Psychology TWDK Psychology doodle by Giles Meakin

Psychology is the science of human thought, experience, and behavior. The brain is poorly understood and hugely complex, so psychologists apply a huge range of methods to try to understand it better. Psychology can be the study of individual neurons in the brain, individual people, small networks or large groups.

Psychologists aim to understand how humans think, feel and understand the world. Knowing this will allow us to help those suffering from brain-related illnesses. These principles can also be applied in business or organisations to help them function more effectively- it is easy to forget that businesses are made up of people, and people don’t always behave in the way you expect them to!

We've published 22 articles and 20 specialist blog posts about psychology so far, featuring 277 unanswered psychology questions! But we're not done yet as there are still plenty of ongoing psychology research areas to write about, so come back soon!

Recent Psychology News

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Study shows doing a PhD is really bad for your mental health — and absolutely no one is surprised
3rd October, 2024
We've known for years that doing a PhD can be enormously stressful, but there's little progress.
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Chicken blushing / Smectic / Entropy for travel / Sword swallowing / Kids’ saliva
2nd October, 2024
This week’s Feedback column (that I write) in New Scientist magazine has four segments. Here are bits of each of them: Chicken blushing — People — humans — blush. Chickens aren’t entirely inhuman in that they, too, show emotions on their facial skin. Delphine Soulet at the University of Tours, France, and colleagues have explored how skin redness […]
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Future pandemic as big as Covid is inevitable, says Whitty
26th September, 2024
England’s chief medical officer also tells inquiry that UK’s low level of intensive care provision is a political decision
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Covid on the rise as experts say England has ‘capitulated’ to the virus
26th September, 2024
Immunologists push for increase in testing and more widespread vaccine booster rollout as new variant, XEC, emerges

Our psychology articles

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Image credit: Photo courtesy of sparrow via Pexels
Foetal and maternal sleep
Pregnancy is associated with more and poorer sleep and some women have bizarre and vivid dreams.
Image credit: RyanMcGuire (CC0 Public Domain via Pixabay)
Perinatal mental health
Pregnancy is a time of great vulnerability, so it may come as no surprise that mental health conditions are higher for women on average around pregnancy (including during and just after) than any other time.
Image credit: ©Nuremberg Chronicle, by Hartmann Schedel (1440-1514) via Wikipedia Commons
Twins
Scientists are very interested in twins because it helps us identify the differences between genetic and environmental factors that influence health and behaviour.
Image credit: ©Rowena Fletcher-Wood
Toxoplasmosis
Can the toxoplasma gondii parasite change our personalities, behaviours and who we're attracted to?
Image credit: Public Domain via Alexas_Fotos (Pixabay)
Time
What is time? We can measure it in terms of regular events like the Earth moving round the sun, but it can change with perspective, known in relativity as time dilation, and depends upon our perspective.
Image credit: ©
Coronavirus
The disease COVID-19, caused coronavirus, was thought to originate from a seafood market in China, and be 10,000 years old... but it may come from elsewhere and be millions of years older.
Image credit: Olichel (CC0 Public Domain via Pixabay)
Sleep
Going without sleep will kill you faster than going without food. But why?
Image credit: wokandapix (CC0 Public Domain via Pixabay)
Learning
How does learning happen in the brain? And how does it change throughout our lives?
Image credit: Public Domain via Pixabay
Vision
Vision is arguably a human's primary sense – we use it to spot danger and navigate our environment. Despite this, there is still plenty we don't know about how this sense works.
Image credit: CC0 Public Domain via  Skeeze (Pixabay)
Senses
Our senses allow us to explore and interact with the world around us. Even the simplest living organisms have some way to sense their environment - and some animals can sense in ways we can't even imagine!
Image credit: Greyerbaby
Language
Language is a vital part of being human, and some argue it is what sets us apart from other animals. But plenty of mysteries remain.
Image credit: ralph (CC0 Public Domain) via Pixabay
Emotions
Emotions are a vital part of society, but there are still plenty of mysteries surrounding them – from what they are for to whether it will be possible, or desirable, to create AI that experiences them.
Image credit: wokandapix (CC0 Public Domain via Pixabay)
Memory
Our memories make us who we are, and yet we still don't understand how memories are stored in the brain, or what happens when problems develop.
Image credit: Public Domain via Pixabay
The captive shark
We still don’t know how to engineer truly suitable shark tanks for the great white, used to travelling hundreds of kilometres daily. Large sharks have large appetites, are fussy, and kill everything.
Image credit: Public Domain via Sarah Richter
The social shark
Wild sharks have been observed cooperating, playing and courting. This suggests they communicate, yet they don’t emit sounds. Learn more about the other possible methods of communication being researched.
Image credit: Christian Jensen
Shark hunting and conservation
Sharks rarely attack humans, but around 100 million sharks are destroyed by humans every year. Deterrents including bubble curtains, camouflage, ‘startle response’ sounds, and chemical deterrents.
Image credit: ©Albert kok via Wikimedia commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Sharks
Sharks are one of our most poorly understood animals, hard to study, dangerous and diverse, impacting the ecosystem and sometimes our daily lives.
Image credit: ©©Dapaan (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Wikimedia
Shark migration and movement
Some sharks have daily routines, whilst many are crepuscular. Climate-driven migrations may explain apparent increases in shark sightings. Female bull sharks even ascent rivers to give birth – the only shark to tolerate fresh water.
Image credit: Johnhain (CC0 Public Domain via Pixabay)
Disgust
Disgust is a powerful emotion that has links with morality in ways we don't understand
Image credit: ©© Don McCullough (CC BY 2.0) via Flickr
Birds
We see birds around us every day, so you might think we know all there is to know about our feathered friends – but that is far from the case!
Image credit: ©© Gerd Leonhard (CC BY-SA 2.0) via Flickr
Artificial intelligence
A field at the cusp of scientific and philosophical thinking, but have we fully understood the outcomes of such a progressive movement.
Image credit: Unsplash (CC0 Public Domain via Pixabay)
Mental health
Mental health problems have a huge impact on society, but are poorly understood.

Our latest psychology blog posts

Our blog posts focus on a specialist topic.
Many are written by scientists about their ongoing research, others by the TWDK team.

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Co-sleeping: time to talk
Thursday 17th of March 2022
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Out-of-body experiences
Tuesday 27th of October 2020
TWDK red science flask
The speed of time
Thursday 13th of August 2020
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Isolation and the Brain
Monday 3rd of August 2020
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TWDK red science flask
Categorising Things is “Evil”
Thursday 21st of May 2020
More blog posts about psychology...

Delve deeper into Psychology

Can't find what you're looking for? Browse the branches of psychology that interest you most.

TWDK magnifying glassAbnormal Psychology is the study of psychological conditions such as depression and schizophrenia.

TWDK magnifying glassAnthropology looks at the history of our species - how we evolved and the development of culture and societies around the world.

TWDK magnifying glassBehavioral Neuroscience investigates how the brain creates behaviours and experiences.

TWDK magnifying glassCognitive Psychology is the study of how internal mental processes work.

TWDK magnifying glassComparative Psychology looks at how animals and humans differ in the way they behave and react to the world.

TWDK magnifying glassDevelopmental Psychology follows the brain changes that occur as a baby grows, and examines at what stage certain abilities develop.

TWDK magnifying glassEducational Psychology attempts to apply our understanding of learning and memory to a classroom setting, to improve education for everyone.

TWDK magnifying glassEvolutionary Psychology investigates which aspects of our psychology have developed due to evolutionary pressures.

TWDK magnifying glassForensic Psychology applies psychological understanding to legal situations.

TWDK magnifying glassMedia Psychology looks at how we use the media, and the effects it might have on us.

TWDK magnifying glassMedical Psychology uses psychology to help patients and to treat illnesses, whether of the brain or the body.

TWDK magnifying glassPersonality Psychology examines the differences between individuals’ personalities, and what causes them

TWDK magnifying glassSocial Psychology explores how societies work, and how the behaviour of others can influence an individual.

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