MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'irrational'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:12:31 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5139650&cid=t_172095_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F08%2Fwhy-bankers-need-to-stick-to-banking.html [Note: this post is very rich with hyperlinks. To fully understand the post, at least open the hyperlinks in a separate window and browse their material - ed.] In April 2011 I referenced a 2007 comment about health IT ROI, by then-Congressional Budget Office (CBO) head Peter Orszag, in a post entitled "Medicare/Medicaid Cuts? Spend Money on Patients - Not Computer Experiments": ... More on purported cost savings - Peter Orszag, former head of the Congressional Budget Office, said the use of electronic health records, without a major change in health care delivery, "would not significantly reduce overall health care costs" in the agency's 2007 report on long-term health care spending. He also said that according to data from the report, the return on investment for EHR's "is not going to ... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5139650 Wed, 17 Aug 2011 20:27:00 +0100 5139650 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5069406&cid=t_172095_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F07%2Fon-ehr-warnings-sure-experts-think-you.html I frequently mention what I call an "irrational exuberance" about health IT affecting the judgment of otherwise intelligent people.Here's an example where an expert's prescient warning about HIT problems was ignored.This letter of April 21, 2010 was FAXed to the CEO and CC'd to the CMO of the hospital where my mother was injured due to a May 19, 2010 EHR-related error.Incidentally, they have, to my knowledge, no postdoctorally-trained Medical Informatics specialists on staff, and possibly nobody with substantive formal training in the domain.Names of people and places have been redacted. To the best of my knowledge, the letter's concerns were ignored:April 21, 2010CONFIDENTIAL[name redacted]President and CEO[name redacted] Hospital[address redacted]Re: Electronic medical records observatio... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5069406 Tue, 26 Jul 2011 14:39:00 +0100 5069406 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5028470&cid=t_172095_109_f&fid=34761&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedblitz.com%2F%7E%2F26392869%2F0%2Fneuromarketing%7EThe-Upside-of-Irrationality-by-Dan-Ariely.htm Nobody is doing more to add to our knowledge of the irrational side of human behavior than Dan Ariely. Not only does he conduct experiments that are elegant in their simplicity, but he writes about his work and that of other researchers in a highly acccessible way. Upside is the successor to the bestselling Predictably Irrational, and it takes to new topics, ranging from CEO pay to speed dating. Comments[...] The Upside of Irrationality, Dan Ariely describes an ... by Apologies Really DO Work | Neuromarketing[...] Dooley (Neuroscience Marketing) writes about Dan Ariely ... by Can a Crappy Video Effect Your Decision Making? | Will Video for FoodThanks, nice review. I loved Predictably Irrational. I think ... by Luke FosterRelated StoriesApologies Really DO WorkSecrets of th... Neuromarketing blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5028470 Tue, 12 Jul 2011 13:52:51 +0100 5028470 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4902484&cid=t_172095_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F06%2F06%2Fidentifying-and-avoiding-contaminated-mindware%2F Broadly speaking, there are two key problems that contribute to irrational thoughts and behaviors: processing problems and content problems. The processing problem is reflected in our tendencies to be cognitive misers.  We naturally engage in thinking that is rapid and computationally inexpensive.  This cognitive thriftiness often serves us well, but at other times it can lead to less than optimal decisions.  Content problems include- mindware gaps, and mindware contamination. Mindware (a term invented by cognitive scientist David Perkins) is defined as rules, procedures and other forms of knowledge that are stored in memory and can be retrieved in order to make decisions and solve problems (Stanovich, 2009). A mindware gap occurs when the tools of rationality — scientific think... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4902484 Mon, 06 Jun 2011 12:08:04 +0100 4902484 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4841478&cid=t_172095_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Ffrom-spain-drug-prescription-habits-are-often-emotionally-driven%2F2011.05.19 I recently stumbled upon a very interesting editorial opinion in the ‘European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology’: ‘The use of drugs is not as rational as we believe…but it can’t be! The emotional roots of prescribing’, authored by Albert Figueras, from Fundació Institut Català de Farmacologia (Catalonia Institute of Pharmacology Foundation at Vall d’Hebron Hospital, in Barcelona). Since more than 40 years ago when Archie Cochrane said that “there must be solid scientific evidence behind any statement, decision and prescription made by medical staff”, and all the way until today’s WHO promotion of rational medicine utilization, both developing and industrialised countries have been striving to increase sound knowledge about prescription and thus spread the kind of rati... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4841478 Thu, 19 May 2011 13:00:18 +0100 4841478 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4747925&cid=t_172095_180_f&fid=38619&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FALifeCoachsBlog%2F%7E3%2FSoJ56Y-b3J0%2F When I was a kid and my dad would tell me to do something I didn’t particularly want to do like tidy my bedroom, I’d usually whine: “But why do I have to do it now when I’m busy pushing superglue into my sisters toothpaste tube?” My dad being the brilliant philosopher and debater that he was, would almost always respond by saying: “Because I said so” “Oh well” I’d think, “Why didn’t he say that in the first place?” and with that I’d happily put down the glue and start to clear the room up. It sounds completely ridiculous, doesn’t it? Responding, “because I said so” isn’t really a compelling argument. After all, I knew he’d said so there was no need to tell me that, other than it worked more often that not. Fast forward a few decades and I’m readi... Life Coach Blog: The Discomfort Zone : blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4747925 Sun, 24 Apr 2011 18:44:25 +0100 4747925 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4615188&cid=t_172095_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F03%2F20%2Fwhy-is-religion-important-to-mental-health%2F As a member of NAMI FaithNet, which “supports faith communities in mental illness outreach, education, and advocacy,” I receive their newsletters. A recent issue featured an interview by Gale Bataille and Bill Berkowitz with Jay Mahler, activist and founder of a grassroots movement which became The California Mental Health and Spirituality Initiative, and Rev. Laura Mancuso, Director of the initiative on the relationship between spirituality and mental health, religion and psychology. Below are some excerpts. Historically, religion and mental health issues have had an uneasy relationship–and it goes both ways: people with mental illness have long faced stigma in religious communities, and mental health professionals have, for the most part, been suspicious of religion. M... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4615188 Sun, 20 Mar 2011 15:11:42 +0100 4615188 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4592327&cid=t_172095_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F03%2Fama-deluded-on-health-it-begs-for.html The American Medical Association (AMA) has become worse than useless:AMA urges issuance of EMR penalties be delayedCongressional Quarterly's CQ Weekly (3/14, Zeller) reports that "Congress strongly believes that electronic medical records will bring down the cost of healthcare, so much so that it has passed two laws providing incentives for doctors who upgrade their systems and levying penalties on those who don't."But, the American Medical Association is urging that the penalties be delayed. Notably, the association "says a Government Accountability Office study released in February bolsters its point that the two laws create competing incentives that contradict each other." [Just our sub-15% approval rating Congress at work - ed.] The article adds that the Department of Health and Human ... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4592327 Mon, 14 Mar 2011 16:42:00 +0100 4592327 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4459958&cid=t_172095_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fmind-over-matter-in-medicine%2F2011.02.10 [Recently] I came upon a Jan 24 op-ed, “A Fighting Spirit Won’t Change Your Life” by Richard Sloan, Ph.D., of Columbia University’s psychiatry department. Somehow I’d missed this worthwhile piece on the sometimes-trendy notion of mind-over-matter in healing and medicine. Sloan opens with aftermath of the Tucson shootings: …Representative Giffords’s husband describes her as a “fighter,” and no doubt she is one. Whether her recovery has anything to do with a fighting spirit, however, is another matter entirely. He jumps quickly through a history of the mind cure movement in America: From Phineas Quimby’s concept of illness as a product of mistaken beliefs — to William James and “New Thought” ideas — to Norman Vincent Peale’s 1952 “... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4459958 Thu, 10 Feb 2011 22:00:02 +0100 4459958 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4419197&cid=t_172095_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F01%2F31%2Fare-we-rational-animals%2F Aristotle held the belief that man is a rational animal. A growing body of research suggests otherwise. Rational: of or based on reasoning (from Webster’s New World Dictionary).  This ambiguous definition is similar to what is given by many people when asked to define rational.  This type of definition is virtually worthless as it becomes open to a plethora of interpretations.  In order to teach and express the importance of rational thinking it is imperative to precisely define the concept. What is rationality? Rationality is concerned with two key things: what is true and what to do (Manktelow, 2004).  In order for our beliefs to be rational they must be in agreement with evidence.  In order for our actions to be rational they must be conducive to obtaining our goals. Cognitive s... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4419197 Mon, 31 Jan 2011 12:52:16 +0100 4419197 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3942846&cid=t_172095_109_f&fid=34761&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedblitz.com%2F%7E%2F19002543%2F0%2Fneuromarketing%7EMistakes-Were-Made-but-not-by-me.htm The imperfection of our human brains has been a frequent topic of books lately, most notably Dan Ariely’s Predictably Irrational. Mistakes were made goes into considerable depth on one key failing, cognitive dissonance. The authors call cognitive dissonance the “engine of self-justification” and attribute many examples of irrational behavior to our attempts to resolve it. Comments[...] grandfather smoked until he was 95 and was always ... by Doctor Disruption » The Engine of Self Justification (Source: Neuromarketing) Neuromarketing blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3942846 Thu, 19 Aug 2010 12:53:23 +0100 3942846 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3750013&cid=t_172095_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F07%2Fmeaningful-use-final-rule-have.html Meaningful use before meaningful usability?The Dept. of HHS today has released the final version of "Meaningful Use" rules on HIT, which can be seen here: Meaningful Use – Final Version Full Text.By what category of diligence were the rules for "meaningful use" finalized on the same date that a NIST conference is being held on health IT "usability" ("Usability in Health IT: Technical Strategy, Research, and Implementation", http://www.nist.gov/itl/usability_hit.cfm), implying there's a problem with usability of these experimental devices physicians are supposed to "meaningfully use?"Don't take my word on the issue of usability problems.The National Research Council's 2009 findings were that current HIT does not support clinicians' cognitive needs as here:CURRENT APPROACHES TO U.S. HEALTH... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3750013 Tue, 13 Jul 2010 18:49:00 +0100 3750013 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3318436&cid=t_172095_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F02%2F28%2Fbecome-a-contributor-to-world-of-psychology%2F Unbeknownst to some of you, World of Psychology welcomes guest contributors! Please send us your essays, commentary, opinion or rational (or sometimes irrational!) thoughts about anything in the world of psychology and mental health. This is a wonderful opportunity for the writers in our audience — professionals and laypeople alike — to share their point of view with our 1.1 million readers. Entries should be about a psychology or mental health topic (obviously), and be something that hasn’t been published online already a hundred times before. We’re especially interested in folks who are interested in recent research or news on a specific topic, and can bring their own background, experiences and insight to bear on that topic. World of Psychology is about opening u... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3318436 Sun, 28 Feb 2010 20:58:10 +0100 3318436 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3136593&cid=t_172095_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F01%2F02%2Flife-is-unfair-now-what%2F I probably don’t go a week without hearing some form of this complaint — life is unfair. It’s usually in the form of: “I can’t believe this happened to me! Why do bad things always seem to happen to me!?” “I’m a special person, why shouldn’t I be treated like someone special?” “Why does everyone else seem to succeed where all I can do is fail?” “I didn’t make the team/get the job/get asked out on a second date/get any of the attention my other siblings got.” You see how it goes. On and on, we don’t run out of examples of where we believe we’ve been untreated unfairly in life. Here’s how I try and look at it though — life is a never-ending game of learning. When something bad... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3136593 Sat, 02 Jan 2010 11:32:22 +0100 3136593 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2916062&cid=t_172095_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F10%2Fnsw-nightmare-and-overuse-of-computers.html At "From Down Under: The Story of the Deployment of an ED Clinical Information System ‐ Systemic Failure or Bad Luck" I posted excerpts from an essay of the same name by an Australian medical informatics specialist about what appeared to be an Emergency Department (ED) nightmare.Those excerpts should be frightening to anyone who ever gets ill and might need to visit an ED (meaning, all of us).An ED electronic health record system (EHR) was to be installed in an entire Australian state, New South Wales (NSW), with 200+ hospitals that apparently presented a mission hostile user experience and great opposition by critical care physicians in a setting where death can occur - suddenly and irreversibly - in the flash of an eye. That Medical Informatics specialist's observations, analysis and q... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2916062 Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:56:00 +0100 2916062 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2842589&cid=t_172095_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F09%2F29%2F10-secrets-your-therapist-wont-tell-you%2F Psychotherapists are a unique profession in the world because they are paid to listen and help people improve aspects of their lives or combat a mental health issue that’s affecting them. But there’s some stuff that goes on in the therapy office that you should know about before you decide to take the plunge (or if you’ve already taken it, well, better late than never!). Here’s a few… 1. I honestly don’t know whether I can help you or not. Most therapists honestly believe they can help most people with most problems. However, until you get in there and start working with a therapist, a therapist can’t really predict whether they’ll be able to help you or not. Most therapists believe they can help anyone who comes to them with a specific probl... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2842589 Tue, 29 Sep 2009 11:55:38 +0100 2842589 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2621853&cid=t_172095_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F07%2F20%2F10-tips-for-getting-it-done-today%2F Procrastination is something most people have had to deal with at some point in their lives. We put things off, especially things that are boring, lengthy, drudgery, or might challenge us in some unexpected or unforseen way. It’s not that we don’t think we can do it (although for some people, that’s indeed a thought that enters their mind); it’s more often the case that we know we can do it, we just don’t want to. Procrastination can be beaten through some simple tips — by becoming more aware of the self-defeating thoughts you’re telling yourself about doing the task, and by becoming better organized. Although the tips are easy, putting them into use takes practice and repetition. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t succeed at first; ju... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2621853 Mon, 20 Jul 2009 12:38:07 +0100 2621853 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2473251&cid=t_172095_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F06%2Fwharton-on-healthcare-it-can-i-go-home.html Professors at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (one of the most prestigious business colleges in the world) had some very interesting observations about healthcare IT yesterday in an article entitled:"Information Technology: Not a Cure for the High Cost of Health Care."I have been writing on these same themes - irrational exuberance, HIT not being a panacea or cybernetic miracle, HIT as a facilitating tool in medicine, not a revolutionary one (but only if "done right"), inadequate research to back up the often grandiose claims, and so forth for over a decade ("Contemporary Issues in Medical Informatics: Common Examples of Healthcare IT Failure", link). I penned such sacrilege, often at risk to my career due the unpopularity of these ideas, itself due to the irrational ... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2473251 Fri, 12 Jun 2009 02:55:00 +0100 2473251 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2441282&cid=t_172095_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F05%2Fharvards-emr-justification-we-just-have_27.html I think what I termed "irrational exuberance" over health IT is now devolving into just simple irrationality.I am unfamiliar with the reasoning employed below (in boldface) by the Harvard researcher, Ashish Jha, MD, MPH (who authored the April 2009 EHR usage survey "Use of Electronic Health Records in U.S. Hospitals" in the NEJM).From "Cash for Computers", HealthLeaders Media, May 11, 2009. First, my opinions:... "This forced timeline [by 2014] is a very bad thing. I'm concerned it is going to take an experimental technology and turn it into a train wreck," Silverstein [me - ed.] says. "We need a more gradual process where we can learn from mistakes on a small scale to avoid reproducing them on a large scale ... So now, Silverstein says, healthcare providers are caught between their missio... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2441282 Wed, 27 May 2009 17:06:00 +0100 2441282 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2463556&cid=t_172095_180_f&fid=38602&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.armstrongmethod.com%2Fblog%2Fhow-to-beat-anxiety%2F Do you get anxiety?  Does it stop you dead in your tracks and rob you of your power? For many years I battled with major anxiety.  It wasn’t a nice experience at all.  During my teenage years, anxiety was as much a part of my life as my pimple cream.  I remember feeling so afraid and out of control.  If you experience anxiety, know that I empathize with your experience, I’m sending you lots of love and support, and that you are not alone.   According to AnxietyPanic.com, millions of Americans have some form of anxiety.  It is a normal reaction to stress that helps one deal with tense situations and helps one to cope. But when anxiety becomes an excessive, irrational dread of everyday situations, it has become a disabling anxiety disorder. Anxiety can be accompanied by physical e... Armstrong Method blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2463556 Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:07:02 +0100 2463556 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1960597&cid=t_172095_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F11%2Fshould-us-call-moratorium-on-ambitious.html We are now engaged in a worldwide economic crisis, the likes of which have probably not been seen since the 1920's.In "Bank Bailout Puts £12.7bn NHS Electronic Medical Record Project In Jeopardy" I commented on how the world financial crisis of 2008 combined with chronic project difficulties and mismanagement was creating such high levels of doubt about the UK's Connecting for Health (CfH) national program for electronic health records (EHR's), that the program was under consideration for cancellation.From that post:Christine Connelly, the Department of Health's recently appointed head of informatics, is understood to be reviewing whether the programme is a cost-effective way of improving the quality and safety of patient care.She will have to find compelling arguments to stop the Treasur... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1960597 Fri, 14 Nov 2008 04:43:00 +0100 1960597 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1717161&cid=t_172095_133_f&fid=35082&url=http%3A%2F%2Fautism.gbrettmiller.com%2F2008%2F08%2Fthe-internet-doesnt-make-people-stupid%2F Over at Wired.com, David Wolman has posted an essay entitled The Critics Need a Reboot. The Internet Hasn’t Led Us Into a New Dark Age. The essay is a response to the numerous recent books and articles that paint “the internet and its digital spawn” as the cause of the growing shallowness and dumbing-down of society. I’ve been following this trend of blaming the internet as part of another interest of mine, Work Literacy, and that is how I came across this particular article. What caught my eye, in terms of relevance for this blog, was Wolman’s take on the role the internet (and its digital spawn) plays. It’s not the cause of these problems, it is an enabler of these things for people, and a society, that is already pre-disposed to this way of thinking. ... 29 Marbles blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1717161 Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:16:39 +0100 1717161 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1616618&cid=t_172095_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F07%2F12%2Ffreedom-to-not-choose%2F In February, John Tierney wrote a great column in February for the New York Times about Dan Ariely’s new book, Predictably Irrational. We already posted about Ariely’s book last week (see here). In this post, we simply wanted to highlight Tierney’s excellent summary of some of Ariely’s experiments. * * * In a series of experiments, hundreds of students could not bear to let their options vanish . . . . * * * They played a computer game that paid real cash to look for money behind three doors on the screen. . . . After they opened a door by clicking on it, each subsequent click earned a little money, with the sum varying each time. As each player went through the 100 allotted clicks, he could switch rooms to search for higher payoffs, but each switch used up a clic... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1616618 Sat, 12 Jul 2008 20:00:32 +0100 1616618 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1606315&cid=t_172095_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.files.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F04%2Fabc-dan-ariely-interview.mp3 We presented participants with two portraits – Mike and John – and asked them to choose whom they’d rather date. For half the participants we distorted the picture of Mike and added it to the set, so they had John, Mike and an ugly version of Mike to choose from. For the other half of the students, we distorted John, so they had Mike, John and an ugly John. When the ugly version of Mike was presented, the attractive version of Mike became the most desirable date. And when the ugly version of John was presented, John’s attractive version became the most desirable. It is very hard for us to evaluate things in absolute terms. So, we evaluate products and people in relative terms, which makes us vulnerable to this kind of trap, called the asymmetric dominance effect. Spending p... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1606315 Fri, 11 Jul 2008 03:07:00 +0100 1606315 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1605887&cid=t_172095_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2008%2F07%2F10%2Fsuicide-barriers-are-effective%2F Suicide is one of those irrational acts that is still misunderstood and stigmatized, even amongst people who otherwise are okay with mainstream mental health concerns. Most people still don’t understand how someone could ever feel so despondent and depressed that they would want to end their own lives. I also suspect that at one time or another, a significant minority of people have thought about suicide, even if just in passing. The New York Times Magazine had an article this past weekend about a different approach to suicide. Instead of only looking to help treat people most at risk for suicide (people who suffer from depression, for instance), public health officials are also looking at the common means in which suicide is committed. One of those common means is jumping off a b... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1605887 Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:59:27 +0100 1605887 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1603016&cid=t_172095_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2008%2F07%2F09%2Fmoney-can-change-your-behavior-toward-others%2F Pages: 1 2 Next »     Single Page In 2004, researchers James Heyman and Dan Ariely (author of Predictably Irrational) devised a set of deceptively simple experiments that illustrated that the moment money enters a social relationship, it can change the very nature of our expectations and the relationship. In the first experiment, they asked three different groups to perform a simple but menial task – drag as many circles as you can across a computer screen in 5 minutes. The groups only differed in what they would get for completing this task: $5, $0.50 or nothing. For the group that got nothing, the task was framed not as a task per se, but as a ‘favor’ to help out the researchers. If you read the book, you already know that the group that performed ... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1603016 Wed, 09 Jul 2008 14:00:39 +0100 1603016 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1536071&cid=t_172095_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2F316584626%2F It happens. Often.      Why? We just secured an interview with Ori Brafman, co-author of Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior (Doubleday Business, 2008), to discuss our Dark Side (well, he calls it "different hidden forces" and "psychological undercurrents"). While reading some reviews about his book, I particularly enjoyed finding, after the usual impressive long collection of endorsements, this "disclaimer": *DISCLAIMER: If you decide to buy this book because of these endorsements, you just got swayed. One of the psychological forces you'll read about in Sway is our tendency to place a higher value on opinions from people in positions of prominence, power, or authority. (But you should still buy the book.) Alvaro Fernandez (AF): Ori, wh... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1536071 Sat, 21 Jun 2008 13:06:07 +0100 1536071 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1481832&cid=t_172095_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2008%2F05%2F31%2Fbipolar-overdiagnosis-are-you-swayed%2F An excerpt from my book review on the new book by the Brafman brothers, Sway, in bookstores shortly: The one place the authors don’t really sway me is their attempt to explain why bipolar disorder is diagnosed so much more often than it was a decade ago. Unmentioned by the authors is the fact that many other mental disorder diagnoses have also experienced a significant increase in their use from a decade ago. They link the increase to two factors – the modern diagnostic system put into use in 1980 with the publication of the DSM-III, which “broadened” the bipolar diagnosis; and pharmaceutical advertising in the 1990s. Left out of this explanation are some of the reasons proffered by the actual researchers of the study (Moreno et. al, 2007). So what did the researchers who actual... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1481832 Sun, 01 Jun 2008 00:35:30 +0100 1481832 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1401588&cid=t_172095_122_f&fid=36506&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FBrainSciencePodcastBlog%2F%7E3%2F278304014%2F Discussion Forum (Source: the Brain Science Podcast and Blog with Dr. Ginger Campbell) the Brain Science Podcast and Blog with Dr. Ginger Campbell blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1401588 Sat, 26 Apr 2008 14:52:13 +0100 1401588 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1341216&cid=t_172095_122_f&fid=36506&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FBrainSciencePodcastBlog%2F%7E3%2F261695396%2F Most of you know that I am a fan of the All in the Mind podcast from Australian radio. I want to recommend the two most recent episodes: The March 22 Episode is actually  hosted by Volkart Wildermuth, from Germany. He interviews several of the world’s leading primate researchers. You will learn some of the recent discoveries about primate intelligence and culture, and also hear an excellent discussion of what makes humans different. Go to the website not just to hear the show, but to get a transcript and to see the extensive links. The March 29 Episode is a fascinating interview with Dan Ariely from MIT who is the author the new bestseller Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions, which describes his experiments in what is called behavioral economics. His w... the Brain Science Podcast and Blog with Dr. Ginger Campbell blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1341216 Tue, 01 Apr 2008 03:27:16 +0100 1341216 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1271833&cid=t_172095_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2008%2F03%2F02%2Fborderline-personality-disorder-and-the-brain%2F Some are suggesting that this study is some sort of groundbreaking work in understanding borderline personality disorder. While an interesting brain study, I’d suggest it tells us a lot less than the authors purport. First, this is a classic laboratory study. And while laboratory studies of this nature are the foundation for later clinically-relevant studies, they are, by their very nature, limited in what they can test and how they test it. With limited testing ability (and re-test ability, accounting for different moods on different days, which this study did not do), results are not generalizable to a clinical population — e.g., people with this actual disorder. Why is this a laboratory test? Because borderline personality disorder is first and foremost characterized by e... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1271833 Sun, 02 Mar 2008 12:02:16 +0100 1271833 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1231811&cid=t_172095_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F02%2Fblue-cross-of-california-wellpoint-to.html I commented on the "irrational exuberance" over healthcare IT here. Health IT is a double-edged sword. It can be used, and it can be misused. In the hands of the wrong people, it will "revolutionize healthcare" all right ... but not in the direction health informaticists and clinicians would desire.The title of this post seems the logical outcome based on the self-initiated debacle of Blue Cross of California, as posted at Wellpoint Halts Attempts to Have Doctors "Rat Out Patients":Blue Cross of California is sending physicians copies of health insurance applications filled out by new patients, along with a letter advising them that the company has a right to drop members who fail to disclose 'material medical history,' including 'pre-existing pregnancies.''Any condition not listed on the ... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1231811 Thu, 14 Feb 2008 15:35:00 +0100 1231811