Psychology

When you think of the ideal creative environment, what comes to mind?  We may imagine a place where you have freedom of expression, a place that encourages breaking convention, somewhere that is abundant in resources that are readily accessible for innovative development of technology, and exposure to many different cultures for inspiration and collaboration. So as you imagine this ultimate creative playground, does Cuba come to mind? From what we know of Cuba, especially since the embargo in the 1960s, it seems like anything but the ideal creativity-inspiring environment. A Cuban-…

Multitasking is a part of everyday home life but increasingly a part of the workplace as well - as in anything, not all people will be suited to it.   How workers feel about multitasking and how they have adapted to it (or will) may influence their job satisfaction and the likelihood of quitting, an important factor in hiring decisions. A new study led by Elizabeth Poposki, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology in the School of Science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis presents a new tool developed to measure preference for multitasking, information which may…

As Americans, September 11th will always hold a special meaning for us- a day of reflection, grieving, and for some, healing. For other people, though, the day September 11th has additional importance as well, ones which are often brushed aside because of the national recognition of this day. This post is in honor of one of those people. David Burns was 31 years old when he was taken from this earth suddenly and without warning, from a cerebral aneurysm. He went to work that morning, and died that afternoon. His birthday was September 11th. David Burns David is survived by his parents, Lydia…

A million dollars is difficult to imagine but if someone is charging $2 instead of one, that gets attention.   Likewise, a quote attributed to communist USSR despot Joesph Stalin is "A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic."(1)  And he should know, being responsible for 20 million deaths (starting with competitor Leon Trotsky) and so nestled comfortably between Mao and Hitler in world history, but is regarded favorably by some on left whereas a serial killer of a few is reviled by everyone. A group says they have validated that large-scale tragedies…

Gossiping has benefits, according to research conducted by Dr. Jennifer Cole and Hannah Scrivener from Staffordshire University, who presented preliminary results at the British Psychological Society Social Psychology Section annual conference at the University of Winchester. And praising someone in gossip may even lead to a short-term boost in gossipers' self-esteem. 160 participants completed questionnaires relating to their tendency to gossip and measures of their self-esteem, social support and satisfaction with life.   Although not associated with self-esteem or life satisfaction,…

One of the most common forms of self-medication in capitalist societies surely has to be retail therapy.  Is there really a problem that can't be solved by a new pair of shoes, or the latest iWhatever?  Interestingly, one of the problems people might be trying to overcome is the fear of death. The insecurity and anxiety caused by the fear of death has some interesting effects on people.  When people are reminded of their inevitable demise, they become more rooted in their outlook on life, this is called Terror Management Theory.  For example, we start to see people with…

This week I have heard a lot of scuttle about what the difference is between "hard" and "soft" science, or if the distinction should exist at all. For me, science has been defined by whether or not you use the scientific method- regardless of the discipline- biology, anthropology, psychology, yes, even social science. I mention social science, because social scientists always seem to get shit on by the sciency elite, and I'm hitting my limit of what I can stand to hear without stepping up and saying something. I have been busy the last few days dealing with some very unpleasant-yet-necessary…

I just watched Nic Marks of the New Economics Foundation's recent TED talk, which I hope I can embed below.  Marks and I both appear have a problem with the amount of media attention that the financial industry gets.  For me, I don't like the contradiction where science writing has to be dumbed down because "people don't get science," but the finance section of a newspaper is filled with so much jargon that few people have a clue what it means.  He has a slightly different problem - why is it there at all? (or to such a degree, at least) Why the focus on the strength of…

When we last spoke about sex, we discussed the neurotransmitters involved in pleasure and attraction, namely dopamine and oxytocin. Now let's look a little deeper into the action of those neurotransmitters and how we can manipulate their action- to extend the neurological orgasm for as long as possible. The dopamine-oxytocin response does not follow an "all or nothing" rule. Some stimuli will invoke a huge, quick response, and others a smaller, yet longer, extended response. There is a varying degree of neurotransmitter release depending on the strength of the stimulus, as well as how long…

An introduction: in the online autism community, there are a lot of heated debates. One of them is related to the nature of autism research. Some are insistent that more research focus on vaccines. Others push for more research on treatments. Still others insist that autism research is skewed because studies, especially brain imaging studies, have narrow parameters and exclude intellectual disability. The following post is a response to this last argument and an explanation as to why studies are conducted as they are. Do some researchers exclude autistics with intellectual disability because…