Misc

When studying for exams, I was given three bits of advice: (1) Get plenty of sleep (2) Exercise (3) Eat plenty of fruit and veg. This advice should seem fairly obvious. All of the above has been shown time and time again to to maximize cognitive function. Yet what actually happens is the complete opposite - even amongst psychology students who should know better! The library has begun to fill with a large number of people who spend all day everyday glued to their books. The gym has emptied. Healthy food is usually off the menu. I have a theory, which remains totally untested! As an exam gets closer, anxiety levels rise accordingly. For many, this anxiety will increase when they remove themselves from their standard studying environment. This becomes a reinforcer and as studying becomes habitual, little time is made for anything else. Once the deadline or exam passes, life returns to normal. This may apply to other stressful deadlines throughout life, ...

Daniel Bor's latest blog entry  discusses problems with weak statistics in neuroimaging papers, but the issues raised are relevant to any area of research that relies on inferential statistics. For example, as behavioural scientists move towards collecting larger data sets, the risk of finding false-positives increases accordingly. Statistics also play an important role in any psychology degree. Gaps in statistical knowledge quickly become apparent when students are asked to critically review other's work or carry out their own research. One wonders if these early misconceptions could contribute to poor research practices further down the line.  In my somewhat limited experience, psychology students generally know what numbers they need to report, but often fail to understand what goes into making those numbers a reality. This common misunderstanding can be split into three distinctive areas where undergraduates may benefit from additional ...