Category: Psychology

“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

“How does a government gain information from a terrorist? The question is of more than academic interest to the United States- which, in places like Abu Ghraib prison, outside Baghdad, and the Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba, has been trying to ferret out the secrets of suspected terrorists.”

> From The New York Times

“It started out innocently enough. I began to think at parties now and then — to loosen up.

Inevitably, though, one thought led to another, and soon I was more than just a social thinker.

I began to think alone — “to relax,” I told myself — but I knew it wasn’t true.

Thinking became more and more important to me, and finally I was thinking all the time.

That was when things began to sour at home.”

> Read the rest at Idiolect.org.uk

“The endurance of left-handedness has puzzled researchers, because it is linked to disadvantages including an increased risk of some diseases. But University of Montpellier experts, writing in Proceedings B, say it could be because they do well in combat.”

Small sample size but some provocative results.

> From BBC News

Recognising other people by decoding the subtle contours of their face is a complicated task that we take for granted. But imagine if all faces looked the same and you couldn’t tell whether someone was a stranger or your mother. Welcome to the world of the face-blind.

Prosopagnosia, the technical term for face-blindness, is an unusual condition the neurologist Oliver Sacks described in his bestselling book: The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat.

Those with this condition are often no different from the rest of us in every other way. Because of this it is easy for people to go through life without realising there is an aspect of their perception that is quite unusual.

“The survey found that 42% of the gay men, 43% of lesbians and 49% of bisexual men and women had a clinically recognised mental health problem.”

> From BBC News

In the lead up to the recent US presidential elections, the outspoken film-maker Michael Moore was campaigning against George Bush’s re-election. Moore’s primary weapon in his fight against Bush was his documentary, Fahrenheit 9/11 – a film heavily critical of Bush and his presidency.

Back in September before the elections, Dr Kelton Rhoads, expert in the psychology of persuasion, produced a fascinating analysis of Fahrenheit 9/11. In it he showed that Moore had used many of the classic propaganda techniques in his attempt to persuade voters. [Go to my summary of his paper]

Now, after Bush’s victory, the effect of Moore’s film appears much weaker than many people expected. After all, the film grossed $157 million at the US box office so millions of Americans saw it and still voted for Bush – what went wrong?

In a new article on his site Dr Rhoads suggests there has been a backlash against Michael Moore and his ‘propaganda’:

“Why do influence attempts backlash? I can think of three reasons: 1) the message repulses the audience as inappropriate or extreme…2) the message is recognized as an attempt to manipulate, so the messenger loses credibility while the audience raises their cognitive defences…or 3) the message energizes the opposition…”

It appears that Moore’s biggest mistake was in misunderstanding the psychology of influence. He used the right techniques, but he failed to use them subtly.
> From Working Psychology

It was Dr. Martha McClintock who first published the study that showed that women’s menstrual cycles tend to fall into step over time. Recently she discovered that the pheromones given off by lactating mothers increases the sexual desire in other women. The evolutionary explanation is that it is better for women to have babies when surrounded by other mothers.

Now she is investigating the different ways that black and white women are affected by cancer. All of her research is informed by connecting the social world with the genetic. In other words she is showing the huge effect psychology has on biology – with fascinating results.
> From The New York Times

Organisations like the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents have long been campaigning for the complete ban of mobile phone use while driving. Research carried out as early 1991 by The Foundation for Traffic Safety pointed to the deleterious effects of mobile phone use while driving.

So called ‘driver’s organisations’ like the RAC and the AA have opposed complete bans in the past because phone use while driving is ‘like applying make-up, drinking or shaving’. These are statements for which they have no scientific evidence. They are simply guesses as to what they hope might be true. The mounting scientific evidence present a different picture.

New research published this month into hands-free phones makes it clear exactly what effect their use has on drivers. Their study has found that driver’s cognitive function is significantly impaired, especially in older participants. Drivers were found to be significantly less aware of developing situations on the road, a major contributor to accidents.

The continuing reluctance of the government to act decisively seems to come down to how much people love their cars. The current half-way house in the UK of just banning hand-held mobiles will simply result in more people losing their lives.

> From The Univesity of Illinois

The BBC Magazine has a thought provoking article about suicides on the railway system. This comes in the wake of a rail accident in the UK possibly caused by a suicide.

It seems a number of efforts have been made to try and alleviate the problems of suicide on the railways. These preventative measures include training staff in suspicious behaviour, use of CCTV and placing more adverts for The Samaritans in stations.

While all of these things are laudable it seems to me that if someone is determined to kill themselves then they will succeed. Unintentionally, they may well do it in such a way as to endanger other people.

In that case it is important that we take whatever precautions we can.

Ultimately though we need to recognise that sometimes there are tragedies that no amount of forward planning can avoid.

From BBC News