Science News for Writers

Diane Downs shot her 3 children (her 3 yr old and 7 yr old were killed and 8 yr old was paralyzed) on a rural road in Oregon in 1983. The story drew national attention and resulted in a book by Ann Rule and a made-for-TV movie, both called Small Sacrifices. Most if not all of us find the subject both horrifying yet fascinating.  Every year, minor children are killed by a parent.  What causes a parent or step-parent to do such a thing?  What problem does the parent think such an act will solve? This is one of the most daunting and troubling issues of the human mind imaginable. Current thinking on the function of the brain states that our conscious mind acts more as a traffic cop, and that behaviors and actions come from one of the many systems or modules in the brain.  While free will does make one responsible for one's actions, current research on the brain indicates that free will may not exist, opening up so many questions.  Here is the rep...

Women and men react differently to infidelity, study shows Men are more jealous of sexual infidelity than emotional infidelity; the opposite is true for women If your partner has sex with someone else, it is considered infidelity -- even if no emotions are involved. But it is also considered infidelity when your significant other develops a close personal relationship with someone else, even if there is no sex or physical intimacy involved. A recent Norwegian study shows that men and women react differently to various types of infidelity. Whereas men are most jealous of sexual infidelity, so-called emotional infidelity is what makes women the most jealous. Evolutionary psychology may help explain why this may be. Significant gender differences "Men and women's psychology is similar in most areas -- but not when it comes to reproduction," says Associate Professor Mons Bendixen, from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology's (NTNU) Department of ...

There are so many causes of violence - drugs, alcohol, and access to firearms chief among them - that call attention away from another major cause: a sense of powerlessness to effect one's own situation in life. As other research shows, people have a need for status.  If a person can't achieve a feeling of status one way - through school or job - then where can he or she find status?  Unfortunately, for many their quest for personal status and respect is through gang activity, crime and violence. If anyone feels denied more traditional avenues, they will take the only road they feel is open to them. What does this have to do with a writer?  Understanding human needs and motivation is bread and butter to the author or screenwriter.  Having an empathetic feel for what motivates a character, even the most evil and violent, adds depth to a characterization, a deeper believability. Here's the report, as always with a link to the full study in the attribution...

theendinmind.net Musical tastes offer a window into how you think Do you like your jazz to be Norah Jones or Ornette Coleman, your classical music to be Bach or Stravinsky, or your rock to be Coldplay or Slayer? The answer could give an insight into the way you think, say researchers from the University of Cambridge. In a study published in the journal PLOS ONE, a team of psychologists show that your thinking style -- whether you are an 'empathizer' who likes to focus on and respond to the emotions of others, or a  'systemizer' who likes to analyse rules and patterns in the world--is a predictor of the type of music you like. Music is a prominent feature of everyday life and nearly everywhere we go. It's easy for us to know what types of music we like and don't like. When shuffling songs on an iPod, it takes us only a few seconds to decide whether to listen or skip to the next track. However, little is known about what determines our taste in ...