Removing barriers to safe motoring
It's a kind of back to basics approach for motorists. In these experimental stretches of road, gone are road markings, curbs, traffic islands, barriers and even traffic lights. Instead we encourage drivers, pedestrians and cyclists to interact and be more aware of each other.
The idea is so attractive, I hope it works - evidence is encouraging from the UK village where it has been trialled.
> Article and video from BBC News
The idea is so attractive, I hope it works - evidence is encouraging from the UK village where it has been trialled.
> Article and video from BBC News
Blind to light, not to the world
Psychologists often find out something new and interesting about how the mind works by observing dysfunctions. How does the memory work? Examine amnesics. How are we able to recognise other people's faces? Research those unable to perform this task (prosopagnosics).
New Scientist reports on a man - blind from birth - who is able to paint with astonishing realism. How is he able to do this if he has never seen any of the things he is painting?
> From New Scientist
New Scientist reports on a man - blind from birth - who is able to paint with astonishing realism. How is he able to do this if he has never seen any of the things he is painting?
> From New Scientist
Boosting self-esteem is waste of time
An article from the Scientific American posted a couple of months ago described the exploding of the self-esteem myth. It explained that the US obsession with aiming to raise people's self-esteem was mostly wasted effort. This debunking bears repeating as the idea has such a strong hold on people. Apart from anything else it is good to see professionals admit to their mistakes. It doesn't happen that often.
> From Inside Bay Area
> From Inside Bay Area
Computer use good for literacy skills
This study tested what effect computer use by students had on reading and writing skills. Surprisingly student's use of a computer during the school year improved their scores in the final test. That was despite it not involving a computer.
A more entertaining finding was buried in the middle. The researchers found that the use of Powerpoint to create presentations actually lowered the student's marks in the final test. So Powerpoint is as bad for presenter as it is for the audience - something I had always suspected.
> From Science Daily
A more entertaining finding was buried in the middle. The researchers found that the use of Powerpoint to create presentations actually lowered the student's marks in the final test. So Powerpoint is as bad for presenter as it is for the audience - something I had always suspected.
> From Science Daily
Love is...
"Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence." H. L. Mencken.
"Love is the difficult realization that something other than oneself is real." Iris Murdoch (1919 - 1999).
Love is a mental illness? Read what the psychologist Frank Tallis has to say about love.
> From The Psychologist [PDF file, 72K]
"Love is the difficult realization that something other than oneself is real." Iris Murdoch (1919 - 1999).
Love is a mental illness? Read what the psychologist Frank Tallis has to say about love.
> From The Psychologist [PDF file, 72K]
Crazy in love
A US company is selling this bear in a straight-jacket ahead of Valentine's Day. Naturally some priggish Americans have claimed it stigmatises mental illness. Fortunately executives at The Vermont Teddy Bear Co. have taken, and I quote, "the difficult decision," to continue selling the bear despite the outraged complaints. A triumph of capitalism over political correctness, I'm sure you'll agree.
> From BBC News
Hypnotic thieves strike in Moscow
Hypnotists always claim that they can't oppose a person's will, no matter how deep the trance. I'm not so sure. This story of Russian street hypnotists robbing people with their mesmeric eye contact may well be an urban legend.
Nevertheless it doesn't seem entirely implausible to me. I remain open-minded - which is precisely what makes me a good hypnotic subject. Keep your eyes downcast, your mind closed and grip your wallet tightly!
> From the LA Times
Nevertheless it doesn't seem entirely implausible to me. I remain open-minded - which is precisely what makes me a good hypnotic subject. Keep your eyes downcast, your mind closed and grip your wallet tightly!
> From the LA Times
Follow-up Friday
How many times do you read an article in the newspaper on a fascinating subject and then never hear about it again? I don't want my blog to be a home for such fickle reporting, and so I bring you follow-up Friday!
Many children have imaginary friends. Far from being a sign of dysfunction, research has shown that it's perfectly normal and healthy. In follow up research it has been found that it is the more outgoing children who are more likely to have imaginary friends.
> From Rocky Mountain News
There's an ongoing debate about the factors affecting sexuality. Gene research brings more evidence for the strength of biological factors in homosexuality.
> From The University of Illinois
OK, the papers do occasionally follow-up their own interesting stories. A new columnist in the Guardian invited readers to meet him in a restaurant. Incredibly 20 of them showed up.
> The original column, the follow-up
Many children have imaginary friends. Far from being a sign of dysfunction, research has shown that it's perfectly normal and healthy. In follow up research it has been found that it is the more outgoing children who are more likely to have imaginary friends.
> From Rocky Mountain News
There's an ongoing debate about the factors affecting sexuality. Gene research brings more evidence for the strength of biological factors in homosexuality.
> From The University of Illinois
OK, the papers do occasionally follow-up their own interesting stories. A new columnist in the Guardian invited readers to meet him in a restaurant. Incredibly 20 of them showed up.
> The original column, the follow-up
Health messages in dodgy new proverbs
The plan was good, it was the execution that let him down. A Toronto researcher came up with the idea of spreading positive health messages by creating new proverbs. Unfortunately the ones he came up with are mostly a bit dodgy.
One was: "A tri-colour meal is a good deal." Call me a cynic but I just can't see it catching on. I'm sticking with Seneca's dictum: "To wish to be well is a part of becoming well." But I'm not claiming the kids will be chanting it by next week.
> From Science Daily
One was: "A tri-colour meal is a good deal." Call me a cynic but I just can't see it catching on. I'm sticking with Seneca's dictum: "To wish to be well is a part of becoming well." But I'm not claiming the kids will be chanting it by next week.
> From Science Daily
Pioneering therapist explains his philosophy
Albert Ellis trained as a psychotherapist in the 50s but soon decided Freudian therapy was just too slow and passive. He developed his own methods, now called Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy, designed to get results more quickly. This laid the foundations for what has become known as Cognitive Behaviour Therapy - a very successful modern form of treatment.
Here he explains his forthright philosophy of life and why he doesn't care what other people think - unless they're patients of course!
> From Psychology Today
Here he explains his forthright philosophy of life and why he doesn't care what other people think - unless they're patients of course!
> From Psychology Today
Tenuous link between mental rotation and parking your car
Here's another study showing that there is a particular type of visuo-spatial ability at which, on average, men are better than women.
The actual task carried out in this research was a mental rotation. Here's an example. You have to work out which one of the three figures on the right is a rotated version of the figure on the left.
What has this got to do with parking your car? Probably something, possibly nothing. This is just the exploitation of an extrememly tenuous link to sell a story.
> From BBC News
The actual task carried out in this research was a mental rotation. Here's an example. You have to work out which one of the three figures on the right is a rotated version of the figure on the left.
What has this got to do with parking your car? Probably something, possibly nothing. This is just the exploitation of an extrememly tenuous link to sell a story.
> From BBC News
Us and them: not so different
The mind is attracted to thinking in terms of dichotomies - we like to believe there's two sides to every story. And that's just how our minds like to process the world. Our lives are littered with them: people are good or bad, politicians are left or right-wing, we are either happy or sad.
Popular thought about people with personality disorders is no different. These people are different from us, members of another category, not within our reach. What psychological research repeatedly tells us is that this is not true. No matter what personality traits you choose to measure, you will find we are not all that different.
Research from the University of Surrey compared senior business managers with current and former patients of Broadmoor hospital - a high security mental hospital. They found on measures of histrionic, narcissistic and compulsive personality, the business managers scored higher than the patients. Where the patients scored higher was on antisocial, borderline and paranoid personality dimensions.
> Read a summary of the paper
Popular thought about people with personality disorders is no different. These people are different from us, members of another category, not within our reach. What psychological research repeatedly tells us is that this is not true. No matter what personality traits you choose to measure, you will find we are not all that different.
Research from the University of Surrey compared senior business managers with current and former patients of Broadmoor hospital - a high security mental hospital. They found on measures of histrionic, narcissistic and compulsive personality, the business managers scored higher than the patients. Where the patients scored higher was on antisocial, borderline and paranoid personality dimensions.
> Read a summary of the paper
My personal advice for exam success
Today I'm writing a personal note, because what is psychology if not rooted in the personal? I go in for my final psychology exam of this semester tomorrow. So today I'm sat at home revising for Occupational and Organisational Psychology. [For Europeans that means Work Psychology and for Americans that mean Industrial/Organisational psychology. For everyone else it just means the psychology of business.]
Here are my five commandments for revision. Ignore them at your peril:
1. Keep your revision active. Never be tempted to sit just reading notes. Always be performing some operation on the information.
2. Short bursts are best. Take regular breaks. This keeps you fresh(er) and (slightly) more interested.
3. Always always always keep an overview of the subject you are studying in mind. If you're writing an essay in the exam then you need to be able to to see the big picture.
4. On the day, try to relax. Use any method that works for you. Stress seriously hampers your ability to remember things. Confidence with a subject reduces stress. In the days leading up to the exam focus on what you do know about a subject - not what you don't.
5. Sleep well. The rest is anecdotal but I know this one is backed up by evidence. You will learn better if you sleep well after your learning session.
As an aside, there is evidence that exams are sexist. The process resembles a hunt, for which men are better prepared by evolution. Exams tend to reward focussed attention on one subject for a long period, followed by a short burst of adrenaline at the end. Women's tendency to prefer collaboration is better served by coursework.
Perhaps one day in an enlightened future - especially if more evidence is found for this theory - we will completely eliminate exams. Until then my commandments are our best hope for success!
Here are my five commandments for revision. Ignore them at your peril:
1. Keep your revision active. Never be tempted to sit just reading notes. Always be performing some operation on the information.
2. Short bursts are best. Take regular breaks. This keeps you fresh(er) and (slightly) more interested.
3. Always always always keep an overview of the subject you are studying in mind. If you're writing an essay in the exam then you need to be able to to see the big picture.
4. On the day, try to relax. Use any method that works for you. Stress seriously hampers your ability to remember things. Confidence with a subject reduces stress. In the days leading up to the exam focus on what you do know about a subject - not what you don't.
5. Sleep well. The rest is anecdotal but I know this one is backed up by evidence. You will learn better if you sleep well after your learning session.
As an aside, there is evidence that exams are sexist. The process resembles a hunt, for which men are better prepared by evolution. Exams tend to reward focussed attention on one subject for a long period, followed by a short burst of adrenaline at the end. Women's tendency to prefer collaboration is better served by coursework.
Perhaps one day in an enlightened future - especially if more evidence is found for this theory - we will completely eliminate exams. Until then my commandments are our best hope for success!
Modafinil. The caffeine of the future?
Some interesting developments are on the horizon in psychopharmacology - the study of drugs that affect our psychological state. Caffeine, alcohol and nicotine are the culturally (fairly) accepted methods of changing mood and performance. Perhaps soon these will be old hat.
Modafinil is a drug that was originally developed for the treatment of narcoleptics. It has subsequently been tested on helicopter pilots and been found to significantly improve alertness in fatigued pilots.
"Barbara Sahakian, Professor of Neuropsychology at the University of Cambridge, who tested modafinil in a series of experiments on volunteers found that they showed greater concentration, faster learning and increased mental agility. "It may be the first real smart drug," she says. "A lot of people will probably take modafinil. I suspect they do already."
Word is spreading about this and other drugs. Illegal ritalin use to aid concentration is on the rise. Research is breaking through into the uses of ecstacy and psylocibin on depression. How long before the next wave of psychoactive chemicals breaks through onto the mainstream?
Personally I prefer to use natural methods of performance enhancement. Nevertheless, I reserve the right to change my mind when I am no longer young, fit and healthy.
> From The Independent
Modafinil is a drug that was originally developed for the treatment of narcoleptics. It has subsequently been tested on helicopter pilots and been found to significantly improve alertness in fatigued pilots.
"Barbara Sahakian, Professor of Neuropsychology at the University of Cambridge, who tested modafinil in a series of experiments on volunteers found that they showed greater concentration, faster learning and increased mental agility. "It may be the first real smart drug," she says. "A lot of people will probably take modafinil. I suspect they do already."
Word is spreading about this and other drugs. Illegal ritalin use to aid concentration is on the rise. Research is breaking through into the uses of ecstacy and psylocibin on depression. How long before the next wave of psychoactive chemicals breaks through onto the mainstream?
Personally I prefer to use natural methods of performance enhancement. Nevertheless, I reserve the right to change my mind when I am no longer young, fit and healthy.
> From The Independent
Kinsey's sex surveys - prepare to repel misinformation
Half a century ago the sex researcher Alfred Kinsey redefined what was considered normal sexual behaviour. A Hollywood film of his life is already garnering rave reviews in the US, and comes out in the UK on 4th March.
In anticipation of the film's release journalists will be beavering away on feature articles. One of their less-gifted number has already been in contact with Petra Boynton, the sex and relationship psychologist:
> From Petra Boynton's blog
> From BBC News
In anticipation of the film's release journalists will be beavering away on feature articles. One of their less-gifted number has already been in contact with Petra Boynton, the sex and relationship psychologist:
"Last week a journalist called me and asked for Kinsey's email address. Not the address of the Kinsey Institute, but Professor Alfred Kinsey's personal private account.It's a wonder some people can hold onto their jobs.
'"I'd have a job doing that", I replied. "He's dead!"
"Oh what a shame," they said. "And he's only just finished making that film..."
"That's an actor, Liam Neeson, playing Kinsey," I explained.
After a pause the journalist asked, "So who was Kinsey anyway?"'
> From Petra Boynton's blog
> From BBC News
Learning by example
On a similar theme to yesterday's post comes this article by well-known psychologist Alison Gopnick. Its kernal is that kids learn better by imitating and refining what someone is showing them. She likens this method of learning to the way that a sports teacher might demonstrate a sport.
This effective method of learning is not normally employed for academic subjects. They tend to use 'routinized learning' method. This is a similar process to explicit learning, mentioned yesterday. There is simply not enough emphasis on the implicit methods of learning.
Imagine if you could watch a maths teacher trying to solve a problem they'd never seen before and explaining how they worked it out. Imagine if you could watch an English teacher trying to write an answer to an essay question about Shakespeare. Gopnik calls this 'guided discovery'.
> From The New York Times [Well worth the trouble of their free registration - or just use BugMeNot]
This effective method of learning is not normally employed for academic subjects. They tend to use 'routinized learning' method. This is a similar process to explicit learning, mentioned yesterday. There is simply not enough emphasis on the implicit methods of learning.
Imagine if you could watch a maths teacher trying to solve a problem they'd never seen before and explaining how they worked it out. Imagine if you could watch an English teacher trying to write an answer to an essay question about Shakespeare. Gopnik calls this 'guided discovery'.
> From The New York Times [Well worth the trouble of their free registration - or just use BugMeNot]
Want to learn? Then stop trying
"Researchers at the University of Cambridge have found that it is sometimes best not to think about something too much in order to learn it, according to a study published in the journal Cerebral Cortex."
Nice study that is born from psychological theories about our brains having two different ways of processing information. Many of us are locked into what might be called explicit or serial processing when we should be taking advantage of implicit parallel processes.
If that sounds vague to you then you're right. Unfortunately the brain's implicit functions are simply beyond our understanding at the moment. Studies like these have begun to show us that Eastern modes of thought - which tend to emphasise the implicit side of cognition - have much to recommend them.
> From The University of Cambridge
Nice study that is born from psychological theories about our brains having two different ways of processing information. Many of us are locked into what might be called explicit or serial processing when we should be taking advantage of implicit parallel processes.
If that sounds vague to you then you're right. Unfortunately the brain's implicit functions are simply beyond our understanding at the moment. Studies like these have begun to show us that Eastern modes of thought - which tend to emphasise the implicit side of cognition - have much to recommend them.
> From The University of Cambridge
Love is blind *groan*
While thinking of a title for this post I tried to resist a sickly cliche - unfortunately I failed (or rather - didn't think for very long). It's one of those studies that is just made for the news media. "...and finally. Love really is blind. Latest research from a US University has shown that couples in love are terrible at spotting other couples who are in love." In fact couples in love turned out to be worse than chance. That's very bad indeed.
More evidence that love is bad for you. Still it's fun, so we'll be lenient this time.
> From Plebius Press
More evidence that love is bad for you. Still it's fun, so we'll be lenient this time.
> From Plebius Press
Do you have a secret life?
So, how exactly do you separate your day-job at coporate HQ from your turns at the strip-joint? What types of mental strategies do you employ to avoid getting confused and climbing on the marketing director's desk and slowly removing your clothes?
I'm especially amused to see that 'going to church' might be considered an activity that constitutes having a secret life. How low religion has sunk from the glory days - they need to get some spin doctors on the case.
> From The New York Times [Well worth the trouble of their free registration - or just use BugMeNot]
I'm especially amused to see that 'going to church' might be considered an activity that constitutes having a secret life. How low religion has sunk from the glory days - they need to get some spin doctors on the case.
> From The New York Times [Well worth the trouble of their free registration - or just use BugMeNot]
Long working hours culture in UK
Britain's culture of long working hours is definitely alive and well - although I wouldn't call is 'slave labour'. This perennial article points out how much unpaid overtime we do and how it can seriously damage our well-being. As ever some of the most insightful points are made by readers giving their point of view at the end. Whatever your perspective, leaving the office before your peers takes guts.
> From BBC News
> From BBC News
Happy New Year!
Denmark, Switzerland and Malta are apparently the happiest countries in the world. Self-satisfied bastards! The journo who went to meet the professor of happiness seems strangely obsessed with chocolate biscuits and the poor man's clothes and surroundings.
The second article gives you some ideas for health-related new year's resolutions. My strategy is to look through the list for the things I'm already doing and then congratulate myself, while conveniently ignoring the rest. I happened to notice that people who have been vegetarians for twenty years live four years longer. So that's four more years my non-existent pension has to last. Still, I feel strangely uplifted.
> From The Independent: happiest countries, new year's resolutions.
The second article gives you some ideas for health-related new year's resolutions. My strategy is to look through the list for the things I'm already doing and then congratulate myself, while conveniently ignoring the rest. I happened to notice that people who have been vegetarians for twenty years live four years longer. So that's four more years my non-existent pension has to last. Still, I feel strangely uplifted.
> From The Independent: happiest countries, new year's resolutions.
Mental impact of the tsunami
"It is feared the disaster could leave a mental "time bomb" if those caught up in it are not given counselling over the coming months. Mental health charity Sane is calling for funds to provide such counselling."
> From BBC News
> From BBC News