The Appeal of the Brain in the Popular Press

Educational neuromyths and instructional practices: The case of inclusive education teachers in Hong Kong

BACKGROUND

Educational neuromyths are known to exist amongst teachers in Western countries, and some researchers argue that neuromyths may affect classroom teaching.

METHOD

An online survey was designed and distributed to sixty-four Hong Kong inclusive education teachers. Descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation, Hierarchical Multiple Regression, and Thematic analysis were used to analyzed the collected data.

RESULTS

First, there is a relatively low prevalence of neuromyths among Hong Kong teachers. Second, neuromyths were not significantly correlated with inclusive teachers' instructional practices. Third, teachers' general knowledge of the brain was significantly correlated with neuromyths and is a significant predictor of neuromyths. Fourth, the work-related stress of teachers was the main barrier to learning about neuroscience and adopting evidence-based practices in classroom teaching in Hong Kong.

CONCLUSION

Our findings raise awareness of environmental and cultural factors that need to be considered and might affect the prevalence of neuromyths studies in non-WEIRD contexts.

Neuroscience literacy in educators' training programs in Asia: A call to action

The center of learning is the brain and the disciplinary science that examines its structure and functioning, and the nervous system as a whole, is called neuroscience. The assimilation of essential neuroscience-related content by educational systems has gained global interest, given the relevance of learning to education. Recognizing the significance of frontline workers, several governmental agencies and educational institutions have launched initiatives to foster the inclusion of neuroscience literacy in educators' training programs. Their success, however, has depended on collaborative efforts among educators, researchers, and other educational stakeholders, and the process has involved considerable debate. Here, we aim to articulate a rationale to promote neuroscience literacy for educators. In doing so, we revisit prior arguments on the importance of training educators and build up on other reasons to advocate for this kind of endeavor considering cutting-edge research. Following this, we discuss critical elements to advance neuroscience literacy for educators and examine the most important challenges to execute successful initiatives. Finally, we appraise the significance for Asia, reviewing the scholarly literature on educators' prior experiences, and highlight the case of Singapore as an exemplar initiative that catalizes human capital, infrastructure, and strategies to advance neuroscience literacy. We conclude by arguing that governmental agencies and educational institutions should strengthen their efforts to accommodate their programmatic plans and agendas to embrace neuroscience literacy in educators' training programs. This global trend has arrived to stay.

The Brain Disorders Debate, Chekhov, and Mental Health Humanities

The contemporary brain disorders debate echoes a century-long conflict between two different approaches to mental suffering: one that relies on natural sciences and another drawing from the arts and humanities. We review contemporary neuroimaging studies and find that neither side has won. The study of mental differences needs both the sciences and the arts and humanities. To help develop an approach mindful of both, we turn to physician-writer Anton Chekhov's story "A Nervous Breakdown." We review the value of the arts and humanities as a coequal partner with natural sciences in the creation of a robust mental health humanities.

What caused Joan of Arc's neuropsychiatric symptoms? Medical hypotheses from 1882 to 2016

Between 1882 and 2016, the medical literature offered a variety of etiologic hypotheses to explain Joan of Arc's voices, visions, and unwavering belief that she was the instrument of God. Although Joan lived from 1412 to 1431, there is extensive primary documentation of her life, including transcripts of her testimony during the Trial of Condemnation. Once this source material was compiled and made available, physician-authors began to theorize about Joan's neuropsychiatric symptoms in the context of her remarkable achievements. This article summarizes all papers written by physician-authors about Joan of Arc. The historical flow of diagnostic speculation in the medical literature reflects the cultural context in which it was produced as well as the emergence of novel ideas and new technologies in psychiatry, neurology, and neuropsychiatry. The early literature offered psychological theories and addressed the question of whether Joan was sane. The later literature focused on the possibility that Joan might have had epilepsy, with discussions of seizure etiology and possible cerebral focus, and also reflections on the purview of science as well as spirituality and the brain. This article offers the first comprehensive review of the medical literature about Joan of Arc, making this scholarship more accessible.

Persuasive Features of Scientific Explanations: Explanatory Schemata of Physical and Psychosocial Phenomena

Explanations are central to understanding the causal relationships between entities within the environment. Instead of examining basic heuristics and schemata that inform the acceptance or rejection of scientific explanations, recent studies have predominantly examined complex explanatory models. In the present study, we examined which essential features of explanatory schemata can account for phenomena that are attributed to domain-specific knowledge. In two experiments, participants judged the validity of logical syllogisms and reported confidence in their response. In addition to validity of the explanations, we manipulated whether scientists or people explained an animate or inanimate phenomenon using mechanistic (e.g., force, cause) or intentional explanatory terms (e.g., believes, wants). Results indicate that intentional explanations were generally considered to be less valid than mechanistic explanations and that 'scientists' were relatively more reliable sources of information of inanimate phenomena whereas 'people' were relatively more reliable sources of information of animate phenomena. Moreover, after controlling for participants' performance, we found that they expressed greater overconfidence for valid intentional and invalid mechanistic explanations suggesting that the effect of belief-bias is greater in these conditions.

Neurodualism: People Assume that the Brain Affects the Mind more than the Mind Affects the Brain

People commonly think of the mind and the brain as distinct entities that interact, a view known as dualism. At the same time, the public widely acknowledges that science attributes all mental phenomena to the workings of a material brain, a view at odds with dualism. How do people reconcile these conflicting perspectives? We propose that people distort claims about the brain from the wider culture to fit their dualist belief that minds and brains are distinct, interacting entities: Exposure to cultural discourse about the brain as the physical basis for the mind prompts people to posit that mind-brain interactions are asymmetric, such that the brain is able to affect the mind more than vice versa. We term this hybrid intuitive theory neurodualism. Five studies involving both thought experiments and naturalistic scenarios provided evidence of neurodualism among laypeople and, to some extent, even practicing psychotherapists. For example, lay participants reported that "a change in a person's brain" is accompanied by "a change in the person's mind" more often than vice versa. Similarly, when asked to imagine that "future scientists were able to alter exactly 25% of a person's brain," participants reported larger corresponding changes in the person's mind than in the opposite direction. Participants also showed a similarly asymmetric pattern favoring the brain over the mind in naturalistic scenarios. By uncovering people's intuitive theories of the mind-brain relation, the results provide insights into societal phenomena such as the allure of neuroscience and common misperceptions of mental health treatments.

A cross-sectional study of neuromyths among teachers in a Caribbean nation

BACKGROUND

The current COVID-19 pandemic and proliferation of misinformation regarding science highlights the importance of improving general science literacy. The continued preponderance of neuromyths among educators is of concern, especially in lower- and middle-income countries.

METHOD

Using an adapted questionnaire, a cross-sectional survey was conducted among teachers in a small island developing state in the Caribbean.

RESULTS

Two-thirds of the sample were unable to recognise at least 50% of the myths. Regression analysis demonstrated that higher scores in brain knowledge and exposure to prior teacher-training increased belief in neuromyths. On the other hand, specific in-service training pertaining to educational neuroscience improved scores.

CONCLUSION

Neuromyths are prevalent among teachers and appear to inform their teaching practice. Further research needs to be conducted to explore not just the prevalence of these myths but in what ways they may be impacting teaching and learning outcomes in the classroom.

When and why do people act on flawed science? Effects of anecdotes and prior beliefs on evidence-based decision-making

Today’s citizens are expected to use evidence, frequently presented in the media, to inform decisions about health, behavior, and public policy. However, science misinformation is ubiquitous in the media, making it difficult to apply research appropriately. Across two experiments, we addressed how anecdotes and prior beliefs impact readers’ ability to both identify flawed science and make appropriate decisions based on flawed science in media articles. Each article described the results of flawed research on one of four educational interventions to improve learning (Experiment 1 included articles about having a tidy classroom and exercising while learning; Experiment 2 included articles about using virtual/augmented reality and napping at school). Experiment 1 tested the impact of a single anecdote and found no significant effect on either participants’ evidence evaluations or decisions to implement the learning interventions. However, participants were more likely to adopt the more plausible intervention (tidy classroom) despite identifying that it was unsupported by the evidence, suggesting effects of prior beliefs. In Experiment 2, we tested whether this intervention effect was driven by differences in beliefs about intervention plausibility and included two additional interventions (virtual reality = high plausible, napping = low plausible). We again found that participants were more likely to implement high plausible than low plausible interventions, and that evidence quality was underweighed as a factor in these decisions. Together, these studies suggest that evidence-based decisions are more strongly determined by prior beliefs than beliefs about the quality of evidence itself.

How developmental neuroscience can help address the problem of child poverty

Nearly 1 in 5 children in the United States lives in a household whose income is below the official federal poverty line, and more than 40% of children live in poor or near-poor households. Research on the effects of poverty on children's development has been a focus of study for many decades and is now increasing as we accumulate more evidence about the implications of poverty. The American Academy of Pediatrics recently added "Poverty and Child Health" to its Agenda for Children to recognize what has now been established as broad and enduring effects of poverty on child development. A recent addition to the field has been the application of neuroscience-based methods. Various techniques including neuroimaging, neuroendocrinology, cognitive psychophysiology, and epigenetics are beginning to document ways in which early experiences of living in poverty affect infant brain development. We discuss whether there are truly worthwhile reasons for adding neuroscience and related biological methods to study child poverty, and how might these perspectives help guide developmentally based and targeted interventions and policies for these children and their families.

A pilot study of a neuroscience-based, harm minimisation programme in schools and youth centres in Australia

OBJECTIVES

The primary aim is to evaluate the feasibility of a newly developed, neuroscience-based, alcohol and other drug (AOD) use prevention programme, 'The Illicit Project', in Australian older adolescents. The secondary aim is to investigate the impact of the programme on students' drug literacy levels (a combination of knowledge, attitudes and skills).

DESIGN

A pilot study examining the feasibility of The Illicit Project in Australian schools was conducted.

PARTICIPANTS

Students aged 15-19 years from two secondary schools and a youth centre and 11 teachers and health professionals from various organisations in Sydney were recruited.

INTERVENTION

The intervention consisted of three 90 min workshops delivered by trained facilitators within a month.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY MEASURES

Students completed a drug literacy questionnaire before and after intervention. All participants (students, teachers and health professionals) completed an evaluation questionnaire postprogramme delivery. A paired-sample t-test and descriptive analytics were performed.

RESULTS

Students (n=169) demonstrated a significant increase in drug literacy levels from preintervention to postintervention (t(169) = -13.22, p<0.0001). Of students evaluating the programme (n=252), over threequarters agreed that The Illicit Project was good or very good (76%), that the neuroscience content was interesting (76%) and relevant (81%), and that they plan to apply the concepts learnt to their own lives (80%). In addition, all teachers and health professionals (n=11) agreed that the programme was feasible and valid for schools and perceived the programme to be effective in reducing the harms and use of AOD.

CONCLUSIONS

There is evidence to suggest that The Illicit Project is credible and feasible in the school environment and there are preliminary data to suggest it may help to improve drug literacy levels in young people. A large-scale evaluation trial of the intervention will be conducted to determine the programme's effectiveness in minimising the harms of AOD in older adolescents.

The social historical roots of the concept of emerging adulthood and its impact on early adults

Adults between the ages of 18 and 25 live in an era of economic and social uncertainty. Outsourcing, automation, and decreased governmental social spending have led to lowered living standards for youth; they frequently change jobs, are more likely to live with other people and have few benefits attached to their employment thereby prohibiting them from thinking about their long-term goals. The bio-psychological sciences have responded by offering a new life stage that they call emerging adulthood (EA). The new characterization disempowers youth and naturalizes their new uncertainties as a biological condition. This article argues that the stage offers little new insight about the experiences of youth and limits individual empowerment. In addition, such a conceptualization of youth is indicative of the narrow range of possibilities for adulthood in a post-industrial world that offers few pathways to get there.

Pre-service Science Teachers' Neuroscience Literacy: Neuromyths and a Professional Understanding of Learning and Memory

Transferring current research findings on the topic of learning and memory to “brain-based” learning in schools is of great interest among teachers. However, numerous international studies demonstrate that both pre-service and in-service teachers do not always succeed. Instead, they transfer numerous misconceptions about neuroscience, known as neuromyths, into pedagogical practice. As a result, researchers call for more neuroscience in teacher education in order to create a professional understanding of learning and memory. German pre-service science teachers specializing in biology complete neuroscientific modules (human biology/animal physiology) during their studies because they are expected to teach these topics to their students. Thus, they are required to demonstrate a certain degree of neuroscience literacy. In the present study, 550 pre-service science teachers were surveyed on neuromyths and scientific concepts about learning and memory. Pre-service science teachers’ scientific concepts increased over the course of their training. However, beliefs in neuromyths were independent of participants’ status within teacher education (first-year students, advanced students, and post-graduate trainees). The results showed that 10 neuromyths were endorsed by more than 50% of prospective science teachers. Beliefs in the existence of learning styles (93%) and the effectiveness of Brain Gym (92%) were most widespread. Many myths were endorsed even though a large share of respondents had thematically similar scientific concepts; endorsement of neuromyths was found to be largely independent of professional knowledge as well as theory-based and biography-based learning beliefs about neuroscience and learning. Our results suggest that neuromyths can exist in parallel to scientific concepts, professional knowledge and beliefs and are resistant to formal education. From the perspective of conceptual change theory, they thus exhibit characteristic traits of misconceptions that cannot simply be counteracted with increased neuroscientific knowledge. On the basis of our study’s findings, it can be concluded that new teacher programs considering neuromyths as change-resistant misconceptions are needed to professionalize pre-service science teachers’ neuroscience literacy. For this, an intensive web of exchange between the education field and neuroscientists is required, not just to deploy the latest scientific insights to refute neuromyths on learning and memory, but also to identify further neuromyths.

Readability of the 100 Most-Cited Neuroimaging Papers Assessed by Common Readability Formulae

Background: From time to time, neuroimaging research findings receive press coverage and attention by the general public. Scientific articles therefore should be written in a readable manner to facilitate knowledge translation and dissemination. However, no published readability report on neuroimaging articles like those published in education, medical and marketing journals is available. As a start, this study therefore aimed to evaluate the readability of the most-cited neuroimaging articles.

Methods: The 100 most-cited articles in neuroimaging identified in a recent study by Kim et al. (2016) were evaluated. Headings, mathematical equations, tables, figures, footnotes, appendices, and reference lists were trimmed from the articles. The rest was processed for number of characters, words and sentences. Five readability indices that indicate the school grade appropriate for that reading difficulty (Automated Readability Index, Coleman-Liau Index, Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, Gunning Fog index and Simple Measure of Gobbledygook index) were computed. An average reading grade level (AGL) was calculated by taking the mean of these five indices. The Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) score was also computed. The readability of the trimmed abstracts and full texts was evaluated against number of authors, country of corresponding author, total citation count, normalized citation count, article type, publication year, impact factor of the year published and type of journal.

Results: Mean AGL ± standard deviation (SD) of the trimmed abstracts and full texts were 17.15 ± 2.81 (college graduate level) and 14.22 ± 1.66 (college level) respectively. Mean FRE score ± SD of the abstracts and full texts were 15.70 ± 14.11 (college graduate level) and 32.11 ± 8.56 (college level) respectively. Both items indicated that the full texts were significantly more readable than the abstracts (p < 0.001). Abstract readability was not associated with any factors under investigation. ANCOVAs showed that review/meta-analysis (mean AGL ± SD: 16.0 ± 1.4) and higher impact factor significantly associated with lower readability of the trimmed full texts surveyed.

Conclusion: Concerning the 100 most-cited articles in neuroimaging, the full text appears to be more readable than the abstracts. Experimental articles and methodology papers were more readable than reviews/meta-analyses. Articles published in journals with higher impact factors were less readable.

The Prevalence of Pseudoscientific Ideas and Neuromyths Among Sports Coaches

There has been an exponential growth in research examining the neurological basis of human cognition and learning. Little is known, however, about the extent to which sports coaches are aware of these advances. Consequently, the aim of the present study was to examine the prevalence of pseudoscientific ideas among British and Irish sports coaches. In total, 545 coaches from the United Kingdom and Ireland completed a measure that included questions about how evidence-based theories of the brain might enhance coaching and learning, how they were exposed to these different theories, and their awareness of neuromyths. Results revealed that the coaches believed that an enhanced understanding of the brain helped with their planning and delivery of sports sessions. Goal-setting was the most frequently used strategy. Interestingly, 41.6% of the coaches agreed with statements that promoted neuromyths. The most prevalent neuromyth was "individuals learn better when they receive information in their preferred learning style (e.g., auditory, visual, or kinesthetic)," which 62% of coaches believed. It is apparent that a relatively large percentage of coaches base aspects of their coaching practice on neuromyths and other pseudoscientific ideas. Strategies for addressing this situation are briefly discussed and include changing the content of coach education programs.

Taking an educational psychology course improves neuroscience literacy but does not reduce belief in neuromyths

Educators are increasingly interested in applying neuroscience findings to improve educational practice. However, their understanding of the brain often lags behind their enthusiasm for the brain. We propose that educational psychology can serve as a bridge between basic research in neuroscience and psychology on one hand and educational practice on the other. We evaluated whether taking an educational psychology course is associated with increased neuroscience literacy and reduced belief in neuromyths in a sample of South Korean pre-service teachers. The results showed that taking an educational psychology course was associated with the increased neuroscience literacy, but there was no impact on belief in neuromyths. We consider the implications of these and other findings of the study for redesigning educational psychology courses and textbooks for improving neuroscience literacy.

Brain Knowledge and the Prevalence of Neuromyths among Prospective Teachers in Greece

Although very often teachers show a great interest in introducing findings from the field of neuroscience in their classrooms, there is growing concern about the lack of academic instruction on neuroscience on teachers' curricula because this has led to a proliferation of neuromyths. We surveyed 479 undergraduate (mean age = 19.60 years, SD = 2.29) and 94 postgraduate students (mean age = 28.52 years, SD = 7.16) enrolled in Departments of Education at the University of Thessaly and the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. We used a 70-item questionnaire aiming to explore general knowledge on the brain, neuromyths, the participants' attitude toward neuroeducation as well as their reading habits. Prospective teachers were found to believe that neuroscience knowledge is useful for teachers (90.3% agreement), to be somewhat knowledgeable when it comes to the brain (47.33% of the assertions were answered correctly), but to be less well informed when it comes to neuroscientific issues related to special education (36.86% correct responses). Findings further indicate that general knowledge about the brain was found to be the best safeguard against believing in neuromyths. Based on our results we suggest that prospective teachers can benefit from academic instruction on neuroscience. We propose that such instruction takes place in undergraduate courses of Departments of Education and that emphasis is given in debunking neuromyths, enhancing critical reading skills, and dealing with topics relevant to special education.

Neuroscience-Inspired Design: From Academic Neuromarketing to Commercially Relevant Research

Companies and organizations the world over wish to understand, predict, and ultimately change the behavior of those whom they interact with, advise, or else provide services for: be it the accident-prone driver out on the roads, the shopper bombarded by a myriad of alternative products on the supermarket shelf, or the growing proportion of the population who are clinically obese. The hope is that by understanding more about the mind, using recent advances in neuroscience, more effective interventions can be designed. But just what insights can a neuroscience-inspired approach offer over-and-above more traditional, not to mention contemporary, behavioral methods? This article focuses on three key areas: neuroergonomics, neuromarketing, and neurogastronomy. The utility of the neuroscience-inspired approach is illustrated with a number of concrete real-world examples. Practical challenges with commercial neuromarketing research, including the cost, timing, ethics/legality and access to scanners (in certain countries), and the limited ecological validity of the situations in which people are typically tested are also discussed. This commentary highlights a number of the key challenges associated with translating academic neuroscience research into commercial neuromarketing applications.

Neurobiological Correlates of Psychological Treatments for Insomnia

Abstract. Sleep disorders and sleep disturbances are considered nowadays a major public health problem. Within sleep problems, insomnia is the most common health complaint. The maintenance of insomnia symptoms may lead to a clinical disorder – Insomnia Disorder (ID). A significant amount of literature has shown the efficacy and effectiveness of psychological treatments for ID. Often, the evaluation of therapeutic processes and outcomes focuses on subjective measures such as sleep diaries. In this work, we review the few published studies that evaluate modifications in neurobiological domain related to evidence-based psychological interventions, namely cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I). The search was carried out consulting Scopus, PubMed, and ISI Web of Knowledge databases. Only 12 studies were found. From the reviewed papers it was observed that the results are diverse, perhaps due to significant differences pertaining to the methodologies used. However, one interesting finding emerged: daytime experiments on insomnia comprising mainly cognitive tasks denoted hypofunction in ID patients, whereas nighttime experiments mainly associated with affective/emotional tasks denoted hyperarousal. We suggest that the study of the neural changes prompted by CBT-I is a major topic in the domain of psychotherapy and sleep medicine. Despite the scarce studies on neurobiological mechanisms of CBT-I, the results achieved until now are promising and should be taken into account in the future. Nonetheless, more research on this topic is needed.

Brain Imaging, Cognitive Processes, and Brain Networks

The recent, rapid expansion of the application of neuroimaging techniques to a broad variety of questions about the structure and function of mind and brain has led to much necessary and often critical introspection about what these techniques can actually tell us about cognitive processes. In this article, we attempt to place neuroimaging within the broader context of the cognitive neuroscience approach, which emphasizes the benefits of converging methodologies for understanding cognition and how it is supported by the functioning of the brain. Our arguments for what neuroimaging has to offer are supported by two specific examples from research on memory that, we believe, show how neuroimaging data have provided unique insights not only into brain organization, but also into the organization of the mind.

Bridging Psychological and Biological Science: The Good, Bad, and Ugly

Revolution or the new phrenology-the advent of functional neuroimaging has led some psychologists to address issues of structure-function relations that only two decades ago would have been relegated to science fiction. Others, however, are skeptical of recent bridges between psychological and biological science and consider these advances as misguided and leading us astray. With any new advancement comes problems and pitfalls, and constructive criticisms help to sharpen the research program. Here I offer commentary on the state of the art and identify both advances and concerns in bridging psychological and biological science.

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience: The Golden Triangle and Beyond

The development and application of neuroimaging methods offers powerful means to study brain functions, but the resulting knowledge is more likely to be beneficial when combined with conceptual analyses that decompose complex psychological constructs into component structures, representations, processes, and computations; converging measures that gauge neural events at different temporal and spatial scales; behavioral measures that permit fine-grain analyses of brain-behavior associations; and experimental (e.g., lesion studies and/or transcranial magnetic stimulation) and nonhuman animal studies that test the putative role of specific brain structures, circuits, or processes. In addition, quantitative meta-analyses are important to move beyond idiosyncrasies of individual studies, and neurodevelopmental investigations can contribute to our understanding of brain-behavior associations.

Media reporting of neuroscience depends on timing, topic and newspaper type

The rapid developments in neuroscientific techniques raise high expectations among the general public and therefore warrant close monitoring of the translation to the media and daily-life applications. The need of empirical research into neuroscience communication is emphasized by its susceptibility to evoke misconceptions and polarized beliefs. As the mass media are the main sources of information about (neuro-)science for a majority of the general public, the objective of the current research is to quantify how critically and accurately newspapers report on neuroscience as a function of the timing of publication (within or outside of periods of heightened media attention to neuroscience, termed "news waves"), the topic of the research (e.g. development, health, law) and the newspaper type (quality, popular, free newspapers). The results show that articles published during neuroscience news waves were less neutral and more optimistic, but not different in accuracy. Furthermore, the overall tone and accuracy of articles depended on the topic; for example, articles on development often had an optimistic tone whereas articles on law were often skeptical or balanced, and articles on health care had highest accuracy. Average accuracy was rather low, but articles in quality newspapers were relatively more accurate than in popular and free newspapers. Our results provide specific recommendations for researchers and science communicators, to improve the translation of neuroscience findings through the media: 1) Caution is warranted during periods of heightened attention (news waves), as reporting tends to be more optimistic; 2) Caution is also warranted not to follow topic-related biases in optimism (e.g., development) or skepticism (e.g., law); 3) Researchers should keep in mind that overall accuracy of reporting is low, and especially articles in popular and free newspapers provide a minimal amount of details. This indicates that researchers themselves may need to be more active in preventing misconceptions to arise.

Digitale Demenz? Mythen und wissenschaftliche Befundlage zur Auswirkung von Internetnutzung

Digitale Medien sind, so selbstverständlich wie nie zuvor, Teil unseres Alltags. Damit verbunden sind Befürchtungen, dass vor allem die intensive Computer- und Internetnutzung negative Konsequenzen aufweist. Der vorliegende Beitrag gibt einen Überblick zum Forschungsstand über die Auswirkungen der Nutzung von Computer und Internet. Neun populäre Mythen werden identifiziert und mit Hilfe einer Zusammenschau von meta-analytischen Befunden auf deren wissenschaftlichen Gehalt überprüft. Im Mittel der aggregierten Ergebnisse finden sich keine Belege dafür, dass die Nutzung digitaler Medien zu sozialem Rückzug führt, gesellschaftlich-politisches Engagement verhindert oder die selbstberichtete Einsamkeit erhöht. Die Zusammenhänge zwischen Internetnutzung und Wohlbefinden bzw. Depressivität sind sehr klein, aber signifikant, wie auch die Zusammenhänge zwischen der Nutzung von Bildschirmmedien und Übergewicht. Im Mittel zeigt sich ferner, dass das Lernen mit Computer und Internet, inklusive Lernspiele, positive Konsequenzen haben kann. Allerdings sind die negativen Auswirkungen von gewalthaltigen Videospielen auf aggressives Verhalten und Erleben ebenfalls gut belegt. Die Befunde werden mit Blick auf populärwissenschaftliche Publikationen sowie die Rolle der Psychologie diskutiert.

How has neuroscience affected lay understandings of personhood? A review of the evidence

The prominence of neuroscience in the public sphere has escalated in recent years, provoking questions about how the public engages with neuroscientific ideas. Commentaries on neuroscience's role in society often present it as having revolutionary implications, fundamentally overturning established beliefs about personhood. The purpose of this article is to collate and review the extant empirical evidence on the influence of neuroscience on commonsense understandings of personhood. The article evaluates the scope of neuroscience's presence in public consciousness and examines the empirical evidence for three frequently encountered claims about neuroscience's societal influence: that neuroscience fosters a conception of the self that is based in biology, that neuroscience promotes conceptions of individual fate as predetermined, and that neuroscience attenuates the stigma attached to particular social categories. It concludes that many neuroscientific ideas have assimilated in ways that perpetuate rather than challenge existing modes of understanding self, others and society.

Persuasive images in popular science: Testing judgments of scientific reasoning and credibility

This article tested the assumption that functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) images in popular science news articles make those articles appear more reasonable and persuasive to readers. In addition to fMRI images, this study also examined the potential impact of science fiction and artistic images commonly found in popular news articles. 183 undergraduates were asked to evaluate one of four versions of an article, each with a different image. The researchers discovered no significant differences between readers' evaluations of the news article with the images isolated as the only independent variable. This suggests that images alone may not have a strong effect upon evaluation, that no image is necessarily more persuasive than another as implied by earlier studies and that further research is needed to determine what, if any, role images play in conjunction with the text to create a persuasive effect.

Neuromyths in Education: Prevalence and Predictors of Misconceptions among Teachers

The OECD’s Brain and Learning project (2002) emphasized that many misconceptions about the brain exist among professionals in the field of education. Though these so-called “neuromyths” are loosely based on scientific facts, they may have adverse effects on educational practice. The present study investigated the prevalence and predictors of neuromyths among teachers in selected regions in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. A large observational survey design was used to assess general knowledge of the brain and neuromyths. The sample comprised 242 primary and secondary school teachers who were interested in the neuroscience of learning. It would be of concern if neuromyths were found in this sample, as these teachers may want to use these incorrect interpretations of neuroscience findings in their teaching practice. Participants completed an online survey containing 32 statements about the brain and its influence on learning, of which 15 were neuromyths. Additional data was collected regarding background variables (e.g., age, sex, school type). Results showed that on average, teachers believed 49% of the neuromyths, particularly myths related to commercialized educational programs. Around 70% of the general knowledge statements were answered correctly. Teachers who read popular science magazines achieved higher scores on general knowledge questions. More general knowledge also predicted an increased belief in neuromyths. These findings suggest that teachers who are enthusiastic about the possible application of neuroscience findings in the classroom find it difficult to distinguish pseudoscience from scientific facts. Possessing greater general knowledge about the brain does not appear to protect teachers from believing in neuromyths. This demonstrates the need for enhanced interdisciplinary communication to reduce such misunderstandings in the future and establish a successful collaboration between neuroscience and education.

Clarifying domains of internalizing psychopathology using neurophysiology

Current initiatives such as the National Institute of Mental Health's Research Domain Criteria project aim to reorganize classification of mental disorders along neurobiological lines. Here, we describe how consideration of findings from psychiatric research employing two physiological measures with distinct neural substrates--the startle blink reflex and the error-related negativity (ERN)--can help to clarify relations among disorders entailing salient anxiety or depressive symptomatology. Specifically, findings across various studies and reviews reveal distinct patterns of association for both the startle blink reflex and the ERN with three key domains of psychopathology: (1) Fear (or phobic) disorders (distinguished by increased startle to unpleasant stimuli, but normal-range ERN). (2) Non-phobic anxiety disorders and negative affect (associated with increased ERN, increased startle across all types of emotional stimuli and increased baseline startle) and, more tentatively (3) Major depression (for which patterns of response for both startle and ERN appear to vary, as a function of severity and distinct symptomatology). Findings from this review point to distinct neurobiological indicators of key psychopathology domains that have been previously demarcated using personality and diagnostic data. Notably, these indicators exhibit more specificity in their relations with these three domains than has been seen in quantitative-dimensional models. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Short, Sweet, and Problematic? The Rise of the Short Report in Psychological Science

Our field has witnessed a rapid increase in the appeal and prevalence of the short report format over the last two decades. In this article, we discuss both the benefits and drawbacks of the trend toward shorter and faster publications. Although the short report format can help us cope with ever-increasing time constraints; ease the burden on hiring, promotion, and tenure committees; speed the publication of our findings; and promote the dissemination of research beyond the borders of our discipline, it can also exacerbate problems with publication bias and selective reporting, decrease theoretical integration within our science, and risk overemphasizing colorful effects relative to basic processes. In the face of these challenges, we believe it is essential to find ways to preserve the advantages of the short-and-fast approach while minimizing its disadvantages and while acknowledging the complementary and critical importance of longer articles in advancing the field.

Mistreating Psychology in the Decades of the Brain

We systematically mistreat psychological phenomena, both logically and clinically. This article explores three contentions: that the dominant discourse in modern cognitive, affective, and clinical neuroscience assumes that we know how psychology/biology causation works when we do not; that there are serious intellectual, clinical, and policy costs to pretending we do know; and that crucial scientific and clinical progress will be stymied as long as we frame psychology, biology, and their relationship in currently dominant ways. The arguments are developed with emphasis on misguided attempts to localize psychological function via neuroimaging, misunderstandings about the role of genetics in psychopathology, and untoward constraints on health-care policy and clinical service delivery. A particular challenge, articulated but not resolved in this article, is determining what constitutes adequate explanation in the relationship between psychology and biology.