1) ADHD
You can listen to a discussion about ADHD in this episode of All In The Mind. There’s a link to a TV documentary here. ADHD used just to be diagnosed in children. There are now adults receiving diagnosis who were not diagnosed as children. This mirrors developments in the diagnosis of depression. Until 1980, depression could not be diagnosed in children. There is also an issue of method here. ADHD is diagnosed by observation in children but by self-report in adults.
2) Biases
This article explains problems of beta bias: when psychological theory or research ignores or minimises differences between males and females. It concerns the way in which addiction research has systematically underestimated the influence of gender. This article explains the problem of seeing eating disorders as a problem of adolescence. People move into adult services at age 19 where there is no specialist provision. This article looks at emerging evidence for diagnosis of autism in males and females. The ratio is getting lower, particularly in studies which involve diagnosis based on direct observation. This means that researchers are starting to ask how autism is different in males and females and whether there is a different form of autism in males and females.
3) Plain Packaging
Here is the latest review from the Cochrane Group on the effects of plain packaging. The tone is cautious but optimistic.
4) Reductionism
Reductionism is based on the claim that behaviour can best be studied by focusing on constituent elements or smaller, simpler aspects. This article looks at how reductionism goes wrong when applied to the brain. Some research projects assume that the best way to understand the brain is to study the role of individual neurons. The suggestion here is that the brain needs to be understood as a whole system.
5) Authoritarian Personality
I didn’t know until I read this article that the “f” in “f scale” used in authoritarian personality research stand for “fascism”. The article explains how this scale has been updated, with fascism operationalised differently. The article considers the political implications of this.
6) Studies Of Happiness
We’ve looked at an exam question which looks at how secure attachment can influence relationships across three generations. This article looks at the influence of secure childhood on later happiness.
7) Genes Do Not Tell Us Everything
This video explains one process which means that genotype is not necessarily expressed in phenotype.
