A Psychedelic Melody

This selection of posts and articles etc. were of relevance to the student of psychology. The discipline itself is broad, and below there is sure to be something for everyone. Serendipity reigns at the carnival~

A Blog Around the Clock has a series of Science Daily articles of interest for psychology: child brain development and the influence of sleep; the relationship between premature babies and light; does the brain really enjoy novelty?; the formation of the eye – cell by cell; and there are a couple of ecological articles, which is always good for extending our understanding of ourselves by reflecting on others.

Hmm…is this really the way to do something? A school in England is banning mirrors in the girl’s toilets in an attempt to stem body image focus. They are hoping the lack of mirrors will also support actions to control eating disorders. However, the boys get to keep their mirror! Maybe they are unaware that boys too can have body image issues. And I think it is condescending to women that only the girls are banned from mirrors – it sounds like a broad brush approach that deals only with symptoms. The action does not bode well for encouraging changes to our perceptions of gender either.

Pure Pedantry highlights research of the non-neurogenesis of the adult cortex. Neurontic reviews Temple Grandin’s book Animals in Translation – an autistic experience of the world from a brave and inspiring lady. And A Scanner Darkley is explored at Mind Hacks for its representation of self-consciousness and its fracturing…Reminds me of some personal psychoses…. Jump on the bandwagon baggn’ mirror neurons, not quite up to speed on the subject myself.

Cognitive Daily highlights a study in the USA which has concluded that Western intelligence is declining – how surprising ~_* And there is a review of the theories of the philosopher
Charles Sanders Pierce (1839-1914) and his thoughts on pragmatism at Evolving Thoughts.

The Colossal Collection of the Wandering Eye

Mother nature’s child are words sung in the background as I type this week’s (?) colossal collection of carnival tunes set free upon cyberspace this week. As per usual it is only a taste of the discourse going on in the world and I’ve tried to filter the psych related posts. Hope I’m not too late…

enjoy ~

A newsletter, highlighted by Aetiology, offers some great resources. There is a link to company requests for researchers; a poster of a year 3 science class study of snow and temperature, and more. The Naked Scientists present an article on the stressed out scientists.

It is amazing how paying attention to others can reveal so much about ourselves. At Retrospectacle the concept of zero to parrots, ourselves and others is explored. It’s an interesting topic – how to express nothing…What is understanding that a nil quantity or quality can be?

Blog Around the Clock reviews investigation of behavior from an ecological point of view. Well worth reading. Corpus Collosum reminds us that understanding mental illness does not require one absolute variable of interest.

A funny joke that is based on a real-life scenario in the biology lab, thx to The Questionable Authority.

This months issue of the New England Medical Journal offers two rich articles dealing with physician-patient relationships and personal responsibility.

Be a geek girl (unless your a guy – or not) @ Twisted Physics. I echo her observation of contemptuous attitudes within academia, skewing the diversity of science and math users. We create our own problems -many of those who have gone to uni and chosen not to continue with study do not delight in the recognition and understanding of theories and models. The world they live in does not actively engage with systematic questioning and testing, or reflecting, on themselves or their environment. What is the point of being a teacher/researcher/tutor or student etc. if one is not curious about the world around them? Learning is a process that can happen on many levels, but guaranteed if it is FUN and relevant, and gets one thinking, then learning will occur at a deep level and become a tool in the kitty-bag for life’s adventurers ahead.

Twisted Physics also features the Feminist Press call for writing proposals. Detectives, dance, Manga and other graphic novelettes that focus on women and science are eligible. What are ways to interest girls in science through books? Got an idea then enter this search. Submission date Oct 26th, 2006.

Time perception and the bumble bee at Blog Around the Clock. Hmmm, doesn’t our world view take a spin with the empirical support for those other than humans being able to conceptualise…

Carnival Time

Recently I have been introduced to carnival blogs – gee have i been missing out! Anyways, I’m not sure how it all goes, but here is my spin on the wheel ~

Sowing and reaping reminds one of the nature of energy to return to its source. Enjoy a delicious collection of mind and brain science essentials. Elsewhere an interesting topic fun topic soon became an elitist bore. But Griffin enlightens with species development of object permanence. Also presented is scene of beauty that scares people. And read abouta government’s threshold for making a decision

Finally, be prepared and/or contribute to Adult Learners’ Week in September:

Psi_Co_Smo

Whenever I have felt blue lately, I reflected on my place in the universe…

This really helps to put things into perspective. So does this tutorial of galactic optics.

It is much easier to let go when you can see the bigger picture.