Our round-up of the latest psychology links from around the web:
Tips from psychologists on how to maintain focus at work (New York Times). Don’t worry, reading the Digest blog definitely counts as work.
Facebook users average just 3.74 degrees of separation from each other, according to new research.
But … “It’s not socially meaningful that a friend of your friends is buddies with an acquaintance of someone else’s pal. It’s just an innate feature of large, tangled networks,” says mathematician Matt Parker for the Guardian.
Going into brain surgery with your eyes open. A shortlisted essay in the Wellcome Trust Science Writing Prize.
Chief Murdoch-hunter and MP Tom Watson leaps to the defence of violent video games.
“We’re Nowhere Near Artificial Brains,” argues neurobiologist Mark Changizi.
Vaughan Bell of Mind Hacks and The Psychologist reports on the New York psychoanalytic scene.
Former political spin-meister Alistair Campbell on myths about schizophrenia.
Animal intelligence researcher and scientist-in-residence at the Rambert Dance Company Nicky Clayton was on The Life Scientific on BBC Radio 4, currently available on iPlayer.
The history of nude psychotherapy.
Does the language we speak shape how we think? The Economist hosted a debate.
How does Prozac work? Jonah Lehrer with an answer that might surprise you.
Sarah-Jayne Blakemore was on BBC Radio 3 this week talking about teen brains and the need to change society attitudes towards teenagers. It’s currently available on iPlayer.
All in the Mind this week tackled riots, bullying and borderline personality disorder. It’s currently on iPlayer.
It’s locked behind a paywall unfortunately, but the Sunday Times had an intriguing article on the Met’s elite team of super-recognisers. “A team of police officers with staggering memories for faces are naming and helping to catch rioters seen on even the blurriest CCTV footage.”
The advantages of being altruistic.
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Post compiled by Christian Jarrett for the BPS Research Digest.