This is an interesting article that suggests that reading fiction may improve our ability to emphatize with other people (Another example of neuroplasticity)
The neuroscience of your brain on fiction This made me remember a research study I read a long time ago that suggested a link between the increase in empathy in western society and the increase of reading and education in the 19th century.
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Here is clip from a documentary about multiple personality disorder:
The extraordinary - multiple personalities This is an interesting study that suggests that the use of mobile phones may make us less socially responsible.
Smartphones may make people selfish This is an interesting short movie about a love competition involving MRI scanning. The person who experiences most love sensations as measured by brain activity wins.
Stanford love competition This is an article that cites interesting research that humans may not be fitted for democracy:
People aren't smart enough for democracy The study showed that people who are incompetent on a certain issue, such as economics, are also incompetent to judge which politician that is competent enough to deal with the problem. However, the incompetent also have a tendency to overestimate their ability in making good judgments. My conclusion of this, however, is not that we aren't fitted for democracy, but perhaps that we should only vote when we have sufficient knowledge in what we are voting for. This are the kind of research study that I want you to use for the ethical issue of confidentiality in genetic research. Life gene is a Swedish project which aims to build up a database to do research on the relationship between heredity, environment and lifestyle. Some people are doubtful about this, because it will lead to a register with private information about individuals which can be misused.
http://lifegene.ki.se/ An article that suggests that hunter-gatherers are better parents than modern parents:
Parent like a caveman A tin foil hat is a person who believes that the government can control his thoughts through magnetic waves and therefore is wearing a tin foil hat to protect himself. It is most likely a type of delusion or paranoia but interestingly enough, the American military have developed a machine that can transmit messages to the brain externally. The technique is called "voice to skull". Have a look at this article:
mind games The following article may be of interest for the learning outcome the influence of hormones on behavior:
Gender bender Here is some interesting information that can be used for the learning outcome "the interaction between physiology and cognition in terms of a cognitive process" (in this case memory), but also for the effect of the environment on one physiological process (in this case brain plasticity).
A study by Lazar has shown that the brain grows new connections in the prefrontal cortex through meditation. The study also showed that it improved attention and memory. It may be argued that because the person is improving his attention, also remembers more. How to get smarter, one breath at a time Another study by the University of Pennsylvania has shown that meditation may be a helpful technique for patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease. It is even possible that mediation may reverse memory loss. One possible reason for the effectiveness of meditation on memory is because it reduces stress, and stress impairs our memory through stress hormones that kill brain cells. By reducing the release of stress hormones you are also improving your brain functioning. Cerebral blood flow in subjects with memory loss: a preliminary study An easy meditation practice to reverse memory loss |
AuthorThis is my class blog for IB Psychology. Here I will publish reflections on psychology, reviews of psychology books, recommended links, lecture notes, and information on psychology topics that are not covered by the syllabus. You are free to add comments or ask me questions. Archives
August 2015
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