Cognitive Science

Simple 'Mirror' Trick Eases Arthritis Pain, Study Shows

| Stephani Sutherland | Posted 05.23.2012

Read More: Pain, Video, Cognitive Science, Brain, Optical Illusions, Ramachandran, V.s. Ramachandran, Weird, Phantom Hand Syndrome, Arthritis, Science News

Amputees who experience phantom limb pain can sometimes get relief from an optical illusion. This trick involves looking in a mirror at the reflection...

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What Sleight Of Hand Reveals About Brain Function

| Mariette DiChristina | Posted 05.17.2012

Read More: Magic, Neuroscience, Video, Cognitive Science, Pseudoscience, Neuromagic, James Randi, Psychology, Magician, Skepticism, Perception, Science News

“I see you have a watch with a buckle.” Standing at my side, Apollo Robbins held my wrist lightly as he turned my hand over and back. I knew exac...

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Why Some People Are Better At Drawing Than Others

Posted 04.26.2012

Read More: Art, Video, Cognitive Science, Brain, Psychology of Creativity, Drawing, Psychology, Brain Science, Perception, Better at Drawing, Good at Drawing, Science News

Since the dawn of human art-making, the divide has been clear: There are people who can effortlessly sketch an object's likeness, and people who...

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Neuroethics: Whose Mind Is It Anyway?

Matthew D. Erlich, M.D. | Posted 04.23.2012

Read More: Neurotech, Neuroscience, Cognitive Science, Transhumanism, Ray Kurzweil, Neurotechnology, Neuromarketing, Neuroethics, Artificial Intelligence, Brain Science, Science News
Matthew D. Erlich, M.D.

Reading a person's thoughts, implanting machinery into man, and augmenting our neural processing powers with cognitive enhancers are all matters of neuroethics. They bring us face to face with questions about who has access to powerful new technologies and for what purposes.

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WATCH: Creepy Robot Has Human-Like 'Bones, Joints, Tendons'

Posted 04.18.2012

Read More: Eccerobot, Video, Cognitive Science, Robotics, Anthropomimetic, Slidepollajax, Robots, Artificial Intelligence, Engineering, Science News

We may not be able to build a human-like replicant just yet, but robotics engineers have managed to create a machine man that's far more realistic tha...

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The Psychology of Whew!

Wray Herbert | Posted 04.11.2012

Read More: Close Calls, Emotion, Cognitive Psychology, Social Cognition, Relief, Relief Experiment, Cognitive Science, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Relief Studies, Science News
Wray Herbert

Despite its familiarity, we don't really know much about its nature or purpose. How does relief function in the human mind? What benefit could this pervasive emotion have in navigating life?

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Are We Putting the (Knowledge) Cart Before the (Emotional) Horse?

Sam Chaltain | Posted 05.30.2012

Read More: Mirror Neurons, Education, Assessment, Cognitive Science, Brain, Data, Bullying, Memory and Cognition, Education Reform, School Bullying, Video, Education News
Sam Chaltain

In school reform, we dramatically overvalue the importance of academic learning, and assume that merely focusing on better curricula and clearer standards will carry the day. Yet the research suggests otherwise.

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Neurotechnology: Science Fiction or Applied Science?

Matthew D. Erlich, M.D. | Posted 05.21.2012

Read More: Psychiatry, Brain Science, Psychology, Brain Scan, Applied Science, Neuroscience, Cognitive Science, Brain Imaging, Neuropsychology, Neurotechnology, Neurology, Science Fiction, Artificial Intelligence, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, Science News
Matthew D. Erlich, M.D.

As science makes a reality of what has been science fiction, we will face questions of how to best apply neurotechnologies. Should they be limited to helping those who have illnesses? Or should they bolster the performance of a wartime soldier, enable a C student to get As, or supercharge CEOs?

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Amy Lee

Fear Can Help You Appreciate Abstract Art: Study

HuffingtonPost.com | Amy Lee | Posted 02.18.2012

Read More: Fear, Art, Kendall Eskine, Cognitive Science, Aesthetics Study, Edmund Burke, Cognitive Science Studies, Embodied Cognition, Fear Art, Fear Art Study, Culture News

The next time you're having trouble appreciating Jackson Pollock, try seeing a horror movie first. According to a new study, feeling fear may actua...

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WATCH: Brain Scanner Contest Shows "Hardest" Lover

The Huffington Post | David Freeman | Posted 02.16.2012

Read More: Video, Cognitive Science, Brain Imaging, Love Competition, Brent Hoff, Brain Science, Fmri, Love, Neurochemistry, Science News

All's fair in love and war? Maybe. But the seven intrepid souls who participated in what's being called the "first annual love competition" all agreed...

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Are Business Meetings Making You Dumb?

The Huffington Post | Alicia Ciccone | Posted 02.08.2012

Read More: Small Business News and Trends, Business Meetings, Cognitive Science, Virginia Tech, Board Meetings, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute, Small Business News

Group settings, such as business meetings, can actually diminish intelligence, according to a new study from Virginia Tech's Carilion School of Medic...

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Research Shows Acceptance of Evolution Requires a Gut Feeling

Brandon G. Withrow | Posted 03.26.2012

Read More: University of Toledo, Evolution, Cognitive Science, Religion and Science, The Ohio State University, Science News
Brandon G. Withrow

Researchers studying pre-service biology teachers at two South Korean universities, all with an adequate understanding of the science behind evolution, discovered that facts had to correspond to one's gut feeling for the theory to be accepted.

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The Three Horsemen of Arts Education

Nick Rabkin | Posted 02.14.2012

Read More: Antonio Damasio, Public Schools, Philadelphia, Tax Rebellion, Cognitive Science, Arne Duncan, Atlanta, Washington, Diane Ravitch, No Child Left Behind, Achievement Gap, George Lakoff, Fiscal Crisis, Dc, New York, Neuroscience, Art, Mark Johnson, School Reform, Arts Education, Chester Finn, Chicago, Education News
Nick Rabkin

If more education policymakers begin to recognize the poor returns that school reform has brought, we may, even in this time of deep economic strain, see a new openness to the arts in our schools.

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We're Asking All the Wrong Questions

Steve Nelson | Posted 11.14.2011

Read More: Creativity, Homework, Education, Cognitive Science, Neurobiology, Learning Theory, Education Reform, Imagination, Education News
Steve Nelson

The quality of the answers one gets is dependent on the quality of the questions one asks. In education policy and practice, we are almost always asking the wrong questions.

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Why Multitasking Makes Us Stupid

Margaret Heffernan | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Multitasking, Cognitive Science, Internet, Texting While Driving, Psychology, Driving, State Farm, Business News
Margaret Heffernan

According to recent research by State Farm, twenty percent of drivers are now accessing the Internet while driving. This is just the latest example of...

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Brainscape Taps Into the Greatest App of All: Your Brain

An Xiao Mina | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Smartphone, Iphone, App, Cognitive Science, Brain, Brainscape, Memory, Psychology, Business, Learning, Technology News
An Xiao Mina

Until we find a way to plug in a USB port into our our bodies, an app like Brainscape brings us back to that most ancient, powerful and readily-available app of all: the human brain.

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Racing to the Top of the Cliff (and Beyond)

Steve Nelson | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Stress, Cognitive Science, The American Freshman: National Norms, Accountability, Neurobiology, Race to the Top, Cognitive Psychology, Obama Reform, High-Stakes Testing, Education Reform, College News
Steve Nelson

Will we ever learn? The latest evidence that the "Race to the Top" program leads over the edge of a cliff comes courtesy of the depressing results rep...

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SLIDESHOW: Art And Creativity In The Lab: Seven Amazing TED Talks

Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Beau Lotto, Creativity, Luca Turin, Neuroscience, Cognitive Science, Tom Wujec, Slidepollajax, TED Talks, Charles Limb, Brain Science, Art Theory, Denis Dutton, Scott Kim, Creativity Studies, Arts News

In the last couple of decades, the market for oversimplifying creativity has exploded. No executive seminar is complete without a presentation on "Man...

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Neuroscience, Meet Conceptual Art

Carl Schoonover | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Brain Scans, Thought, Mirror Neurons, MRI Brain Scans, Brain Pictures, Portrait of the Mind, Neuroscience, Cognitive Science, Brain, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Cognitive Dissonance, Neuropsychology, Brain Fitness, Neurology, Mri, Slidepollajax, Cognition, Mind, Neurotransmitters, Books News
Carl Schoonover

In making the case for the raw aesthetic appeal of neuroscience data, I focus on the powerful ideas that have given us this striking visual vocabulary.

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What the Pundits Missed

George Lakoff | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: 2010, Cognitive Science, 2010 Elections, 2010 Election Results, Pundits, Elections 2010, Democratic Party, Democrats, Republican Party, Republicans, Politics News
George Lakoff

The usual pundits, for all their verbiage, have missed a lot, especially since they have nobody from the cognitive and brain sciences discussing the election. Here's part of what's been missing from the discussion.

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Science, Religion, and Sustainability: Lessons from My Grandfather

Bill Shireman | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Sustainability, Religion and Politics, Religion, Science, Philosophy, Cognitive Science, Green News
Bill Shireman

A Public Display of Extraordinary Ignorance, Unsupported Speculation, and Surprising Naïveté by Bill Shireman When I was about eight, and painful...

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What's Right with America? Let Me List the Books

Robert David Steele | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Leadership, Global Game, Whole System, Reflective Practice, Stabilization, Decision-Support, Self-Determination, Web of Knowledge, Secession, Community, Collective Intelligence, Innovtion, Future, World Brain, Integrity, Peace, World Mind, Civilization, Culture, Voices, History, Global Brain, Liberty, Intelligence, Cognitive Science, Natural Capitalism, Values, Bio-Economics, Africa, Analysis, Freedom, Epoch B, Deliberative Dialog, Clarity, Systemic Inquiry, Technology, Common Wealth, Reconciliation, Strategy, Goodness, Bio-Mimicry, Social Capitalism, Reconstruction, Human Scale, Ecological Economics, Compassion, Conscious Evolution, Evolutionary Activism, Web 2.0, Atlases, Philosophy Priorities, Information, Health, Web 4.0, Integral Consciousness, Cosmos, Diversity, China, Truth, Universe, Politics News
Robert David Steele

I became the #1 Amazon reviewer for non-fiction [or 32/216 overall including movies, software, and fiction) quite by accident, loading 300 reviews fr...

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The Moral Landscape: Thinking About Human Values in Universal Terms

Sam Harris | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Religion, Science, Morality, Cognitive Science, The Moral Landscape, Sam Harris, Books News
Sam Harris

If there are more and less effective ways for us to seek happiness and to avoid misery in this world -- and there clearly are -- then there are right and wrong answers to questions of morality.

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Can You Change Your Mind by Changing Your Sensations?

Kari Henley | Posted 11.17.2011

Read More: Kari Henley, Mind Body Connection, Mind-Body Connection, Cognitive Science Studies, Cognitive Science, The Inner Life, Healthy Living News
Kari Henley

Dr. John A. Bargh of Yale has shown our mind is constantly being shaped by the things we encounter in the physical world, right down to the hardness of our chair.

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A New Psychological Method: Metaphor Therapy

Wray Herbert | Posted 11.17.2011

Read More: Metaphor Therapy, Psychological Science, Cognitive Science, Emotional Regulation, Emotional Healing, Healing, The Inner Life, Healthy Living News
Wray Herbert

Many healing traditions make use of jars--variously called God jars, or worry jars. The idea is that you can literally compartmentalize your troubles, and thus take away their emotional power.

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