QMUL Psychology Offer Holders- Reading and Online Resources
We’ve put together a list of possible reading and listening if you want to keep yourself going during through summer, or if you just want to get a better view of psychology in the run up to starting your degree.
These are books, podcasts and newspaper and magazine resources that we think are interesting and engaging, and which we would hope you’ll find the same. Please note that there is no obligation to read or to listen to any of these but if you have time and the inclination then please jump in.
A short list of interesting, relevant and engaging popular science books. There are many more excellent books out there but these are some which we think are especially good or important.
What are hormones, what do they do and how can we try to control them? A recommended read for anyone with an interest in endocrinology.
How can studying the neurons in the lobster’s stomach tell us about neuroscience? A fantastic study of a dedicated scientist at work.
This is the book that made Malcom Gladwell internationally famous. It discusses how some ideas, trends and behaviours spread across the globe. His more recent works such Talking to Strangers, which discusses why we find modern interactions so difficult, and Outliers, which asks why some people are extreme over-achievers, are also must reads.
A Nobel laureate tells us how our minds are constantly being tripped up by errors and our own prejudices and gives a gives a practical guide to slower, smarter thinking.
Following on from his ground-breaking article 'The Geek Syndrome', Wired reporter Steve Silberman unearths the secret history of autism, long suppressed by the same clinicians who became famous for discovering it, and finds surprising answers to the crucial question of why the number of diagnoses has soared in recent years.
A compelling investigation into the minds, motives, and methods of con artists--and the people who fall for their cons over and over again. While cheats and swindlers may be a dime a dozen, true conmen - the Bernie Madoffs, the Jim Bakkers, the Lance Armstrongs - are elegant, outsized personalities, artists of persuasion and exploiters of trust. How do they do it? Why are they successful? And what keeps us falling for it, over and over again?
In "Bad Science" Ben Goldacre skewers the alternative medicine trade and reveals its hollowness. In his other book, "Bad Pharma", he turns his eye on the pharmaceuticals industry and lambasts "Big Pharma" for its dishonesty and attempts to conceal the truth.
There are some excellent science podcasts available online. Here are some of the best.
A slightly different thing to think about but something that might be worth your time. Citizen science is a collective term for projects that engage professional scientists and non-specialists in the gathering and evaluating of data. The field of citizen science is exploding and offers not only a great way to engage the general public in science literacy through primary research, but also an avenue to engage you as future scientists in meaningful community research experiences. These projects can incorporate tracking animal and plant species, astronomy, climatology, genetics or analysing camera trap footage. Many of these projects are exclusively online and you can get involved during the current lockdown.
Two main websites to go to:
https://scistarter.org
https://eu-citizen.science