Psychology

Social Networks Not So Different In Boys And Girls

Belief: Girls tend to hang out in smaller, more intimate groups than boys. Not really.   At least not by the time children reach the eighth grade, says a new Journal of Social and Personal Relationships article. Jennifer Watling Neal, assistant professor o ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 16 2010 - 11:47am

Happiness And Wealth

Does money make you happy?  Economists think so- the concept of 'utility' assumes that economic activity represents people consuming in ways that best supports their happiness.  And yet, high sales of Backstreet Boys CDs prove that this cannot b ...

Article - Warren Davies - Aug 18 2010 - 1:25am

Pedantic Semantic: Or, I Do Not Think This Word Means What You Think It Does

Semantic: "of, pertaining to, or arising from the different meanings of words or other symbols: semantic change; semantic confusion." Pedantic: "overly concerned with minute details or formalisms, esp. in teaching." ...

Article - Kim Wombles - Aug 18 2010 - 11:02am

Evolutionary Psychologists Sex Up Maslow's Hierarchy Of Needs

Despite being one of psychology's most memorable concepts and a genuinely good idea, Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs, immortalized in his 1943 paper "A Theory of Human Motivation" and later Motivation and Personality, needs a makeov ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Aug 19 2010 - 10:35pm

Relative Risks And Why Anecdotes Can Be Lousy For Making Decisions

Fear blinds us, immobilizes us, and makes fools of us. Scary stories abound on the internet, through emails, and in conversations, and dangers lurk in the dusty corners waiting to pounce on us and tear our loved ones from our grasps. We know this. We feel ...

Article - Kim Wombles - Aug 24 2010 - 6:38pm

Autism, Intellectual Disability And Research Criteria: Ecker Et Al., A Defense

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 ...

Article - Kim Wombles - Aug 23 2010 - 7:00pm

The Science Of Pleasure: Part III- The Neurological Orgasm

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 ex ...

Article - Andrea Kuszewski - Aug 27 2010 - 9:00pm

Does Happiness Have To Cost The Earth?

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 co ...

Article - Warren Davies - Aug 31 2010 - 10:53am

A Message To The Sciency Elite: Step Out Of The Lab And Into The Real World

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- regardl ...

Article - Andrea Kuszewski - Sep 4 2010 - 1:24am

I Don't Want To Die... But I Do Want To Shop!

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 ...

Article - Warren Davies - Sep 6 2010 - 11:59am