Blog of the Week:

For the greatest portion of the history of biology, every organism was a “model organism”. One would pick a problem and then choose which organism would be most suited for answering those particular questions. Then, in the 1990s, everyone jumped onto the bandwagon of studying just a handful of organisms that could be genetically modified at the time: mouse, fruitfly, thale cress, zebrafish, African clawed frog, bread mold, brewer’s yeast, or E.coli. All the other organisms were all but abandoned, only studied by a small number of die-hard researchers and, increasingly, amateurs. Now that technology allows us to investigate (and to some extent manipulate) entire genomes of almost any species we’d like, researchers are going back and rediscovering the abandoned model organisms once again. One of these is Anolis , a large group of species of lizards, noted for their dewlaps, and known especially for their fast adaptive radiation on tropical islands.

Previously, on Know Your Neurons: Chapter 1: The Discovery and Naming of the Neuron [More]

This Friday, I got a fabulous paper via the Digital Cuttlefish where people analyzed pop songs for the evolutionary psychology hidden (or not so hidden) messages . [More]

We commonly treat time as a commodity. Or at least we have since Benjamin Franklin said that “time is money.” Even so, thinking of time in terms of money keeps us from sitting back and enjoying it, according to new research in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology . Sanford DeVoe and Julian House of the University of Toronto gave subjects a short time to listen to music or putter around on the Internet. The subjects enjoyed their leisure time much less if they had first been asked to calculate their hourly wage at work. This effect resulted from increased impatience, as indicated by a short follow-up survey. If you start equating time with money, you get itchy about any time not spent earning cash. Better to think of time as priceless, at least while on break.

- Jason G. Goldman – Contagious Yawning: Evidence of Empathy?

When is a yawn just a yawn? When is a yawn more than a yawn? Contagious yawning – the increase in likelihood that you will yawn after watching or hearing someone else yawn – has been of particular interest to researchers in fields as varied as primatology, developmental psychology, and psychopathology.

Wednesday, thus time for a new Video of the Week !

- Kate Clancy – Happy Mother s Day: To All the Allomothers

Video of the Week #43 May 16th, 2012:

If you’ve ever spent time watching chimps at the zoo, you’ve probably wondered: what are they thinking? Well, the answer might be simple: could be they’re fixin’ to hurl a rock at your head.

Patient directing robot to bring coffee cannister to her mouth

A stroke in certain parts of the brainstem, the place where brain meets spinal cord, can leave a patient aware of surroundings but able to move few if any voluntary muscles. The most advanced neurotechnologies attempt to get around the disconnection by piping electrical signals directly from a higher-level brain area, the motor cortex that initiates movement, to a robot arm.

High-profile suicides of professional football players have mounted in the past several years Terry Long (2005), Andre Waters (2006), Dave Duerson (2011) and Ray Easterling (2012) all killed themselves following retirement and bouts with diagnoses likely related to the thousands of hits they fearlessly underwent as players. The conditions vary but have overlapping qualities: post-concussion syndrome, depression, other mood disorders, personality changes, memory problems and dementia. Now with the loss of Pro Bowler Junior Seau, dead at 43 earlier this month by a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his chest, a suicide has occurred in a Hall of Fame-bound player who reportedly never exhibited emotional pain. His body will be examined for signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a condition proposed to explain the football suicides and underlying mental illness.

The issue of professional football’s responsibility for these conditions and player suicides is explored in Headstrong , a play running this month at the Ensemble Studio Theater in Manhattan. The theater has a long-standing sponsorship from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to produce shows that deal with science. (Last year with this funding, EST mounted Photograph 51 , which explored the role of Rosalind Franklin in the discovery of the structure of DNA .)

The stress and suffering of combat are known to leave a lasting impact on military veterans, in some cases triggering post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) . Researchers have now found an even more serious and debilitating mental condition, known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) , in veterans, particularly those injured by the concussive force of bomb blasts. [More]

Previously, on Know Your Neurons: Chapter 1: The Discovery and Naming of the Neuron

DOES environmental enrichment make your rat sexy ? Today, I’m over at Neurotic Physiology examining a paper on whether environmental enrichment drives the lady rats wild, and why that might be the case. I’ve got a few issues with the paper. The data is fine but it’s all in the interpretation. Head over and check it out .

[More]

That the infant lives in a nonverbal sensorimotor world is widely believed. Yet this notion is being challenged by research, in a range of fields, that depicts the young infant as actively attuned to aural speech from birth and able to process and use its sounds and meanings well before the end of the first year. Following a selective review of the research on infant speech processing between birth and age twelve months, three questions are identified that highlight the theoretical and clinical implications of this research for psychoanalytic conceptualizations of infancy, the nature of language, and clinical process. The research, it is concluded, identifies the operation of linguistic and conceptual processes in early life, processes that may intersect with the experiential and emotional processes with which psychoanalysis is already concerned. Moreover, this research raises questions about the view that the nature of infancy is essentially nonverbal.

This article tells the story of the development of an outcome study of psychoanalysis and describes the debate that took place over critical methodological issues. The protocol committee included career psychotherapy researchers who have conducted rigorous outcome studies, clinical psychoanalysts, study methodologists, and a statistician with clinical trial expertise. The committee worked for two years to develop the study design. This project is based on the premise that clinical psychoanalysis is a treatment. Areas specifically addressed are the goals and hypothesis of the study, inclusion and exclusion criteria, choice of psychotherapies as comparison treatments, definition of treatments and selection of therapists, use of medication, development of a treatment adherence measure, randomization of patient assignment vs. patient self-selection, and primary outcome measures. The execution of this outcome study will require significant effort and resources. A positive result would boost the standing of psychoanalysis, but the results may not support the primary hypothesis that there are therapeutic benefits unique to psychoanalysis and that psychoanalysis can effect demonstrable changes in a patient’s mental life and adaptation that are not achieved by treatments of different orientation and/or lesser intensity. However, more important than whatever specific results emerge is what executing such a study requires of our field: the process of addressing the clinical issues that a study design requires, the creation of a network of analysts around the country working on a common project, and the joining of the clinical psychoanalytic community with a community of psychodynamic researchers.

The feasibility of using a randomized design in a psychoanalytic outcome study was evaluated. Our hypothesis was that it would be feasible to randomize patients to psychoanalysis three or four times weekly on the couch for five years, supportive expressive therapy once or twice weekly for up to forty sessions, and cognitive behavior therapy once or twice weekly for up to forty sessions. Successful randomization was defined as a 30% recruitment rate among eligible patients. Recruitment began in September 2009 and closed in April 2010. A total of 132 subjects responded to study advertisements, 107 of whom (81%) were triaged out. The remaining 25 were scheduled for the first of two clinical interviews, and 21 of 25 (88%) completed the interview. Eleven of the 25 (44%) were determined to be eligible based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Eight of the 11 accepted the idea of randomization and completed the diagnostic assessment phase. Calculated on the basis of 8 of 11 eligible patients accepting randomization, the 95% confidence interval was that 39% to 92% of eligible subjects would participate in a larger study of this design. Our findings support the feasibility of implementing an RCT comparing psychoanalysis as defined by the American Psychoanalytic Association (three or four times weekly on the couch for approximately five years) with shorter-term dynamic or cognitive behavioral therapy once or twice a week. Pre-treatment characteristics of these eight patients are presented, as are initial reliability data for the treatment adherence scales used in this trial.

Long-Term Psychoanalytic Treatments (LTPT) include both long-term psychoanalytic psychotherapy (LTPP) and psychoanalysis (PsAn). Current opinion seems to be that there is some evidence for the effectiveness of LTPP, but none for that of PsAn. This may be due in part to researchers not balancing the level of evidence of randomized controlled studies (RCTs), cohort studies, and pre-post studies with patients’ acceptance of these various research designs used in studying the effectiveness of LTPT. After a review of the merits of eight possible control conditions for LTPT in RCTs and cohort studies, and a consideration of the limitations and merits of pre-post studies, it was found that RCTs pair high levels of evidence with limited degrees of patient acceptance, especially where PsAn is concerned. Cohort studies appear to provide at most a moderate level of evidence. Their acceptability is hardly better than that of RCTs, as it depends on the acceptability of control conditions similar to those of RCTs. The acceptability of pre-post studies is much better, but they can provide, at most, a moderate level of evidence. Apart from randomization, they can meet all methodological criteria for high-quality research (often they do not, but there are ways to correct this). In summary, in the long-term treatment of complex mental disorders with LTPT, RCTs often pair a high level of evidence with limited patient acceptance of the method. Compared to RCTs, cohort studies show a lower level of evidence without much gain in acceptability. Pre-post studies pair the highest level of acceptability with the lowest level of evidence of the three designs. Limited acceptability is not to be confused with no acceptability, nor moderate level of evidence with none

That the infant lives in a nonverbal sensorimotor world is widely believed. Yet this notion is being challenged by research, in a range of fields, that depicts the young infant as actively attuned to aural speech from birth and able to process and use its sounds and meanings well before the end of the first year. Following a selective review of the research on infant speech processing between birth and age twelve months, three questions are identified that highlight the theoretical and clinical implications of this research for psychoanalytic conceptualizations of infancy, the nature of language, and clinical process. The research, it is concluded, identifies the operation of linguistic and conceptual processes in early life, processes that may intersect with the experiential and emotional processes with which psychoanalysis is already concerned. Moreover, this research raises questions about the view that the nature of infancy is essentially nonverbal.

This article tells the story of the development of an outcome study of psychoanalysis and describes the debate that took place over critical methodological issues. The protocol committee included career psychotherapy researchers who have conducted rigorous outcome studies, clinical psychoanalysts, study methodologists, and a statistician with clinical trial expertise. The committee worked for two years to develop the study design. This project is based on the premise that clinical psychoanalysis is a treatment. Areas specifically addressed are the goals and hypothesis of the study, inclusion and exclusion criteria, choice of psychotherapies as comparison treatments, definition of treatments and selection of therapists, use of medication, development of a treatment adherence measure, randomization of patient assignment vs. patient self-selection, and primary outcome measures. The execution of this outcome study will require significant effort and resources. A positive result would boost the standing of psychoanalysis, but the results may not support the primary hypothesis that there are therapeutic benefits unique to psychoanalysis and that psychoanalysis can effect demonstrable changes in a patient’s mental life and adaptation that are not achieved by treatments of different orientation and/or lesser intensity. However, more important than whatever specific results emerge is what executing such a study requires of our field: the process of addressing the clinical issues that a study design requires, the creation of a network of analysts around the country working on a common project, and the joining of the clinical psychoanalytic community with a community of psychodynamic researchers.

The feasibility of using a randomized design in a psychoanalytic outcome study was evaluated. Our hypothesis was that it would be feasible to randomize patients to psychoanalysis three or four times weekly on the couch for five years, supportive expressive therapy once or twice weekly for up to forty sessions, and cognitive behavior therapy once or twice weekly for up to forty sessions. Successful randomization was defined as a 30% recruitment rate among eligible patients. Recruitment began in September 2009 and closed in April 2010. A total of 132 subjects responded to study advertisements, 107 of whom (81%) were triaged out. The remaining 25 were scheduled for the first of two clinical interviews, and 21 of 25 (88%) completed the interview. Eleven of the 25 (44%) were determined to be eligible based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Eight of the 11 accepted the idea of randomization and completed the diagnostic assessment phase. Calculated on the basis of 8 of 11 eligible patients accepting randomization, the 95% confidence interval was that 39% to 92% of eligible subjects would participate in a larger study of this design. Our findings support the feasibility of implementing an RCT comparing psychoanalysis as defined by the American Psychoanalytic Association (three or four times weekly on the couch for approximately five years) with shorter-term dynamic or cognitive behavioral therapy once or twice a week. Pre-treatment characteristics of these eight patients are presented, as are initial reliability data for the treatment adherence scales used in this trial.

Long-Term Psychoanalytic Treatments (LTPT) include both long-term psychoanalytic psychotherapy (LTPP) and psychoanalysis (PsAn). Current opinion seems to be that there is some evidence for the effectiveness of LTPP, but none for that of PsAn. This may be due in part to researchers not balancing the level of evidence of randomized controlled studies (RCTs), cohort studies, and pre-post studies with patients’ acceptance of these various research designs used in studying the effectiveness of LTPT. After a review of the merits of eight possible control conditions for LTPT in RCTs and cohort studies, and a consideration of the limitations and merits of pre-post studies, it was found that RCTs pair high levels of evidence with limited degrees of patient acceptance, especially where PsAn is concerned. Cohort studies appear to provide at most a moderate level of evidence. Their acceptability is hardly better than that of RCTs, as it depends on the acceptability of control conditions similar to those of RCTs. The acceptability of pre-post studies is much better, but they can provide, at most, a moderate level of evidence. Apart from randomization, they can meet all methodological criteria for high-quality research (often they do not, but there are ways to correct this). In summary, in the long-term treatment of complex mental disorders with LTPT, RCTs often pair a high level of evidence with limited patient acceptance of the method. Compared to RCTs, cohort studies show a lower level of evidence without much gain in acceptability. Pre-post studies pair the highest level of acceptability with the lowest level of evidence of the three designs. Limited acceptability is not to be confused with no acceptability, nor moderate level of evidence with none

The Reflective Function Scale was developed by Fonagy and colleagues (1998) to empirically measure the capacity to mentalize thoughts, intentions, feelings, and beliefs about oneself and others. Reflective Function (RF) has been reliably measured by the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI; Main and Goldwyn 1998), but its length (45–90 minutes) and the labor required to administer, transcribe, and code for RF may be prohibitive for many research studies. The present study measured the reliability and validity of the Brief Reflective Function Interview (BRFI; Rudden, Milrod, and Target 2005) by administering it to 27 undergraduate participants previously assessed using the AAI in another research study (Morrison 2010). The BRFI was coded reliably by two independent raters (ICC = .79) and yielded a highly significant positive correlation (r = .71) between RF scores obtained by BRFI and by AAI. The average administration time of the BRFI (M = 24.15 minutes) was significantly shorter than that of the AAI (M = 44.65 minutes). These findings suggest that the BRFI may offer a reliable, valid, and streamlined alternative to the AAI as a measure for coding RF.

This study explored a psychodynamic model for suicide risk by examining risk factors for medically serious suicide attempts, including assessments of affect flooding, negative self-schema / fragmentation, and impaired reality testing, closely approximating Maltsberger’s psycho-dynamic formulation of suicide crisis. Baseline risk factors including age, gender, psychiatric symptoms, high-risk behaviors, and the Implicit Risk for Suicide Index (IRSI) were used to detect medically serious suicide attempts monitored for up to a year after the assessment. Twenty-five psychiatric inpatients who made life-threatening suicide attempts after assessment were compared to 25 inpatients and 25 psychotherapy outpatients who made no suicide attempts during follow-up. Statistical analysis revealed that a history of at least one suicide attempt and elevated IRSI scores accounted for 60 percent of the variance in detecting medically serious suicide attempts. Elevated IRSI accurately identified suicide attempt status above and beyond past suicide attempts and other empirically validated risk factors. Results are discussed in light of psychodynamic formulations of suicide risk.

An operational description is presented of the clinical goals of analytic technique shared by various analytic orientations. This operational schema of their similarities is then used to organize their differences. In this schema, analytic schools differ from one another in three areas: the kind of unconscious content looked for in uncovering; aspects of the process considered subject to direct intervention; and the most effective stance and interventions with which to pursue their shared analytic goals. Organizing the differences between approaches in the context of shared analytic process goals makes it possible to clarify implicit clinical assumptions and to develop empirical rather than theoretical clinical discussions between analytic orientations. Understanding the intent or purpose of an intervention is useful in comparing approaches, exploring clinical controversies, clarifying implicit clinical assumptions, and understanding approaches more deeply in their own terms.

Definition: After watching an episode of a crime-solving drama on television, are you ever left with the feeling that horrific crimes you just witnessed are all to common in real life? According to psychologists Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman, this tendency to believe that things are more likely simply because they come to mind readily is known as an availability heuristic. They suggest that this tendency operates on the principle that "if you can think of it, it must be important."

It's the reason why you might be afraid to go into the water after watching "Shark Week" programming. Because examples of shark attacks spring to mind so easily, you mistakenly believe that such events are far more common and likely than they really are. Find more examples and observations in this definition of the availability heuristic.

Availability Heuristic - Psychology Definition of the Week originally appeared on About.com Psychology on Friday, May 18th, 2012 at 09:10:31.

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While many students in the U.S. are probably thinking about the upcoming summer break, it will soon be time to start thinking about final exams. While there are no sure-fire shortcuts when studying for a psychology test, there are things that you can do to get the most out of your study time. By following these relatively simple strategies, you can be sure that you'll be ready when test day arrives. Learn more about how to study for a psychology test.

More Test-Taking Tips

• Tips for Taking Multiple-Choice Psychology Tests
• Psychology Test-Taking Strategies
• Share Your Best Psychology Study Tips

How to Study for a Psychology Test originally appeared on About.com Psychology on Thursday, May 17th, 2012 at 08:45:28.

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Have you checked out the Request for Research Participants section of the About.com Psychology Forums? It's a great place to find opportunities to participate in psychology research or to post your own requests for participants.

One recent poster writes:

"I am currently looking for participants for my research into body image perceptions and the media influences, I am studying age ranges, 18-30 and 40-55. I would most appreciate if you could take the time out to complete my survey, it is only a few questions and should take no more than 5 minutes."

If it sounds like something that might interest you, be sure to visit the forum to find a link to the survey.

Take Part in a Study on Body Image Perception originally appeared on About.com Psychology on Wednesday, May 16th, 2012 at 11:55:45.

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Are you fretting over your final exams or standardized tests? Do you ever feel so nervous during a test that you can't concentrate on the material or even forget the answers to questions? Test anxiety is quite common among students. For some, this might mean dealing with a bad case of "butterflies in the stomach," while other students might even have a full-blown anxiety attack.

Kelly Roell, About.com's Guide to Test Prep, has some great ideas for how you can overcome test anxiety. She suggests that setting realistic expectations and using positive imagery are two possible ways to deal with the symptoms of test anxiety. Learn more about what you can do in her article on overcoming test anxiety and share your own tips for dealing with test-related stress.

Learn more about test anxiety:

• What Is Test Anxiety?
• The Symptoms of Test Anxiety
• What Causes Test Anxiety?

Overcoming Test Anxiety originally appeared on About.com Psychology on Tuesday, May 15th, 2012 at 09:20:56.

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While earning a graduate degree is required for many psychology jobs, the fact is that approximately 75% of students who earn a bachelor's degree in psychology do not go to graduate school. According to one study, only about 25% of psychology undergraduates end up working in a field that is closely related to their major.

Despite these numbers, it is important to remember that having a bachelor's degree in psychology is great preparation for careers in a wide variety of fields. Psychology undergraduate programs can vary considerably in terms of goals, but there are some very useful skills that these programs tend to focus on including:

• Communication skills: In addition to gaining a solid understanding of how people communicate, psychology majors also learn how to read, write and present information to others.


• Research skills: Psychology undergraduate spend a great deal of type researching, analyzing and synthesizing complex information.


• Interpersonal skills: Understanding the needs of other people, solving problems in a group and interacting well with others are skills valued by virtually all employers.

As you plan for your future career, start by making yourself aware of the many different options that are available. By carefully planning your future and being aware of the different opportunities that are out there, you can find a career that is perfectly suited to your educational background, skills and personality. Learn more about ten different entry-level career options in this article on what you can do with a bachelor's degree in psychology.

• More Careers Options With a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology
• Frequently Asked Questions About Psychology Careers

What Can You Do With a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology? originally appeared on About.com Psychology on Monday, May 14th, 2012 at 09:15:03.

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Definition: Do people often describe you as quiet, creative, and analytical? Then you might be an INTJ, one of the 16 different personality types identified by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) The MBTI was developed by Isabel Myers and Katherine Briggs based on Carl Jung's theory of personality types. The Myers-Briggs categorizes personality based on preferences in four key areas.

People with an INTJ personality type tend to be introverted and organized. They enjoy theoretical concepts and strongly prefer to work alone. People with this type of personality also tend to have very high standards and can be perfectionists. According to psychologist David Keirsey, an estimated one to four percent of the population have the INTJ personality type.

Learn more about the characteristics of this type in this overview of the INTJ personality.

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_{Image courtesy Piotr Bizior}

INTJ - Psychology Definition of the Week originally appeared on About.com Psychology on Friday, May 11th, 2012 at 09:05:43.

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Important Dates in Psychology History originally appeared on About.com Psychology on Thursday, May 10th, 2012 at 08:59:45.

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Would you rather eat your dessert before dinner or maybe even instead of dinner? According to a series of studies published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, people with a "sweet tooth" were rated as more agreeable and willing to help others. While consuming sweets might not be good for your waistline, lead author Brian Meier suggests that positive social behavior and sugary foods might activate the same areas of the brain.

"It is striking that helpful and friendly people are considered 'sweet' because taste would seem to have little in common with personality or behavior. Yet, recent psychological theories of embodied metaphor led us to hypothesize that seemingly innocuous metaphors can be used to derive novel insights about personality and behavior," Meier explains. "Importantly, our taste studies controlled for positive mood so the effects we found are not due to the happy or rewarding feeling one may have after eating a sweet food."

The authors note that this might not be true across all cultures, so further cross-cultural studies would be helpful in shedding more light on the link between having a sweet tooth and a sweet disposition.

Does a Sweet Tooth Equal a Sweeter Personality? originally appeared on About.com Psychology on Wednesday, May 9th, 2012 at 09:02:02.

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The APA's latest "Stress in America" report revealed some interesting tidbits about how stress impacts generations differently. The survey found that Millennials reported the greatest increase in stress levels, with 52 percent stating that their stress levels have increased over the past five years. Older adults reported the lowest increase in stress levels; 32 percent reported that their stress levels have stayed the same and 31 percent stated that their stress levels have actually decreased over the past five years.

Not surprisingly, the sources of stress also varied based on age. Money, work, and housing costs were the three greatest sources of stress for Millennials, Gen Xers, and Boomers. Among older adults, health problems were one of the greatest sources of stress. The poll indicated that the ability to manage stress levels tends to improve with age. Older generations reported being more open about discussing their feelings and were more flexible about compromising and adjusting their expectations. Younger generations, on the other hand, were twice as likely to report that they did not use any stress coping strategies.

"America has a choice. We can continue down a well-worn path where stress significantly impacts our physical and mental health, causes undue suffering and drives up health care costs. Or we can get serious about this major public health issue and provide better access to behavioral health care services to help people more effectively manage their stress and prevent and manage chronic disease," suggested psychologist Norman B. Anderson, PhD, the APA's CEO and executive vice president in a press release about the report. "Various studies have shown that chronic stress is a major driver of chronic illness, which in turn is a major driver of escalating health care costs in this country. It is critical that the entire health community and policymakers recognize the role of stress and unhealthy behaviors in causing and exacerbating chronic health conditions, and support models of care that help people make positive changes."

APA Report on Stress in America Reveals Generational Differences originally appeared on About.com Psychology on Tuesday, May 8th, 2012 at 08:59:25.

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Are your dreams vivid, bizarre, or difficult to remember? According to dream researcher J. Allan Hobson, those are just a few of the key characteristics of dreams. In many cases our dreams can be completely illogical and yet during the dream, we accept such inconsistencies without question. If you do happen to remember your dream upon waking, you might reflect back on the oddity of it and even regale your friends and family with tales your "really weird dream." Hobson suggests, however, that we forget as many as 95 percent of all our dreams. Discover more in this overview of the common characteristics of dreams.

More: Why Do We Dream? | Interpreting Dreams | 10 Facts About Dreams

Image by Filip Schneider

5 Common Characteristics of Dreams originally appeared on About.com Psychology on Monday, May 7th, 2012 at 08:59:35.

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