Bonding With The Autistic Child- A Fool-Proof Plan To Get The Most Progress, And The Most Cooperation

The first year I was working as a Behavior Therapist, I had a client named David*- a five year old boy with autism, who was my first case as a newly-promoted supervising Senior Therapist. My boss and I met the entire family at their home on an initial fact-gathering mission, in preparation for the beginning of an intensive 35 hr/week home therapy program....

Jan 2017

Autism And Vaccines: Why People Still Believe The Hype

Early last month, the now-famous paper by Dr Andrew Wakefield that supposedly linked vaccines to the onset of Autism, was formally retracted by the Lancet, the journal that published it back in 1998. This was a monumental decision, considering it was the conclusions drawn from this paper that launched the firestorm of debate around the safety of vaccines,...

Jan 2017

Atheists And Liberals More "Intelligent"? Better Check Your Definitions...

In the past week or two, there have been several news stories and blogs (including here on SB) written in regards to a paper that came out this month titled, "Why Liberals and Atheists Are More Intelligent". It would be easy for the untrained eye to read such a headline and think, "Gee.... this was published in a peer reviewed journal, so this must...

Jan 2017

Dopamine: The Neurotransmitter With Many Faces

A new study that was just released on Sunday and published online in Nature Neuroscience has found that Ritalin, a popular medication to treat ADD/HD, helps improve learning not only by improving focus, but also by increasing plasticity of neural connections. The player involved in this new discovery is none other than that magical little neurotransmitter,...

Jan 2017

The Future Of Science In The Next Decade? Transdisciplinary Collaboration

I was asked the question, "What can we expect to see from science in the next decade?" My answer comes from the perspective of a social scientist, as I research social problems from the influence of cognitive neuroscience. I am inspired to write this particular analysis after attending the TED 2010 conference, which wrapped up this past weekend in Long...

Jan 2017

Don't Shelter Your Children: Coping With Stress As A Child Develops Resilience And Emotion Regulation As An Adult

We already know that "suffering builds character", but a new study suggests that it may do a lot more than that. Successfully coping with stress at an early age may significantly increase your chances of being a more resilient adult, as well as strengthen your ability to regulate emotions. read more

Jan 2017

Creativity: A Crime Of Passion

Creativity seems to be the "buzz word" of the 2000s. Society values it, companies need it, and employers want it. Or do they? What society claims to want and what is actually rewarded in practice are two different things. We claim to want innovation, but are innovation and creativity actually encouraged, or even allowed in most environments? What types...

Jan 2017

Does Super-High IQ= Super-Low Common Sense?

We have all heard the term, "Nutty Professor", which brings to mind the highly intelligent, yet socially inept individual; excelling in the academic world, yet failing miserably in the realm of common sense. Is there an evolutionary explanation for why this phenomenon exists?Bruce Charlton, Editor-in-Chief of the journal Medical Hypotheses, says "yes"....

Jan 2017

Addicted To Being Good? The Psychopathology Of Heroism

We look at heroes and do-gooders as a special sort of breed; people who possess extraordinary traits of altruism, or self-less concern for the well-being of others, even at the expense of their own existence. On the other end, sociopaths also have an extraordinary set of traits, such as extreme selfishness, lack of impulse control, no respect for rules,...

Jan 2017

We Perform Best When No One Tells Us What To Do

How can companies get the best possible performance out of their employees? Let them do whatever they want! And furthermore, don't offer incentives. Sound counter-intuitive? Not if you look at what research has shown regarding the economics of motivation.read more

Jan 2017