When I wrote my text, Discovering Biological Psychology (please excuse the shameless self-promotion), I had some fun with the Sensation/Perception chapter talking about the different ways animals had adapted to their visual environments. My favorite example was the Amazonian fish, Anableps. Anableps must simultaneously scan the surface of the water for the bugs Read more…
One of the promising technologies for PTSD and many types of phobia is virtual reality. In order to participate, you get to wear the fancy headgear modeled below, which provides a very realistic auditory and visual display. In addition, therapists can apply other stimuli, such as the sound of gunpowder. Read more…
Cheryl Olson and her colleagues at the Center for Mental Health and Media at Massachusetts General Hospital recently completed a study of the videogame habits of middle school youth. What is most interesting to me is that the results of the study have been described as “surprising.” One suspects that Read more…
NeuroSky, a Silicon Valley company, received a lot of press this week for incorporating what appears to be a mobile EEG scanner into gaming technology. One of the prototypes allows a person to don a Darth Vader suit, including a light saber that lights up when the person concentrates. NeuroSky Read more…
For those of you looking for a fresh new excuse for playing videogames instead of studying for your Biological Psychology midterm, here’s one I might actually buy into. Daphne Bavelier and Shawn Green of the University of Rochester demonstrated that participants who played 30 hours (over a one month period) of Unreal Read more…