Psychology

Why would Mohamed Atta graciously let a car rental agent know the check oil light was on in the car he returned and then help crash a plane full of people and fuel into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, an act of simple religious hatred? It's a puzzle of psychology.  The ability to deal kindly with people on an individual level and then demonize them when they are in a group has been a longstanding mystery.   Group behavior, being social, obviously had benefits for early man; trying to live without a group was practically a death sentence even when an 'individual' victory in…

There's long been a maddening belief by a subset of psychologists who have never actually been to the Eastern part of the world that Asia is some collectivist Utopia. When it comes to inflated self-importance - hubris, even - some research contends, there is more of it in the west because Western culture prides itself on independence, personal success and uniqueness while in the East where harmony and belonging are supposedly valued, people are more modest. One trip to Japan would change their minds; I love Japan but Japanese people are the most xenophobic people on the planet.  They are…

'Forgiveness is not something you do for others, nor does forgiving mean the offending behaviour is acceptable. It is something you do for yourself! By forgiving, you choose not to carry the burden of hate' Paul Bretherton   Narcissistic Personality Disorder Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) is a disorder and not a disease. There is no blood test for NPD and three different professionals may diagnose the same person in three different ways. The description is useful as it describes a familiar pattern of behaviour in an individual which can be very pervasive. Most importantly a…

Four new studies have found that when a woman's goal is to be romantically desirable, she is less likely to go into majors and activities related to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).  The studies were undertaken to determine why women, who have achieved parity in education, getting more Ph.D.s than men, and also in the workplace, continue to be underrepresented at the highest levels of STEM fields. They found converging support for the idea that when romantic goals are activated women (but not men) show less interest in STEM fields and more interest in feminine fields,…

I recently wrote a piece on various listening therapies for autism that ran at Science 2.0 and at TPGA. The most comments for the piece were at TPGA, and one in particular bears greater scrutiny. First, though, a quick summary of my conclusions regarding listening therapy based on the literature:The AAP rejects listening therapy/auditory integration training as a recommended therapy: “Their use does not appear warranted at this time, except within research protocols.” My suggestion to parents was that they answer a series of questions before choosing a therapy: Even…

    Modern life is full of hassles, deadlines, frustrations, and demands. For many people, stress is so commonplace that it has become a way of life. Stress isn’t always bad. In small doses, it can help you perform under pressure and motivate you to do your best. But, when you’re constantly running in emergency mode, your mind and body pay the price. Alpha waves are the brain waves you feel when you're alert yet relaxed. Decreased alpha wave activity is shown in a variety of psychological disorders and even during stress or anxiety. The brain produces five main types of brain…

Psychology does not usually lend itself to live experimentation but the The American Psychological Association intends to change that perception.    They are featuring three public demonstrations of psychological science applications at their annual convention this week. The goal: to show practical uses of psychological research and how it can be of great service to individuals and society as a whole. A device known as the vOICe is one demonstration. It enables "seeing" with ears rather than eyes.  Michael Proulx, PhD, of Queen Mary University in London and presenter…

With several articles recently appearing that were based on various aspects of evolutionary psychology, I thought it would be worth taking a closer look. One of the ironies in examining evolutionary psychology is how many stories we can make up for ourselves without a shred of conclusive evidence, beyond simply sounding plausible.  This doesn't mean that they may not be true, but they certainly can't be considered scientific.  I thought it would be interesting to examine several points regarding evolutionary psychology before going further: It is not an area of study, like vision,…

What is Bedwetting? The medical name for not being able to control urination is Enuresis (pronounced: en-yuh-ree-sis). It is sometimes also called involuntary urination. Nocturnal enuresis is involuntary urination that occurs at night, usually while the childis sleeping. There are two kinds: Primary and Secondary. Primary is bedwetting that has occurred since infancy. Secondary develops at least 6 months, or even several years, after the child has learned to control their bladder. The bladder is a muscular receptacle that expands as urine enters and contractsto push the urine out. In normal…

In both biology and economy, game-theory models are used to understand human behavior, mainly concerning cooperation. These models usually incorporate gains, benefits, and reciprocity. And this reciprocity seems to be very important. Basically, if you do something for me, I’ll return the favor (in such a way that the benefits for me outweigh the costs). But human beings also show generosity towards complete strangers in one-shot encounters. How, then, can this be explained? A new paper, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, argues this one-shot generosity is “the…