I don’t want to be, well, argumentative. But this research does not show what the headline says it does. The headline implies that argumentative children do better in maths and science, according to a study. It implies this by being… Read More ›
Education
‘Rethinking Psychology’ is now available
Alright, there really is no humble way of putting this. My new book [*blush*], having been trailed as “imminent” for several months, is now officially available. In all good booksellers, as they say (and they actually do say this). I’ll be… Read More ›
On alcohol guidelines and social desirability
I’ve posted a piece at Psychology Today on the methodological problems surrounding Britain’s new alcohol consumption guidelines: The UK government has published new guidelines on healthy alcohol consumption and, yes, as might be predicted, they are controversial. According to the new advice, adults —… Read More ›
“The Point of Psychology (and How it Gets Missed)”: Director’s cut
Okay, the official movie — featuring full slides and audio — has been made… Thanks to Chris Noone for the soundtrack (from the official PSI EGG talking-head version); background to the keynote as per here and here. As a reminder, the audience was a… Read More ›
Forthcoming: “The Point of Psychology (and How it Gets Missed)”
The Psychological Society of Ireland’s Early Graduate Group have asked me to deliver a keynote at their forthcoming annual conference. I’m guessing it is because they are “Early” Graduates that my keynote is scheduled for an eye-blearying timeslot of 9:30 AM on… Read More ›
Some pieces and bits
It’s early January. That time when other people’s New Year’s resolutions mean that you get lots of emails. About really important stuff that you simply must deal with, like, immediately. These folks need a reply because they only have stamina for… Read More ›
Forthcoming: “Adventures in Science Communication”
Interested in adventure? Well, then this public lecture is for you. It’s me again, this time at the invitation of Maynooth University as part of their celebration of Science Week 2014. Here is the abstract…
That story on sex differences in the brain, line by line
So, let’s take it from the top: Men’s and women’s brains really are different. No they’re not. This study did not look at anybody’s brains, nor did it compare the brains of one sex to those of the other. The study recorded responses… Read More ›
Neanderthal man is 150 years old today, and Irish (kind of)
My university has a number of interesting claims to fame. And one of the coolest, certainly, is this. Neanderthal Man, remember him? Well, he’s basically an alumnus. Well, to be slightly more accurate, the term ‘Homo neanderthalensis‘ is the alumnus. It… Read More ›
Just a few (i.e. 120) “gibberish” research papers redacted
It’s akin to the Sokal hoax of our digital age, with a touch of Frankenstein in there too, and possibly some monkeys with typewriters. Two major publishers, Springer and IEEE, have identified over 120 papers that made it through their peer-review process but… Read More ›
So I got this email from Noam Chomsky today, looking for my opinion…
…as did 20,000 other recipients (making their target sample an interesting n = 20,001): Dear Colleague: You have received this survey along with 20,000 other academics globally. This survey is meant to assess the attitude of the scientific community on… Read More ›
Reverse the Earth’s rotation? I’d want to get off
Here is the spinning globe atop the University of São Paulo’s international webpage. Tut, tut, tut: I know what you’re thinking: “That’s the wrong direction of rotation! Why, if the Earth rotated in that direction, we’d all be killed!” Or something…. Read More ›
Namaste!
Blatant Plug Alert follows. ALERT!!! As mentioned elsewhere, my own academic background is in the behavioural and health sciences, specifically psychology. And aside from my research on various biological and physiological aspects of behaviour, one of my key interests is… Read More ›
Women in science <3 pink! XXX
My three-year old daughter is now doing ‘science’ in pre-school. It’s all neat contrasts: stuff that floats vs. stuff that doesn’t; stuff that is magnetic vs. stuff that isn’t; stuff that is soluble vs. stuff that is “in-soluble, Daddy”. Hopefully… Read More ›
Snakes, ladders…everyone’s a winner!
I’ve been playing a lot of Snakes and Ladders these past few days. I know it’s a game of pure chance, but I feel I’ve been getting quite good at it. I find this type of graphic helpful: Basically, it… Read More ›
Embarrassing scenes from science history: Apartheid in ’85 “not all bad”…methodologically speaking
Critics of science regularly suggest that applying empiricism to life serves to deny human beings their true dignity. Very frequently you hear complaints about sociologists, psychologists, and health scientists “treating people like numbers“. Because that’s what we do. We treat… Read More ›
Favourites List (22.11.13)
The week in six bits: 1. What would it feel like to touch a human brain? We’re always told it’s jelly-like and yet, when I held it in my undergrad gross anatomy class, it felt like a cold cooked chicken… Read More ›
