Why did so many MPs claim expenses which, although apparently ‘within the rules’, were clearly not morally justifiable? It has been suggested that this was a conformity effect, as research has shown that bending the rules or breaking social norms increases, sometimes doubling, if people see that others are doing this. It’s a ‘me too’ effect, or what we know as conformity. But does this social influence justify the unethical or questionable behaviour? That is a different question, and it seems that we, the public, expect our MPs to think and not just follow the herd. Read more here.
Posts published during July, 2009
A short presentation plus a great track, have a look at this.
The ideal kitchen accessory for all culinary psychologists….
Very nice little interactive diagram to be found here. You click on an activity such as ‘speech’ or ‘memory’ and the diagram indicates which part of the brain governs such activity.
Two great opportunities next autumn term if you are planning to teach either the Psychology of Addictive Behaviour or Anomalistic Psychology. Keynote Educational have organised Unit 4 INSET days – one features Mark Griffiths and the other features Richard Wiseman – both experts in the respective fields. Plus me (Cara Flanagan) talking about the research methods component and more general issues. See here for further INSET courses next year.
DNA analysis of thousands of people in three separate studies has shown that the disorder is linked to the interaction of a large number of genetic variants on chromosome 6, in an area called the Major Histocompatability Complex which has one role in the immune system and another in controlling the switching on or off of other genes.
How many variants are there? Well, over 30,000 were identified as being much more common in schizophrenics than non-schizophrenics apart from people with bipolar disorder.
So not only is the genetics of schizophrenia far more complex than had been thought, environmental influences are also involved, but there could be a previously unexpected overlap between the two psychopathologies, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (manic depression).