Choosing A Mate

Beauty is still of paramount consideration for men while women are more discriminating, placing greater emphasis on the need for security and commitment.

Also, recent research from psychologists at McGill University has identified gender differences in responses to flirtation. Researchers found that men tend to consider their current partners less favorably after meeting an attractive unattached woman whereas female partners are more likely to work on strengthening existing relationships.

Choosing A Mate

Introduction to Psychology

Gillian Butler observes that one of the major problems of Psychology is that science demands that 'facts' should be objective and verifiable, but the workings of the mind cannot be observed in the way that we can observe the functioning of (for example) an engine. Instead, they are perceived only indirectly, requiring that we infer them from what can be observed: behaviour.

Introduction to Psychology

William James and the Principles of Psychology

William James (1842-1910) was one of the founders of modern Psychology. He exercised a positive and pragmatic influence on the development of the young science. William James was the brother of novelist Henry James, with whom he shared a powerful command of the English language. William James' Principles of Psychology (1890) took him over a decade to write and amounted to 1500 pages. James was a considerable reader and had absorbed much of the writings of the Scottish, English, French and German schools of Psychology but he produced his own interpretations of the subject. In his 'Principles', James defined Psychology as the 'science of mental life'.

William James and the
Principles of Psychology

Youth Problems

Research from Ohio State University has challenged the common perception that girls tend to internalize their problems, becoming depressed or anxious, while boys externalize, committing violence against people or property.

In another study, young people with pre-existing relationship difficulties were found to be more likely to develop anxiety and depression than the other way round, this being particularly the case when entering adulthood.


Youth Problems

Daytime Napping And Disturbed Sleep

Poor sleeping at night has been linked to daytime napping for older adults and practising tai chi chih, the western version of an ancient Chinese martial art, helped improve sleep quality in another study of older adults.

Daytime Napping And Disturbed Sleep

Bullying

Two recent studies on bullying:

Research from Yale School of Medicine has identified an apparent link between bullying or being bullied and suicide in young people.

Research from Ontario's York University and Queens University found that young people who bully tend to have problems in other relationships, such as with parents and friends. The study concludes that effective prevention and intervention strategies should include those relationships, as well as aggression and morality issues arising from bullying itself.

Bullying

Controversy Over Breast Self-Examination

A review into the effectiveness of regular breast self-examination concludes that despite its promotion in health advice to women there is no evidence that it has contributed to a reduction in breast cancer deaths.


Controversy Over Breast Self-Examination

Be Happy - But Not Too Happy

Although women start life happier than men, they experience more difficulty in achieving their goals and end up less happy as a result. Researchers also conclude that happiness is a worthy goal for the unhappy, but the endless pursuit of ever more happiness may be counterproductive.

Be Happy - But Not Too Happy

Bulbs, Corms, Tubers and Rhizomes

What are bulbs and how do you distinguish them from corms, tubers and rhizomes?

Bulbs, Corms, Tubers and Rhizomes

Smart Bulbs

How deep should bulbs be planted? According to a study published in the Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science it may not matter because bulbs can move themselves deeper into the ground, seemingly in search of better, moister growing conditions.

Smart Bulbs

Ferns - Popular Victorian Plants

Ferns are ancient plants. Their ancestors and related species dominated the earth when the great coal deposits of the carboniferous age were laid down around 300 million years ago. You might say that today's coal is largely made from the compressed remains of ancient ferns.

Today, according to The Fern Grower's Manual there are some 12,000 named species around the world with new types being regularly discovered. They range in size from the tiny to tree-like structures. Ferns propagate from spores rather than seeds, although this was not understood until 1794 when John Lindsay, a British surgeon in Jamaica, grew ferns from 'dust' collected from adult plants.

Ferns: Popular Victorian Plants

Instinctive Staring

Research from Agnes Scott College published in Psychological Science studied the instinctive tendency for people in a group to stare at the person most likely to be offended if a controversial comment is made.

Instinctive Staring

Westward Ho

The price of land in nineteenth century America was a significantly less important factor in Westward Expansion than population growth and technological innovation leading to decreased transportation costs.

Westward Ho

Distance Learning

Researchers from the University of Missouri studied the demographics and personality types of adult distance learners and concluded that this increasingly popular option may not be suitable for everyone.


Only 30 Per Cent Of Distance Learners Complete Their Courses

Adolescents With Chronic Insomnia

Chronic insomnia severely impacts future health and functioning of youths.

Adolescents With Chronic Insomnia

Husbands Create Housework

Being married results in an extra seven hours a week of housework for women, whereas having a wife saves men about an hour.

Husbands Create Housework

Vancouver Island

"... the largest isle in North America's Pacific, stretches for more than 450 superb kilometers off the west coast of British Columbia. A magnificent chain of rugged snow-capped mountains, sprinkled with lakes and rivers and pierced by deep inlets, effectively divides the island into two distinct sides: dense, rain-drenched forest and remote surf- and wind-battered shores on the west, and well-populated, sheltered, beach-fringed lowlands on the east. At the northern and southern tips lie large regions of low, rolling hills."

Vancouver sland
Ucluelet - For All Reasons, for All Seasons
West Coast Changes and Challenges: Ucluelet Charts Dynamic Course for Island Community

Closing the Distance

Every kid wants to grow up to be like his father, and Jeff Bukantz was no different - but unfortunately for Jeff, his father was a four-time Olympian and one of the greatest fencers ever! In his sentimental memoir Closing the Distance: Chasing a Father's Olympic Fencing Legacy, Jeff recounts the trials and tribulations he encountered while trying to follow in the footsteps of Danny Bukantz, a great man both on and off the fencing strip.

Closing the Distance

More Biographies

Outdoor Paris

July is a superb time to be outdoors in Paris. Together with its historical heritage and fine architecture, Paris is also typified by culturally-rich gardens with a variety of stylistic influences. Paris claims no fewer than 465 parks and 484,000 trees in those parks, along streets and roads, schoolyards and walkways. This makes walking, cycling (there is a citywide bicycle rental scheme) or roller-blading a pleasure.

More at: Paris and Eurodisney

Ancient Canadian Fort Reveals First Nations History

A fortified village pre-dating the arrival of Europeans in Western Canada - the only one of its kind so far discovered on the Canadian plains - is producing intriguing evidence of a hitherto unknown First Nations group settling on the prairies. It is also rekindling ties between the Siksika Nation (Blackfoot) and other groups in the U.S.

Ancient Canadian Fort Reveals First Nations History