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Science Versus Religion – Mortal enemies or hopeful friends?
The feud between religion and science can be compared to the Montague and Capulet relationship – hateful at times, dismissive often, and bridged rarely, often with tragic results for those who try. A recent article in the journal Science (see Can Science and Religion Get Along?) discussed a controversial panel that aimed to bring together…
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Desirable Difficulties in the Classroom
Over the last couple of decades, learning and memory researchers have become increasingly interested in bringing scientific findings out of the lab and into the classroom, where they can be implemented into teaching methods to produce more efficient and effective learning. In a nation mired in an educational crisis, there’s never been a better time…
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Accurate Representations of Science: Whose Responsibility Is It?
Here’s a question that’s been on my mind lately: Whose job is it to make sure that the non-scientist consumers of science get it right? I’ve had a few discussions with various psychologists about this lately and they frequently bring up two answers to this question: (1) It’s the consumer’s job. I heard from a…
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What Can Effect Sizes Do for You? A Quick Tutorial for a Deeper Understanding of Psychological Research
I listen to a lot of podcasts in which various psychological articles are often discussed (e.g., stuff you should know, radiolab, etc.). As a psychologist, I am often frustrated when a podcast mentions a study’s finding (e.g., having a sister is associated with better self-esteem than having a brother) but then says something like this:…
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Distinguishing Science and Pseudoscience: How to Judge Whether a Treatment is Worthwhile
From the TV, internet, mail-advertisements, and billboards, we are inundated on a daily basis with solicitation for the newest “cure-all” treatment. This problem is not limited to the psychological community, and it is increasingly prevalent in new-age communities that focus on “holistic” or “energy” treatments. Of course these treatments sounds intrinsically appealing, and we all…
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Perils in obtaining a Ph.D.
I was struck by the recent article by Louis Menand in this issue’s Harvard Magazine. Essentially, for many academic fields the length of time to obtain a Ph.D. and the potential prospects for finding a tenure-track academic job is enough to make one who desires further academic inquiry to question whether the Ph.D. is the…
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brain mapping disorders
An ever growing number of studies feature brain mapping to illustrate structural differences in the brain based on grouping those with and without a given disorder. Techniques such as structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can aid in researchers understanding of differences in shape and volume of various brain regions. Group differences are often found, yet…
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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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Politics and Proof – The misuse of science
It’s no secret that politicians can twist words to make anything sound as if it supports their agenda. There’s even a name for those who are good at this (and a 90s band with the same name) – Spin Doctors. However, when scientific findings are misrepresented to support policies, what we get is ideological propoganda.…