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50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology: Shattering Widespread Misconceptions about Human Behavior

The Web page of the new book 50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology lists those myths. Here are some for you:

Brain Power: Myths about the Brain and Perception

• Most People Use Only 10% of Their Brain Power
• Some People Are Left-Brained, Others Are Right-Brained
• Extrasensory Perception Is a Well-Established Scientific Phenomenon

...

From Womb to Tomb: Myths about Development and Aging

• Playing Mozart’s Music to Infants Boosts Their Intelligence
• Adolescence Is Inevitably a Time of Psychological Turmoil

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A Remembrance of Things Past: Myths about Memory

• Human Memory Works like a Tape Recorder or Video Camera, and Accurately Records the Events We’ve Experienced
• Hypnosis is Useful for Retrieving Memories of Forgotten Events
• Individuals Commonly Repress the Memories of Traumatic Experiences

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Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks: Myths about Intelligence and Learning

• Intelligence Tests Are Biased against Certain Groups of People
• If You’re Unsure of Your Answer When Taking a Test, It’s Best to Stick with Your Initial Hunch

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The Social Animal: Myths about Interpersonal Behavior

• Opposites Attract: We Are Most Romantically Attracted to People Who Differ from Us
• There’s Safety in Numbers: The More People Present at an Emergency, the Greater the Chance that Someone Will Intervene
• Men and Women Communicate in Completely Different Ways
• It’s Better to Express Anger Openly to Others than to Hold It in

Click to read the rest.

The Science Network: Many videos for you to watch on neuroscience, cognition, and learning

A valuable resource! Watch videos on neuroscience, cognition, learning, and more.

Blog Glob - Inside the mind of an actor (literally): How does an actor engage with the part they are playing?

Excerpt:

"I think actors' brains are like musicians' in that they've been trained to learn enormous sections of language not by rote but by imaginative association," [Fiona Scott] told me before going into the scanner. "You're often in a visual architectural space in your head. In order to remember it, I need a visual image in my head."

Are all actors like that? "Probably, yes. And people who aren't actors certainly aren't like that because they say things like: 'How do you learn your lines?' Well, you don't learn your lines, you live in the imaginative moment and the line is inevitable in that situation."

Of course, that's not the whole story. Sir Ben Kingsley once told me through tears that, whenever he played a role, he always had a little phrase in his head that gave him the key to a character. When he played Anne Frank's father, it was the phrase, "Make me be the best dad in the world to that little girl."

"It's not remotely intellectual, what I do," Kingsley said.

Click to read the rest of "Inside the mind of an actor (literally)" (Guardian).

Interview of a neuroscientist - Learning, Doing, Being: A New Science of Education

Click to listen to this interview of Adele Diamond. From the Web page:

What Adele Diamond is learning about the brain challenges basic assumptions in modern education. Her work is scientifically illustrating the educational power of things like play, sports, music, memorization and reflection. What nourishes the human spirit, the whole person, it turns out, also hones our minds.

Do you think our method of education needs to be changed?

Note: Click to read many of Diamond's publications. And here's a New York Times article that includes her work: "Can the Right Kinds of Play Teach Self-Control?"

Blog Glob: When Listening to Music, Your Brain Is 'Moving' Even If You Are Not

Excerpt:

Recent findings have uncovered that when listening to a rhythmic sound, the motor region of our brain is active even if our body isn't.

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While you listen to music, the areas of your brain that enable your body to move are active, even if you are not. Recent research shows that you don't have to think about the music's rhythm or tap your feet to the beat to engage your brain's motor control areas.

"This finding goes against the traditional view that the brain's motor regions are involved only in executing body movement," says Robert Zatorre, PhD, of McGill University in Montreal.

Does this research help explain the irresistible urge to dance, or at the least, to tap your fingers, when music is played? "Research carried out in our laboratory and in others have already shown that

Blog Glob: "Tunes & toil"

Excerpt:

It may not be a new phenomenon but it’s getting louder with each passing phase. It was meant to be just part of the ambience of a place but now it’s more like a defining experience: Music at the workplace. While there are those who find music a distraction, there are many who believe that listening to music at the workplace helps calm the nerves, de-stress, increase productivity and even footfalls. According to a report in the journal Neuroscience of Behaviour and Physiology, the Russian A cademy of Sciences discovered that a person’s ability to recognise visual images, including letters and numbers, is faster when either rock or classical music is playing in the background. Research has also shown that music with an upbeat rhythm can reduce stress hormone levels by as much as 41%, thus increasing productivity.

Click to read the rest of "Tunes & toil" (Financial Express).

I like this concept! The Jazz Mindfulness Program

This is a very nice idea for young people. From the Jazz Mindfulness Program brochure (pdf):

The Jazz Mindfulness Program is the creation of musician and educator, Adam Bernstein. Sponsored by the Brooklyn Zen Center, this program is designed to bring music and mindfulness practice together in a new innovative way to nurture young people in their day to day lives. Students will have the opportunity to play jazz together with learning mindfulness meditation. The program is designed to provide students with the life-long skills of being in the moment, listening to one another and playing music in community. We celebrate jazz, creativity and self-discovery.

Our Goals Are

To provide a forum for young people to explore quieting their minds through sitting, walking and music meditation
To create a musical community where each student is challenged to grow musically through jazz
To provide a nurturing, safe environment for young people to explore being themselves
To provide a place where the students can share their musical explorations (via two planned concerts) and meditative insights with the larger community
Instill a great love for jazz and the jazz legacy
To have a great time together in community without judgment

Life after law: From practicing law back to being a musician again

Jeff Strahan was a trial lawyer for 10 years. Prior to that, he was a musician. From his bio:

Frustrated with the state of the music industry and the popularity of “boy bands” in the late 80’s, Strahan put his music career on “part time” status and returned to college.  His goal was to find a career where he could make enough money to pay for his own recordings and promote his material independent from the major label “machine.”  He decided to become a lawyer, work hard to build his own studio, and then return to music when the time was right.  He was a successful trial lawyer in Texas for ten years and his plan to once again pursue a music career came to fruition in 2000.  His timing was actually perfect with the advent of “Independent” music labels and Internet/Satellite Radio.

He quit the practice and moved to Colorado.

Colorado provided the perfect area for musical inspiration and examination of his soul.  The end result was a new and refreshed Strahan who could now spend his time performing, writing, and recording music on his own terms.  He is devoted entirely to it and could not be happier.

Click to hear him sing his song "Superman."

Senior associate pens and sings song "Skadden, You Gladden My Heart"

Hear Stacy E. Kray sing her song by clicking here. What's the story behind the song? She wrote it in response to a challenge by Ben Hallman. From "Skadden, You Gladden My Heart" (Am Law Daily):

Hallman came up with the song challenge after writing last week about Skadden's win on behalf of Jon Bon Jovi and other parties who stood accused of stealing someone's song. You can read the full story about the case here and read Hallman's interview with Kray here. Hallman also helpfully shares the full lyrics, which include this gem:

Skadden, don't be angry with my song.
I penned it with time off the clock.

She has a nice voice, don't you agree? I like her song much better than Nixon Peabody's (see notes at that link for the NP song and lyrics).

More than 500 songs to "elevate, inspire and increase positive emotions"

Ever feel down? Here's a whole list of uppers, some of which will be antidotes to your negative emotions. The effects of music are individual and not universal but everyone should be able to find some songs here to raise his or her mood. Take a look at this list {pdf] created by Dr. John Schinnerer of Guide to Self. What song makes you happy?

Image credit: Hans van de Vorst.