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Man with schizophrenia has out-of-body experience in lab, gains knowledge, controls his psychosis
Discover Magazine: RM had his first out-of-body experience at the age of 16. Now, at the age of 55, he has had more than he can count. They usually happen just before he falls asleep; for ten minutes, he feels like he is floating above his body, looking down on himself. If the same thing happens when he’s awake, it’s a far less tranquil story. The sense of displacement is stronger – his real body feels like a marionette, while he feels like a puppeteer. His feelings of elevation soon change into religious delusions, in which he imagines himself talking to angels and demons. Psychotic episodes follow. After four or five days, RM is hospitalised.
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Do boys and their toys have a ‘technical’ smarts advantage over girls?
Metro News: Compared to girls, boys are more enthralled by technical things such as taking apart a bike, which is why they score higher in technical aptitude tests, scientists claim in a new study. Psychologists at the University of Iowa analyzed data on how men and women do in various aptitude tests and found that women score lower on technical aptitude than men across all intelligence levels. However, experts maintain that doing well in school or at work is based on general intelligence rather than specific aptitudes. Read the whole story: Metro News
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How 9 Things That Happened To You As A Child Affect You As An Adult
Business Insider: Ever wonder why some adults are serious while others can't stop acting like five-year-olds? It could be the result of a childhood which means that adulthood is only an extension of your experiences as a child. If you're extremely sneaky or suffer from obesity, it's probably an issue you can trace back to your younger days. It might be frightening to uncover where all your behavioral traits come from, but we've compiled 9 childhood experiences that made you who you are today. Read the whole story: Business Insider
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The New Statistics
Statistics has been called “the grammar of science.” Few understand this idea better than Geoff Cumming, whose research explores statistical cognition, or how we use and interpret statistical methods. He is particularly interested in replication, and much of his work has examined the difference between using p values and confidence intervals, two statistical methods for evaluating differences between experimental groups (like a drug vs. a placebo), to assess statistical uncertainty and study repeatability.
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People Rationalize Situations They’re Stuck With, But Rebel When They Think There’s An Out
People who feel like they’re stuck with a rule or restriction are more likely to be content with it than people who think that the rule isn’t definite. The authors of a new study, which will be published in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, say this conclusion may help explain everything from unrequited love to the uprisings of the Arab Spring. Psychological studies have found two contradictory results about how people respond to rules. Some research has found that, when there are new restrictions, you rationalize them; your brain comes up with a way to believe the restriction is a good idea.
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Meditation improves the immune system, research shows
The Telegraph: The practice - an essential part of Buddhist and Indian Yoga traditions - has entered the mainstream as people try to find ways to combat stress and improve their quality of life. Now new research suggests that mindfulness meditation can have benefits for health and performance, including improved immune function, reduced blood pressure and enhanced cognitive function. The study, published in the latest issue of the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science, draws on existing scientific literature to attempt to explain the positive effects. Read the full story: The Telegraph
