Networking: Ten Websites to Consult for Psychology Research

The focus of this week's post is to expand on the linkroll (located to the right) with useful resources. Under the guidance of the IMSA, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, and Webby Awards criteria, I was able to find blogs and websites that generate psychology research and information. Science Daily, for instance, is a superb source for news articles in the fields of mental disorders, neuroscience, psychology and psychiatry, et cetera. The content is rich in text, video, images, books, and news feeds. It is easy to navigate and accessible to all web-experienced users. Psychiatric Times, on the other hand, isn't as visually pleasing, but it is rich in journals composed by the psychology and doctorate scholars. To its detriment, this website is not interactive and can only be used for textual evidence. Association for Psychological Science (APS) and American Psychological Association (APA) are similar to one another as they are organizations with the goal to further research psychology. Both APA and APS are a source of up-to-date psychology journals. While both these websites are aesthetically pleasing, properly structured, and content-filled, these websites are highly interactive in that they strive for new members to join and contribute to the organizations. National Mental Health Association (NMHA) and National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) are more general resources for psychology information. The main goal of these sites is to inform the general population about mental health precaution and treatment. Mind Hacks, a blog created by Tom Stafford and Max Webb, is an expansion of a book by the same name, created by the aforementioned authors. This blog was created for the main purpose to teach people "how to inside their brain using neuroscience and psychology." Although the blog is structured well, the activity and timing above standard, the authority and influence is lacking. The language is informal, but geared toward individuals who have minimal psychological background. The lack of comments by spectators renders this blog for consulting rather than researching. BRAINETHICS, a blog created by Thomas Ramsoy and Martin Skov, is a good example of a blog with minimal authority and influence, but who's aim is further investigate neuroscience. The bloggers are a neuroscientist and neuroaesthetician from Norway, and their goal is to provide insight into"tinkering with the brain" and explain human behavior. Unlike Mind Hacks, the activity and timing is substandard, as the blog has not been updated since December 2007, and the language sufficient. Pertinent to IMSA criteria, these blogs are overall satisfactory and useful. Cognitive Daily is a great blog, from psychology professor Greta Munger, focused on cognitive psychology. With posts made "nearly every day," if not more, Cognitive Daily is a professionally appearing, authoritative and influential blog posting on peer-reviewed . Last, but certainly not least, is PsychCentral, a psychology hub for the student, professor, and average Joe. A cut above the rest, PsychCentral (as seen on the left) is a website with its own blog, quizzes, research, news, community, et cetera. The resources this website provides merits the site's subtitle to "Learn. Share. Grow." The content is up-to-date, which ranges from articles, essays, to journals. This site is meant to educate and provide academic enrichment in the field of psychology. For the "neuroscientifically" inclined, its sister website NeuroTalk is advised.