Clipmarks | wildcat's 'psychology' clips

The Physiology And Psychology Of Voting

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 14:04:16 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: The researchers used a multiple regression analysis to compare the effects of change in skin conductance levels in response to threatening images, gender, age, education, and income on support for socially “protective” policies such as the ones listed above. The only two statistically significant effects were those of education (less education translated into more support for conservative policies) and skin conductance. That in itself means that -- within the confines of this study -- physiology trumps gender, age and income, traditionally considered highly relevant causal factors in politics by social scientists. Moreover, the regression coefficient associated with skin conductance was more than 56 times that of education! !!!

Clip Source: www.scientificblogging.com

In case you haven’t noticed, election season is upon us! Ok, it has been upon us for almost two years, but never mind that. Pollsters are busy trying to determine why people might be voting for one candidate or another, with special attention being paid to the so-called undecided voters, on whose last-minute whim the fate of the nation -- and the world -- seems to hinge.

Two recent studies, however, provide much food for thought about why people vote one way or the other, and about the reasons they give to themselves and others. A paper by Douglas Oxley and collaborators in Science (19 September) investigated the effect of physiological reactions to a perceived threat on people’s political opinions

Oxley and colleagues discovered that people who react physiologically (as measured by changes in their skin conductance) to sudden noises or to threatening images are much more likely to support conservative issues like gun control, the war in Iraq, restrictions in immigration and so forth.

Tags: voting, education, elections, physiology, psychology

The social psychology revolution is reaching its tipping point

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 11:37:44 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Go and look in your bookshop: new thinking is seeping into politics

It took a long time. Longer than it should have. But in the end, the penny dropped.

Back in the 1980s, Tony Blair, a junior Shadow minister, was sitting quietly with his constituency agent, John Burton, when he suddenly exclaimed: “You know, John, I understand it all. Finally, I've got it.” When Burton asked him what he was talking about, Blair triumphantly replied: “Microeconomics!”

I wonder whether in a couple of decades' time, our own fumbling first acquaintance with new thinking will appear similarly amusing. For an intellectual revolution is under way that will change the way we think about public policy just as the free market economists did in the 1980s. I wonder whether one day soon a future party leader will turn round to his agent and say: “Finally, I've got it! Human behaviour.”

Those who doubt that there is something going on in the world of ideas should get themselves a publisher's catalogue

Tags: psychology, revolution, politics, economics

'Mind's eye' influences visual perception

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:14:20 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: ..even a single instance of imagery can tilt how you see the world one way or another..

Clip Source: www.physorg.com

Letting your imagination run away with you may actually influence how you see the world. New research from Vanderbilt University has found that mental imagery—what we see with the "mind's eye"—directly impacts our visual perception.

"We found that imagery leads to a short-term memory trace that can bias future perception," says Joel Pearson, research associate in the Vanderbilt Department of Psychology. and lead author of the study. "This is the first research to definitively show that imagining something changes vision both while you are imagining it and later on."

"You might think you need to imagine something 10 times or 100 times before it has an impact,"

Our results show that even a single instance of imagery can tilt how you see the world one way or another, dramatically, if the conditions are right."

"These findings are important because they suggest a potential mechanism by which top-down expectations or recollections of previous experiences might shape perception itself,"

Tags: 'mind's eye', visual perception, brain, imagination

10 Important Differences Between Brains and Computers

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:34:22 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: scienceblogs.com

Although the brain-computer metaphor has served cognitive psychology well, research in cognitive neuroscience has revealed many important differences between brains and computers. Appreciating these differences may be crucial to understanding the mechanisms of neural information processing, and ultimately for the creation of artificial intelligence. Below, I review the most important of these differences (and the consequences to cognitive psychology of failing to recognize them): similar ground is covered in this excellent (though lengthy) lecture.

Difference # 1: Brains are analogue; computers are digital

Difference # 2: The brain uses content-addressable memory

Difference # 3: The brain is a massively parallel machine; computers are modular and serial

Difference # 4: Processing speed is not fixed in the brain; there is no system clock

Difference # 5 - Short-term memory is not like RAM

Difference # 6: No hardware/software distinction can be made with respect to the brain or mind

Tags: computers, brains, metaphors

Steven Pinker: The evolutionary man

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 10:53:31 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: There is, he points out, a world of difference between knowing something to be true and believing that you know something to be true

Clip Source: education.guardian.co.uk

Few academics come close to Steven Pinker in his grasp of image and imagery. With his trademark rock-star chic and an ear for a good soundbite, he has risen steadily to the top of the academic pile. In the heavily contested field of evolutionary psychology, Pinker has managed to consistently make sure that his voice is heard above most others, and along the way he has landed one of the top jobs at Harvard, while his books are usually to be found on the bestseller lists. And yet there is a twist. For a man who has dedicated a career to unpicking the secrets of language and thought, he has surprisingly often failed to make himself entirely clear to others. Either that, or he's a person whom some people choose to misunderstand.

You either love Pinker or you hate him. Indifference does not appear to be an option

Tags: steven pinker, evolution

When It Comes to Brains, Size Matters

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 01:27:35 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: physorg.com

Findings of a three-year study by researchers at the University of California, Riverside and the University of Florida, Gainesville run counter to the popular belief that women have better language skills than men.

In a study of 200 university students, the researchers found that women and men performed similarly on tests of language and reading skills. Differences in brain organization between men and women may be driven by sex differences in brain size, they said.

“People have said women have relatively larger language areas of the brain,” said Christine Chiarello, UCR professor of psychology. “In none of our language tasks were women better than men. When you account for differences in brain size between men and women there are few differences in the relative size of areas. While there are differences between men and women, those differences are minimal compared to the wide range of individual differences in both sexes.”

Tags: brain, size, language

The Face of Fear Explained

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 09:02:26 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

Everyone knows the face of fear.

Upon beholding the chainsaw-wielding ax-murderer in a slasher movie, the damsel in distress usually widens her eyes and flares her nostrils in horror.

It turns out this expression isn't merely for cinematic effect, but actually serves a biological function, scientists have found, by altering the way our senses perceive the world.

"Our hypothesis was that different changes on the face would lead to different amounts of sensory intake," said Joshua Susskind, a psychology graduate student at the University of Toronto who worked on a study testing the function of facial expressions. "The idea is that fear is for vigilance. You'd expect that changes on the face, such as opening the eyes, would be characteristic of fear, because you're trying to assess more information in your environment."

Squinty eyes and pinched nose

Tags: face, fear, biology, evolution

FLOW: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF OPTIMAL EXPERIENCE

Mon, 26 May 2008 21:16:10 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: Steps Toward Enhancing the Quality of Life)

Mihaly Csiksczentmihalyi

Clip Source: web.ionsys.com

One must particularly achieve control over instinctive drives to achieve a healthy independence of society, for as long as we respond predictably to what feels good and what feels bad, it is easy for others to exploit our preferences for their own ends.

The knowledge - or wisdom - one needs for emancipating consciousness is not cumulative. It is not a cognitive skill and as well as intelligence requires commitment of emotions and will. It is not enough to know how to do it, one must do it consistently and it is a painfully slow process to modify our own habits and desires.

Eight Components of Enjoyment

Confronting tasks that we have a chance of completing.

2. Concentration.

Concentration is possible because the task has clear goals.

4. Task provides immediate feedback.

A deep, effortless involvement removes from awareness the worries and frustrations of everyday life.

Enjoyable experiences allow one to exercise a sense of control over one’s actions.

Tags: life, quality, steps

Want to Remember Everything You'll Ever Learn?

Sun, 11 May 2008 22:14:31 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.wired.com

Want to Remember Everything You'll Ever Learn? Surrender to This Algorithm

SuperMemo is based on the insight that there is an ideal moment to practice what you've learned. Practice too soon and you waste your time. Practice too late and you've forgotten the material and have to relearn it. The right time to practice is just at the moment you're about to forget. Unfortunately, this moment is different for every person and each bit of information. Imagine a pile of thousands of flash cards. Somewhere in this pile are the ones you should be practicing right now. Which are they?

Fortunately, human forgetting follows a pattern. We forget exponentially. A graph of our likelihood of getting the correct answer on a quiz sweeps quickly downward over time and then levels off. This pattern has long been known to cognitive psychology, but it has been difficult to put to practical use. It's too complex for us to employ with our naked brains.

Tags: memory, supermemo, ideal moment, practice

mental fitness and multi-lingualism

Thu, 08 May 2008 10:12:26 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: physorg.com

Children who speak a second or third language may have an unexpected advantage later in life, a new Tel Aviv University study has found. Knowing and speaking many languages may protect the brain against the effects of aging.

Dr. Gitit Kavé, a clinical neuro-psychologist from the Herczeg Institute on Aging at Tel Aviv University, together with her colleagues Nitza Eyal, Aviva Shorek, and Jiska Cohen-Manfield, discovered recently that senior citizens who speak more languages test for better cognitive functioning. The results of her study were published in the journal Psychology and Aging.

A person who speaks more languages is likely to be more clear-minded at an older age, she says, in effect “exercising” his or her brain more than those who are monolingual. Languages may create new links in the brain, contributing to this strengthening effect.

A Matter of Words, Not Degrees

Tags: mental fitness, languages, brain, aging

What We Know (and Hate) About Consciousness

Mon, 05 May 2008 11:29:07 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: Our species likes best to be dizzy, distracted, buzzed and totally out of our minds.

We know that we know, but I guess we’d rather not know.

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

In the language of psychology, this means I am a conscious being, someone who thinks rather than reacts. Someone who takes in her surroundings and processes that information, milling it over in the mind, thinking about it.

It also means I am self-aware. I know myself, know I exist and know I am a separate from others.

According to anthropologists, many animals have a kind of consciousness, but only humans and the great apes are self-conscious. Apparently, the big and complex brains of humans and apes, which may have evolved for other tasks, blossomed with an added sense of self.

We know that humans are self-conscious because we can talk to our inner selves, but how do researchers know apes are also self-conscious?

In an existential way, apes seem to be aware of their existence, like people.

We daydream while making dinner. We listen to the radio while stuck in traffic. We drink, take drugs, read books and watch movies, all ways to push consciousness and self-awareness to the side.

Tags: consciousness, self awareness

'Worry' Spot in Brain Found

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 09:51:38 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

(HealthDay News) -- Stanford researchers report that worrying about something before it happens might do more than just create knots in your stomach.

They found that people who seemed to have higher levels of "anticipatory worry" -- judged by brain scans of activity in a part of the brain known as the anterior insula -- did better in a financial game, said study author Gregory Samanez-Larkin, a psychology graduate student at Stanford.

If the anterior insula was more active, the subjects had "a higher fidelity when it comes to making economic decisions," said Samanez-Larkin. "They were better at predicting what might happen." These volunteers learned to avoid losses when playing the same game months later, he noted.

"I wouldn't call it intelligence," he said. Instead, "it's a sort of expertise."

The anterior insula is a region buried deep inside the brain that's considered an artifact of humans' reptilian heritage

Tags: brain, worry, prediction, reptilian, anticipation

Are animals stuck in time?

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 08:48:37 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: physorg.com

Dog owners, who have noticed that their four-legged friend seem equally delighted to see them after five minutes away as five hours, may wonder if animals can tell when time passes. Newly published research from The University of Western Ontario in London, Canada may bring us closer to answering that very question.

The results of the research, entitled “Episodic-Like Memory in Rats: Is it Based on When or How Long Ago,” appear in the current issue of the journal Science, which was released today.

William Roberts and his colleagues in Western’s Psychology Department found that rats are able to keep track of how much time has passed since they discovered a piece of cheese, be it a little or a lot, but they don’t actually form memories of when the discovery occurred. That is, the rats can’t place the memories in time.

Only the cue of "how long ago food was encountered" was used successfully by the rats.

Tags: memory, time, animals

Why we don't always learn from our mistakes

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 09:14:38 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: physorg.com

If you are struggling to retrieve a word that you are certain is on the tip of your tongue, or trying to perfect a slapshot that will send your puck flying into a hockey net, or if you keep stumbling over the same sequence of notes on the piano, be warned: you might be unconsciously creating a pattern of failure, a new study reveals. The research appears today in The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology.

Karin Humphreys, assistant professor in McMaster University’s Faculty of Science, and Amy Beth Warriner, an undergraduate student in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, suggest that most errors are repeated because the very act of making a mistake, despite receiving correction, constitutes the learning of that mistake.

Humphreys says the research came about as a result of her own experiences of repeatedly getting into a tip-of-the-tongue (or TOT) state on particular words.

Tags: mistakes, learning, pattern, failure

Virtual Teachers Outperform Real Thing

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 12:40:19 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

BOSTON — Never let schooling get in the way of your education, Mark Twain supposedly said, and the latest advances in psychology and behavior science take that to a new dimension — virtual reality and the digital domain.

Virtual characters and digital tutors are helping children and adults develop advanced social and language skills that can be tough to learn via conventional approaches, according to researchers who briefed reporters here last week at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Justine Cassell of Northwestern University has found that children with autism can develop advanced social skills by interacting with a "virtual child" that they might not develop by hanging out with real children or teachers. Cassell is credited with developing the Embodied Conversational Agent (ECA), a virtual human capable of interacting with humans using language and gestures.

Tags: teaching, virtuality