12
votes
Accepted
Is there anything in Freudian psychoanalytic theory that is scientifically sound?
Freudian psychology (and it's derivatives) are indeed pseudoscience, by and large. That said, Freud was arguably the first to systematically theorize and study human behavior and cognition, and in so ...
- 1,473
11
votes
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Importance of Neural Synchrony to Cognition
As you have already hinted at, the issue is controversial. I could leave it at that and say "no, there is no consensus", and it would be a true answer, but it wouldn't be satisfying, wouldn't it? ...
- 2,414
10
votes
What research has been done on brain-to-brain interfaces?
Rao et al. 2014 claims to be the first demonstration of a brain-brain interface in humans, using EEG and TMS.
Abstract
We describe the first direct brain-to-brain interface in humans and present ...
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10
votes
Accepted
Is Jordan Peterson correct when he states that "as societies become more egalitarian, personality differences across genders maximize"?
Searching the first three pages of "personality gender egalitarianism" on Google Scholar, I found five studies on this topic. All of them support the view finding of increased gender ...
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9
votes
Do researchers and laypeople understand statistics differently?
Even among researchers there is widespread misunderstanding of core statistics ideas. Look at the work by Geoff Cumming. Example paper title: 'Researchers misunderstand confidence intervals and ...
- 281
8
votes
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Are there any theories suggesting mindfulness is the opposite mental state to self-regulation?
I don't think there's any evidence suggesting that mindfulness or meditation are the opposite of self-regulation. In arguing why, it'll be useful to define terms.
Meditation and mindfulness
First off, ...
8
votes
Accepted
Which area of the brain was first correctly associated with a specific function?
Broca is generally considered the first person to localise structure to function, however, there are some earlier individuals to consider:
EDIT: i recommend the chapter Neurolinguistics from the ...
- 1,227
7
votes
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Dynamical systems theory as a metaphor in psychology: is it useful or not?
Like all models and modeling frameworks, the utility of the approach is often tied to how much it increases our understanding of the phenomena of interest. As summarized nicely by Smith & Thelen (...
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7
votes
Is art therapy really effective?
Slayton, D'Archer, and Kaplan (2010) review 35 studies conducted from 1999-2007 about the efficacy of Art Therapy. Their review covers a variety of quantitative designs, as well as a few qualitative ...
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7
votes
Which area of the brain was first correctly associated with a specific function?
Phineas Gage had his famous spike through the head in 1848, which lead to some discoveries about the function of that area, but these were quite general.
See:
Harlow, J. M. (1869). Recovery from the ...
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7
votes
Accepted
What mental illnesses cause different performance on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task
The diseases and mental dysfunctions that have been studied are Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, ADHD, Substance Dependence, Autism, Multiple Sclerosis and Schizophrenia (with and without ...
- 8,783
7
votes
What is the computational role of the cortical column?
Cortical columns are groups of neurons in the brain that are oriented perpendicularly to the cortical surface. Cells within a column respond to the same stimulus property (Fig. 1). For example, ...
- 19.6k
6
votes
Who first used the term 'heuristic' in a cognitive science context?
His very first use of heuristic beyond computer science (he won the Turing award in Comp. Science) is from 1946.
The Proverbs of Administration
Herbert A. Simon, Public Administration Review, Vol. ...
- 435
6
votes
Accepted
What article looked at the relationship between bedtime stories and national productivity?
I believe this is referring to David McClelland's 1961 book "The Achieving Society."* McClelland proposed that an achievement motivation (desire for achievement) could predict economic growth and ...
- 1,551
6
votes
Accepted
Where does instinctual knowledge come from?
In my mind there are two main explanations of this kind of instinct behaviours.
The first one is rooted in evolution. There are many examples of human innate behaviours which we can't explain e.g. ...
- 285
6
votes
How do moral judgments change for older adults?
Moral Judgement:
From Wikipedia:
... moral judgment ... is "the ability to reason correctly about what
'ought' to be done in a specific situation."
Research on moral judgement was pioneered by ...
- 18k
6
votes
What research has been done on brain-to-brain interfaces?
There were 2 pioneering papers published in 2014, both claiming to be the first in humans.
Grau et al (2014) was published first (August), but the actual experiment was conducted later (March 2014):
...
- 18k
6
votes
Accepted
Neurophysiological mappings of empathy
In this answer, I'm going to use "self" to describe the person who is empathizing and "other" as the person who is the target of that empathy (the person who's trying to be related to).
The most ...
- 8,783
6
votes
Accepted
Mapping Sustained Attention on the brain (EEG)
You should consider using subject-specific alpha channels and frequency ranges. There are differences between individuals in alpha peak frequency. Also the placement of the EEG cap as well as small ...
6
votes
Accepted
How to measure the correlation between "spirituality" and the susceptibility to false memories?
Maybe what you are looking for is the field cognitive science of religion:
Cognitive science of religion is the study of religious thought and behavior from the perspective of the cognitive and ...
- 1,760
6
votes
Cannot find a journal paper on a study on caffeine, even though it is registered at clinicaltrials.gov
Short answer
Haskall et al., The effects of L-theanine, caffeine and their
combination on cognition and mood, Biol Psych (2008); 77: 113–22.
Background
Here's some of the detective work I've done:
The ...
- 19.6k
5
votes
Accepted
does getting top marks and ranks in school or college make one intelligent?
I think you have three core questions:
What is true intelligence and how can it be measured?
To what extent does school performance correlate with true intelligence?
To what extent does school ...
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5
votes
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Why does optogenetics not mean that perfect brain-computer interfaces are possible?
has made it possible to have perfect input/output to the brain from a computer
Perfect? Definitely not: the complexities of optogenetics of a single mm square of cortex, of a mouse lets say, are ...
- 341
5
votes
Accepted
Rated model of driving-related processes and objects
A 2006 study by Horrey, Wickens and Consalus implemented a computational SEEV (Salience, Effort, Effort, Value) model for driving behavior that predicted scanning behavior, which I surmise is what was ...
- 6,902
5
votes
Is there a name for a scientist's resistance to disconfirmation of his or her theories?
This isn't quite what you are looking for, but it's close enough that it might help you find additional information.
Munro (2010) found evidence that people tend to discount the scientific ...
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5
votes
Accepted
Is there a name for a scientist's resistance to disconfirmation of his or her theories?
I understand confirmation bias as including this. The Wikipedia page you link has a section on "persistence of discredited beliefs" that corroborates my perspective:
Confirmation biases can be used ...
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5
votes
Which area of the brain was first correctly associated with a specific function?
for the record, and as confirmation of what the above answers affirm regarding ancient times here is the abstract from a fairly recent historical review of the subject:
Fragments of neurology can be ...
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