Psychology posts
- April 29, 2013
- 09:08 AM
- 72 views
Twitter Maps the Mood of the UK
by Kate Blanchfield in United Academics
Researchers have mapped the moods of Twitter users from the UK and found that they follow a daily pattern of anger, fear, joy and sadness.
The research paper, posted online last week, was based on approximately 120 million tweets collected during the summer and winter of 2011.
The researchers counted the number of times a tweet expressed anger, fear, joy or sadness and normalised this by the total number of tweets in that hour. This corrected for the inevitably higher use of Twitter during........ Read more »
Vasileios Lampos, Thomas Lansdall-Welfare, Ricardo Araya, & Nello Cristianini. (2013) Analysing Mood Patterns in the United Kingdom through Twitter Content. Social and Information Networks. arXiv: 1304.5507v1
Golder, S., & Macy, M. (2011) Diurnal and Seasonal Mood Vary with Work, Sleep, and Daylength Across Diverse Cultures. Science, 333(6051), 1878-1881. DOI: 10.1126/science.1202775
- April 29, 2013
- 08:49 AM
- 6 views
The Neuroscience Power Crisis: What's the fallout?
by Neurobonkers in Neurobonkers
Last week a paper ($) was published in
Nature Reviews Neuroscience
that is rocking the world of neuroscience. The crack team of researchers including neuroscientists, psychologists, geneticists and statisticians analysed meta-analyses of neuroscience research to determine the statistical power of ...Read More
... Read more »
Button KS, Ioannidis JP, Mokrysz C, Nosek BA, Flint J, Robinson ES, & Munafò MR. (2013) Power failure: why small sample size undermines the reliability of neuroscience. Nature reviews. Neuroscience, 14(5), 365-76. PMID: 23571845
- April 29, 2013
- 07:03 AM
- 19 views
The How, What, When, and Why of [Lawyer] Happiness Increasing Strategies: Initial Understanding From the “Positive-Activity Model”
by Dan DeFoe in Psycholawlogy
Millions of people yearn for happiness. We should know now that science can help. That “good news” headline can apply to article recently published in a leading psychological science journal and featured in this post. Happiness feels good, does good, is good for us, and can lead to success. Research shows that the deliberate [...]The post The How, What, When, and Why of [Lawyer] Happiness Increasing Strategies: Initial Understanding From the “Positive-Activity Model........ Read more »
Lyubomirsky, S., & Layous, K. (2013) How Do Simple Positive Activities Increase Well-Being?. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 22(1), 57-62. DOI: 10.1177/0963721412469809
- April 29, 2013
- 07:02 AM
- 67 views
Look into my eyes…..
by Doug Keene in The Jury Room
How often have you read that “the eyes are the window to the soul”? What that means, say proponents, is that all you have to do to know how someone feels is to look into their eyes and you know all. New research would say that only holds true (at least if you are a [...]
Related posts:
We pray with closed eyes
The eyes of [not just] Texas are upon you…
“I can look into his eyes and just tell he is lying”
... Read more »
Schiffer B, Pawliczek C, Müller BW, Gizewski ER, & Walter H. (2013) Why don't men understand women? Altered neural networks for reading the language of male and female eyes. PloS one, 8(4). PMID: 23593185
- April 29, 2013
- 06:05 AM
- 60 views
Accountability provokes more team-focused behaviours in leaders who are outsiders
by Alex Fradera in BPS Occupational Digest
Sometimes leaders epitomise the group they seek to lead, such as a former trucker heading a transport trade union. In other cases leaders are less prototypical; while they may have the attributes for the role, they 'come from outside'. How might leaders from these two moulds respond when the workplace demands more accountability for their actions? A team led by Steffen Giessner of Erasmus University set out to know more, investigating the team-oriented behaviours that leaders engage in whe........ Read more »
Giessner, S., van Knippenberg, D., van Ginkel, W., & Sleebos, E. (2013) Team-Oriented Leadership: The Interactive Effects of Leader Group Prototypicality, Accountability, and Team Identification. Journal of Applied Psychology. DOI: 10.1037/a0032445
- April 29, 2013
- 06:02 AM
- 119 views
Antibiotic for better decisions for male businessmen
by Usman Paracha in SayPeople
Main point:
Researchers have found that minocycline, an antibiotic, can protect men from the apparent attraction of women in making better decisions especially financial decisions.
Journal:
Scientific Reports
Study Further:
Minocycline, a tetracycline antibiotic that is technically speaking a microglial inhibitor, is used for the treatment of acne. It has also been found to be effective against mental disturbances such as schizophrenia and depression, and it can also enhance decis........ Read more »
Watabe, M., Kato, T., Tsuboi, S., Ishikawa, K., Hashiya, K., Monji, A., Utsumi, H., & Kanba, S. (2013) Minocycline, a microglial inhibitor, reduces ‘honey trap’ risk in human economic exchange. Scientific Reports. DOI: 10.1038/srep01685
- April 29, 2013
- 03:51 AM
- 74 views
"Wish you were here!" - how a postcard can help attract the best talent
by Christian Jarrett in BPS Research Digest
In 2004, in Silicon Valley, Google posted a huge billboard ad featuring a mathematical problem. The answer led to a web address with yet another puzzle to crack. People who successfully followed this intellectual treasure hunt ended up being invited in for a job interview.
This is an extreme example of a recruitment principle spelled out in a new article by psychologists in Belgium. They say that distinctive recruitment procedures are the secret to attracting more and better job applica........ Read more »
Cromheecke, S., Van Hoye, G., & Lievens, F. (2013) Changing things up in recruitment: Effects of a ‘strange’ recruitment medium on applicant pool quantity and quality. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology. DOI: 10.1111/joop.12018
- April 29, 2013
- 03:35 AM
- 103 views
Do Women Really Want Nice Guys?
by Annemarie van Oosten in United Academics
It’s a familiar story: women who say they are looking to date a kind, sensitive and emotionally expressive guy often end up dating a macho man or a jerk. This leaves many ‘nice guys’ feeling they always finish last. For many decades, researchers have tried to get a grip on this so called ‘nice guy paradox’.... Read more »
Urbaniak, G.C., . (2003) Physical Attractiveness and the “Nice Guy Paradox”: Do Nice Guys Really Finish Last? . Sex Roles, 413-426. info:/
- April 29, 2013
- 01:51 AM
- 57 views
School Choice Is Associated With More Student Engagement
by Eric Horowitz in peer-reviewed by my neurons
One thing I harp on a fair amount is that it’s a shame the concept of school choice has been bound to divisive rhetoric about competition and free markets. Every student is different, and therefore the presence of more choices always makes it more likely that a student will find a school that meshes with [...]... Read more »
Vaughn, M., & Witko, C. (2013) Does the amount of school choice matter for student engagement?. The Social Science Journal, 50(1), 23-33. DOI: 10.1016/j.soscij.2012.07.004
- April 28, 2013
- 11:57 PM
- 56 views
Factors Associated with Recovery from Anorexia Nervosa
by Tetyana Pekar in Science of Eating Disorders
Why do some people recover anorexia nervosa relatively quickly while others seem to struggle for years or decades? Does it depend on the person’s desire to get better? Their willpower? How much they are willing to fight? Is it just that some try harder than others? Some might say yes, but most will correctly realize that the picture is much, much more complex.
We can spend hours talking about barriers to treatment, but in this post I want to talk about something slightly different, somethi........ Read more »
Zerwas, S., Lund, B., Von Holle, A., Thornton, L., Berrettini, W., Brandt, H., Crawford, S., Fichter, M., Halmi, K., Johnson, C.... (2013) Factors associated with recovery from anorexia nervosa. Journal of Psychiatric Research. DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2013.02.011
- April 28, 2013
- 09:00 AM
- 60 views
Science Sunday: Gut Reaction
by Mitchell Harden in Mitch's Blog
I recently read a 2006 paper titled "Visceral Influences on Risk-Taking Behavior." In spite of it's problems this paper uses some great language. Take for example this opening paragraph from the introduction:"People often do things that they almost immediately regret. Would-be dieters succumb to the lure of forsworn foods, only to curse their weak wills once their hunger (or the food) is gone. Unfaithful spouses live wracked with guilt after an impulsive sexual dalliance, only to repeat the cycl........ Read more »
Ditto, P., Pizarro, D., Epstein, E., Jacobson, J., & MacDonald, T. (2006) Visceral influences on risk-taking behavior. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 19(2), 99-113. DOI: 10.1002/bdm.520
- April 28, 2013
- 08:22 AM
- 109 views
Want to remember something? Clenching your fist doesn't help!
by The Neurocritic in The Neurocritic
Image Credits: fist and brain.You might have seen this news story the other day:Want to remember something? Clench your fists!Giving a speech and need to remember what to say? Just clench your right fist while rehearsing. Then, when it's time to give the speech, clench your left fist, and voila, you’ll recall what you rehearsed! That's what a new study found, which was published April 24 online at PLOS ONE. Sounds too easy now, doesn't it? And if you're exclaiming, "that's just too goo........ Read more »
Propper, R., McGraw, S., Brunyé, T., & Weiss, M. (2013) Getting a Grip on Memory: Unilateral Hand Clenching Alters Episodic Recall. PLoS ONE, 8(4). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0062474
Tulving E, Kapur S, Craik FI, Moscovitch M, & Houle S. (1994) Hemispheric encoding/retrieval asymmetry in episodic memory: positron emission tomography findings. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 91(6), 2016-20. PMID: 8134342
- April 27, 2013
- 11:09 AM
- 96 views
He’s Climbing In Your Windows; He’s Snatching Your People Up
by Jesse Marczyk in Pop Psychology
One topic that has been addressed by evolutionary psychologists that managed to draw a good deal of ire was rape. Given the sensitive nature of the issue, the criticisms that the theorizing about it brought were largely undeserved, reflecting, perhaps, … Continue reading →... Read more »
Felson, R., & Cundiff, P. (2012) Age and sexual assault during robberies. Evolution and Human Behavior, 33(1), 10-16. DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2011.04.002
- April 27, 2013
- 08:10 AM
- 20 views
Identity Management Coping Strategies and Diversity Policies: The Role of Context In Successful Mitigation of Workplace Discrimination
by Dan DeFoe in Psycholawlogy
Discrimination violates the law, harms workers, and costs organizations millions of dollars each year. The official journal of the American Psychological Association, American Psychologist, recently introduced and discussed two coping strategies used by targets of workplace discrimination. The authors also explain how the diversity policies and practices adopted and implemented by organizations can impact [...]The post Identity Management Coping Strategies and Diversity Policies: The Role o........ Read more »
Shih M, Young MJ, & Bucher A. (2013) Working to reduce the effects of discrimination: Identity management strategies in organizations. The American psychologist, 68(3), 145-57. PMID: 23586490
- April 27, 2013
- 07:28 AM
- 101 views
The Science of Guns and Violence in America
by Stephanie Swift in mmmbitesizescience
I read a Nature News article recently about gun control in the USA that horrified me so much that I now have to write a bit about this horrifying topic myself. It goes without saying that there is a huge … Continue reading →... Read more »
Wintemute GJ. (2013) Tragedy's legacy. The New England Journal of Medicine, 368(5), 397-9. PMID: 23268646
- April 27, 2013
- 06:37 AM
- 70 views
A vaccine for autism symptoms? Not exactly
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
"Vaccine". "Autism".I'm struggling to think of two words in combination which, in modern times, are any more likely to stir up emotion, debate and even argument. Indeed in these times of measles outbreaks and seemingly daily news reporting on the very, very strong requirement for vaccination to protect against the disease, it is coincidental that two research papers should now land in my inbox which mention both of those words in the title.Paradise in Zakynthos @ Wikipedia The fi........ Read more »
Pequegnat B, Sagermann M, Valliani M, Toh M, Chow H, Allen-Vercoe E, & Monteiro MA. (2013) A vaccine and diagnostic target for Clostridium bolteae, an autism-associated bacterium. Vaccine. PMID: 23602537
- April 27, 2013
- 02:14 AM
- 78 views
Psychedelic drugs “continue to be widely used in the U.S.”
by Usman Paracha in SayPeople
Main point:
Researchers have found that, in 2010, about 32 million people in the U.S. have used hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide), “magic mushrooms” (psilocybin), or mescaline (peyote and other cacti) at some point in their lives and many of them have used it in the recent past.
Published in:
F1000Research
Study Further:
“Use of psilocybin mushrooms has increased since the 1970s in the US and worldwide, likely due to dissemination of s........ Read more »
Krebs, T., & Johansen, P. (2013) Over 30 million psychedelic users in the United States. F1000Research. DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.2-98.v1
- April 26, 2013
- 01:53 PM
- 75 views
The Curious Case of the Earworm (Part 2)
by Melissa Chernick in Science Storiented
In Part 1 of this topic, we explored the reasons why we like certain songs. But what transforms that likable melody into an earworm? Or is likability even a contributing factor? We took the biochemical/neurological route in Part 1, so now we’re gonna go all psychology for this one with a paper published in 2011 in Psychology of Music.Let’s get some terminology out of the way first. We all have internally-directed thought (all that stuff you think to yourself), and we also experience spontane........ Read more »
Williamson, V., Jilka, S., Fry, J., Finkel, S., Mullensiefen, D., & Stewart, L. (2011) How do "earworms" start? Classifying the everyday circumstances of Involuntary Musical Imagery. Psychology of Music, 40(3), 259-284. DOI: 10.1177/0305735611418553
Hyman, I., Burland, N., Duskin, H., Cook, M., Roy, C., McGrath, J., & Roundhill, R. (2013) Going Gaga: Investigating, Creating, and Manipulating the Song Stuck in My Head. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 27(2), 204-215. DOI: 10.1002/acp.2897
- April 26, 2013
- 11:18 AM
- 81 views
Patient Perspectives on Anorexia, Treatment, and Therapeutic Alliance
by Andrea in Science of Eating Disorders
Dear Science of Eating Disorders readers, please welcome Andrea, our newest contributor! Below is her introduction and first post.
Hello SEDs readers, my name is Andrea and I’m excited to be contributing to the blog. I have an undergraduate degree in sociology and I am currently a Masters student studying family relations and human development. My research is looking at the experiences of young women in recovery from eating disorders, and uses qualitative methods including narrative interviews........ Read more »
Boughtwood, D., & Halse, C. (2009) Other than obedient: Girls' constructions of doctors and treatment regimes for anorexia nervosa. Journal of Community . DOI: 10.1002/casp.1016
- April 26, 2013
- 11:16 AM
- 107 views
What Your Eyes Reveal About Your Lies
by Katja Keuchenius in United Academics
It’s a very attractive idea that we can discover the truth about the stories people tell just by looking at what their eyes are doing. People for example often look to the left if they use their memory, so if they don’t, they can’t be telling anything sincere about the past. What does science make of this?... Read more »
Wiseman, R., Watt, C., ten Brinke, L., Porter, S., Couper, S., & Rankin, C. (2012) The Eyes Don’t Have It: Lie Detection and Neuro-Linguistic Programming. PLoS ONE, 7(7). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0040259
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