Monthly Archives: December 2011

Believe it or Not! – Linkhouse

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chewing gum

Stress relief is fruit flavored

Chewing Gum May Reduce Stress

At least, that’s what the results of a recent UK study suggest. In a controlled lab experiment with 40 persons, Scholey and his colleagues examined whether chewing gum is capable of reducing induced anxiety and stress while participants performed various multitasking activities (Scholey, Robertson, Haskell, Milne & Kennedy, 2007). Results revealed that gum chewers experienced significantly higher levels of alertness and lower levels of state anxiety, stress, and salivary cortisol. The chewing gum condition was also associated with better performance on the multitasking activities. Improved cerebral blood flow during gum chewing was cited as a possible explanation for these findings.

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What is Comparative Psychology?

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baby seal

It’s like looking in a mirror

Comparative Psychology is the branch of Psychology which deals with the scientific study of animal behavior and it places emphasis on cross-species comparisons, including human-to-animal comparisons. This method evaluates the similarities and differences across species to better understand the developmental and evolutionary relationships between them. It can also be used to compare contemporary and ancient species. It has been suggested that the term “Comparative Psychology” be discarded as it is not descriptive of the field. However, as a suitable replacement has not been put forward, the term remains in popular use today. Continue reading →

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What is Abnormal Psychology?

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genius abnormal psychology

E = mc^2

Abnormal Psychology is the scientific study of aberrant patterns of thought, emotion and behavior. As might be expected, much significance is placed on the definition of abnormal as our viewpoint on what constitutes acceptable behavior is continuously changing within and across cultures. It is also important to realize that being classified as abnormal is not necessarily bad. For example, a genius rises well above the expected or “normal” range in terms of intelligence. Continue reading →

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What is Social Psychology?

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social psychology network

We are connected!

Social Psychology is the study of individuals in the social context. It uses scientific methods to understand how people’s thoughts, feelings and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of other human beings.

It is interesting that the definition of Social Psychology specifically refers to the influences of the imagined or implied presence of other human beings. This highlights the fact that we are vulnerable to social influences even in the absence of other people. We might experience this phenomenon when we are listening to the radio, watching television, surfing the internet or even internalizing social norms. Continue reading →

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