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Tuck into our round-up of the latest psych and neuro news.

27 July 2012

By Christian Jarrett

All week, Channel 4 broadcast programmes aimed at combating the stigma of mental illness, as part of their 4 Goes Mad Season – available to watch again on 4oD. 

Esteemed psychologist George Miller has left the building. Among many achievements, Miller is perhaps best known for authoring the classic paper: “The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information” (pdf).

The new August issue of The Psychologist magazine is online and includes open access articles on the psychology of time. Also check out the editor, Dr Jon Sutton’s, open access feature on his (and other psychologists’) love affair with LEGO.

BBC Radio Three broadcast an essay series this week on Fatherhood and Creativity (available on iPlayer).

Children’s author Jacy Brean reflects on a new psychology study showing the benefits of day-dreaming.

Why thinking of others improves our creativity (from the Creativity Post).

From my Psychology Today Brain Myths blog – Two Myths and Three Facts About the Differences in Men and Women’s Brains. “Gender brain differences are real, but we should interpret them with caution.”

Scientific American summarised findings from a study that suggests we see men’s bodies as a whole, but see women’s bodies in terms of their component parts.

Writing for the BBC, a British psychologist defended the Rorschach inkblot test. Also, check out this news item from The Psychologist magazine archive on the pros and cons of the Rorschach (and the leaking of the inkblots online).

Misty Harris reported on a forthcoming study that found women in love are less likely to initiate sex.

The Naked Scientists podcast from the recent conference of the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies.

The Chronicle reported that a sociologist has been subjected to a witch-hunt after he published some awkward findings about the (adult) children of same-sex parents.

The first annual results are in from the UK government’s official national well-being assessment programme. Reflecting on the results for the Guardian, Oliver Burkeman concluded “it could be worse“.

Use psychological science to improve your Powerpoint presentations.

Uri Simonsohn has published his data-sleuthing method (here’s the background story). Dave Nussbaum provides a summary and some analysis.

Inevitably there was much psychological speculation and reflection about the mass murderer who killed innocent people at a recent US showing of the latest Batman film. According to a Guardian blogger, one mystery is why mass shootings remain at high levels while overall murder rate at its lowest level in decades. Also worth checking out – ace science writer Deborah Blum “A killer without regret“. And this interview with forensic psychiatrist Paul Mullen.

The Observer published an intriguing article on the revival of hypnosis research in mainstream neuroscience.

How urban parks enhance your brain (from the Atlantic).

With the Olympics starting today, don’t forget to check out the British Psychological Society’s Going for Gold sports psychology portal – it’s packed full of free resources, including articles, videos and more. The July issue of The Psychologist was also full of Olympics content.

Happy reading – Let the Games begin!