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Those That can not do…Education, teachers and Psychology
I have to admit that before I became an academic, I believed this phrase was true “Those that can not do, teach.” This despite coming from a family of academics. Of course, now that I am on this path, I see that there are many passionate, smart, committed people who could do many other things…
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Frontline’s Digital Nation – what’s the answer?
Frontline recently aired a documentary called Digital Nation which took a look at all the different ways we use media. And at recent research in the field. One of the scientists they interviewed is Dr Gary Small at UCLA. He looked at people’s brains while they read a book, and other people’s brain while they used Google;…
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Media 24/7 in kid’s lives
A new study came out from Kaiser that talks about the astonishing amount of time that children spend with media today. Media is defined as tv, music, video games, print, computer and movies. Today’s kids 8-18 spend 7 1/2 hours using media, almost as long as an adult work day! Before parents stress too much,…
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Do genes confer risk or resilience?
It has been common practice in the study of genes and behavior to identify certain genes as “risk genes.” You may hear people say, “I have the depression gene” or “addiction gene” or even as broad as a “bad gene.” However, the understandings about specific genes and their behavioral implications is far more complex. Additionally,…
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One example of how animal research can help humans
Human and animal studies have found that brains go through substantialsynaptic pruning during childhood, removing approximately half of all synapses until puberty. While the pruning of synapses is a natural process, some researchers have theorized that schizophrenia arises from excessive pruning (Siekmeier & Hoffman, 2002). Presuming schizophrenia is a disorder of disruptions in neural connectivity…
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Social Defeat may play a causal role in schizophrenia
Some ethnic minority groups have higher rates of schizophrenia than the general population. My first thought was that the differences were genetic. Current research has found a strong genetic component to schizophrenia, and given that different ethnic groups may have different rates of high risk genotypes, the genetic variation between groups may be in part…
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Problems with the DSM
Professionals in psychiatry and clinical psychology rely heavily on the guidelines laid out in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in order to make decisions about clients’ disorder status. This American Psychiatric Association publication was an intrepid attempt to create a comprehensive nosology of psychological problems. While reaching clinical consensus is of critical…
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lack of control, illusory patterns, and belief in God
Ok, so there’s the question of whether a higher power exists or not. I leave that to you. However, either way, we have a psychological question. How do we maintain our beliefs in a supernatural plane of existence and make causal attributions to Gods, witches, taboos, superstitions, magic etc. in the absence of physical evidence?…
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A thought about the new cell-phone law
We’ve all had to swerve out of the way of someone who’s paying more attention to their cell phone than to the road. Presumably the problem stems from the fact that the person is driving one handed, dialing, looking at the phone, etc. So, on July 1, drivers in California will only be able to…
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Why does the ‘Patriotism’ argument work?
“The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and endangering the country.” Basically, people will fall in line if a) they are scared and b) they are worried…