Psychology
clock | February 16, 2007Escalating Truth:
Words have meanings; they express ideas and ideas are important. The word "surge" came with the idea of a relatively small short-term increase in force that would be effective. Such previous troop increases had been ineffective and the joint chiefs saw no reason that this one would be effective either. The actual proposal called a "surge" was the opposite of what the word meant. In short, the very use of the word "surge" was a lie.
People all over the country noticed the "surge" framing immediately, and quickly -- and accurately -- reframed the President's proposal as an "…
ksharpe | February 15, 2007Nobody likes being told they're dumb. But being praised up and down for one's intelligence carries its own price, according to research by Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck and her research team.
In the current issue of New York Magazine, writer Po Bronson summarizes Dweck's work, which indicates that children who are frequently told that they are smart give up more easily, become risk-averse, and grow overly concerned with "image maintenance." Bronson describes Dweck's methods:
Dweck sent four female research assistants into New York fifth-grade classrooms. The researchers would take a…
omnibrain | February 15, 2007What happens when you're looking to fill your 1000 words and get your paycheck? You head over to your local university and write something topically interesting. This requires close to no work and an interview lasting probably less than 30 minutes. In the Jan. 19th Time article What Do Babies Know, Michael Brunton, has written about the current affairs of object permanence research in babies. It is a clearly written and interesting article for the general population who doesn't know anything about developmental psychology, except perhaps the few bits about Jean Piaget they learned in…
omnibrain | February 13, 2007Here's one for Valentine's Day.
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Beatles' George Harrison wondered in his famous love song about the "something" that "attracts me like no other lover." A University at Buffalo expert explains that that "something" is actually several physical elements that -- if they occur in a certain order, at the right time and in the right place -- can result in true love.
"There are several types of chemistry required in romantic relationships," according to Mark Kristal, professor of psychology at UB. "It seems like a variety of different neurochemical processes and external…
omnibrain | February 13, 2007
A couple months ago we posted a number of very disturbing cigarette warning labels from around the world and wondered whether perhaps a picture of a rotting, stinking, bleeding tumor on a guys throat would perhaps help lower the incidence of smoking. In the March issue of the American Journal of Preventative Medicine researchers have taken a step toward showing big obnoxious warnings are the best.
The abstract does a good job describing the study so I'll let them do it:
Text and Graphic Warnings on Cigarette Packages: Findings from the International Tobacco Control Four Country Study…
omnibrain | February 13, 2007Even if the person doesn't entirely get them. Why is that? you would certainly have to get them on some level to prefer them wouldn't you?
A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research discusses the benefits of slogans with multiple meanings, like a cell phone company using the slogan, "The Clear Alternative" or a tax-preparation service advertising that "You Get More in Return." The researchers found that some people are better at recognizing additional meanings than others, but they also found that degree of understanding has little impact on how well people respond to the catchphrases.…
omnibrain | February 12, 2007Interesting article from the NYT Science Times:
More than a decade ago, Diana Duyser of Hollywood, Fla., received a religious message through an unlikely medium: a grilled cheese sandwich she had made herself. As she gazed at the brown skillet marks on the surface of the bread, a familiar visage snapped into focus.
A grilled cheese sandwich, top, with an image of what some see as the Virgin Mary sold for $28,000 on eBay. Jesus Christ is seen in an oyster shell, a frying pan and a pirogi.
"I saw a face looking up at me; it was the Virgin Mary staring back," she told reporters in 2004. "I was…
purepedantry | February 12, 2007Harvard Psychologist Steven Pinker was on the Colbert Report. Priceless. Videos under the fold:
Part 1
Part 2
omnibrain | February 11, 2007As an academic your currency is your reputation, and how often your papers get cited (well assuming they aren't citing you for making up data). The inevitable result of this are battles of ideas being fought out at conferences, in special issues of journals and in review articles. If you discover something interesting and the mechanisms are not clearly visible (as they usually are not - especially in something like psychology!) other scientists begin to attack you - especially if your new idea challenges theirs!
In the science of the brain there are a few debates that immediately come to…
omnibrain | February 11, 2007I never really understood how anyone could identify someone off of those police sketches!
Now it seems that some psychologists have come to the same conclusion - but not pulling reasons out of their rear ends...like me!
In an article appearing in the February issue of Current Directions in Psychological Science, the authors point to several studies that indicate facial composite systems produce a poor likeness of the intended face. For instance, studies in which individuals attempt to create composites of celebrities have yielded extremely poor results. In one particular study, only 2.8…
sarahdasher | February 9, 2007An estimated 14,000 buyers from 7,000 retailers will descend on New York City this weekend to attend The American International Toy Fair. Thirteen hundred exhibitors--Richard Simmons among them--will be present to pedal their wares.
Electronics are an increasingly dominant presence at this event. According to market research firm NPD Group, U.S. toy sales in 2006 crept up to $22.3 billion from $22.2 billion, driven by 22 percent growth in the youth electronics category.
But don't bemoan the sedentary millenium childhood just yet. Piggy-backing on the runaway success of the Nintendo Wii,…
omnibrain | February 7, 2007Can someone tell me if this site is for real?
Here's a demo:
Off topic
Heres is a not probable, but possible theory of future humans. Aliens are evolved Asian people. A colleague of mine stated that Asian people have bigger brains than others. This got me thinking and I was thinking of this for a while now, even before he told me this and what he said confirmed this. Depictions of aliens look a lot like asian people, just with bigger heads.
This makes me want to be asian
posted by George Christodoulou at 10:21 PM 0 comments
Is this just a blog to gather advertising dollars or what?
omnibrain | February 7, 2007Are you looking forward to the paper? You know you are.... an fMRI study of scene processing...
Almost through the review process...I'll post the abstract very very soon....you excited yet???
Ok... fine here's a sampler...
Humans and animals use information obtained from the local visual scene to orient
themselves in the wider world. Although neural systems involved in scene perception
have been identified, the extent to which processing in these systems is affected by
previous experience is unclear.......
purepedantry | February 7, 2007"So I am a Libra. I enjoy science and blogging. I dislike dogs, people who talk in movies, and other people's children. I am looking for a woman who breathes regularly and is at least partially heterosexual." -- so speaketh the Speed-dater. (Actually, I have never been speed dating, but I have been on an insane number of first dates.)
Speed dating -- aside from being an absolutely ridiculous situation that you should laugh about with your friends when you get home -- offers an interesting experimental model for why people are attracted to one another. Researchers at Northwestern have…
omnibrain | February 6, 2007I'm proud to report that Ted Haggard is no longer gay since he underwent three whole weeks of very intensive counseling. He was so impressed with his counseling that him and his wife are going to attend university and get their masters degrees in psychology (I'm psyched he's joining me in my chosen profession!). It sounds like they'll be going to Phoenix Online University or somewhere similar and hopefully counseling people to ungay themselves just like he was so successful in doing! All praise Rev. Haggard!
The Rev. Ted Haggard emerged from three weeks of intensive counseling convinced…
clock | February 6, 2007Slow-wave Activity During Sleep Affected By Quality, Intensity Of Wakefulness:
A study published in the February 1st issue of the journal SLEEP provides a first direct demonstration that the "quality" and "intensity" of wakefulness can affect slow-wave activity (SWA) during subsequent sleep.
According to Chiara Cirelli, MD, PhD, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, one of the authors of the study, the importance and novelty of the paper lies in the demonstration that the crucial factor linking physiological waking activity to sleep SWA is synaptic plasticity, notably synaptic potentiation…
clock | February 5, 2007
Last week I asked if you would be interested in my take on this paper, since it is in Serbian (and one commenter said Yes, so here it is - I am easy to persuade):
Stankovic Miodrag, Zdravkovic Jezdimir A., and Trajanovic Ljiljana,
Comparative analysis of sexual dreams of male and female students (PDF). Psihijatrija danas 2000, Vol. 32, No. 4, pp. 227-242
Here is the English-language Abstract:
The subject of research is analysis of connection between sexuality as instinctive function and dreams with sexual content as cognitive function. The sample consisted of 656 students, 245 males and 411…
omnibrain | February 5, 2007It's always a shame when cool visual illusions are destroyed - especially historic ones :(
LAKE DELTON, Wis. - In a wooded ravine tucked away from the water parks, restaurants and mega-resorts that dominate this tourist town, a piece of history is quietly dying.
After more than half a century of wowing tourists (and causing probably more than a few cases of nausea), the Wonder Spot, a mysterious cabin where people can't stand up straight, water runs uphill and chairs balance on two legs, is no more.
Owner Bill Carney has sold the iconic attraction to the village of Lake Delton for $300,000.…
omnibrain | February 2, 2007I'm really surprised when I run across something I've never ever heard about before. This is one of them.
BIID or body identity integrity disorder is when a person feels a compulsion to remove one or more body parts (arms, finger, legs, toes and I can't image what else). Below is a snippet from a very personal article from the Guardian about someone with this disorder.
I was six when I first became aware of my desire to lose my legs. I don't remember what started it - there was no specific trigger. Most people want to change something about themselves, and the image I have of myself has…