Psychology

Personality Characteristics of Wikipedia Members- Not So Social, Says Psychologist

A group of researchers did an analysis of the personalities of Wikipedia members and apparently don't think they are all that great.   By not great, I mean they fared less well on scales of agreeableness, openness, and conscientiousness than people wh ...

Blog Post - Hank Campbell - Jan 4 2009 - 12:48am

Parents, It's Time to come to Terms with Natural Variation

Sound familiar? If you find yourself saying, "No matter how hard I try and try, I can't make my kid do X..." or "No matter how hard I try, I can't make my kid understand Y..." it's usually a clear sign that expectation a ...

Blog Post - Michael White - Jan 5 2009 - 4:30pm

Smokers Kids More Aggressive, Says Study

If your mother smoked, you're more likely to be an aggressive kid, according to a new Canada-Netherlands study published in the journal Development and Psychopathology. And mothers who smoke, give birth under 21 and are poor should have caused North A ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 6 2009 - 10:49am

Oxytocin Hormone Important In Recognizing Familiar Faces

Oxytocin, a hormone involved in child-birth and breast-feeding, helps people recognize familiar faces, according to new research in the January 7 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. Study participants who had one dose of an oxytocin nasal spray showed im ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 7 2009 - 10:31am

How We See Others Impacts How We See Ourselves

It seems obvious, right?   If you are around people who don't think much of you, over time you are more inclined to think less of yourself.  That's self esteem. Looking at yourself in the mirror every morning, you never think to question whether ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 7 2009 - 10:38am

Don't Call Me Rational!

The ultimate cause of human behavior is the mind. The mind, an emergent property from the workings of collections of neurons, hormones, proteins, and other biochemical agents, controls everything every human does. From their intended actions to their subc ...

Article - Nicholas Horton - Jan 8 2009 - 11:43am

Spirituality, Not Religion, Makes Kids Happy, Say Psychologists

To make children happier, we may need to encourage them to develop a strong sense of 'personal worth', according to Dr. Mark Holder, Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia,  Visiting Assistant Professor Dr. Ben Coleman and grad ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 9 2009 - 1:32am

Does Hypnosis Work To Relieve Pain?

The word "hypnosis" conjures a very specific image to most people- usually a man dangling a watch on a chain in front of your eyes and making you count backwards until you fall into some sort of deep trance, where the hypnotist can make you squaw ...

Article - Chris Rollins - Jan 13 2009 - 6:38pm

Psychological 'Distance' Is Why We Procrastinate

If you've made a New Year's resolution but you keep putting it off, you may not just be unclear on what the word 'resolute' means, you may have an issue putting tasks in concrete terms that make them feel like they need to be completed. ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 12 2009 - 4:25pm

The Power Law of Scientific Dismissiveness

In my experience, scientists are much too dismissive; most of them have a hard time fully appreciating other people’s work. ...

Blog Post - Seth Roberts - Jan 15 2009 - 2:55am