Stuff! (December)

Thoughts about Nelson Mandela
This man was an inspiration to millions of people and his death is a saddening event. It is very interesting to observe the public response - it feels that a sense of communal celebration has resulted from his death, rather than mourning or grief. Compare this to, for example, the death of Princess Diana (another figure loved and admired by many) and there is a strong difference in the response to the death. Perhaps this is because Mandela has been ill for a long while and was an old age but instead of grieving, celebration and honoring of his life have been the main themes over the last week or so.

Gender bias in A Level choice
It had been in the news that there was a distinct gender bias in students choices of A Levels. English, Biology and Psychology were studied a lot more by girls than by boys and the opposite was true for Physics, Maths and Economics. (It seems I am very stereotypically feminine in my A Level choices since I study English, Biology and Psychology, haha!) But this story led me to consider, why this bias exists. Is it influences, whether intentional or unconscious, from the schools? Or perhaps peer influence or social norms? Maybe society's ideas that studying certain subjects makes an individual more masculine or feminine are so deeply engraved that they are not explicitly apparent? These ideas could be enforced from a young age and internalised by individuals, who use such ideas to form their gender schemas during gender development. There is a danger that some individuals, who may have done particularly well in a certain subject, never considered it because it was inconsistent with their ideas of masculinity or femininity. There are real dangers of wasted potential here.

Interesting news stories
Prisoners doing yoga may see psychological benefits
Cutlery 'can influence food taste'
Exercise can reduce chances of depression
More students are seeking counselling
Teachers' concern at child sexualisation

Recent Research Digest + Guardian Psychology

 People with Exceptional Autographical Memory are Still Prone to False Memories
This challenges assumed ideas that those with superior memories are less prone to distortion, thereby showing that memory is more complex than once assumed. If there is more research into why some people have superior memories then perhaps this can have practical applications and can benefit everyone. Could this be applied to other areas e.g. are those with superior intelligence no less susceptible to mental degeneration/illness?

Haste Makes Waste, But Not If You're Neurotic
Faster does not necessarily mean more mistakes are made. This shows how a seemingly maladaptive quality, like neurotisism, can be somewhat beneficial.

There are 636,120 ways to have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Demonstrates the complexity of mental disorder, the difficulties of diagnosis and potential issues with the DSM (this links to those issues explored in Madness Explained by Richard Bentall). Despite increased complexity in diagnostic criteria, some people are still missed and there are still reliability issues. To me, a checklist of symptoms seems a very rigid, in-humane and uncaring way of viewing people with a mental health disorder, however, reliability of diagnosis is an obvious priority.

 Where is Language Located in the Brain? There are Two Sides to this Story
"When it comes to the brain though, few things are straightforward". Our knowledge of the brain is even more complex than once suggested, which shows how limitless the study of psychology really is. Whether language is shared by the different hemispheres of the brain, or is dominated by one, differs from person to person.

Not So Easy To Spot: A Failure To Replicate the Macbeth Effect Across Three Continents
Highlights the importance of replicating research. The 'Macbeth Effect' is an interesting concept. Explained the difference between conceptual and direct replications and is a good example of cross cultural research.

http://kids.frontiersin.org/
This is a really great project in order to get children involved with science!

Taking the tablets: a personal guide to anti-depressants
Gives a real insight into people's opinions and experiences of taking anti-depressants

Should all schools have their own psychotherapist?
In answer to this question, I think yes. In addition to what I've read in this article, including a case of a school in the West Midlands with a full time psychotherapist, I think that more mental health support in schools will be really beneficial to the children, encouraging them, from a young age, to seek help with mental problems. It could also be beneficial in reducing stigma of mental health. The links between educational and clinical psychology are demonstrated here.

Online IQ tests: are they valid?
An amusing article that suggests online IQ tests are not to be trusted!

The questionable science of Boris Johnson
Investigated the science behind Boris Johnson's claims in a humorous way

Is Facebook sharing making us more vain?
"Expectations create norms and the central expectation on Facebook is self-promotion." Vanity on Facebook, in the form of uploading pictures of oneself, is something many of us (including myself) are guilty of. After all, the word of the year is 'selfie'. I agree that Facebook, and other social media, makes us more vain and narcissistic. Also, it is very addictive but yeah, it makes you feel good, so is it all bad?

Could a brain scan diagnose you as a psychopath?
Neuroscientist James Fallon's accidental discovery that he was a psychopath has resulted in consideration as to whether brain scans can diagnose psychopathy. Problems involved in using brain scans to diagnose someone as a psychopath: fallacy of reverse inference (changes in brain activity alone tell us very little since the brain is so complex and the same area has many different functions), confusion of correlation and causation ("We all know that just because two things are associated with each other doesn't mean one of them caused the other. Otherwise we’d prosecute the witnesses of crimes") and potential bias (Francis Bacon -  “The human understanding when it has once adopted an opinion…draws all things else to support and agree with it.”). It seems that although understanding psychopaths neuroscientifically is fascinating, it is something to come in the future. This has links to The Wisdom of Psychopaths (Kevin Dutton)

Forget the headlines – schizophrenia is more common than you might think
Headlines portraying schizophrenics as dangerous and terrifying obviously add to the stigma and fear associated with the illness. Problems with the label of 'schizophrenia' - may be a general term for many different illnesses/symptoms. This may seem a bit odd but thinking back to how much we've advanced from our understanding of mental illness 50 years ago, its not surprising that we may still be wrong/inaccurate about some things. Some of the symptoms of schizophrenia may be much more prevalent than what is apparent, because they are not sufficiently bad in most people for them to seek help. "Schizophrenia isn't a specific, relatively rare, and rigorously defined illness. Instead, it covers a wide range of often unrelated conditions, all of which are also seen in people who are not mentally ill, and all of which exist on a continuum from the comparatively mild to the very severe." One statement I very much agree with: "one thing is certain: deepening our understanding of psychotic problems must be a priority."

All in the Mind

Interesting ideas from a recent episode of Radio 4's 'All In The Mind'

• Psychology is a subject that interests all of us but is also a scientific discipline. Simultaneously, it is considered by, and accessible to, members of the public, but is also highly academic. There are many ways of understanding people and science offers the best!
• Everyone thinks they know what psychology is because its the study of people and we're all people. If results of research agree with what people think they say there was no point in doing it but if results challenge preconceptions, people say they are wrong.
• Psychiatrists are medically trained, while Psychologists are behavioural scientists. The confusion comes because psychologists can specify in clinical work.
• There are many misunderstandings of what psychology is - if you go to a party and say you're a psychologist people assume you will read their mind, psycho-analyse them or hypnotize them.
• It was introduced as A level subject to get more girls into science. (This certainly worked for me!)
• There are lots of occasions when psychologists aren't consulted but can offer a lot of insight and guidance e.g. law, education, economic behaviour.
• Psychologists are very good at not giving definitive answers. All good scientists are cautious.
• Blogging allows communication with broader audience. Psychology can be understood by more people. 
• Recently, the allure of neuroscience has increased. Care needs to be taken so that it doesn't take over from psychology. Psychology is still important and different; the two subjects need to be integrated.

Psychology in Films

Psychology is prevalent and relevant in everyone's lives. I like to consider the psychological concepts explored in the films I watch. (may contain spoilers!)

Black Swan
I think this is a brilliant film and very relevant to psychology and mental illness. The film follows ballet dancer Nina (played by Natalie Portman, an excellent actress who has a Psychology degree from Harvard University!) as she prepares for her lead role in Swan Lake. The stress of this is too much for her to cope with and she suffers from psychosis, in the form of horrible hallucinations and delusions. The film also includes ideas of eating disorders, which are often associated with ballerinas. The idea that the pressure of the show triggers Nina's mental breakdown is congruent with the diathesis-stress model of mental disorders i.e. she could be biologically predisposed to such disorders but it takes an environmental event to cause her psychosis.

Fight Club
This film contains ideas of multiple personality disorder (or dissociative identity disorder). Like with other cases of this disorder, the different identities have different characteristics and personalities and the sufferer is unaware of the existence of the other identities.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Charlie is an anxious character who shows symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, such as flashbacks to the death of his aunt. Also, it is uncovered that he had repressed memories of sexual abuse by his aunt from this childhood.

Silver Linings Playbook
I really enjoyed this film. The protagonist suffered bi-polar disorder and had recently been released from a psychiatric unit. This included the idea of environmental factors leading to a psychotic break down (his wife cheated on him) and triggers causing the sufferer to panic (in this case a specific song). The story shows how a friendship can be based on neuroses, after he meets someone in a similarly unstable mental state. This film also demonstrated how positivity can be found, even when life seems very negative.

I am planning to watch more Psychology related films and add to this post!

"Madness need not be regarded as an illness. Why shouldn't it be seen as a sudden – more or less sudden – change of character?" - Ludwig Wittgenstein

"As humans, we can identify galaxies light years away, we can study particles smaller than an atom.  But we still haven’t unlocked the mystery of the three pounds of matter that sits between our ears." - Barack Obama (April 2013)

OXFORD INVITED ME TO INTERVIEW

I can't even explain how happy I am!