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Link feast

Our pick of the week’s best psychology and neuroscience links.

23 January 2016

By Christian Jarrett

The Brain With David Eagleman (TV show)
New BBC Four series in which neuroscientist David Eagleman explores how the brain, locked in silence and darkness without direct access to the world, conjures up the rich and beautiful world we all take for granted.

Can a Brain Scan Uncover Your Morals?
“Brain images are becoming standard evidence in some of the country’s most controversial and disturbing death penalty trials – including the case of Steven Worthington,” writes Kamala Kelkar at The Guardian.

23 Messages for Anyone Considering Suicide, From People Who’ve Been There
Quotes compiled by The Mighty website.

We Should Teach Parents About How Babies Develop, Not How To Be Parents
“I’m not saying that parenting isn’t important for children’s development,” writes developmental psychologist Elizabeth Meins at The Conversation, “… but this scaremongering about early parenting having the potential to damage your baby’s brain development … really isn’t helpful.” 

Dr. Elaine Aron on the Highly Sensitive Person (podcast)
Roughly 20 per cent of the population can be classified as highly sensitive, so all of us likely know someone (or are someone) with this trait. Find out more in this new episode of The Psychology Podcast with host Scott Barry Kaufman.

Science is “Other-Correcting”
On his blog, neuropsychologist Keith Laws tells the sorry tale of what happened when he and his colleagues raised concerns about serious errors in a recent journal paper about CBT for psychosis.

What Personality Tests Really Reveal
There are a lot of personality tests claiming to tell you how to work best, writes psychologist Art Markman at FastCompany. Here’s how to make sense of them all.

13 Charts That Will Make Total Sense To People With Impostor Syndrome
Impostor syndrome says Kristin Chirico at BuzzFeed: that sinking feeling where you’re afraid you’re not good enough, and everyone is going to find out about it.

Speed Reading Promises Are Too Good to Be True, Scientists Find
A new report in Psychological Science in The Public Interest shows that that there are no magic shortcuts when it comes to reading more quickly while still fully understanding what we’ve read.

The Brain Show (Live tour)
Neuroscience-based standup comedy show with Robert Newman is on a tour around England (review and Newman interview in The Psychologist).