The Simpsons on being a grad student

At I.B.M., a Vacation Anytime, or Maybe None

I.B.M. is probably the largest company to do away with tracking vacation.

Is this pro-employee? Notice that this policy creates problems associated with the virtual office; employees are never "away" from the office and always on call.

Borrowing the Tricks of TV News to Set a Show Apart

Fox Broadcasting is sending fake news vans onto the streets of four cities to promote its new sitcom, “Back to You.”

Lobes of Steel

Consider this before skipping yet another workout: Exercise can improve your brain, too.

To Reap Psychotherapy’s Benefits, Get a Good Fit

If the outcome may be months or years away, how can a person tell whether his psychotherapy is any good?

Calisthenics for the Older Mind, on the Home Computer

In the past year, some half-dozen cognitive fitness software makers have aimed at aging consumers eager to keep their mental edge.

why go to college?

click to enlarge & read

click to enlarge & read

click to enlarge & read

Facebook labelled a $5b waste of time

Just in Australia.

Behaviorism going to the dogs

Interesting articles about behaviorism by a dog trainer.

A Brief Introduction to Operant Conditioning

Punishment:Problems & Principles for Effective Use

General articles.

Depression is 'over-diagnosed'

Professor Gordon Parker claims the threshold for clinical depression is too low and risks treating normal emotional states as illness.

Writing in the British Medical Journal, he calls depression a "catch-all" diagnosis driven by clever marketing.


And read the viewer responses.

Real Behaviors in Virtual Reality?

The "corrupted blood" disease spread rapidly within the popular online World of Warcraft game, killing off thousands of players in an uncontrolled plague.

But, there are ethical/methodological problems in using virtual reality to study such behaviors. For example, one reason the WoW players' behavior in the game was similar to real behavior is that the WoW players cared about their characters because they had an investment in them. Thus, it would be unethical to release a disease in a virtual game of such stakes. If the players don't care about the virtual world, then their behaviors would more likely to be artificial - and not as useful to the researcher.

Cosmopolitan magazine: Gray Rape

According to the article 'hook up' culture and women's new sexual 'aggression' has created a new kind of rape -- 'gray rape' -- "a kind of sex that falls somewhere between consent and denial."

"It seems the author completely made up the term. None of the 'experts' cited use it. There is no clinical or even criminal justice term called, 'gray rape.' If this term gets popularized, particularly by the same political segment that attacked the documentation of acquaintance rape in the eighties, victims will be even less likely to come forward or seek help. "

I've often heard this from writers at Cosmopolitan, that they are given conclusions to articles by the editors and told to go out and write a story to support it. Why? Making people afraid sells magazines.

New study finds problems with Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs

A Congressional inquiry released in December of 2004 found that over 80% of the abstinence-only-until-marriage curricula used by over two-thirds of federal grantees in 2003, contain false, misleading, or distorted information about reproductive health," said Bill Smith, vice president for public policy at the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the U.S. (SIECUS). "It is unacceptable that the federal government continues to dump millions of taxpayer dollars into abstinence-only-until-marriage programs that contain false and misleading information, censor critical sexual health information, and contain scientific errors," Smith continued.

Sexual Assault in the Military

The researchers found that 79 percent of participants reported experiences of sexual harassment during their military service; 30 percent of the women reported an attempted or completed rape.

Police Families prone to violence

Two studies have found that at least 40% of police officer families experience domestic violence, in contrast to 10% of families in the general population

1 in 5 high school girls victimized by dates

One in five high school girls has been physically or sexually abused by a dating partner, significantly increasing their risk of drug abuse, suicide and other harmful behavior, a study suggests.
The research published in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association stems from surveys of 4,163 public school students in Massachusetts, but the authors say the results likely apply to teens nationwide.
According to estimates from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 22% of high school students are victims of nonsexual dating violence, with girls slightly more likely to report being victims.

Feminine guys better for long-term love

Women see masculine-looking men as more unsuitable long-term partners but men with more feminine features are seen as more committed and less likely to stray, researchers said Wednesday.

Winter Travel Grants

Subject: Winter 2007-2008 STOCS Program

Attached please find the student application for the Winter 2007-2008 STOCS (Study/Travel Opportunities for CUNY Students) Program, and a list of study abroad programs eligible for STOCS scholarships for Winter 2007-2008. Please make copies of this application and this list of eligible programs available to your students. Students can also find these documents online: Winter 2007-2008 STOCS Student Application Form: http://www1.cuny.edu/academics/oaa/uei/inted/stocs/for-students/w0708StudentApplicationForm.pdf Programs eligible for STOCS scholarships during Winter 2007-2008: http://www1.cuny.edu/academics/oaa/uei/inted/stocs/Winter07-08-STOCS.html
The deadline for Winter 2007-2008 STOCS applications is Friday, October 12, 2007. Funded by a grant from the DeWitt Wallace/Youth Travel Enrichment Fund at The New York Community Trust, the STOCS Program is in its second decade of service to CUNY students. Thousands of our students have benefited from STOCS, a program that helps our students discover the many worlds outside New York, and bring that knowledge home to the CUNY community. The STOCS Program stands as a testament to the promise of CUNY: international education for a remarkably international student body. I thank you for your support. Judith SummerfieldUniversity Dean for Undergraduate EducationOffice of Academic Affairs535 East 80th StreetRoom 503New York, N.Y. 10021Phone: (212) 794-5367Fax: (212) 794-5378

More on CUNY standards

STANDARDS AID CUNY STUDENTS
By ALFRED POSAMENTIER

Now, the Clicking Is to Watch the Ads, Not Skip Them

Even while consumers seek to avoid advertising on TV and the Web, a growing number Web sites are presenting advertisements as entertainment.

Study Suggests That a Need for Physical Perfection May Reveal Emotional Flaws

A study found that among women with cosmetic breast implants, there was a threefold increase in suicide and in deaths related to alcohol or substance abuse compared with the expected death rates of women who did not have implants.

The Beam of Light That Flips a Switch That Turns on the Brain

By toggling a light switch, neuroscientists can set fruit flies a-leaping and mice a-twirling and stop worms in their squiggling tracks

Response to Crain's op-ed

In response to http://billsblogofpsychology.blogspot.com/2007/08/raising-standards-at-cuny.html

The poor man's Harvard
Brooklyn: Re "New test rules fail CUNY's mission" (Op-Ed, Aug. 12): When I applied to City College in 1940, I needed a minimum 88 high school average before I could take the entrance exam. Once accepted, I had to maintain at least a C average or I'd be thrown out. Students got in and stayed in on merit. When open enrollment was instituted in 1969, our beloved college lost its standing as a top school. I am happy an attempt is being made to restore its reputation.
Seymour Becker, Class of '43

Source

Raising Standards at CUNY?

An interesting opinion article in the Daily News by a CCNY prof.

The eight types of graduate student

The eight types of graduate student

How long will you live?

What has a 16th-century astronomer got to do with the of governments and possible extinction of the human race? Answers in fractions please, says J. Richard Gott III

York just had its 40 year anniversary. According to Gott, York has a 2.5% probabilty of closing in the next 1 year.

go directly to calculator

Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller

click for larger image

Several articles in the Sun about an Arabic Public School in Brooklyn

Madrassa Plan Is Monstrosity

Brooklyn Arabic School

Arab School To Face Scrutiny At Emergency Parent Meeting

Parents Voice Distrust Of Arab School Promises

‘Screaming and Crying' Greet Arab School Plan

A Madrassa Grows In Brooklyn

Muslim Panel: Many Distrust Legal System

Social Influence in the news

Now, scientists believe that social networks not only can spread diseases, like the common cold, but also may influence many types of behavior — negative and positive — which then affect an individual’s health, as well as a community’s.

This isn't so surprising to a social psychology, who has been trained to look at the social influence exerted upon us by our peers.

Seeking 'thinspiration'

Pro-anorexia websites offering tips on extreme dieting are nothing new, but their growth on social networking sites is a disturbing new twist and brings them within reach of a wider audience.

Vacation, All I Never Wanted

Why don’t Americans take time off anymore? Maybe it’sbecause we just don’t need to.

Family-Leave Values

Do workers have a fundamental right to care for theirfamilies? The latest front in the job-discrimination battle.

Gender differences on the job: asking for more

About 10 years ago, a group of graduate students lodged a complaint with Linda C. Babcock, a professor of economics at Carnegie Mellon University: All their male counterparts in the university's PhD program were teaching courses on their own, whereas the women were working only as teaching assistants.

That mattered, because doctoral students who teach their own classes get more experience and look better prepared when it comes time to go on the job market.
When Babcock took the complaint to her boss, she learned there was a very simple explanation: "The dean said each of the guys had come to him and said, 'I want to teach a course,' and none of the women had done that," she said. "The female students had expected someone to send around an e-mail saying, 'Who wants to teach?' "

----and----

Although it may well be true that women often hurt themselves by not trying to negotiate, this study found that women's reluctance was based on an entirely reasonable and accurate view of how they were likely to be treated if they did. Both men and women were more likely to subtly penalize women who asked for more -- the perception was that women who asked for more were "less nice".

Read the rest of the Washington Post article.

Milgram Mania!!!

Primetime recreates Milgram Experiment under the supervision of a psychologist! Follow the link for story and video.

I often use this video to illustrate a current occurrence of Milgram-type obedience



The civil lawsuit has been settled.



Derren Brown's (a British magician) reenactment



Claymation version - cute




A humorous (?) student video

Consumed and more

http://www.murketing.com/journal/ ---> subscribe to this blog using rss

What is this site? Murketing.com is a project of R. Walker. That’s me. It is descended from an earlier project called the Journal of Murketing (the term “murketing” dates to this article from Outside Magazine, about Red Bull), an email newsletter that I discontinued partly because too many people signed up for it. Also because I was busy: “Consumed,” a weekly column I write for The New York Times Magazine, made its first appearance in January 2004, and it takes up a lot of my time.

Milgram's 37

I often mention "Milgram's 37" in class when discussing the Milgram Experiments. "Milgram's 37" is a song by Peter Gabriel about the outcome of one condition of Milgram's obedience study.

In this condition, the experimental subject was assigned a role as a recorder for two confederates who actually administered the shocks. The confederates always obeyed and the DV was whether the actual subject would disobey. Milgram obtained the greatest obedience in this condition 37 out of 40 subjects were totally obedient (compared to 50% in the condition we are more familiar with where the learner cries out and demands to be released).

How I came to love the veil

A Washington Post Article

One way to look for potential prejudices is to examine the way we respond to one group and then look at how we respond to another group:

When Islam offers women so much, why are Western men so obsessed with Muslim women's attire? Even British government ministers Gordon Brown and John Reid have made disparaging remarks about the nikab -- and they hail from across the Scottish border, where men wear skirts.

Is the veil feminist?

Some young Muslim feminists consider the hijab and the nikab political symbols, too, a way of rejecting Western excesses such as binge drinking, casual sex and drug use. What is more liberating: being judged on the length of your skirt and the size of your surgically enhanced breasts, or being judged on your character and intelligence? In Islam, superiority is achieved through piety -- not beauty, wealth, power, position or sex.

Policing Terrorism

In remarks to reporters, Brown’s new home secretary, Jacqui Smith, articulated the basic message. “Let us be clear,” she said, “terrorists are criminals, whose victims come from all walks of life, communities and religions.”

While mainly about Brown's policies, this article raises an interesting question about the language being used, and the groups and stereotypes being referenced:

Radical Islam
War
Terror

An Experiment: When the Only Familiar Sight Is a Uniform

Are police officers patrolling the streets willing to give directions to out-of-towners?

This NY Times article conducts "an experiment" on police officers' responses to questions about directions?

What would be the IV? DV?

What controls did the reporters use?

Were operational definitions mentioned?

What potentially important controls did the reporters not use?

Happy Birthday, Cognitive Dissonance

Cog Dis turns 50 this year ... hey bud, let's party!!!

NY Times

Science Friday podcast of interview with Eliot Aronson

NPR Story

Newsweek

****** NY Times article on the subconscious!!!! ****

Who’s Minding the Mind?
The subconscious brain is more active, independent and purposeful than once thought. Sometimes it takes charge.

I/O for lunatics

Study: Full moon doesn't cause workplace injuries

A Baby-Proof Method Tracks Just Where Little Ones Look

This is for 330 students doing research papers on developmental psych; this is how we measures if infants are aware of something.

New technology makes it easier to follow a baby’s gaze and to decipher the developing mind by looking at infants’ eye movements.

Availability

The availability heuristic and social politics: we are concerned about what the news media presents to us.