kiss and tell?

Can a physical feature reveal psychological information about a person? It reminds me of the early studies in criminology, when phrenologists used to study skull shapes and the bumps on one’s head to determine if they were a criminal or not. Of course phrenology was dismissed hundreds of years ago, because it was clearly an [...]

a good night’s sleep

I found an interesting post on Psychology Today. A recent study was done with children to examine the effects of inadequate sleep (which is said to be 7.7 hours for children 7-8 years old). A link has been found between short sleeping durations and an increased risk of ADHD.
I remember hearing about studies done concerning [...]

Is that really your Attitude?

As I am finishing up with my psychology class in Persuasion, I keep thinking about attitudes and behavior. Behavior shapes attitudes through justification of effort and cognitive dissonance, but how do we judge our own attitude. At times, we tell ourselves we feel and act differently than we really do. For the psychology class, we [...]

ADHD Medication Equals Higher Test Scores?

A study done with children from kindergarten through 5th grade studied how taking certain medication for ADHA has increased their scores on reading and math compared to those not on medication. Their scores were still significantly lower than those without ADHD, but this study was done to show if the medication would help with bettering [...]

The Amazing Paul Farmer

I just finishd a book for my Health Psychology class called Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder. Inside I was introduced to Paul Farmer, a doctor and a medical anthropologist. He had a very interesting childhood, including living in a bus that was a converted TB clinic and then a boat; he had a very transient lifestyle. He [...]

No Stricter Gun Laws After 10 Years?

Of course there has to be a post on the 10th anniversary of the Columbine shooting. I was trying to watch the news all day, especially for this, on what different updates there were about if there were going to be any news on the gun laws from the shooting that happened at Columbine. Obviously there [...]

Facebook=Bad grades?

Aryn Karpinski, an education researcher at Ohio State University, did a survey of college students and found that college students who actively use facebook, have a lower GPA than those student who do not actively use facebook. Although the study does not say that facebook has a direct effect on student’s grades, there is a correlation between extra curricular [...]

100% Problem Solving Nonsense

Helping Psychology explains how people need to come together to solve any kind of problem. It also tells that some people do not want to be involved in coming together to help solve a problem and conform to groups because they may not trust everybody in the group.  They also tell why if everyone was [...]

The Internet: a source of instructions for ANYTHING

Okay, I don’t know how significant this post is, but I thought that it was hilarious (and sad…).
I found this post on Everyday Sociology. Three female college students wanted some extra cash, so instead of getting a job, they decided to rob a local dollar store in Ohio. They entered the store, armed with BB [...]

Prettier=Smarter?

I found an interesting post on Psychology Today having to do with physical attractiveness and intelligence. It reminded me of a project that I had done. I took a Social Psychology course a few years back, in which I had done research on a similar topic. I was supposed to research physical appearances. My initial [...]

No more sprinkles!!!

We as Americans are a society of consumers. I wonder just how dependent we are on commercial goods. Working for Starbucks and now Heritage it is amazing to see how people can become so furious if they aren’t able to have their mocha or a piece of lemon loaf. It seems to be that the [...]

create a persona to change an attitude

Dana Jennings has an aggresive form of prostate cancer. In his blog With a Buzz Cut, I can Take on Anything he describes how cutting his hair helped him gain the strength to go through cancer treatments. The short buzz cut, changed his attitude, by making him feel stronger.
In a time of utter vulnerability — having already weathered [...]

Procrastination

I was looking at Psychology Today, and saw a blog about procrastination. I felt that this issue was especially appropriate for a blog post, considering that I have horribly procrastinated this blogging project.
The article suggests that there are two strategies to approach procrastination:
1.) Time Travel
2.) Tough Love
The tough love seems obvious. It is rare that anyone [...]

Whoda thunk it?

I though we were over this whole “being gay is all in your head” thing. According to this article one sixth of British therapists are still trying to teach how to be un-gay. It’s still taught of as a “cure”. Can you believe that?
“There is very little evidence to show that attempting to treat a [...]

Truth About Lying

There was a situation that I dealt with that involved a client I work with and his mother. The main problem is she thinks she is always right and will not listen to criticism, and will not accept others answers. She perceives herself as being right about ways to treat her son, which everybody else [...]

Suicide Forest

Japan was already one of the top nations with a high suicide rate. Now with the economic situation, suicides have increased.  In the forest below Mt. Fuji, known as the suicide forest, there is now a prevention program in place due to the increase of suicides there. Signs are posted in the forest advertising help for credit card [...]

TGIF

According to the article “High Court Won’t Stop Execution of Cal Coburn Brown” Friday the 13th is set to be Mr. Brown’s last day alive because he is scheduled to be executed for the torture, rape, and murder of a young woman. What is interesting about Mr. Brown’s case is that he suffers from a bipolar disorder [...]

Addiction

Beautiful Boy, David Sheff’s vivid and detail laden account of his firstborn child Nic’s struggle with drug addiction (most often and strongly methamphetamine) does something unexpected.
It makes you love Nic Sheff.
This vivacious, funny and loving child becomes familiar to you through the words, thoughts and memories of his greatest fan, his dad. Before you know [...]

Diet and Hunger

Psychology Today reports on diet and health in people and how they try to maintain their weight, but still are not able to do it properly with all the fast foods and cravings people have. I know some people who have struggled with this and I am sure that other people do as well. I [...]

Education in Games?

I found this to be interesting, since this is one of the most talked about issues by parents. Some people say that certain games have some educational value by using technical skils such as problem solving, mathematics, problem-solving skills, etc. This comes from Excite.com, which I look at everyday to find something new. This is [...]

One-Child Policy in China

So what are everyone’s thoughts on this action?  If you are ethnic Han living in urban China you are only allowed one child.  If you have more than one you will be fined an amount determined by the government.  It also seems that in some cases abortion is pressured and sterilization is forced.
The rule has [...]

Help Wanted – Must be Mentally Disabled

The United States current economic situation has been a popular topic in the media. Corporate America has responded with massive layoffs and nationwide store closures in order to trim expenditures. However, according to a recent article Mentally disabled workers found in squalor it appears that one company Henry’s Turkey Service predicted this economic slump 20 years [...]

Sports and Psych Alike

I found this to be a somewhat suitable article just because we have just gotten over Super Bowl Sunday and are now into the season’s of the NBA and NHL. Every season has its own unique sports teams playing. It seems like the cities and stadiums themselves never grow tired of fans flocking to see their [...]

www.opportunityisnowhere.com

Click here for an insight into your SOUL (haha)
 
So, how did you do?! Did you see an uplifting statement that could be the sunny website address for a motivational speaker? Or were you like me and thought, “How depressing, whoever runs that site must have really given up…”? How does your [...]

Roe v. Wade

I ran across a fellow WordPress blogger’s post discussing “How to Stump Anti-Abortionists With One Question” and figured the timing is especially appropriate for some reflection on the topic (not the topic of how to stump Anti-Abortionists, silly, the topic of abortion) on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, while the annual Pro-Life Rally is being held on the [...]

Reasons Why Negative Emotions Last Longer Than Positive Emotions.

I was just surfing the web randomly not knowing what topic in mind even going to do. I didn’t even plan on posting anything when this actually came as a pop-up ad on my screen as it had to deal with Psychology, which oddly enough is what I am majoring in. I thought to myself [...]

Overmedicating children with ADHD

This subject has always been of interest to me for more reasons than one.  Although this CNN article, “Ritalin debate: Are We Over Medicating” is several years old, I still find it to be extremely relevant and a valid argument today.
There is currently no objective diagnostic tool for the disorder, so the diagnosis often comes [...]