Deric Bownds

LATEST ARTICLES ( 2628 )

• Perception as Controlled Hallucination - Predictive Processing and the Nature...

  I've now read several times through a fascinating Edge.org conversation with philosopher Andy Clark. I suggest you read the piece, and here pass on some edited... Read more

  Posted on 28 June 2019 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE

• Implicit Racial Bias is Preserved by Historical Roots of Social Environments.

  Payne et al. note that geographic differences in implicit racial bias correlate with the number of slaves in those areas in 1860. Read more

  Posted on 26 June 2019 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE

• Over 50-fold Difference Between Individuals in Circadian Melatonin Sensitivity t...

  Phillips et al. probe how our high sensitivity to artificial light after dusk perturbs the circadian rhythm of our sleep hormone melatonin: Significance Electri... Read more

  Posted on 24 June 2019 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE

• Mechanism of Exercise and Antioxidant Stimulation of Memory and New Nerve Cell...

  On reading this article by Yook et al. I promptly ordered a bottle of 10 mg astaxanthin capsules to add to my normal array of supplements (and exercise). Read more

  Posted on 21 June 2019 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE

• Enhancing Longevity by Removing Deteriorated Body Cells.

  Here I pass on both the introductory summary and concluding paragraph of van Deursen's review of efforts to enhance longevity by removing body cells that have... Read more

  Posted on 19 June 2019 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE

• Why Can We Read Only One Word at a Time?

  Fascinating work from White et al.: Significance Because your brain has limited processing capacity, you cannot comprehend the text on this page all at once. Read more

  Posted on 17 June 2019 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE

• Why High-class People Get Away with Incompetence.

  Belmi et al. do four experiments suggesting that people who come from a higher social class are more likely to have an inflated sense of their skills — even whe... Read more

  Posted on 14 June 2019 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE

• Policy Evaluation by Randomized Trials May Provoke Greater Objections Than...

  Meyer et al. find that experiments comparing two unobjectionable policies or treatments can generate more objections than simply proceeding to implement them. Read more

  Posted on 12 June 2019 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE

• Is Technology Really Reshaping Our Consciousness?

  My first reaction on reading a recent Op-Ed piece by David Brooks "When Trolls and Crybullies Rule the Earth" was to say 'Yes!', and think I should immediately... Read more

  Posted on 10 June 2019 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE

• The Wisdom of Partisan Crowds.

  Fascinating and counterintuitive findings from Becker et al., who find that the wisdom of crowds is robust to partisan bias: Significance Normative theories of... Read more

  Posted on 07 June 2019 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE

• Inequality Brokered

  Public opinion about sexual minorities has improved dramatically in recent years, but Sun and Gao do an analysis showing that discriminatory behavior in... Read more

  Posted on 05 June 2019 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE

• Blueprint - Nicholas Christakis' New Book on Evolutionary Origins of a Good...

  This opinion piece by Frank Bruni in the NYTimes motivated me to download and read Nicholas Christakis' Magnum Opus “Blueprint” (very much in the 'everything yo... Read more

  Posted on 03 June 2019 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE

• After Brief Music Training 8-10 Year Old Kids Show Less Hyperactivity and...

  Fasano et al. show that only three months of orchestral music training improves inhibitory control and reduces hyperactivity in 8-10 year old children. Read more

  Posted on 31 May 2019 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE

• Happily Ever After....

  Sure enough, as soon as I do yesterday's post on aging, I run into, and will pass on in this post, a sane article in the Guardian that is basically a listicle o... Read more

  Posted on 29 May 2019 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE

• Live Younger Longer

  New Yorker Magazine writer and polymath Adam Gopnik does an excellent article describing studies on our increased longevity that aim to enhance its quality,... Read more

  Posted on 28 May 2019 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE

• With the Rise of Trump, the Fall of Racial Prejudice?

  Stanley-Becker points to a fascinating study by Hopkins and Washington. Their abstract: In his campaign and first few years in office, Donald Trump... Read more

  Posted on 27 May 2019 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE

• Blame the Liberals for Unlivable Cities!

  An excellent article by Farhad Manjoo, focusing on San Francisco's affordable housing crisis. Some clips: Just look at San Francisco, Nancy Pelosi’s city. Read more

  Posted on 25 May 2019 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE

• Educating Liberals About White Privilege Doesn't Make Them More Empathetic.

  Cooley et al. find that people with socially liberal views on the major political issues are actually less likely to empathize with a poor white person’s... Read more

  Posted on 24 May 2019 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE

• Benefits of a Period of Exercise Persist After 10 Years.

  Gretchen Reynolds points to a study by Johnson et al. showing long term effects of an experiment conducted from 1998 to 2003, in which overweight volunteers... Read more

  Posted on 23 May 2019 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE

• A Sunday Afternoon Musicale - Bridges and Mendelssohn

  

  This post falls in the 'random curious stuff' of the MindBlog title above. I want to share some of my current musical efforts with MindBlog readers. Read more

  Posted on 21 May 2019 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE