my daughter Karla’s drawing wishing everyone a happy and safe Halloween.
Here is what i am reading today:
“Scientists at Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, have identified grid cells, neurons that fire in repeating triangular patterns as the eyes explore visual scenes, in the brains of rhesus monkeys.”
“Drs. Philip Benson and David St. Clair, lead authors on the paper, agreed that their findings were remarkable: “It has been known for over a hundred years that individuals with psychotic illnesses have a variety of eye movement abnormalities, but until our study, using a novel battery of tests, no one thought the abnormalities were sensitive enough to be used as potential clinical diagnostic biomarkers.””
“The writer Jeffrey Goldsmith was so obsessed with Tetris that he wrote a famous article asking if the game’s creator Alexey Pajitnov had invented “a pharmatronic?” – a video game with the potency of an addictive drug. Some people say that after playing the game for hours they see falling blocks in their dreams or buildings move together in the street – a phenomenon known as the Tetris Effect. Such is its mental pull, there’s even been the suggestion that the game might be able to prevent flashbacks in people with PTSD.”
… “The study was led by Beckman Institute researcher Florin Dolcos and Department of Psychology postdoctoral research associate Sanda Dolcos. They found, as they wrote, that “a handshake preceding social interaction enhanced the positive impact of approach and diminished the negative impact of avoidance behavior on the evaluation of social interaction.”…
29 Comments
matthahn · October 31, 2012 at 10:39 am
The article that talked about the psychology of Tetris makes all too much sense to me. Not only am I a fan of the game (who isn’t?), but I can tend to be completely obsessed with tidying up and my room is often spotless. The Zeigarnik Effect, which states that people’s memory will fully remember the details of a task until it is completed and then once the task is completed, the details will be forgotten, is something I have noticed in myself and my peers around me.
In midterms week, the Zeigarnik Effect is seen all around. People will study for a week and then, once they’ve taken their midterm, will forget a majority of what they had just known front to back from their textbook. The hypothesis that the article presents to explain the phenomenon states that once a goal is met, the brain refocuses its energy on something else to allow us to move on and focus. This seems like it would be an evolutionary trait that we have developed.
Though they have created these hypotheses, like the article says, there is still much to be understood about memory.
csommo · October 31, 2012 at 10:42 am
Reading about eye movements and schizophrenia was very interesting to me. My cousin suffers from a severe case of schizophrenia and has been undergoing treatment at a mental hospital for years now. Though, when I was younger and was still able to spend time with her, I remember her having strange eye movements. She would not keep eye contact for long amounts of time, and I felt as though she could not look at something for over a few seconds. It’s intriguing to know that there is research to corroborate something I noticed when I was just a kid.
Sarah Dougherty · October 31, 2012 at 1:46 pm
I was intrigued by the new information regarding eye movement and schizophrenia. Psychiatrists have developed a series of three simple eye movement tests to diagnose schizophrenia to an accuracy of (in one model) 98.3%. It has been widely accepted for a century that people with psychotic illnesses have abnormal eye movements. I have many questions about these tests that are now being considered for future use in clinics and hospitals for a quick diagnosis. First, I would like to see other psychotic disorders and disorders such as ADD and experiences of trauma to be examined. People with ADD have a hard time focusing and people who have gone through a trauma can experience a chance in eye movement because they are hyper alert. Also, trauma victims are being treated with eye movement therapy. Could this be a treatment for people with schizophrenia? Much more needs to be done; however, if this is seen one tool, it may help with new medications and treatments and that would be exciting.
laurenstanfield23 · October 31, 2012 at 4:26 pm
The eye movements and Schizophrenia article is extremely exciting and concerning for future clinical diagnose of individuals with Schizophrenia. As mentioned in the article, this creates the possibility to diagnose patients more quickly and cost effectively than the current methods and tests necessary for psychologist diagnosis. However, this intermediate data first leaves me wanting more evidence and support for the accuracy of these eye movement tests across racial, gender, and age categories to ensure it is an effective tool for diagnosing Schizophrenia. These tests also draw concerns if they are to be solely as measures of psychotic illnesses as these illnesses range across individuals and must be treated on somewhat of an individual basis. Especially as it was stated only one of the studies had the 90th percentile accuracy but it did not expose the success of the other studies. Also, I was wondering if the eye movement changes dependent on residual Schizophrenics who are most likely on medication. However, overall, these findings suggest an exciting possibility to benefit for the diagnosis of Schizophrenia by much easier methods than those in existence.
laurenstanfield23 · October 31, 2012 at 4:32 pm
The largest question that came to mind is if any gender differences were found in the increase of positive regard and handshake. Since the article states that it is the ‘power’ yet friendly handshake that increase the positive reaction and decrease avoidance. However, I have heard mixed advice on what style of handshake women should make, so this could be an interesting extension of this study. However, it is important to recognize the now scientific support which now backs up the general social knowledge of the important of a mastered handshake. So male or female the data suggests that being confident and friendly in one’s handshake will actually increase the positivity in the response people receive. Thus, next time I meet a stranger I will be sure to shake hands!
taylorkilbride · October 31, 2012 at 6:44 pm
“Eye Movements and Schizophrenia”
This article was so interesting! Most of the clinical side of psychology is based on a list of symptoms in order to diagnose metal illnesses, so to have a physical symptom for a disease that can be very severe will do wonders in diagnosis. Also, as the article stated, it will be easier to separate schizophrenia from other mental illnesses by using these simple and noninvasive tests. This will allow affected patients to begin a treatment plan and medicines more rapidly to alleviate their symptoms and help them and their loved ones to get back to their normal routines.
taylorkilbride · October 31, 2012 at 6:59 pm
“Power Handshakes”
When I first read the title of the article I thought it was going to be about how handshakes are a form of touch so hormones and neurotransmitters such as oxytocin, that function in pleasure pathways when direct human to human contact occurs, would be involved. It is so interesting though that just by watching a video of a social interaction with a handshake, and not directly participating, there was greater activity in the reward processing center, the nucleus accumbens, then in social interactions that did not include a handshake.
CaitlinMorris · October 31, 2012 at 8:46 pm
“The Psychology of Tetris” by Tom Stafford
The author of this article suggests that the root behind the addictive nature of Tetris is due to humankind’s, “deep-seated psychological drive to tidy up.” However, I do not believe this to be entirely true—if it were, I am sure many college students would have cleaner rooms. I believe the real reason behind this game’s addictive nature is the instant gratification a player receives with each move made. I say this because, it only takes a few seconds to place a block, the unfinished actions associated with the game mean a player is given the opportunity to change his/her mind about their block orientation up to the very last millisecond, and little physical labor is associated with the task. Granted I believe Stafford is correct in his observation that human beings are a goal-oriented species, yet I feel that there are many other games that entail creating disorder that are equally popular (such as bocce ball). I furthermore believe that the only reason games involving order/arrangement are more prevalent than those involving disorder is because the former allows for an easier quantitative measurement of success.
CaitlinMorris · October 31, 2012 at 9:19 pm
“Science Reveals the Power of a Handshake”
I would be curious to see if the researchers of this study broke down their results by gender in order to investigate whether a firm handshake from a woman would be viewed as positively as one from a man (or would the action be misconstrued as domineering). Upon writing that last sentence, I put in a query to Google and discovered that such a study was indeed performed, specifically in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/psp/79/1/110/). According to the researchers, “the pattern of relations among openness, gender, handshaking, and first impressions suggests that a firm handshake may be an effective form of self-promotion for women.” Furthermore, a study put forth in the Journal of Applied Psychology states that from their findings, “Although women received lower ratings for the handshake, they did not on average receive lower assessments of employment suitability. Exploratory analysis suggested that the relationship between a firm handshake and interview ratings may be stronger for women than for men (http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/apl/93/5/1139/).”
AlexandraKanemaru · November 1, 2012 at 9:14 am
I found the article by BBC, “The Psychology of Tetris” to be fascinating. This was the case because when I was in my earlier teenage years I too felt the same allure to Tetris that so many others in this article have felt. After hours and hours of playing Tetris, I would definitely say, I got the “Tetris Effect” where i would notice images everywhere I went, falling into walls on the street or just floating in my mind. After this happened for about a week, I vowed to stop playing Tetris for a while. However, after reading the benefits that Tetris plays in the mind, I now feel the need to play a game or twenty. I found that Tetris might help people with flashbacks or disorders like PTSD to be very fascinating. Also, I found that the fact that Tetris works to promotes the condition of always solving tasks very interesting. I found the correlation between Tetris and Trivia games to be interesting because while playing Tetris we as people know it is pointless (however, maybe not so much), but when watching Trivia games we might find it supplemental to our learning, although we might not remember the information presented.
AlexandraKanemaru · November 1, 2012 at 9:24 am
The article, “Science Reveals the Power of a Handshake” emphasizes the fact that many a firm and friendly handshake makes or breaks a first impression. There is a scientific and psychological factor in the human brain that is stimulated while shaking a persons hand. I found this article to coincide with the text, “Blink” by Gladwell. Who discusses the idea of “thin slicing” on a neurobiological and psychological level. Both discuss the effects in the nucleus accumbens or reward center of the brain when a person is encountered that they deem as warm or friendly. These first impressions that happen in a snap judgment are not always correct, but both reading show that mind over matter seems to be a determining factor while judging another person. The biological support in this article only reinforced what we as humans have known since the beginning of our personal social interactions.
LauraGregorich · November 2, 2012 at 5:00 pm
“The Power of handshakes” was such an interesting article. Growing up, I was always taught to shake someones hand when interacting with [an adult or co-worker] for the first time, or when in the professional setting, such an an interview. I thought it was a form of respect or being polite. After reading this research, I found it interesting how the impression of two people meeting and interacting for the first time can be so impacted by something as little as a good handshake. This positive pathway that is formed demonstrates how an interaction can be shaped based off body movements (ie: handshake), rather than everything that comes out of a persons mouth. I would be curious to see further research on the type of handshake- meaning someone who has a firm grip compared to a more feminine grip- and see if that still has the same type of brain activity and positive correlation.
BenSimon · November 3, 2012 at 7:34 pm
I found the Tetris article extremely fascinating because this summer I played a lot of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening on a Game Boy Color emulator on my computer and as a result, I was mentally controlling Link in my mind when I was away from the computer, especially when I was falling asleep or even dreaming. Thankfully, I was able to distinguish reality from fantasy and did not try to slay any Octoroks. I assume it’s a coincidence that Tetris and the Zeigarnik Effect were both Russian inventions or discoveries.
a.schlachter · November 5, 2012 at 4:51 pm
I was instantly interested in the article “Science Reveals the Power of a Handshake” because I personally pay close attention to handshakes. I certainly notice how a handshake makes me feel about the person right off the bat, it can tell me more about the situation than the way they say “hello”. I had no idea that science was behind on this, since it really is intuitive. I wonder why a handshake can tell us so much. Do we pick up on certain chemicals? Is it just from conditioned understanding that a handshake means the other person means us no harm? I wonder why our nucleus accumbens reacts and gives us a sense of pleasure when we receive a specific style of handshake. Another aspect of this article I found unique was that researchers have not used moving simulations to research social interactions. They normally use static images, according to the article. I hope this means that future researchers will use this technique and gain more well-rounded information from their experiments.
a.schlachter · November 5, 2012 at 5:21 pm
“The Psychology of Tetris” was an entertaining read. Tom Stafford wrote the article in an easy to digest way that made me want to keep on reading, like how Tetris makes you want to keep on playing. I wonder if the creators of Tetris ever thought their game would blow up like it did, especially to the point of people looking at the psychological effects of it. It is intersting how Mr. Stafford said that one reason why we might be so addicted to Tetris is because it gives us a simple and quick solution to a problem, which is something life does not frequently provide. It reminds me of instant gratification and how people get easily addicted to that type of behavior such as shopping.
crfan_21 · November 6, 2012 at 12:21 am
Though I’ve enjoyed tetris for a long time, I never stopped to understand why it is a game that so many people, including myself, love. It’s so simplistic and yet so complicated. I feel that the author is right when he talks about tetris as a way of tidying up. I feel that playing such games is a way of visualizing problem solving in a neat and organized fashion that is quite different from the messy problem solving we do in our everyday lives. We enjoy the ease that comes with this simplified problem solving in games. The inventors of tetris were ingenious in developing a game that utilized people’s love of achieving goals while still providing mental stimulation.
tpoulin · November 6, 2012 at 10:50 am
By reading the article, “Primates’ Brains Make Visual Maps Using Triangular Grids”, I learned neurons fire in repeating triangular patterns as the eyes explore visual scenes (at least in the brains of rhesus monkeys). This finding has lead to the conclusion that humans form and remember mental maps of the world through these firing neurons. This finding also means that grid cells do not necessarily have a different nature in primates than they do in rodents. A professional in this field says that future experiments could examine how monkeys navigate in real space to determine how grid cells respond.
This finding has endless opportunities of new information. It is amazing that we can find about so much about humans just through studying other mammals and animals in general.
limjstephanie · November 6, 2012 at 8:16 pm
I found the article on obsessiveness of tetris to be enlightening as well as entertaining. Never before had I taken the time to analyze why I spent countless hours playing this simple yet addicting game, however, now that I do think about it I would say that I find the act of “cleaning” the unorganized shapes quite therapeutic. I would like to consider myself as a tidy individual, so I suppose that could explain my love for the game but, I’m not sure that this could be said for all tetris lovers. My roommate for example, she loves playing tetris, more than I, and yet one would agree that she is not as tidy as I am. That’s just a thought
LeahMonteleone · November 7, 2012 at 10:38 am
As I read the article regarding if men and women can just be friends, I was enlightened. It was humorous to know that if we were all female, yes, we could be friends and maintain a neutral relationship. Unfortunately, men tend to always complicate the situation and include thoughts of attraction, desire, etc. This concerns me, however, for workplace environments. When men and women work side by side, attraction could most definitely cause a barrier between co-workers and could be disastrous. This could play out in many ways, the woman as the victim, the man as the victim, or mutual attraction. Hopefully, once we transition into more professional lives in work environments, we are able to control those desires and keep things appropriate.
LeahMonteleone · November 7, 2012 at 10:51 am
In the article, Science Reveals the Power of the Handshake, they confirm how powerful a handshake can be. It is baffling to believe that not long ago, one could get a loan based on a good handshake. This article is beneficial for teens in our generation. We tend be disrespectful towards authority, feel entitled to respect, and lack respect towards our elders. Unfortunately, those actions will not guide us into a successful future. I was always taught that eye contact and a firm handshake would go a long way. If we do not respect our authority figures, how will we ever move up the spectrum to become successful and practical adults? When going into an interview, meeting a co-worker or subordinate, or even making a first impression with a stranger, we must realize our body language and actions demonstrate how we are as individuals and how we hold ourselves.
ndjohnson · November 7, 2012 at 3:40 pm
In the article “power handshakes” the science behind the effectiveness of a handshake is revealed. In using a functional mri, the researchers found that interactions that involved a handshake concordedwith brain activity in the nucleus accumbens, the reward center. The technology allowed participants to view dynamic interactions instead of static, which further improved the finsings in the brain activity. It was revealed that a handshake promoted approachable behavior and actually reversed negative impressions. As a person who tends to be shyer and hang back when meeting new people, it is useful to discover the rewarding and positive effect a simple handshake can have. It is a practice I can incorporate into my life better.
ndjohnson · November 7, 2012 at 3:55 pm
In the article “eye movements and schizophrenia,” it is highly encouraging to readthat scientists are coming up with better and quicker ways to detect diseases. One of the crucial factors in dealing with an illness is discovering the symptoms early on. Armed with the knowledge of the disease, the person can then learn how to live wlife with this added factor. Schizophrenia is already a disease that most people (particularly young teenagers and children) do not understand how to react to, or even how to help the affected person. If a person discoversthey have this disease early one, then they can overcome the social obstacles and live happily with the disease. This new technology can also have an impact socially on the patients. The added bonues will be the cost effective way of tetsing for the disease. The eye tests mentioned in the article, including tracking slow movements and recognizing patterns in an image, can easily be performed by a physician in a hospital setting.
EricaOhye · November 12, 2012 at 10:39 pm
While reading the article “The Psychology of Tetris” I couldn’t help but wonder, what about people who never feel the need to tidy up? In the article it states that people enjoy Tetris so much because of our “deep-seated psychological drive to tidy up.” However, I think this overlooks some details and as a result over generalizes the population. For example, I live with 3 other people in an apartment where myself and one of my roommates tends to do most of the tidying up. I feel like some people are just naturally messier than other people. Even still, I do agree that our drive to be clean comes from being goal oriented and achievement motivated. As a whole I’d say that the roommate that helps me clean is more motivated in other areas of life, such as school and personal relationships, than the two that never help. Overall I found this article to be quite interesting and also made me feel less guilty about spending so many hours playing Tetris on my cell phone in middle school!
EricaOhye · November 12, 2012 at 10:51 pm
Reading the article “Science reveals the power of a handshake” confirmed what I had always been taught growing up, a firm and solid handshake represents confidence and is generally good for business interactions. It’s interesting to read about just how much a handshake can say about a person, or that a handshake could make or break a novel social interaction. In fact, just this weekend I met a new person at a dinner that I went to and after we shook hands I remember thinking to myself that it was not a very firm handshake. Nevertheless, I didn’t find myself being negatively affected by that individual, but my overall reaction to him by the end of the night was that he was shy and not very friendly. What I found especially interesting was that our reward system in the brain or nucleus accumbens is shown to have greater activity in situations where a handshake was involved. It makes me wonder if these types of reactions are learned in society, considering non-verbal body language, such as a handshake, can be interpreted differently by culture.
Arielle Plavnick PSY 340-01 · November 13, 2012 at 10:51 am
I had no idea that there were any outward or somewhat visible symptoms; but after reading “Eye Movements and Schizophrenia” it is apparent there is. I assume that the reason their eyes move differently is because eye-movement and vision has much to do with many parts of the brain. If the brain is affected by schizophrenia then perhaps the illness in the brain is also is what changes the patterns of eye movement. This piece of research could be extremely helpful in all medical arenas. I think it could and sometimes should be used in routine check ups because it is so easy, accurate, and cost efficient.
jennamcbee890 · November 14, 2012 at 7:15 pm
In the article “The psychology of Tetris” Stafford explains the “tetris effect” or one in which people become obsessed with the game and feel as though it aids in their overall being. After assessing this article I could not agree more with Stafford’s point of a psychological pull in which humans play in a virtual world and can tidy up, parallel to the real world. Tetris is a game that can be controlled, and in comparison to PTSD, which cannot, this could be helpful to recovering soldiers. I also picked this article because recently in my Humanities class we discussed tetris and it’s control that many people do not realize it has. I believe that this can correlate with our mesolimbic system and they way we reinforce our pleasure and reward. Although it is an unnatural reward, it is still seen as a success (solving the puzzle) and can be related to stimulating the neurons in our mesolimbic system.
Carolynn Kern · November 14, 2012 at 10:57 pm
On the article “Men are better multi-taskers than women”
The article makes the argument that because men are better at spatial tasks than women; they are better at multi-tasking. The experiment had spatial components in it, therefore supporting their hypothesis.
I think that multi-tasking is similar to the 7 types of intelligence. We each have different strengths that allow us to excel in different areas of learning. In this way, I think that multi-tasking is the same. Whereas men may excel more when multi-tasking with spatial tasks, women may excel more when multi-tasking when it comes to assessing interpersonal relationships ( looking at body language, empathy, active listening, paying attention to surrounding detail). This is just my own personal thought…
fionachung. · November 25, 2012 at 6:38 pm
I really enjoyed reading “Eye Movements and Schizophrenia.” It really intrigues me that something so simple as an eye movement test can diagnosis someone that can have schizophrenia. It really shows how research techniques are improving immensely. Since eye movement tests can lead to determining if a person has schizophrenia, I wonder if other tests like that can determine other psychological disorders since they all are associated with the brain. It’s good to know that researchers and scientists are inventing new and quicker ways to diagnose people with disorders, because the earlier the disorder/disease is detected, the easier it can be treated.
PaigeBroderick · November 30, 2012 at 3:03 pm
In response to “the psychology of Tetris”, the addictive nature and reasons why it is so popular to play were investigated. Coined as a “pharmatronic” game, (a game so addictive it’s as if it could replace pharmaceuticals), long-time players suffer the side effects of a Tetris syndrome of seeing falling blocks and organizing shapes. One answer as to why gamers would subject themselves to this is our natural need to organize and clean. People like to neatly categorize; it is how we make sense of our world. Evidence shows that playing Tetris helps limit PTSD. I would agree. I love Tetris and am no stranger to its addictive nature. Stacking and eliminating those colored blocks is strangely satisfying and soothing. I find myself anticipating what moves I am going to make next or what challenges may arise if I misplace a cube here or there and, if I do, can I salvage my score and continue on? Sometimes I even make mistakes on purpose to beat down a huge stack of mismatched blocks back to the base line just to see if I could. Tetris is a game to explore shapes, relationships amongst objects, decision making skills, future predictions, etc., etc. Conspiracy rumors suggest that the Russian government actually programmed and popularized the game to better promote conformity to communist rule. However you see Tetris, it is a simple and fun game that will withstand the test of time in many gamers’ hearts.
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