Monthly Archives: April 2011

Hungry judges less likely to grant parole

April 12, 2011 – 1:36 am

Not Exactly Rocket Science covers a study that is in equal parts delightful and terrifying: it found that judges are much less likely to grant parole when they’re hungry. It’s the work of Shai Denzeger from Ben Gurion University of the Negev, and summarises the results of 1,112 parole board hearings in Israeli prisons, over […]

By vaughanbell | Posted in Integrating, Reasoning | Comments (2)

Five ways to boost your intelligence – now!

April 12, 2011 – 1:17 am

1. Talk to lots of high falutin’ people 2. Perfect a knowing smile 3. Name drop obscure Russian authors 4. Grow a beard and wear with matching tweed jacket or floral print dress HAVE YOU TRIED OUR PENIS ENLARGEMENT PILLS? 5. Make disdainful comments about popular entertainment

By vaughanbell | Posted in Nonsense | Comments (8)

The Oscar for best neuroscience research goes to…

April 10, 2011 – 10:35 pm

Both of this year’s lead Oscar winners have published scientific papers on neuroscience. We’ve covered Natalie Portman’s work on frontal lobe development in children before, but it turns out Colin Firth has also just co-authored a study on structural brain differences in people with differing political views. An excellent post on The Neurocritic tells the […]

By vaughanbell | Posted in Inside the Brain, Integrating, Reasoning | Comments (10)

Adler’s ashes rediscovered

April 10, 2011 – 8:47 pm

The remains of Alfred Adler, the co-founder of psychoanalysis, have been found 70 years after they were lost in Edinburgh reports The Guardian. Adler, a core figure with Sigmund Freud in the group that founded the psychoanalytic movement before the pair split in 1911, collapsed after a suspected heart attack in May 1937 while he […]

By vaughanbell | Posted in Remembering | Comments (1)

Layers of the revolution

April 3, 2011 – 2:38 pm

Revolutionology is an excellent blog on the uprising in Libya written by a PhD sociology candidate who has embedded himself with the rebel forces. It’s not an impartial view of the conflict, as it intends to document the views and perceptions of the rebels, but it is full of insightful observations that reflect Libyan society […]

By vaughanbell | Posted in Togetherness | Comments (4)

Reflecting on a psychopath

April 2, 2011 – 7:06 pm

A psychologist’s personality may affect whether someone is diagnosed as a psychopath or not. Forensic psychology blog In the News covers a preliminary study on how evaluators with different personality traits systematically differed in their ratings when using the ‘industry standard’ Hare Psychopathy Checklist. The checklist is often referred to by the abbreviation PCL-R. It […]

By vaughanbell | Posted in Integrating | Comments (11)

Kids on speed and the birth of misbehaviour

April 2, 2011 – 12:15 am

Dr Charles Bradley first reported the effects of amphetamine on children with behavioural problems in 1937. An article in The Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine takes a look at how this early study opened the door to treating ADHD with Ritalin and how it tied in with changing ideas about child misbehaviour. Bradley was […]

By vaughanbell | Posted in Integrating, Remembering | Comments (3)

A history of psychology through objects

April 1, 2011 – 8:42 am

This is an early Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) machine, from 1945. Note the incorporation of the telephone dial for controvoling the duration of the shock. This is a brass observation hole from St. Audry’s Hospital, Suffolk, England, 1851-1900. Mounted in a door, this peephole allowed doctors and warders to check on a patient locked in solitary […]

By tomstafford | Posted in Linkage | Comments (5)
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