Link feast

In case you missed them - 10 of the best psychology links from the past week:

"Our minds are made up just as much by the people and tools around us as they are by the brain cells inside our skull" - Fascinating article by Tom Stafford on interactive intelligence.

New TED talk: "video games, even action-packed shooter games, can help us learn, focus and, fascinatingly, multitask".

Gary Marcus pours cold water on the notion that we're getting anywhere near building an artificial brain.

Pete Etchells with a moving account of why he hates neurons and how he was inspired to become a scientist.

The current series of BBC Radio 4's All in the Mind continued with an episode (now on iPlayer) that included a look at "mad doctors" in the nineteenth century, and the boredom threshold of drone operators.

"Researchers have turned human mental activity into music, and it sounds uncannily like free-form jazz piano."

Your brain in numbers - awesome poster.

"We're probably not getting dumber," says Neuroskeptic, contradicting the recent claims made by a geneticist and lapped up by the media.

A fascinating account of Hikikomori - the worrying phenomenon in Japan whereby youths (usually male) shut themselves away from society.

Alarm at unpaid posts in clinical psychology. On a related note, check out this new study covered by our sister blog The Occupational Digest - employers valued candidates' voluntary experience just as much as previous paid employment.
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Post compiled by Christian Jarrett (@psych_writer) for the BPS Research Digest.

You have read this article Feast with the title Feast. You can bookmark this page URL http://psychiatryfun.blogspot.com/2012/11/link-feast.html. Thanks!

Link feast

In case you missed them - 10 of the best psychology links from the past week: 

1. The US government needs a "Council of Psychological Advisors" to complement the existing Council of Economic Advisors. So argues Barry Schwartz in an essay for The Atlantic, in which he reviews ways that psychological insights can inform policy, from educational practices to combating climate change. Schwartz also gives a nod of approval to the UK government's own Behavioural Insight Team (check out my interview with the head of that Team, David Halpern). Also related - this article claims that Obama's election campaign was aided by a "dream team" of psychologists!

2. Gary Marcus for the New Yorker reviews Ray Kurzweil's bold new book: How to Create a Mind: The Secret of Human Thought Revealed. It's a story of intellectual hubris: "Kurzweil doesn’t know neuroscience as well as he knows artificial intelligence, and doesn’t understand psychology as well as either."

3. BBC's Panorama programme this week, now on iPlayer, was about the work of British neuroscientist Adrian Owen, using fMRI to communicate with patients in a persistent vegetative state. We've covered Owen's work several times in The Psychologist and the Research Digest.

4. One I missed last week - In a NYT op-ed, David Brooks describes the heart-warming results from a longitudinal study that began in 1938. Is emotional intelligence on the increase?

5. The Schizophrenia Commission published the results of its year-long investigation into the state of care for patients with schizophrenia in England, finding them to be "badly let down". The commission chair, Robin Murray, said on the BBC's Today programme that there's an urgent need for more psychologists.

6. The New York Times published a wonderful, moving long-read about a girl with congenital pain insensitivity. (see also). Oh, and check out this new game about pain from the Science Museum.

7. When they're allowed out into the real world, a question that psychologists are asked frequently is "So, do you know what I'm thinking?". In this amusing video, psychologists at the University of Manchester give you their answer.

8. Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of the Black Swan, took aim at psychology super-scholar Steven Pinker this week, publishing a withering critique (pdf) of Pinker's book about the decline of violence. Pinker hit back (pdf; winning the argument hands down in my opinion). Taleb then published an odd 3-line rebuttal, after which one can only imagine he inserted his fingers in his ears whilst blurting "I'm right, not listening, can't hear you."

9. How I learned a language in 22 hours - Joshua Foer reveals all in the Guardian.

10. The Effect, a play about depression and the inadequacy of neuropharmacological explanations, is on at the Cottesloe Theatre, London, and receiving rave reviews.

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Post compiled by Christian Jarrett for the BPS Research Digest.

You have read this article Feast with the title Feast. You can bookmark this page URL http://psychiatryfun.blogspot.com/2012/11/link-feast_16.html. Thanks!

Link feast

In case you missed them - 10 of the best psychology links from the past week:

1. Sarah DeWeerdt for Nature takes a look at how cultural differences in social conventions affect the diagnosis of, and attitudes towards, people with autism.

2. The latest Neuropod podcast is a good'un with items on hallucinations and the replicability crisis in psychology. (see also the new special issue on replicability from Perspectives in Psychological Science; and for more on hallucinations, check out Oliver Sacks' new book. Sacks was also profiled recently in New York magazine).

3. More concerns have been raised about cognitive enhancing drugs and other forms of human enhancement, particularly in the workplace. (this is an issue that keeps coming up. For example, check out this poll by Nature from 2008).

4. How neuroscience is making its way into the courtroom (see also).

5. BBC Radio 4's All in the Mind continued this week, including discussion of an important new CBT trial for patients with psychosis (see also, and here).

6. Nate Silver ignored any hunches and used sophisticated number-crunching to predict the outcome of the US election with great accuracy. Over at 99U, I asked the question - Are there any judgments for which it's actually better to go with your gut instinct?

7. Brain region found that does absolutely nothing - can't beat psychology in-jokes.

8. Neuroskeptic reports on a fascinating study that caught up with adults who'd claimed as kids to have past-life memories.

9. Neurobonkers reports on a story about a US psychologist who is seeking to patent a basic method for treating anxiety. The case raises a number of ethical issues, says NB, including: "What are the effects of patents on scientific progress? Should a researcher be able to patent a method that they were not the first to develop?"

10. I love this topic - Pacific Standard has a story about when architecture meets neuroscience. (if you too are interested in this field, check out my Psychologist magazine article from 2006 "Is there a psychologist in the building?" and this new interview in the magazine with a psychologist who researches optimising work spaces.).
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Post compiled by Christian Jarrett for the BPS Research Digest.

You have read this article Feast with the title Feast. You can bookmark this page URL http://psychiatryfun.blogspot.com/2012/11/link-feast_9.html. Thanks!

Link feast

In case you missed them - 10 of the best psychology links from the past week:

1. Sam McNerney published a thought-provoking essay about aesthetic judgments and expertise. Is the taste of a connoisseur in some way superior, more "correct" than the taste of a naive observer? I was reminded of the under-appreciation of Michael Jackson's later music by non-fans. I reckon this is because they weren't there for the journey, they can't feel the progression and maturation in his art.

2. Breaking habits with a flash of light - Ed Yong reports on a truly fascinating rat experiment. There are interesting insights about habits, AND you get the benefit of a handy intro to the revolutionary neuroscience technique of optogenetics!

3. We humans are not the only creatures that dance. Jason Goldman with a fun blog post that includes an assessment of Snowball, the cockatoo - is he really dancing to the Backstreet Boys?

4. We strive for the easy life, but sometimes harder is better - Ian Leslie surveys an intriguing mix of anecdotes and psych studies showing the benefits of a challenge (I also learned about the web service This is My Jam - going to check it out now!).

5. New Scientist features editor David Robson was impressed by a new book about the mental simulations triggered by language.

6. The Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmiths tested two mediums this week, using a procedure that all parties agreed was fair. Drum roll please ... did they prove their powers? Find out.

7. BBC Radio 4's wonderful All in the Mind programme returned for another series this week - you can catch the first episode on iPlayer, which includes a look at the work of the Anna Freud centre on its 60th anniversary, and an interview with Norman Lamb, the new government minister with specific responsibility for mental health.

8. There are a few days left to watch BBC Three's Stacey Dooley in the USA "Gay to Straight", in which we meet gay men going through "therapy programmes" that they hope will make them straight. The American Psychological Association published a detailed working party report in 2009 on so-called reparative or conversion therapies and found them to be ineffective and potentially harmful (pdf). Also, this week in New Scientist, psychologist Christopher Ferguson argues that, while these therapies clearly don't work, banning them would be unwise.

9. Labour leader Ed Miliband gave a high profile speech to the Royal College of Psychiatrists this week about mental illness, which he described as the "biggest unaddressed health challenge of our age" (full speech).

10. Podcast bonanza - Steven Pinker appeared on Social Science Bites this week, talking about violence and human nature; and Jon Ronson (author of The Psychopath Test) and Richard Wiseman appeared on Points of Inquiry (ht @vaughanbell).
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Post compiled by Christian Jarrett for the BPS Research Digest.

You have read this article Feast with the title Feast. You can bookmark this page URL http://psychiatryfun.blogspot.com/2012/11/link-feast_2.html. Thanks!

Some terrifying psychology links for Halloween

Wishing you a thriller of a Halloween! 

How to make a Halloween brain cake (ht @mocost).

What do young children know about managing fear?

How to make a zombie brain (See also this related video).

The Lure of Horror, where I explore horror's appeal and why it takes the form it does.

From BBC Radio 4 (now on iPlayer) - The Sound of Fear.

Why fear is fun: Halloween special from Psychology Today.

Why you should watch a horror film before going to the art gallery.

Some people urinate when they're frightened. Other people can't urinate when they're nervous. What's going on?

At what age do babies enter the uncanny valley?

How to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse Using Science (Wired)

Brain dread.

Terror in the night: article on sleep paralysis.

Snakes in a brain scanner!

Horror Director Eli Roth Explores What Makes Good People Do Evil Things in TV Special

Six reasons we're so fascinated by zombies (Psych files podcast).

Fear really does have a smell.

The Neurocritic discusses the pathological fear of being buried alive.

What spooks the masters of horror? Top horror movie makers say which films scared them the most.

Yikes! Thoughts of death increase the appeal of Intelligent Design.

Reminders of disease prime the body and mind to repel other people.

You have read this article Feast with the title Feast. You can bookmark this page URL http://psychiatryfun.blogspot.com/2012/10/some-terrifying-psychology-links-for.html. Thanks!

Link feast

In case you missed them - 10 of the best psychology links from the past week:

1. Times columnist Caitlin Moran has written a moving and poetic account of schizophrenia.

2. 21 words that could help improve the methods-reporting issues in psychology (and here's the pdf of the forthcoming journal article).

3. Prof Tim Hodgson at the Uni of Lincoln with his ideas for teaching introductory biological psychology, and a generous offer to send you his course materials if you're interested.

4. BBC Radio 4 broadcast a programme on ear worms - those songs that get stuck in your head - and appropriately enough it's stuck, I mean available, for another year on iPlayer. (We've covered research on ear worms previously).

5. TED posted a new talk by psychologist David Pizarro on the role of disgust in our political views.

6. Learning business management skills from a visit to ape and monkey enclosures (I'm still not sure if this is a spoof of not).

7. The November issue of The Psychologist magazine is online and it includes an article on post-traumatic growth, and an interview with Craig Knight, an expert in workplace design, both open-access.

8. Channel 4 in the UK broadcast a documentary about mass hysteria "The Town That Caught Tourette's". It's not available via their on-demand service, but it is due to be repeated a few times in the coming days. Check the link for listings.

9. Temple Grandin, the animal welfare genius and autistic savant, has had her brain scanned for the first time, revealing some intriguing differences from a typical brain.

10. From genes to hormone levels, biology may help to shape political behaviour - another excellent (open-access) news feature from Nature.
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Post compiled by Christian Jarrett for the BPS Research Digest.

You have read this article Feast with the title Feast. You can bookmark this page URL http://psychiatryfun.blogspot.com/2012/10/link-feast.html. Thanks!

Link feast

In case you missed them - 10 of the best psychology links from the past week:

1. The doyenne of British psychology, Professor Uta Frith DBE, has written an article for the Huffington Post calling for more recognition of female scientists. She says that one way to do this is through creating and editing Wikipedia entries about inspiring female scientists past and present, and today the Royal Society (of which Frith is a Fellow) begins an edit-athon to do just that. One example of a glaring omission on Wikipedia at present, mentioned by Frith, is the lack of an entry for cognitive neuroscientist Eleanor Maguire of UCL, despite how hugely influential her work has been. (update: Frith also has a related article in the Daily Telegraph).

2. Interpreting the classic marshmallow test of children's willpower just got more complicated.

3. Feeling swamped with emails (who isn't?). Tom Stafford of Mind Hacks offers some defence mechanisms based on a better understanding of basic human psychology.

4. "I would say that neuroeconomics is about 90 percent neuroscience and 10 percent economists," Colin F. Camerer tells The Chronicle in an intriguing article that ponders why economists are largely ignoring relevant brain science.

5. DNA evidence isn't as objective as we often assume - Vaughan Bell in the Observer explains the part played by psychological biases (see also).

6. BBC Radio 4 broadcast an excellent programme on hallucinations - available for a few more days on iPlayer.

7. A pioneer in positive psychology has passed away. Psychology Today has an online tribute to Christopher Petersen (see also).

8. ADHD voices is a new report and campaign that aims to find out what children think and feel about having a diagnosis of ADHD.

9. Near-death experiences are fascinating, powerful phenomena but they don't prove existence of the soul. The Brain Myths blog takes an objective look at the evidence.

10. I love this brain-inspired art: - "the elegant forms of neurons painted in the Asian sumi-e style".
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Post compiled by Christian Jarrett for the BPS Research Digest.

You have read this article Feast with the title Feast. You can bookmark this page URL http://psychiatryfun.blogspot.com/2012/10/link-feast_19.html. Thanks!

Link feast

In case you missed them, here are 10 of the best psychology links from the past week:

1. New Scientist magazine published The Ultimate Guide to Memory, featuring articles on memory skills across the animal kingdom; autobiographical memory; the role of memory in mental illness; links between memory and behaviours like running and eating; and how to master your memory. The articles are free to non-subscribers for 7 more days if you register with the website. (see also).

2. Nature published a special feature on links between stress and mental illness. The articles on urban stressors, recovery from trauma, and depression among students, are all open-access.

3. Colin Blakemore casts a wry, skeptical eye over the recent claims of a neurosurgeon about his experience of life after death.

4. The power of negative thinking. Whilst positive fantasies can leave us de-energised, thinking about the obstacles ahead helps turn short-term gains into long-term success.

5. The British-born psychologist Jean Philippe Rushton, known for his highly controversial views on race and intelligence, has died. This "marks the end of an era of academic racism" says Salon.

6. British psychiatrist David Healy told a meeting of the American Psychiatric Association that the profession is committing "professional suicide" by failing to deal with its close relationship with the pharmaceutical industry.

7. Want to think of yourself as confident or happy or patient? Then act how confident people act, says Oliver Burkeman for the Guardian.

8. "Psychopaths, we learn, are the ultimate optimists; they always think things will work in their favour" - the Observer with a review of The Wisdom of Psychopaths by Kevin Dutton.

9. Op-ed in Trends in Cognitive Sciences calls for neuroscience students to receive training in public engagement and neuroethics (open-access). Write Sharon Morein-Zamir and Chartered Psychologist Barbara J. Sahakian: "With the continuing interest of neuroscientists in investigating complex issues such as the neural basis of personality traits, social attitudes, sexual and political preferences and religious experiences, their increased awareness and effective communication of the consequences of such research is essential."

10. For the neuroscientist in your life - a brain candle in a jar.
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Post compiled by Christian Jarrett for the BPS Research Digest.

You have read this article Feast with the title Feast. You can bookmark this page URL http://psychiatryfun.blogspot.com/2012/10/link-feast_12.html. Thanks!