Deric Bownds

LATEST ARTICLES ( 2661 )

• The Effort Paradox - Effort is Both Costly and Valued

  Inzlicht et al. do an interesting review article on how we (as well as some other animals) associate effort with reward, sometimes pursuing objects and... Read more

  Posted on 16 May 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE

• Transparency is the Mother of 'fake News'

  Stanley Fish, writing in the NYTimes "The Stone" series suggests that fake news is in large part a product of the enthusiasm for transparency and absolutely fre... Read more

  Posted on 15 May 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE

• Industrial Revolutions Are Political and Social Wrecking Balls.

  I want to point to yet another impressive bit of research and writing by Thomas Edsall, who gives one of the most clear pictures I have seen of current politica... Read more

  Posted on 14 May 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE

• How Not to Mind If Someone is Lying...

  Daniel Effron describes the means by which Trump supporters, aware that many of his statements are falsehoods, manage to temper their potential anger. Mr. Read more

  Posted on 11 May 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE

• More on the Vagaries of Expertise

  To follow up on yesterday's post on the illusion of having skills, I want to point to two other articles in this vein. Herrera notes work showing that: ... Read more

  Posted on 10 May 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE

• The Illusion of Skill Acquisition.

  Kardas and O'Brien document how watching others perform can foster an illusion of skill acquisition. Their abstract: Modern technologies such as YouTube afford... Read more

  Posted on 09 May 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE

• Protein Synthesis in Brain Tissue is Much Higher Than Previously Thought.

  Smeets et al. use stable isotope methodology during temporal lobe resection surgery to demonstrate protein synthesis rates exceeding 3% per day, suggesting... Read more

  Posted on 08 May 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE

• Electrical Brain Stimulation Enhances Visual Memory Performance

  Kucewicz et al. study patients with epilepsy undergoing evaluation for resective surgery to show that stimulation of the lateral temporal cortex, but not the... Read more

  Posted on 07 May 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE

• A Morning Cortisol Pulse is Crucial for Normal Cognitive and Emotional Responses.

  From Kalafatakis et. al.: Significance The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis is a critical neurohormonal network regulating homeostasis and coordinating stres... Read more

  Posted on 04 May 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE

• Sitting is Bad for Your Brain...

  It is well known that sitting for long periods each day correlates with higher risk of heart disease, diabetes, and mortality rate. Siddarth et al. Read more

  Posted on 03 May 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE

• Brain Signals Predict Who We Will Like in the Future.

  From Zerubavel et al.: Significance When joining a group, we may initially like some individuals more than others. Likewise, certain group members may be... Read more

  Posted on 02 May 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE

• You're as Old as You Feel...

  The cliche continues to be backed up by data indicating that it is correct. Marlene Cimons does a piece pointing to recent work on attitude and aging. Read more

  Posted on 01 May 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE

• A Workshop on Music and the Brain.

  I want to point to this open access article describing an NIH/Kennedy Center workshop on music and the brain, hosted by National Institutes of Health (NIH)... Read more

  Posted on 30 April 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE

• Risk Tolerance is Predicted by Amygdala-prefrontal Cortex Connectivity

  Hoon et al. show that more nerve connections between our amygdala and the rest of the brain increase our tolerance for risk. Highlights •Neural markers fo... Read more

  Posted on 27 April 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE

• Propagation of Economic Inequality Through Reciprocity and Reputation.

  Interesting work from Hackel and Zaki...an excerpt from their introduction, followed by their abstract: Reciprocity and reputation are cornerstones of both... Read more

  Posted on 26 April 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE

• Seeing What You Feel - Unconscious Affect Drives Perception

  Siegle et al. provide yet another example of how it is impossible to separate emotions from cognition and perception: Affective realism, the phenomenon whereby... Read more

  Posted on 25 April 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE

• Why Exercise Alone May Not Cause Weight Loss.

  Gretchen Reynolds points to work by Lark et al. showing that mice given the opportunity to exercise on a running wheel then are more lazy the rest of the time... Read more

  Posted on 24 April 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE

• How Our "I" is Like a Virtual Reality Headset.

  I pass on some clips from Joshua Rothman's article on the ideas of Metzinger, Blanke and others regarding the actual nature of our experienced selves, ideas tha... Read more

  Posted on 23 April 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE

• Andy Clark on Extended Mind, A.I., and Predictive Processing

  I want to point to a New Yorker article by Larissa MacFarquhar describing the evolution of the ideas of philosopher of mind Andy Clark. Read more

  Posted on 20 April 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE

• Baby Boomers Reaching the End of Their To-Do List

  A few clips from an engaging piece by Patricia Hampl on the maturing of the baby boomer generation, those born in 1946 or later - who came of age during the... Read more

  Posted on 19 April 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE