Abstract Currently, in the United States, there is a high degree of distrust surrounding the safety of vaccines, the vaccine development process, and even the necessity of preventative vaccines. Many individuals are also concerned about side effects associated with vaccination, and most do not understand that these side effects indicate an excellent immune response. Many …
Understanding Vaccine Hesitancy
Abstract Psychology suggests that when we are told we are wrong about something, particularly if we lack education or knowledge of the subject, we are more likely to dig in rather than to adjust our thinking (Salali & Uysal, 2020; Schmidt et al., 2017)). If we look at the recent history since Andrew Wakefield and …
Learning Greek the Hard Way.
While there is some debate concerning whether or not a virus is a life form, certainly the pressures of natural selection impact the evolution of viruses as they do other organisms (Krupovic et al., 2018; Worobey, 2001). One difference between viruses and even the simplest bacteria is the speed at which viruses can evolve and …
Evidence-based health education model for addressing childhood obesity
Abstract An examination of the extant literature for an educational model to address a complex phenomenon that is childhood obesity and strategies to change the environment that supports obesity include behavioral, policy level, environmental, and familial. For the procedure, an ecological model will be utilized to place the issue squarely in the community's realm and …
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Memory and eyewitness testimony: The distortion of public perception of the plausibility of false recall.
Introduction The phenomena of distorted recall can be academically exciting and socially fascinating; however, in a court of law, where memory and testimony are offered where life itself might hang in the balance, public perceptions of this gold standard are highly inaccurate. And while eyewitness testimony has historically been among the most convincing and damning …
Eyewitness testimony: Not the gold standard we have been told.
Introduction The study of psychology has many facets in its modern applications, including forensic psychology, which is concerned with applying psychological methodology and knowledge to legal purposes (Neal, 2018). Beyond this, one facet of forensics psychology and any psychological practice is to educate and advocate for patients or clients under their care. For this research …
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Symbiosis: 2 Billions Years in the Making
I woke up this morning feeling tired; as if I had no energy. Of course, by the time my feet hit the floor, I realized this was quite impossible. Thanks to a 2 billion-year-old symbiotic relationship that lives within every one of our cells, thanks to our mothers. I am referring of course to mitochondria, …
Of Spiderlings, DNA, and Collective Memory.
Children sometimes come out with the most significant questions, and in their innocence, often assume we have the answer. Usually, we do not. On the few lucky occasions, however, we may, in fact, know how to answer. I recall having a conversation with a small child as we finished reading “Charlottes Web.” She turned to …
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A Personal Time Machine
Dr. Carl Sagan once remarked that astronomy is a “humbling and character-building experience.” Anyone who’s looked up in a dark night sky, away from streetlights or cities could not help but be awed at the distant planets, stars, galaxies, and nebula. Peering through even a relatively cheap set of binoculars reveals as many as 100 …
About Bias: Why we like people better when they look like us, or agree with us.
Lately, perhaps due to the politics of an impending Brexit revote, the ongoing political infighting in the United States, issues arising from the anti-VAX movement and the threats they impose to public health, and the anti-GMO movements making the rounds, perhaps a look at bias was due. Bias, in one sense, means that we tend …
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Adventures in Epidemiology 