humans Eliminate Implicit Gender Stereotyping . The Journal of Neuroscience, 21(RC 150), 1-6. info:/11404442
- April 14, 2010
- 10:48 AM
- 597 views
Two views of brain function: Reflexive/reactive or Intrinsic/proactive?
by sandygautam in The Mouse Trap
Image via Wikipedia
Marcus Raichle, who had initially discovered the default brain network, has a new review article in TICS, that argues that brain activity should be understood as primarily an intrinsic and proactive process rather than a reflexive or reactive process.
He bases this argument on the fact that resting brain consumes 20 % of body’s More >Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
Related posts:The right brain/ left brain asymmetry debate Over at the Health Information blog........ Read more »
M. Raichle. (2010) Two Views of Brain function. Trends in Cognitive Sciences. DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2010.01.008
- April 14, 2010
- 09:49 AM
- 986 views
Impaired or improved driving in abstinent Ecstasy users?
by DrugMonkey in DrugMonkey
A recent paper set out to examine automobile driving skills in people who had previously used Ecstasy (presumptively 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine; MDMA) but were currently not using. Dastrup and colleagues (2010) used a driving simulator task in which the job was to maintain a set distance behind a lead vehicle (LV) displayed on the computer screen. The job was to stay abut two car lengths (given as 18 meters) behind the LV while accelerating to 55mph. My Google U conversion calculation m........ Read more »
Dastrup, E., Lees, M., Bechara, A., Dawson, J., & Rizzo, M. (2010) Risky car following in abstinent users of MDMA. Accident Analysis , 42(3), 867-873. DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2009.04.015
- April 14, 2010
- 09:23 AM
- 448 views
Manipulating Morality with Magnetism
by agoldstein in WiSci
Using TMS, Rebecca Saxe and MIT/Harvard colleagues manipulate subjects' moral codes so that they focus on outcomes over intentions.... Read more »
Young, L., Camprodon, J., Hauser, M., Pascual-Leone, A., & Saxe, R. (2010) Disruption of the right temporoparietal junction with transcranial magnetic stimulation reduces the role of beliefs in moral judgments. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0914826107
SAXE, R., & WEXLER, A. (2005) Making sense of another mind: The role of the right temporo-parietal junction. Neuropsychologia, 43(10), 1391-1399. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2005.02.013
- April 14, 2010
- 05:07 AM
- 660 views
Jewel Wasps manipulate specific brain centers to turn their prey into zombies
by Björn Brembs in bjoern.brembs.blog
Jewel Wasps (Ampulex compressa) are amazing creatures and their form of parental care has received quite some attention not onkly by scientists but also from the general media, and rightfully so. This parasitoid wasp serves for its young by hunting cockroaches as food. But it doesn't serve the cockroach to the offspring in pieces. No, it first performs brain surgery on the 'roaches to render them docile and then lays an egg onto the pacified animal from which a larva will hatch which then burr........ Read more »
Gal, R., & Libersat, F. (2010) A Wasp Manipulates Neuronal Activity in the Sub-Esophageal Ganglion to Decrease the Drive for Walking in Its Cockroach Prey. PLoS ONE, 5(4). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0010019
- April 14, 2010
- 03:56 AM
- 1,060 views
Starting from the Beginning: Evolutionary and Developmental Origins of Human Knowledge
by Jason Goldman in The Thoughtful Animal
What are the cognitive and neural systems that allow us to build buildings, play checkers, do multivariate statistics, receive DVDs by mail, follow Dr. Isis's pesto recipe, or navigate the tangled LA freeways?
You may ask: what can studying children and non-human animals tell us about the complexity of the human experience? Only educated human adults engage with formal mathematics, cooking, or map reading. Right?
This is a reasonable question to ask. But when human adults show complex, possi........ Read more »
Hauser, Marc D., & Spelke, Elizabeth. (2004) Evolutionary and Developmental Foundations of Human Knowledge. The Cognitive Neurosciences III (Ed. M. Gazzaniga). info:/
- April 14, 2010
- 02:40 AM
- 1,648 views
Individual Differences in Empathy
by Dr Shock in Dr Shock MD PhD
Empathy or the ability to appreciate someone else’s emotions and express this emotional awareness is a capacity that differs amongst individuals.
Cognitive empathy refers to imaginatively understanding another person’s thoughts, feelings and actions. Emotional empathy is feeling the emotion of another person, but maintaining a compassionate, other-focused perspective
Cognitive empathy can be tested with facial expression recognition. [...]
Related posts:Patient Doctor Relationship: Ca........ Read more »
Besel, L., & Yuille, J. (2010) Individual differences in empathy: The role of facial expression recognition. Personality and Individual Differences. DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2010.03.013
Lee, S., Guajardo, N., Short, S., & King, W. (2010) Individual differences in ocular level empathic accuracy ability: The predictive power of fantasy empathy. Personality and Individual Differences. DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2010.03.016
- April 13, 2010
- 10:17 PM
- 585 views
The Creativity-dopamine (b)linkage: more brains and bonkers connections
by sandygautam in The Mouse Trap
Image by jef safi via Flickr
Creativity is certainly different from intelligence; it is usually gauged as the ability to make novel and useful unique contributions to a field. Creativity itself is not a unified construct but can be broken into convergent creativity (involving more focused approach) and divergent creativity (involving more widening and loosening of More >Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
Related posts:Creativity-psychosis linkage via reduced white matter /myelination I........ Read more »
Chermahini SA, & Hommel B. (2010) The (b)link between creativity and dopamine: Spontaneous eye blink rates predict and dissociate divergent and convergent thinking. Cognition. PMID: 20334856
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