Simon Oxenham
The best and the worst of psychology and neuroscience
Simon Oxenham covers the best and the worst from the world of psychology and neuroscience. Formerly writing with the pseudonym "Neurobonkers", Simon has a history of debunking dodgy scientific research and tearing apart questionable science journalism in an irreverent style. Simon has written and blogged for publishers including: The Psychologist, Nature, Scientific American and The Guardian. His work has been praised in the New York Times and The Guardian and described in Pearson's Textbook of Psychology as "excoriating reviews of bad science/studies”.
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The Police Fighting To End The War On Drugs
Police chiefs are banding together to end the war on drugs.
Who Teaches The Teachers?
Most teaching textbooks aren't evidence-based according to a new report, so where should teachers go to keep their skills up to date?
The Academic Publishing Scandal in Two Minutes
Why universities can no longer afford to access the research they created themselves.
The Robin Hood of Science: The Missing Chapter
The tale of a young man driven to his death for fighting for what is right, and the young woman picking up where he left off.
Meet the Robin Hood of Science, Alexandra Elbakyan
How one researcher created a pirate bay for science more powerful than even libraries at top universities.
We Need to Rewrite the Textbook on How to Teach Teachers
A report from the National Council on Teacher Quality has found teacher-training textbooks aren't based in evidence.
10 Things Police Get Wrong About Psychology
Researchers tested police on major misconceptions about the psychology of policing
A Simple Principle of Educational Psychology Has Been Massively Misunderstood
The psychologist who fundamentally changed how teachers talk to children warns her message has been lost in translation.
What Makes Us Cheat? Three Classic Experiments from Behavioral Economics.
Watch entertaining reconstructions of classic experiments demonstrating our predisposition toward dishonesty.
Lessons from Psychology in How to Stick to Your Goals
The ability to delay gratification is vital for a successful life, and research suggests it is a skill that can be cultivated.
Four Times When Journalists Read a Scientific Paper and Reported the Complete Opposite
We all make small mistakes, but sometimes journalists report the complete and utter opposite of what a study really found.
China’s Radical Plan to Gamify Social Control
How China's new social credit system could lead to an Orwellian future.
The Zeigarnik Effect: Why Getting The Ball Rolling Is The Best Antidote To Procrastination
An experiment from the 1920s explains why cliffhangers are so compelling and starting a task is often the most important part.
How to Use the Feynman Technique to Identify Pseudoscience
Richard Feynman's method for understanding science can also be used for detecting pseudoscience.
Why Do People Fall for Pseudo-Profound Bullsh*t?
Researchers assessed what makes someone likely to believe collections of randomly mixed buzzwords were "profound."
The Atir-Rosenzweig-Dunning Effect: when experts claim to know the unknowable
The researcher behind the famed Dunning-Kruger Effect has found expertise can lead us to claim impossible knowledge.
When we become blinded by fear, fear-mongers win
We naturally respond disproportionately to events that frighten us, but to do so is playing into the hands of the terrorists.
Can Online Learning Ever Beat the Real Thing?
An engineering professor at Oakland University has a surprising answer.
Why Politicians All Seem The Same, Gas Stations Come In Pairs and Twitter is Turning Into Facebook
Hotelling's law, a principle from game theory explains the tendency for industries to set up shop right next door to their closest competitor.
How Hearing Something Now, Can Lead You to Believe the Opposite Later
If I were to say that “crocodiles sleep with their eyes closed,” and then a week later ask you if “crocodiles sleep with their eyes open,” what would you say? The answer might surprise you.
The Mystery of the UK’s Latest Drug Prosecution Figures
If you are caught with "soft" drugs in the UK, you are now more likely to be prosecuted than if you are caught with "hard" drugs.
Will The Next Refugee Crisis Be An Environmental Refugee Crisis?
Where is the next catastrophe likely to take place and what might the fallout be?
The Cult of ‘Deal or No Deal’
A look at the techniques the show’s producers use to whip the contestants into a superstitious frenzy, and the host’s own bizarre beliefs.
A War On Drugs That’s Actually Worth Fighting
100,000 people now die every year due to fake drugs. It is time for the resources wasted on a failed "war on drugs" to be put to good use.
‘The Silicon Jungle’: The ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’ of The 21st Century?
A senior engineer at Google shines a light on the dystopian possibilities of the online world that we all inhabit.
The Psychology of Initiation Ceremonies
The latest in a string of lurid allegations about initiation ceremonies in elite British universities has shocked the British public. What causes otherwise intelligent individuals to engage in unspeakable acts?
Why Do Most American Conservatives Still Refuse To Believe In Climate Change?
97% of scientists agree that humans are causing global warming, yet belief in climate change continues to depend on political beliefs above all else.
The Time an Entire Conference of Homeopaths Poisoned Themselves With Hallucinogenic Drugs
It took a 160-strong response team of paramedics, firefighters, and rescue workers to get the chaotic scene under control.
The Problem With Nuance For The Sake of Nuance
A sociologist has launched a blistering attack on his own field, but the problem he addresses is something that affects us all.
Most New Psychology Findings Can’t Be Replicated. So Now What?
A massive, groundbreaking study has found that the majority of new psychology findings in the top three flagship journals can't be replicated. Where do we go from here?