Behavioural Science Blog

Research on classification and case formulation

It has been postulated (for example see Persons & Miakami) that psycho diagnostic evaluation is an important phase in the treatment of psychopathology. However there is a fierce battle going on between those that argue for a stepped-care model in mental health care and those that argue that we should rather look at the specific [...]

How do biases affect decision making in mental health?

Bias in treatment recommendations is a problem health care in general. The focus on my research looks specifically at the biases in mental health care. In this field we find literature that suggests certain disorders are viewed as more “psychological” in nature and others are viewed as more “biological” in nature, and to some degree, [...]

Treatment Decisions of Mental Health Profesionals

I am very happy to have found some fellow researchers that have agreed to write one or more guestposts in the Behavioural Science Blog. For a start I (Martin Metzmacher) have invited a collegue of mine, Christina Sommerdyk, to tell something about biases in clinical decision making, especially what role causal interpretation of a disorder [...]

Behavioural Science Blog development

Dear reader, I started this blog about two years ago, on September 27th, 2009 with the article Why Evolutionary Psychology is a Valid Approach for Studying Human Behaviour. Since then the blog has grown to 45 postings, which are mostly text-based (and relatively long). The stats show 14,241 hits in total, and if I look at the [...]

Dan Ariely asks, Are we in control of our own decisions?

Another TED talk about irrational behaviour, sensory illusions and decisions. He sees illusions as a metaphor, saying that something like visual illusions, we all know, also occur in other senses and even higher level thinking. This is a very interesting, informative and funny talk. Dan Ariely is truely a gifted speaker ! Here is the Link [...]

Graduate School 101

For me, being a graduate student is very different from being a undergrad student. Doors open that were closed before, funds become available, that did not exist before and you get more 1on1 time with your favorite supervisor. But being a grad student means not only you got a new job – you also got a [...]

How do you like to consume your information?

Hi guys… I am really looking for input on which direction I should take in the development of this blog. So I thought – why not ask you – the reader? Please take a second to fill out the poll: Posted in Loosely Related Tagged: poll

Why are we happy?

>> Full Screen << Why are we happy? Interesting thoughts on happiness by Dan Gilbert. Posted in Philosophy Tagged: Dan Gilbert, Happiness, Psychology, video

Unconscious Perception: Reply by Tom Wootton

This is a reply posted at LinkedIn by Tom Woottoon to the original article: Unconscious perceptual processes. ———— I spoke to 150 mostly doctors and therapists last week and continue to be amazed at how my radical ideas are so well received. Depresssion, Bipolar, and Schizophrenia can be turned into an advantage with professional guidance and disciplined [...]

Dissertation: The allures of forbidden food

We know that dieting often does not work. There are many theories why that is the case, and some people say that it actually does work, but not for everyone. However I believe that we do not know much about dieting, because we have been looking for information in the wrong place. Let’s put up [...]