February 2011
1 post
“students who spend 10 minutes before an exam writing about their thoughts and...”
– Writing exercise said to prevent test anxiety - The Boston Globe
(via willw2)
I need to try this before my next exam!!
(via fuckyeahpsychology)
{biff here now}: In which I babble at someone... →
lauriebreaker:zackgilbert:
…
Interesting that you would choose to read these based on this article, the author of which clearly considers them scientifically questionable. I’ve been very personally curious about scientific assertions of “human nature” in general, since I personally doubt…
May 2009
2 posts
Women who are more "emotionally intelligent" get... →
zackgilbert:
psychotherapy:
Well, this just might get some discussion going around here! I’d love to hear what you think about this recent article from the BBC:
According to a recent study of more than 2,000 female twins, those with greater emotional intelligence had larger numbers of orgasms.
Lead author Andrea Burri said: “Emotional intelligence seems to have a direct impact on women’s...
What Makes Us Happy? →
zackgilbert:
Is there a formula—some mix of love, work, and psychological adaptation—for a good life? For 72 years, researchers at Harvard have been examining this question, following 268 men who entered college in the late 1930s through war, career, marriage and divorce, parenthood and grandparenthood, and old age. Here, for the first time, a journalist gains access to the archive of one of the...
March 2009
8 posts
The Female Brain →
“…the simple act of talking triggers a flood of brain chemicals which give women a rush similar to that felt by heroin addicts when they get a high.”
“There are, however, advantages to being the strong, silent type. Dr Brizendine explains that testosterone also reduces the size of the section of the brain involved in hearing - allowing men to become “deaf” to...
“It was assumed that a person without any emotions would be a better thinker,...”
– http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2008/12/vulcans-nixed-y.html (via em-dash)
The Addictive Personality
kristinmick:
A major misconception involving addiction is the idea that certain substances are, all by themselves, addicting. That a drug can captivate an unwary victim is an idea popularized in the 1936 film Reefer Madness. In that movie, it took just a few puffs of marijuana to turn a gentleman into a slobbering dope fiend; his health shattered; his life ruined. While such heavy-handed...
WatchDan Ariely: Why we think it’s OK to cheat and steal (sometimes)
Babies Know: A Little Dirt Is Good for You →
aberjona:
givemesomethingtoread:
The hygiene hypothesis suggests that organisms that enter the body along with “dirt” spur the development of a healthy immune system.
Finally getting around to reading this. Summary: as my Glaswegian grandmother would say, “Ye gotta eat a speck o’ dirt before ye die.”
Our world may be a giant hologram (NewScientist) →
carolinemartin:
If you can get through the first few paragraphs, there’s an explanation that will blow your holographic mind.
The Oldest English Words
jennifermorris:
nerdology:
The oldest English words have been discovered by researchers at, I kid you not, Reading University in the UK. What are the oldest words in the English language you ask? They believe them to be ”I,” “who,” and “we” which go back as far as 40,000 years.
I’m a big fan of words, putting them together to make strings of sentences dance before you. I edit my own speech...
February 2009
1 post
Manifesto
emilyi:
The OBEY sticker campaign can be explained as an experiment in Phenomenology. Heidegger describes Phenomenology as “the process of letting things manifest themselves.” Phenomenology attempts to enable people to see clearly something that is right before their eyes but obscured; things that are so taken for granted that they are muted by abstract observation.
The FIRST AIM OF...
January 2009
13 posts
Humor as social bargaining... →
emilyi:
psychotherapy:
Gruner offers an account of how humor might have arisen, which argues strongly for superiority theory. He posits that whereas our ancestors might normally have resorted to violence in order to assert their status within a social hierarchy, those who instead employed derisive humor would have garnered a significant evolutionary advantage. Since high social status generally...
How Your Brain Works (Slideshow) →
Baader-Meinhof phenomenon
msbadkittie:
The Baader-Meinhof phenomenon occurs when a person, after having learned some (usually obscure) fact, word, phrase, or other item for the first time, encounters that item again, perhaps several times, shortly after having learned it. This is a specialised version of the effect of serendipity. (via Wikipedia)
mogadonia:talksmalltalk:allthiscanbeyours:shiningstar:randyhaddock:
Watchcube24:
the one…are we ready?
So Much for the Information Age →
How the city hurts your brain - Boston.com →
pufferfish:
A very interesting look at the pro’s and con’s of living in a city.
Blondes really do have more fun, study shows | ZME... →
Seeing our spouses more negatively might be good |... →
Empathy Causes Facial Similarity Between Couples... →
(via alanajoy)
1 tag
NonViolence
Why doesn’t the media report on the endless cycle of violence between Taoists and Zen Buddhists? Oh.
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist ... - Google Book... →
December 2008
11 posts
Drug Companies & Doctors: A Story of Corruption →
psychotherapy:
In recent years, drug companies have perfected a new and highly effective method to expand their markets. Instead of promoting drugs to treat diseases, they have begun to promote diseases to fit their drugs. The strategy is to convince as many people as possible (along with their doctors, of course) that they have medical conditions that require long-term drug treatment…
…To...
“No one is suggesting Darwinism has all the answers to social questions. Indeed,...”
– Darwinian answers to social questions | Why we are, as we are
“Relevancy is an action it is not a passive quality. Relevancy exists only...”
– Dan Ostermayer
“The brain is always trying to automate things and to create habits, which it...”
– Set in Our Ways: Why Change Is So Hard
'Internet addiction' idea built on foundations of... →
psychotherapy:
A study just published in the journal CyberPsychology and Behavior has reviewed all of the available scientific studies on internet addiction and found them to be mostly crap. And not just slightly crap, really pretty awful.
To quote from the research summary:
The analysis showed that previous studies have utilized inconsistent criteria to define Internet addicts, applied...
“If your head is overheated, there’s a good chance you’ll yawn soon,...”
– The Yawn Explained
“A Japanese research team has successfully processed and displayed images...”
– Have you been dreaming of a white Christmas? Scientists could soon watch it on a screen — Scientists are getting closer to being able to display thoughts/dreams onto a screen. This could be awesome! Or a nightmare.
Words That Don't Exist in the English Language
Gheegle: (Filipino) The urge to pinch or squeeze something that is unbearably cute.
Cualacino: (Italian) The mark left on a table by a cold glass.
Sgriob: (Gaelic) The itchiness that overcomes the upper lip just before taking a sip of whisky
L’esprit de escalier: (French) The feeling you get after leaving a conversation, when you think of all the things you should have said. Translated it means...
Women feel they are sexiest at 34 →
Happiness is Contagious →
The secret signals in human sweat →
November 2008
2 posts
How to Run a Con →
October 2008
12 posts
WatchI like to get into discussions relating to the nature vs nurture topic. One of my biggest pet-peeves is when people claim pre-determination and have a defeatist attitude. Not only claiming that genes are responsible for who they are, but also that they can’t change because of that fact. In my opinion, they’re wrong.
The Millennials, 1984-1993 - Brainiac - The Boston... →
“She also speculates that homosexual matings may provide males a way to move...”
– How gay sex [in beetles] can produce offspring. — Almost sounds like Male beetles have sex with other Male beetles because of their inability to masturbate.
Seed: The Trouble with Biodiversity →
WatchMemes and Temes - Susan Blackmore
WatchParadox of Choice by Barry Schwartz. Amazing read about why having too many choices isn’t good for us. More choices = Less satisfaction.
this explains so much...
heathershae:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119706514515417586.html
or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umami
My entire life I’ve just thought I was a picky eater. People have thought I was crazy for being a vegetarian based on the fact I thought meat tasted bad. People think I’m a weird vegetarian because I don’t like mushrooms. But the majority of the foods I don’t eat fit into this “fifth...
“BURTON: The present presidential debates and associated media commentary feel...”
– The Certainty Bias: A Potentially Dangerous Mental Flaw
Advice from a person with a BA in psychology →
taradiddle:
“Jason Roeder really did earn a bachelor’s degree in psychology. Then he sort of wandered off. The following counsel is not meant to substitute for professional therapy, psychotropic medications, the endorphin surge of a long run, taking a bubble bath, yelling at a waitress so you’ll feel like a big man, or going to Urban Outfitters and shaking a Magic 8 Ball that you’re not actually...
Experts ponder link between creativity, mood... →
Humans will not evolve further, says geneticist -... →