-
Wikipedia – a legitimate academic source?
QAA Podcasts: Professor Mahzarin Banaji, of Harvard University and President of the Association for Psychological Science, talks about an exciting new initiative to monitor and legitimise Wikipedia as a reliable source of information and genuine research, by encouraging the academic community to add new entries and enhance existing ones. Listen to the podcast here: Wikipedia - a legitimate academic source?
-
Mind Reading: Positive Psychologist Martin Seligman on the Good Life
TIME: These days Martin Seligman, author of the best-selling book Authentic Happiness, is perhaps best known as a father of positive of psychology — the study of people's strengths and virtues, rather than on pathological behavior. But, previously, Seligman's work focused on "learned helplessness" — when people or animals learn helpless behavior as a result of exposure to powerful experiences over which they have no control. That research spawned thousands of related studies and helped researchers better understand the basis of depression. It was also used by the Bush administration to help devise its torture policy.
-
All in the Mind
BBC Radio: Hot chilli sauce and a computer game called Cyberball are tools in the lab of psychologist Kip Williams. He explains his research on ostracism to Claudia Hammond. Listen to the broadcast: BBC Radio
-
Happiness Has a Dark Side
It seems like everyone wants to be happier and the pursuit of happiness is one of the foundations of American life. But even happiness can have a dark side, according to the authors of a new review article published in Perspectives on Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. They say that happiness shouldn't be thought of as a universally good thing, and outline four ways in which this is the case. Indeed, not all types and degrees of happiness are equally good, and even pursuing happiness can make people feel worse. People who want to feel happier can choose from a multitude of books that tell them how to do it.
-
Shop For A Psychotherapist To Avoid The Lemons
NPR: Turn on a TV talk show and you'll think that everyone in America is in need of mental health counseling. But there are hundreds of different kinds of therapy out there, and it's hard to know which ones work. Researchers have put a lot of effort into testing different forms of psychotherapy, and they have solid evidence of what works, particularly for common mental problems like depression and anxiety. But despite that, people can't presume they're going to get the right psychotherapy, according to Alan Kazdin, a clinical psychologist who directs the Yale Parent Center and Child Conduct Clinic. Read the whole story: NPR
-
Friday the 13th superstitions? Not me, knock on wood
MSNBC: We humans are a superstitious lot, believing that Friday the 13th is bad luck and finding a penny is good luck. Many superstitions stem from the same human trait that causes us to believe in monsters and ghosts: When our brains can't explain something, we make stuff up. In fact, a study last year found that superstitions can sometimes work, because believing in something can improve performance on a task. Here, then, are 13 of the most common superstitions. Read the whole story: MSNBC
