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The Problem With Studying “Deviant” Video Games
Slate: The debate over the connection between playing video games and real-world behavior has subsided a bit since the days of its Columbine-era peak cacophony. But it’s very much an ongoing controversy, and one with
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Exploring the Psychological Science of Violence
Violence is one of the most widespread, if oftentimes inexplicable, forms of human behavior. From motive to method to outcome, violence spans all demographic boundaries and is the subject of widespread study by psychological scientists.
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Language, Mind, and Human Nature
Hailed as one of the world’s most influential people, experimental psychologist Steven Pinker’s interests span all aspects of language, mind, and human nature. In his classic book The Language Instinct, Pinker argues that languages are
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Debunking pseudoscience and studying psychopathy
Scott Lilienfeld is both a researcher of and advocate for psychological science. His clinical work has primarily focused on psychopathy; he developed the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI-R), a 154-item personality test developed to be taken
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The Origins of Violence
NPR Science Friday: We’ve heard that human violence is on the rise, that it’s on the wane, that it’s hard-wired, and that it’s learned. But what do we really know about where violence comes from
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The Nature/Nurture Mixture
The nature/nurture interaction is a vibrant and important field of study in behavioral science. Terrie Moffitt has focused her research on how genes and environment can, in certain combinations, spur antisocial and criminal behaviors. Her