Five chances to win a copy of Psychology for Dummies!

Update: This competition is now closed.

We've got five copies of Psychology for Dummies by Adam Cash to give away, kindly donated by John Wiley.

How to enter
Please tell us when/where you most enjoy reading the BPS Research Digest blog or email newsletter. Tell us in a Tweet (mention @researchdigest AND #digestinthebath) or by using the comments function beneath this post. If you use the comments function here, make sure you leave a way for us to contact you. This coming Friday 16 Dec, we'll pick five different entries (three people from Twitter and two from here on the blog) at random as the winners. Good luck!

Four chances to win a free BPS-approved psychology textbook!

THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED AND THE WINNERS HAVE BEEN CONTACTED. Thanks for all your lovely comments!

We've got two copies of An Introduction to Developmental Psychology (edited by Alan Slater and Gavin Bremner) and two copies of Applied Psychology (edited by Graham Davey) to give away, kindly donated by Wiley-Blackwell.

How to enter
To have a chance to win, please say why you like the BPS Research Digest: either in a Tweet (mention @researchdigest) or by using the comments function beneath this post. Include the initials DP or AP in your comment, so we know which book you'd prefer, should you win. Also, if you use the comments function here, make sure you leave a way for us to contact you. Next Friday 4 Nov, we'll pick four different entries (two people from Twitter and two from here) at random as the winners. Good luck!

Hey: Three chances to win a BPS Blackwell psychology book

Good news. Sign up to the BPS Research Digest twitter feed this week (Monday to Friday) and you'll be entered into a raffle to win your choice of one of the BPS Blackwell books shown below. We'll pick three winners from all new Digest followers who sign up this week.

Psychologists who Tweet - second major update

This is the second major update of our list of psychologists (plus a few stray neuroscientists, therapists, students and psych-bloggers) who Tweet. Follower counts were correct as of late August / early Sept 2011. Compare with the first and second versions of the list compiled in November 2010 and March 2011. The Digest feeds and editorial team are in purple highlight.

Laura Kauffman. Child psychologist. Followers: 102073
Richard Wiseman. Parapsychologist. Followers: 89871
Leah Klungness. Author and psychologist. Followers: 35204
George Huba. Psychologist. Followers: 32779
Dolors Reig. Social psychologist (tweets in Spanish). Followers: 22204
Marsha Lucas. Neuropsychologist. Followers: 19962
Aleks Krotoski. Psychologist, tech journalist. Followers: 18074
Jonah Lehrer. Writer, blogger. Followers: 17421
Dan Ariely. Behavioural Economist, author. Followers: 15045
Steven Pinker. Psycholinguist, evolutionary psychologist, author. Followers: 13012
Jo Hemmings. Celebrity psychologist. Followers: 12455
BPS Research Digest. The BPS Research Digest! Followers: 10119
Melissa McCreery. Clinical Psychologist. Followers: 9259
Melanie Greenberg. Clinical health psychologist. Followers: 9248
David Ballard. Psychologist, Head of APA marketing. Followers: 8093
Graham Jones. Internet (cyber) psychologist. Followers: 6677
Petra Boynton. Psychologist, sex educator. Followers: 6001
Ciaran O'Keeffe. Parapsychologist. Followers: 5936
Mo Costandi. Writer, blogger. Followers: 5927
Vaughan Bell. Clinical neuropsychologist, blogger. Followers: 5791
Jeremy Dean. Blogger. Followers: 5706
David Eagleman. Neuroscientist, author. Followers: 5165
David Webb. Psychology tutor, blogger. Followers: 4368
John Grohol. Founder of Psychcentral. Followers: 3562
Susan Weinschenk. Psychologist and author. Followers: 3299
Bruce Hood. Cognitive scientist. Followers: 3293
Pam Dodd. Organisational psychologist. Followers: 3218
Rita Handrich. Psychologist, editor. Followers: 3004
Todd Finnerty. Psychologist. Followers: 2997
Daniel Levitin. Psychologist, author. Followers: 2968
Brian MacDonald. Clinical psychologist. Followers: 2544
Anthony Risser. Neuropsychologist, blogger. Followers: 2500
Sandeep Gautam. Blogger. Followers: 2459
Jay Watts. Clinical psychologist, Lacanian. Followers: 2444
The Psychologist magazine. Followers: 2243
Cary Cooper. Occupational psychologist. Followers: 2278
Wendy Cousins. Psychologist and skeptic. Followers: 2189
Maria Panagiotidi. Grad student. Followers: 2108
Dorothy Bishop. Developmental neuropsychologist. Followers: 1964
Ana Loback. Psychologist. Followers: 1914
Jon Sutton. Editor of The Psychologist. Followers: 1893
Manon Eileen. Clinical psychologist and criminologist. Followers: 1821
Sarah-Jayne Blakemore. Cognitive neuroscientist. Followers: 1808
Jason Goldman. Grad student, blogger. Followers: 1794
Uta Frith. Developmental neuropsychologist, autism expert. Followers: 1785
Jesse Bering. Psychologist, blogger. Followers: 1778
Mark Changizi. Cognitive psychologist, author. Followers: 1775
Honey Langcaster-James. Psychologist and coach. Followers: 1741
Sophie Scott. Neuroscientist. Followers: 1721

Chris Atherton. Cognitive psychologist. Followers: 1670
Claudia Hammond. Radio presenter. Followers: 1630
Bradley Voytek. Neuroscientist and self-professed geek. Followers: 1469
Joseph LeDoux. Neuroscientist, rocker. Followers: 1433
Chris French. Anomalistic psychologist. Followers: 1405
Lyle Becourtney. Specialist in anger management. Followers: 1379
Alex Linley. Positive psychologist. Followers: 1332
G. Tendayi Viki. Social psychologist. Followers: 1326

Rolfe Lindgren. Psychologist, personality expert. Followers: 1283
Richard Thaler. Behavioural economist. Followers: 1253.
Margarita Holmes. Psychologist and sex therapist. Followers: 1246
Marco Iacoboni. Neuroscientist, mirror neuron expert. Followers: 1215
Steven Brownlow. Clinical and forensic psychologist. Followers: 1161
Fretes Torruella. Educational psychologist (tweets in Spanish and English). Followers: 1145
The Neurocritic. Blogger. Followers: 1144
Voula Grand. Psychologist and writer. Followers: 1084

Rob Archer. Organisational psychologist. Followers: 1042
Dave Brodbeck. Comparative cognition and evolutionary psychologist. Followers: 1029
John Cacioppo. Psychologist, social neuroscientist. Followers: 1026
Atle Dyregrov. Psychologist, expert in crisis psychology. Followers: 1015
Jonathan Firth. Psychology teacher and author. Followers: 991
Rebecca Symes. Sports psychologist. Followers: 976
Simon Baron-Cohen. Developmental psychologist. Followers: 963
Charles Fernyhough. Developmental psychologist, author. Followers: 952
Karen Pine. Psychologist, author. Followers: 943
Monica Whitty. Cyberpsychologist. Followers: 913
Christian Jarrett. Psychologist and writer/editor. Followers: 909
Daniel Simons. Cognitive psychologist, author. Followers: 889
Rory O'Connor. Health psychologist, suicide researcher. Followers: 877
Mark Batey. Creativity expert. Followers: 835
Ben Hawkes. Psychologist, comedian. Followers: 819
Tom Stafford. Psychologist, author. Followers: 814
Wray Herbert. Writer for APS, author. Followers: 792
Miriam Law-Smith. Clinical evolutionary psychologist. Followers: 789
Victoria Galbraith. Counselling psychologist. Followers: 782
Caspar Addyman. Developmental psychologist. Followers: 718
BPS Occupational Digest. The BPS Occupational Digest. Followers: 694
Bruce Hutchison. Clinical psychologist. Followers: 694
Scott Kaufman. Cognitive psychologist. Followers: 684
Eran Katz. Grad student (tweets in Hebrew). Followers: 671
Neuro Bonkers. Blogger. Followers: 657
James Neill. Psychology lecturer. Followers: 653
Christine Allen. Clinical psychologist and executive coach. Followers: 651
Patrick Macartney. Psychologist and sociologist. Followers: 617
Michelle Dawson. Autistic researcher. Followers: 613
Christopher H. Ramey. Psychologist. Followers: 607
Ioannis Nikolaou. Organisational psychologist (tweets in Greek and English). Followers: 602
David Matsumoto. Psychologist and judoka. Followers: 601
Chris Chabris and Daniel Simons. Cognitive psychologists. Followers: 536
Ciaran Mc Mahon. Psychologist. Followers: 533
Rachel Robinson. Child psychologist. Followers: 531
CoertVisser. Psychologist. Followers: 531
Daniela O'Neill. Developmental psychologist. Followers: 517
Michael Hogan. Psychologist and neuroscientist. Followers: 506
John Gibson. Psychologist. Followers: 493
Lorna Quandt. Grad student. Followers: 490
Daryl O'Connor. Health psychologist. Followers: 483
Karen Franklin. Forensic psychologist. Followers: 472
Romeo Vitelli. Psychologist in private practice. Followers: 457
Mike Garth. Sports psychologist. Followers: 452
Hilary Bruffell. Social psychologist. Followers: 442
Jenna Condie. Environmental psychologist. Followers: 440
Ken Gilhooly. Cognitive psychologist. Followers: 440
Bex Hewett. PhD student in occupational psychology. Followers: 439
Caroline Watt. Parapsychologist. Followers: 425
Tom Hartley. Neuroscientist. Followers: 407
Jon Simons. Cognitive scientist. Followers: 403
Tim Byron. Music psychologist. Followers: 369
Kevin McGrew. Intelligence expert. Followers: 367
Sue Hartley. Psychologist. Followers: 358
Alex Fradera. Psychologist and editor. 267
Andy Fugard. Cognitive scientist. Followers: 306
Janet Civitelli. Counselling psychologist. Followers: 298
Deb Halasz. Research psychologist. Followers: 293
Jon Brock. Autism blogger, wannabe neuroscientist. Followers: 293
Astrid Christie. Grad student. Followers: 288
Els Blijd-Hoogewys. Clinical psychologist (tweets in Dutch and English). Followers: 284
Andrew and Sabrina. Psychological scientists. Followers: 283
Sarah Dale. Occupational psychologist and coach. Followers: 282
Peter Kinderman. Clinical psychologist. Followers: 281
Sven Rudloff. Business psychologist (tweets in English and German). Followers: 270
Brian Hughes. Psychologist and science blogger. Followers: 269
Ruthanna Gordon. Psychologist, sustainability expert. Followers: 252
Marc Smith. Psychologist and teacher. Followers: 252
Suzanne Conboy-Hill. Clinical psychologist. Followers: 249
Nancy Hoffman. Neuropsychologist. Followers: 248
Erika Salomon. Grad student. Followers: 240
Gareth Morris. Grad student. Followers: 233
Simon Dymond. Behavioural neuroscientist. Followers: 233
Sanja Dutina. Psychologist. Followers: 229
Johnrev Guilaran. Clinical psychologist trainee. Followers: 227
Dylan Lopich. Clinical psychologist. Followers: 220
Adrian Wale. Cognitive scientist, writer. Followers: 218
Alex Birch. Business psychologist. Followers: 218
Catherine Loveday. Neuropsychologist. Followers: 214
Carlos Rivera. Political psychologist (tweets in Spanish). Followers: 209
Alice Jones. Psychology lecturer. Followers: 206
Craig Bertram. Grad student. Followers: 205
Marc Scully. Social psychologist. Followers: 205
John Hyland. Experimental psychologist. Followers: 185
Catriona Morrison. Experimental psychologist. Followers: 184
Chris Pawluk. School psychologist. Followers: 183
Paul Hanges. Organisational psychologist. Followers: 173
Darrell Rudmann. Educational psychologist. Followers: 173
Talya Grumberg. Mental health counsellor. Followers: 170
Lila Chrysikou. Psychologist. Followers: 166
Mark Hoelterhoff. Experimental existential psychologist. Followers: 164
Jui Bhagwat. Child psychologist. Followers: 161
John Houser. School psychologist. Followers: 159
Odette Beris. Psychologist and coach. Followers: 155
Bren Rooney. Psychologist. Followers: 154
Kevin Friery. Psychologist, psychotherapist. Followers: 149
Arvid Kappas. Emotion researcher. Followers: 143
Chris Brand. Cognitive psychologist in training. Followers: 141
Ruth Schumacher. Counselling psychologist. Followers: 141
Gillian Smith. Alcohol and drug researcher. Followers: 135
Amy Hogan. Cyberpsychologist. Followers: 135
Valeschka Guerra. Psychology lecturer. Followers: 134
Matteo Cantamesse. Social psychologist. Followers: 134
Simon Knight. Psychologist. Followers: 134
Gerald Guild. Psychologist, autism specialist. Followers: 128
Matt Wall. Neuroscientist. Followers: 125
Morton Ann Gernsbacher. Cognitive neuroscientist. Followers: 120
Courtenay Norbury. Cognitive scientist. Followers: 115
Jen Lewis. Grad student. Followers: 99
Andrea Dinardo. Positive psychologist. Followers: 97
Philip Collier. Sport and positive psychologist. Followers: 96
Chelsea Walsh. Family and marriage therapist. Followers: 95
Caitlin Allison. Trainee counselling psychologist. Followers: 94
Marien Gadea. Neuroscientist. Followers: 89
Alison Price. Occupational psychologist. Followers: 83
Sarah Rose Cavanagh. Positive psychologist. Followers: 81
Peter M Forster. Psychologist and scuba instructor. Followers: 80
David Hughes. Psychologist. Followers: 75
Linda Kaye. Cyberpsychologist. Followers: 74
Laura Caulfield. Psychology lecturer. Followers: 74
Helen Jones. Clinical psychologist. Followers: 72
Susan Grey. Clinical psychologist. Followers: 71
Portia Hickey. Business psychologist. Followers: 71
Tal Yarkoni. Cognitive neuroscientist. Followers: 67
Jill Caffrey. Neuropsychologist. Followers: 64
James Hardie. Applied psychologist. Followers: 62
Nikki Botting. Developmental psychologist. Followers: 59
Barry McGuinness. Psychologist, writer. Followers: 58
Antonia Hamilton. Neuropsychologist. Followers: 56
David Yates. Grad student. Followers: 53
Victoria Mason. Psychology lecturer. Followers: 52
Paul Hutchings. Social psychologist. Followers: 50
Sian Jones. Grad student. Followers: 44
Kathryn Newns. Clinical psychologist. Followers: 38
Simon Hunter. Developmental psychologist. Followers: 37
Brigitte Minel. Psychotherapist and author (tweets in French). Followers: 34
John Taylor. Cognitive psychologist. Followers: 33
Deborah Budding. Neuropsychologist. Followers: 33
Ian Patterson. Psychologist. Followers: 28
Emily Hutchinson. Occupational psychologist. Followers: 24
Lorraine Hope. Cognitive psychologist. Followers: 22
Amanda Callen. Customer service psychologist. Followers: 20
Gina Langley. Psychologist. Followers: 8

Thanks to Ben Watson for updating the list. If you'd like to be added to future iterations of the list, please add your full name and Twitter tag to comments. Future additions to the list must be qualified psychologists (grad students were initially included for a short time, but the numbers were too great so we had to change this policy. However, that initial intake have been left in the list). Also, we're restricting the list to individuals, so no organisations please.

Introducing 30-Second Psychology

Approximately one year ago, a crack commando writing unit was dispersed around the world for reasons beyond their control. These men promptly collaborated and conspired via the global Interweb to produce an explosive book of psychological facts and ideas: 30-Second Psychology. That book has now been published. Today, still wanted by hidden forces, they survive as writers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire ...

Christian Jarrett, editor and contributing author. [@researchdigest]

Vaughan Bell, contributing author. [@vaughanbell]

Moheb Costandi, contributing author. [@mocost]

Dave Munger, contributing author. [@davemunger]

Tom Stafford, contributing author. [@tomstafford]

More about 30-Second Psychology (also available in the USA):

"The key ideas in Psychology explained, with colour illustrations, in half a minute. Pavlov's Dogs, Psychoanalysis, Milgram's Obedience Study, and Beck's Cognitive Therapy? Sure, you know what they all mean. That is, you've certainly heard of them. But do you know enough about these psychology theories to join a dinner party debate or dazzle the bar with your knowledge? 30-Second Psychology takes the top 50 strands of thinking in this fascinating field, and explains them to the general reader in half a minute, using nothing more than two pages, 300 words, and one picture. The inner workings of the human mind will suddenly seem a lot more fun, and along the way we meet many of the luminaries in the field, including William James, Aaron Beck, and (of course) Sigmund Freud. From Behaviorism to Cognitivism, what better way to get a handle on your inner demons?"

Digest passes milestone of two million visitors

In the early hours of Saturday morning the BPS Research Digest received its two millionth visitor since counting began in June 2005 (the blog launched in February that year with a posting on driver stereotypes).

To celebrate, we offered the two millionth visitor, or the closest to that number, a free signed copy of The Rough Guide to Psychology, a new book by the editor of the Digest. Two US readers arrived on the blog simultaneously at the crucial moment and were quick off the mark, sending in their screen-shots with the counter poised at two million and one. Both will receive a copy of the book.

Many thanks to them and the rest of you for your ongoing support and interest in the Research Digest. Here at Digest HQ we're eager to continue spreading the word about the latest fascinating and thought-provoking findings in psychological science, and we look forward to welcoming many more visitors. Please do comment on this post to let us know how we could improve the Digest blog in any way.

Don't forget, if you like what you see here, please do check out our off-spring title, the BPS Occupational Digest, which launched this year with a focus on psychology at work. Both the main Digest and the Occupational Digest are also available as email newsletters. And there's even more psychology for your delectation at the BPS monthly magazine The Psychologist, with plenty of free previews online.

Happy reading!
Christian Jarrett

Free signed copy of The Rough Guide to Psychology for the 2,000,000th visitor to the Digest blog

Update: this competition is now closed. The Digest blog visitor count is currently on 1,958,929 and fast approaching the two million mark. To celebrate, I'm offering a free signed copy of The Rough Guide to Psychology to the 2,000,000th visitor (or the next closest), who should arrive within the next few weeks, depending on traffic to the blog. I'll tweet some reminders as the target draws nearer.

If the 2,000,000th visitor is you, to claim your prize you'll need to make a note of the time and take a screen grab of the Digest blog with the visitor counter plum on the 2,000,000 mark. Email your screen-grab and the timing (this is to prevent cheating) to christianjarrett[@]gmail.com with the subject line "two million".

The counter is near the top of the right-hand column of the blog, at the bottom of a box that looks like the pic shown on the right. For tacticians hoping to land on the two millionth visitor spot, there's also a red icon on the left of the Digest screen that shows you how many people are currently on the site. Also, note that there has to be a 20 minute gap for the same IP address (the identifier for a particular computer) to be counted as a new visitor.

The 2,000,000th visitor may come and go unawares of this prize. If so, I'll send the book to the next closest after the two million mark. So if you're near, take a screen-grab and timing and try your luck.

Win a signed copy of The Rough Guide to Psychology

This competition has closed. Thanks for all your entries. The correct answer was William James. The winners are James Hegarty in New Zealand and Libby Berry in Canada. 


The competition

Who is the famous psychologist from psychology's past pictured on the back of the book? Email your answer to christianjarrett [at] gmail.com, placing "Rough Guide Competition" in the subject line. Entries will be picked at random on Monday 18 April and the first two correct entrants will receive a free, signed copy of The Rough Guide to Psychology.

The book

The Rough Guide to Psychology takes you on a tour of the latest psychological science. Starting with you, your development, your memories, emotions and relationships, it broadens out to consider intelligence, personality, morality, politics, sport, crime, shopping, mental illness and much more. Lavishly illustrated, the accessible approach makes it suitable for beginners, while the coverage of cutting-edge studies and contemporary controversies will appeal to those already expert in the subject.

The reception

The eminent psychologist and Royal Society Fellow Professor Uta Frith called it "frighteningly up-to-date" and said it dealt with the subject with "due wonder" and also "healthy scepticism". Books Monthly said it was a "wonderful treatise" written "in a language anyone can understand". Human Givens magazine said it was a "readable romp" with new findings presented "simply and with humour". The Times said "Dr Jarrett delves inside our grey matter to explain what makes us who we are". Oliver Burkeman, author of a self-help column for The Guardian said: "Lonely Planet, the gauntlet is thrown!" Mo Costandi, author of the Neurophilosophy book said "it's produced beautifully". Claudia Hammond, presenter of BBC Radio Four's All in the Mind, said "you don't half cover a lot".

The author

Christian Jarrett edits the British Psychological Society's Research Digest and is staff writer on their house magazine The Psychologist. With a PhD in cognitive neuroscience and several writing awards under his belt, Jarrett has published in a host of magazines and newspapers including New Scientist, Psychologies, The Times, Wired, and BBC Focus. In 2008 he co-authored This Book Has Issues, Adventures in Popular Psychology. He also contributed to Mind Hacks and 30-Second Theories. He is editor and contributing author for 30-Second Psychology due later this year.

--
The Rough Guide to Psychology is available from Amazon and all good book stores.

Psychologists who Tweet - first major update

This list was updated again in September 2011. We've updated our list of psychologists (plus a few stray neuroscientists, therapists, students and psych-bloggers) who Tweet. Follower counts were correct as of Friday 4 March 2011. Compare with the previous list compiled in November 2010. The Digest feeds and editorial team are in purple highlight.

Laura Kauffman. Child psychologist. Followers: 86444
Richard Wiseman. Parapsychologist. Followers: 68001
George Huba. Psychologist. Followers: 20628
Aleks Krotoski. Psychologist, tech journalist. Followers: 16043
Marsha Lucas. Neuropsychologist. Followers: 14462
Jonah Lehrer. Writer, blogger. Followers: 11080
Dan Ariely. Behavioural Economist, author. Followers: 10314
Jo Hemmings. Celebrity psychologist. Followers: 9735
Steven Pinker. Psycholinguist, evolutionary psychologist, author. Followers: 8978
David Ballard. Psychologist, Head of APA marketing. Followers: 6737
Graham Jones. Internet (cyber) psychologist. Followers: 6603
BPS Research Digest. The BPS Research Digest! Followers: 5417
Melanie Greenberg. Clinical health psychologist. Followers: 4723
Petra Boynton. Psychologist, sex educator. Followers: 4686
Ciarán O'Keeffe. Parapsychologist. Followers: 4603
Vaughan Bell. Clinical neuropsychologist, blogger. Followers: 4109
Mo Costandi. Writer, blogger. Followers: 4072
Jeremy Dean. Blogger. Followers: 3335
John Grohol. Founder of Psychcentral. Followers: 3182
Bruce Hood. Cognitive scientist. Followers: 2602
Rita Handrich. Psychologist, editor. Followers: 2435
David Eagleman. Neuroscientist, author. Followers: 2422
Daniel Levitin. Psychologist, author. Followers: 2419
Brian MacDonald. Clinical psychologist. Followers: 2371
David Webb. Psychology tutor, blogger. Followers: 2320
Sandeep Gautam. Blogger. Followers: 1952
Jay Watts. Clinical psychologist, Lacanian. Followers: 1567
Maria Panagiotidi. Grad student. Followers: 1562
Wendy Cousins. Psychologist and skeptic. Followers: 1473
Anthony Risser. Neuropsychologist, blogger. Followers: 1416
Chris Atherton. Cognitive psychologist. Followers: 1315
G. Tendayi Viki. Social psychologist. Followers: 1267
Ana Loback. Psychologist. Followers: 1244
Alex Linley. Positive psychologist. Followers: 1237
Mark Changizi. Cognitive psychologist, author. Followers: 1221
Jesse Bering. Psychologist, blogger. Followers: 1214
Rolfe Lindgren. Psychologist, personality expert. Followers: 1187
Cary Cooper. Occupational psychologist. Followers: 1093
Jason Goldman85. Grad student, blogger. Followers: 1082
Joseph LeDoux. Neuroscientist, rocker. Followers: 1033
Sophie Scott. Neuroscientist. Followers: 982
Chris French. Anomalistic psychologist. Followers: 973
Dorothy Bishop. Developmental neuropsychologist. Followers: 882
The Neurocritic. Blogger. Followers: 880
Jon Sutton. Editor of The Psychologist. Followers: 796
Karen Pine. Psychologist, author. Followers: 783
Uta Frith. Developmental neuropsychologist, autism expert. Followers: 730
Claudia Hammond. Radio presenter. Followers: 715

John Cacioppo. Psychologist, social neuroscientist. Followers: 705
Sarah-Jayne Blakemore. Cognitive neuroscientist. Followers: 691
Mark Batey. Creativity expert. Followers: 682
Rob Archer. Organisational psychologist. Followers: 680
Ben Hawkes. Psychologist, comedian. Followers: 679
Monica Whitty. Cyberpsychologist. Followers: 663
Charles Fernyhough. Developmental psychologist, author. Followers: 662
Marco Iacoboni. Neuroscientist, mirror neuron expert. Followers: 615

James Neill. Psychology lecturer. Followers: 590
Eran Katz. Grad student (tweets in Hebrew). Followers: 549
Rory O'Connor. Health psychologist, suicide researcher. Followers: 526
Tom Stafford. Psychologist, author. Followers: 494
Christopher H. Ramey. Psychologist. Followers: 485
Bruce Hutchison. Clinical psychologist. Followers: 465
Rachel Robinson. Child psychologist. Followers: 447

Manon Eileen. Clinical psychologist and criminologist. Followers: 442
Rebecca Symes. Sports psychologist. Followers: 427
Wray Herbert. Writer for APS, author. Followers: 417
Hilary Bruffell. Social psychologist. Followers: 412
Atle Dyregrov. Psychologist, expert in crisis psychology. Followers: 405
Steven Brownlow. Clinical and forensic psychologist. Followers: 405
Mike Garth. Sports psychologist. Followers: 402
Victoria Galbraith. Counselling psychologist. Followers: 389
Daniel Simons. Cognitive psychologist, author. Followers: 355
Daryl O’Connor. Health psychologist. Followers: 352
David Matsumoto. Psychologist and judoka. Followers: 326
Karen Franklin. Forensic psychologist. Followers: 299
Patrick Macartney. Psychologist and sociologist. Followers: 297
Caroline Watt. Parapsychologist. Followers: 296
Ciarán Mc Mahon. Psychologist. Followers: 283
Tim Byron. Music psychologist. Followers: 275
Voula Grand. Psychologist and writer. Followers: 273
Lorna Quandt. Grad student. Followers: 267
Alex Fradera. Psychologist and editor. 267
Bex Hewett. PhD student in occupational psychology. Followers: 261
Kevin McGrew. Intelligence expert. Followers: 259
Daniela O'Neill. Developmental psychologist. Followers: 245
Sean Nethercott. Psychologist. Followers: 243
Romeo Vitelli. Psychologist in private practice. Followers: 233
Andy Fugard. Cognitive scientist. Followers: 229
Erika Salomon. Grad student. Followers: 217
CoertVisser. Psychologist. Followers: 217
Jenna Condie. Environmental psychologist. Followers: 216
Astrid Kitti. Grad student. Followers: 203
Margarita Holmes. Psychologist and sex therapist. Followers: 203
BPS Occupational Digest. The BPS Occupational Digest. Followers: 194
Sue Hartley. Psychologist. Followers: 194
Johnrev Guilaran. Clinical psychologist trainee. Followers: 185
Janet Civitelli. Counselling psychologist. Followers: 175
Jon Simons. Cognitive scientist. Followers: 174
Ken Gilhooly. Cognitive psychologist. Followers: 166
Adrian Wale. Cognitive scientist, writer. Followers: 162
Sanja Dutina. Psychologist. Followers: 161
Gareth Morris. Grad student. Followers: 155
Talya Grumberg. Mental health counsellor. Followers: 155
Lila Chrysikou. Psychologist. Followers: 151
Ruthanna Gordon. Psychologist, sustainability expert. Followers: 151
Alex Birch. Business psychologist. Followers: 136
Craig Bertram. Grad student. Followers: 135
Suzanne Conboy-Hill. Clinical psychologist. Followers: 135
Christian Jarrett. Psychologist and writer. Followers: 131
Simon Dymond. Behavioural neuroscientist. Followers: 130
Marc Scully. Social psychologist. Followers: 127
Mark Hoelterhoff. Experimental existential psychologist. Followers: 127
Nancy Hoffman. Neuropsychologist. Followers: 117
Valeschka Guerra. Psychology lecturer. Followers: 116
Emma Dunlop. Grad student. Followers: 115
Deb Halasz. Research psychologist. Followers: 112
Matteo Cantamesse. Social psychologist. Followers: 112
Catriona Morrison. Experimental psychologist. Followers: 107
Dylan Lopich. Clinical psychologist. Followers: 106
John Houser. School psychologist. Followers: 106
Arvid Kappas. Emotion researcher. Followers: 89
Andrew and Sabrina. Psychological scientists. Followers: 84
Simon Knight. Psychologist. Followers: 84
Peter Kinderman. Clinical psychologist. Followers: 83
Paul Hanges. Organisational psychologist. Followers: 83
John Hyland. Experimental psychologist. Followers: 82
Chelsea Walsh. Family and marriage therapist. Followers: 81
Kevin Friery. Psychologist, psychotherapist. Followers: 80
Gerald Guild. Psychologist, autism specialist. Followers: 78
Gillian Smith. Alcohol and drug researcher. Followers: 75
Jen Lewis. Grad student. Followers: 74
Scott Kaufman. Cognitive psychologist. Followers: 69
Jui Bhagwat. Child psychologist. Followers: 63
Tom Walton. Grad student. Followers: 61
Chris Brand. Cognitive psychologist in training. Followers: 59
Odette Beris. Psychologist and coach. Followers: 59
David Hughes. Psychologist. Followers: 53
Barry McGuinness. Psychologist, writer. Followers: 47
Caitlin Allison. Trainee counselling psychologist. Followers: 47
Philip Collier. Sport and positive psychologist. Followers: 40
David Yates. Grad student. Followers: 36
Alison Price. Occupational psychologist. Followers: 35
Sian Jones. Grad student. Followers: 31
Helen Jones. Clinical psychologist. Followers: 29
John Taylor. Cognitive psychologist. Followers: 23
Kathryn Newns. Clinical psychologist. Followers: 21
Lorraine Hope. Cognitive psychologist. Followers: 10
Victoria Mason. Psychology lecturer. Followers: 9

Thanks to Ben Watson for updating the follower counts. If you'd like to be added to future iterations of the list please add your full name and Twitter tag to comments. Future additions to the list must be fully-qualified psychologists. Also, we're restricting the list to individuals, so no organisations please. 

Introducing the forthcoming Occupational Digest

The BPS Research Digest is proud to announce the pending birth of an offspring title - the Occupational Digest.

About the forthcoming Occupational Digest

The BPS Occupational Digest is a new blog and email produced by the British Psychological Society, reporting on psychology in the workplace. Building on the successes of the BPS Research Digest, it is funded by the Division of Occupational Psychology and aims to reach occupational psychology practitioners together with a wider audience who care about putting psychology to work, including HR professionals, managers, and anyone with an interest in the field. Subscribe to the Occupational Digest monthly email.

About the new Occupational Digest editor

Dr Alex Fradera is a Chartered Psychologist whose interest in human thought and behaviour runs back as far as he can remember. After a PhD in Psychology studying memory and cognitive ability, he made a move from academia into the practice of occupational psychology, taking a role at at the talent assessment organisation SHL. When not editing the Occupational Digest, Alex deals directly with clients as well as through a number of consultancies. Alex's other passion is improvisation, and he can be found putting it into practice in organisations, in training rooms, with scientists, designers, on stage, at festivals and in front of market stalls. Follow Alex on Twitter.

Season's Greetings

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there

'A visit from St Nicholas' (Dec 1823) by Clement C. Moore

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all our readers around the world. Normal service will be resumed after the festive break.

Freelance blogging opportunity

Can you turn scientific research findings into engaging copy suitable for a non-specialist audience? Do you have an interest in occupational psychology?

The British Psychological Society, the learned body that’s represented UK psychology and psychologists since 1901, is seeking a talented writer to edit and compile an Occupational Psychology Research Digest blog and monthly email newsletter. This new project will build on the success of our internationally renowned, awarding-winning Research Digest blog and email.

The appointment will be made on a freelance basis, initially for twelve months. Candidates should have a background in occupational psychology and at least two years’ experience as a writer, preferably online. For a formal job description and further information, contact christianjarrett [@] gmail.com

Application is by CV and three samples of writing, in print or online, to be sent to christianjarrett [@] gmail.com. Deadline 12 Nov.

European Summer School in Social Cognition

This year's EFPSA* Summer School takes place in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria 17 to 24 July and the theme is Social Cognition. There are just a few days left for students to apply, with the deadline extended to this Friday, 21 May.

From the Summer School website: "Are you Interested in getting international research experience? Would you like to face the challenge of international team work and meeting students from all around Europe? The EFPSA European Summer School (ESS) gives you this opportunity! The ESS is a week-long research-focused programme since 2007. Each year 35 Psychology students learn from excellent academics and conduct cross-cultural research with other Psychology students supervised by PhD students or PhD. However, the ESS embodies more than just academic work - you will experience multicultural social activities, make new friends, introduce your own culture and embrace the diversity of Europe."

*European Federation of Psychology Students' Associations.

Ghana launches its first ever mental health journal

When BPS member, Chartered Clinical Psychologist Dr Adam Danquah went to work in Ghana, one of the things he did there was help found the country's first ever journal devoted to mental health - The Ghana International Journal of Mental Health. The inaugural issue has just been published and the journal's website has gone live.

There are only five psychiatrists in Ghana, a country of 22 million citizens, and there are no clinical psychologists working in public health. Research output in the area of mental health is also extremely limited. 'It is in this light that the birth of this journal gladdens our hearts and adds to the indicators of a new day in the life of mental health care and research in Ghana and elsewhere in Africa,' writes Dr Akwasi Osei in a commentary for the new journal.

Authors instructions appear on the new site. To subscribe, email ghijmh@gmail.com or write to C. Charles Mate-Kole, Editor-In-Chief, Ghana International Journal of Mental Health, Department of Psychology, University of Ghana, P. O. Box LG 84, Legon, Ghana. Ghana International Journal of Mental Health (ISSN) is published bi-annually – in April and November.

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Link to Ghana International Journal of Mental Health.
Link to Dr Adam Danquah's account of his time working in Ghana, published in The Psychologist (scroll down to view or open the PDF).

A history of psychology treasure trove

If you're interested in the history of psychology, you'd better take a deep breath. A magnificent treasure trove of images, articles and interactive tests from the history of psychology has been placed online thanks to the Science Museum and the work of the British Psychological Society's curator of psychology Philip Loring.

The new online exhibition can be found on the Brought to Life section of the Science Museum website, under the new heading 'Mental Health and Illness'. One hundred and eighty-five artifacts, from arm restraints and bird cages to barbiturate bottles, have been carefully photographed and all are available open access for inspection and teaching. The artifacts are complemented by fascinating articles on mental institutions, nervous illnesses, trauma in war and peace, women and psychiatry, and psychiatric tests.

A particular highlight is three 'interactive' classic psychiatric tests: a picture completion task from the 1930s, an object sorting task from the 1940s, and the Lowenfeld Mosaics test from the 50's. In each case an animation allows you to explore the materials and you can actually watch patients with different diagnoses complete the tests and see how they would have been scored.

Most of the artifacts featured on the new site aren't on physical display in the museum because of space constraints. However, in 2010 and 2011, the BPS will be sponsoring a series of events in conjunction with the Science Museum's Dana Centre, which will allow members of the public to get up close to these and other objects from the Museum's psychology collection. Plans are also in the works to bring the 'melancholy insane woman' (see pic) to Glasgow for the BPS's Annual Conference in May 2011! Sign up to the Research Digest editor's Twitter feed for updates or email Philip.Loring@ScienceMuseum.org.uk for further info.

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The image shows a life-sized wax head of a 'melancholy insane woman' dating from 1910-1950 [more information].

Research Digest voted best psychology blog

I'm thrilled to announce that the Research Digest blog has been voted the best psychology blog in the inaugural Research Blogging Awards. My thanks to everyone who voted for the Digest, to the awards founder Dave Munger and the sponsors at Seed Magazine. Congratulations to the winners in the other categories, especially to Ed Yong of Not Exactly Rocket Science who won the overall research blog of the year.

The Digest blog is mentioned in this podcast about the awards.

BPS Research Digest reaches awards finals

I'm delighted to report that the BPS Research Digest has reached the finals of the Research Blogging Awards, in the categories of Best Psychology Blog and Best Research Twitterer. Thanks so much for all your nominations. Fingers crossed for March when the overall winners will be announced.

The Digest blog is five years old today!

It's five years to the day that the first ever post was published on the BPS Research Digest blog. Although the Research Digest began as a fortnightly email newsletter in 2003, it wasn't until February 2005 that the blog was born. The first post was on the topic of driver and car stereotypes and how these can influence people's judgements about culpability in car crashes - more on that later. Since then, the Digest has covered more than 700 peer-reviewed psychology studies (nearly 1000 if you count from 2003!).

My aim has been to trawl the world's journals, including lesser known titles, looking for the most thought-provoking, intriguing, ground-breaking and fun studies from across the whole breadth of psychology. I've attempted to provide journalistic flair to the reporting of psychological science, hopefully marrying an engaging style with a depth of detail that you won't find in the mainstream media.

Along the way the Digest blog has hosted some occasional special features, including bloggers on their favourite studies, guest contributions on the most important psychology experiment Never done, a series of posts for students, and most recently, some of the world's leading psychologists on one nagging thing they don't understand about themselves. As well as the regular study reports, I've also introduced the Special Issue Spotter, providing you with links to the latest journal special issues, and Extras - a round-up of links to eye-catching studies that I couldn't cover in full.

This is a timely opportunity for me to thank the journals publishers who give me access to their articles; Dr Jon Sutton for his advice; other bloggers who link to and promote the Digest; everyone who has contributed to the guest features; and finally, thanks to you, the readers, who continue to visit these pages in ever increasing numbers. Please do tell your friends and colleagues about the Digest and maybe together we can raise the profile of psychological science still higher. Don't forget that the Digest now has its own Facebook fan page and I also Tweet about psychology-related articles, public lectures, TV shows etc (these Tweets also get piped through to the Facebook page). Of course, we've got to pay the bills somehow ... if you'd like to find out more about advertising here on the blog or in the Digest email, please do get in touch.

To mark the Digest blog's fifth birthday, I contacted the author of the study that was the focus of the first ever Digest post - Prof Graham Davies at the University of Leicester. I asked him to look back at the research of his that I covered, and to reflect on his field more widely. Here's what he had to say:

"Introductory texts tell you to start research by reading the literature and only then design your experiment... There is another way: look around you, see an interesting phenomenon and ask ‘Has anyone done research on this?’ Not so much bottom-up, as top-down thinking. This was the approach advocated by the great British psychologist, Sir Frederic Bartlett, and one which I followed in exploring car and driver stereotypes.

In my academic career, I had reached a mid-life crisis which only a BMW might resolve. On the test-run, we nosed out of a side road into traffic and an obliging driver let us out. The salesman commented that this would be the last time this would happen if I drove a BMW! Rather surprisingly perhaps, I went ahead, bought the car and began to wonder whether other cars might hold equally strong stereotypes. I had kept a perfunctory interest in stereotype research through the career of Neil Macrae, an old student from my Aberdeen days and was struck by his finding that stereotypes could have a positive function in making quick decisions, which form the essence of driving: ‘Will this young guy in the red Mini-Cooper stay in his lane or pull out in front of me?’

My initial study demonstrated that undergraduates could consistently rate the potential aggressiveness of different makes and models of car and this extended to car colours and drivers. To see if these stereotypes could influence judgements, I mocked up a vehicle insurance claim form supposedly filled in by two drivers involved in an accident who were driving contrastingly rated cars. I reasoned that in the absence of detailed information, stereotypes might colour readers' judgements. Sure enough, there were powerful effects in a student sample and Darsharna Patel confirmed these findings with a more representative community sample.

The reaction to the published paper was initially disappointing. The stereotype people yawned and said ‘we know this’ and went back to their esoteric ways. Among the more applied researchers, only Dan Wright picked up the ignition keys and won three years of ESRC support for his research (damn!). I did some further studies on estimating the speed of contrasting stereotypical vehicles, also reported in the Digest. Cars are so central to modern living, yet research on their significance remains limited - a great opportunity for the next generation of researchers!"

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I'm considering asking the authors of other studies covered by the Digest to look back and reflect on their research. Please let me know via comments if you think this would be a good idea. Here's to the next five years!

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