R Psychologist

Visit Blog Website

7 posts · 2,173 views

My private blog about statistical programming with R in general but also in relation to psychological research, especially Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. My own research concerns CBT interventions for pathological gambling.

Sort by: Latest Post, Most Popular

View by: Condensed, Full

  • April 11, 2012
  • 03:38 PM
  • 440 views

Does mindfulness aid insight problem solving? New study suggest so

by Kristoffer Magnusson in R Psychologist

A new mindfulness research study (Ostafin, B. D., & Kassman, K. T, In Press) examined whether mindfulness could help improve participants' insight problem solving skills. Their hypothesis was that mindfulness might aid in solving of problems that require creative, nonhabitual responses.... Read more »

  • April 13, 2012
  • 07:10 AM
  • 421 views

Mindfulness and pain: new research review hints at unique mechanism for pain relief

by Kristoffer Magnusson in R Psychologist

Mindfulness mediations ability to help regulate pain has been gaining more and more empirical evidence over last couple of years. From the seminal works of Jon-Kabatt Zinn to new neuroimaging studies the evidence seem to indicate that mindfulness mediation is indeed helpful in the attenuation of pain. A new research review by Zeidan et al (2012) tries to assimilate the empirical knowledge about meditation and pain relief in order to gain an understanding about the possible specificity of mindful........ Read more »

  • April 20, 2012
  • 11:36 AM
  • 321 views

Meditation, mindfulness, and executive control: results from a new EEG study

by Kristoffer Magnusson in R Psychologist

A new interesting study by Teper and Ingzlict (2012) examined the effect of meditation practice on executive control. Many studies have shown that meditation does indeed enhance executive control. But in this study the researchers look more at why meditation is effective in enhancing executive control, and not so much if it’s effective.... Read more »

  • April 17, 2012
  • 07:55 AM
  • 305 views

The (Un)disputed Champion of Psychotherapy – Clinical psychologists and their theoretical orientations

by Kristoffer Magnusson in R Psychologist

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is the psychological treatment of choice for many, if not all, mental disorders. Nonetheless a majority of US clinical psychologist do not primarily identify themselves as either cognitive or behavioral therapists. Looking at data from PubMed publication counts a clear picture emerges; psychodynamic researchers might just be research loafers.... Read more »

  • April 25, 2012
  • 11:48 AM
  • 262 views

Further evidence that mindfulness meditation might bolster creativity

by Kristoffer Magnusson in R Psychologist

Last week a group of Dutch scientists published a study providing further evidence of mindfulness' ability to bolster creativity. Specifically they looked at if open awareness differed from focused attention in increasing divergent thinking... Read more »

  • July 24, 2012
  • 03:23 PM
  • 222 views

How to tell when error bars correspond to a significant p-value

by Kristoffer Magnusson in R Psychologist

Can you tell when error bars based on 95 % CIs or standard errors correspond to a significant p-value? Don’t fret if you think it’s hard, a study from 2005 showed that researchers in psychogoly, behavior neuroscience and medicine had a hard time judging when error bars from two independent groups signified a significant difference. ... Read more »

Belia S, Fidler F, Williams J, & Cumming G. (2005) Researchers misunderstand confidence intervals and standard error bars. Psychological methods, 10(4), 389-96. PMID: 16392994  

  • July 30, 2012
  • 03:55 AM
  • 202 views

Cognitive behavior therapy outperformed psychodynamic therapy on all outcomes in a randomized controlled trail

by Kristoffer Magnusson in R Psychologist


The dodo bird might be extinct in the real world but in the world of psychotherapy research it refuses to die. However, a group of German researchers recently put forward an article were they had randomized patients to either a PDT or CBT condition and measured the relative proficiency of the two orientations, and they found that their results delivered a convincing blow to the dodo bird verdict.... Read more »

join us!

Do you write about peer-reviewed research in your blog? Use ResearchBlogging.org to make it easy for your readers — and others from around the world — to find your serious posts about academic research.

If you don't have a blog, you can still use our site to learn about fascinating developments in cutting-edge research from around the world.

Register Now

Research Blogging is powered by SMG Technology.

To learn more, visit seedmediagroup.com.