Archive for the ‘Behavioural Science’ Category
Behavioural Science Top 5
Let’s assume for a while that Google shows you what is important. So Google’s Behavioural Science Top 5 could be translated as “The 5 most important websites about Behavioural Science”.
Well let’s take a look at them:
So there are about 10 million hits for that keyword and this page is ranking #3, just behind Wikipedia (no chance to beat them) and the FBI (probably better not to provoke them). This is actually pretty incredible. Thank you Google!
We will do our best to deliver high quality content.
PS: If you wonder: This picture was taken using a proxy – so no faking with the results, but they might look different on your computer, because Google does track you *creepy…I know*.
Upcoming Blogposts February 2010
Just a quick post today to let you know what you can expect in the next few weeks. I am very excited about these upcoming posts, as I have only seen some concept versions – and yeah – they did look very promising!
Pamela Smith is writing on an article about power. She is a powerful woman and it’s also her topic of expertise. Thanks Pam – I am really looking forward to reading your article!
Sanne Nauts just called me about an article we have written together (ready to be published – yeah!). But that’s not what you are gonna get to read (however thinking about it…that might also be interesting) – she really knows all about the backlash effect and what women on a job interview should and should not do.
Fred Hasselman is my personal hero of Nonlinear time series analysis & Dynamical modeling. Don’t worry – he says he has come up with an ingenious way to communicate these topics to people with an IQ lower than 150 (world première!).
Hubert de Mey did give the best lecture I have ever had the opportunity to listen to (about why Skinner got it right and Chomsky got it wrong – such a pitty that battle was lost a few decades ago). He is going to write about why it is really really important to have a theory when doing research (and why mapping brain regions to “something” – does not make sense).
I have also been talking to Daniel Fitzgerald about a possible contribution to this blog. I can tell you more about it in a couple of weeks, but it will most probably be a series of short video interviews on fMRI research and technology.
I am really excited that this blog is growing and attracting such high quality writers. However if you are reading this and you are a student (=like me) I would like to tell you this: Don’t be scared – we’re all a big family. Your contribution is just as valuable – so keep it coming!
Your pretty excited
Martin Metzmacher
New Authors – Welcome!
If you have been at the Radboud University in Nijmegen lately – you might have seen this ad (PDF). The Behavioural Science Blog is looking for new authors. Lots of them!
Writing this blog (together with Christina now for some times) has been one of the most interesting and also rewarding steps I have taken in my academical carrier.
Behavioural Science is often characterized by ground breaking, but very low-level research. Oftentimes it is only a very select group that actually read the article and often projects get abandoned, because the end goal “scientific article” is so far away.
I also wonder sometimes why we, as scientists, still use this very complicated system of scientific journals. Okay let’s be honest. Peer reviewed journals are very important when it comes to select high quality research – that’s for sure. But what is with all those really good, but not perferct research? And what is about those great ideas that you have, but never act upon?
As we enter the digital age this will all change – communication will be open, instead of closed. Ideas will spread fast, instead of slow and (from my perspective the best improvement) “ordinary” people will have access to scientific data and ideas.
However the language suited for writing for a select group of knowledgable people is different from the style when writing for “normal” people. It’s all about “What does that tell us?”, “WOW” and “Oh yes…I can use this piece of information for doing X!”.
This is what the Behavioural Science Blog is all about – and I think Dan said it best (so I put it in the ad):
Join us in our quest for high-quality and comprehensive articles written for those who want to follow the latest research, but find traditional sources inaccessible.
Change won’t come on its own.
Join it now and get your message out there!
If you want to become a part of this blog just send me an email and tell me a little bit about who you are and what you would like to write about. Videos, pictures, articles – it’s all welcome. The only thing I ask from you is that it comes in a format that makes it comprehensive to a large group of people, not only scientists in the field of behavioural science.
This has been a great journey for me and I enjoyed every bit of it. I hope you will enjoy it, too!
Martin Metzmacher
Behavioural Science Blog 