The outer limits

We've featured topics in both The Psychologist and the Research Digest that seem a bit odd over the years… Here's a few of our favourite oddities. Perhaps you have an idea for an article on the outer limits of psychology? If so, get in touch at [email protected]. 

Communication from the condemned
Janelle Ward studies the last statements from those on death row.

Is a jumper angrier than a tree?
Amanda Waterman, Mark Blades and Christopher Spencer ask nonsensical questions – but their research has serious implications for anyone who interviews children.

How does a yak find a drink?
Do animals use cognitive maps? John M. Pearce investigates. 

The anarchic hand
Sergio Della Sala on the bizarre 'Dr Strangelove syndrome' and what it tells us about free will. 

What would you say to an alien?
Managing editor Jon Sutton talks to Douglas Vakoch, clinical psychologist and Director of Interstellar Message Composition at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. 

Psychology's last stand: Making a difference in the zombie apocalypse
Our journalist Ella Rhodes talks to psychologists in our end of days.

Toilet psychology
Nick Haslam argues that psychologists should stop averting their eyes from the bathroom.

A yawning gap
Jim Horne wonders why more psychologists aren't fascinated by yawning.

Experiencing the impossible
Gustav Kuhn considers the science of magic, and what it reveals about the human mind.

'Sometimes the whole room morphs into a different place'
Lee Jones discusses Charles Bonnet Syndrome (visual hallucinations in those with degenerative eye conditions) with Keith Valentine and Judith Potts.

First systematic study of people who can give themselves goose-bumps at will
Christian Jarrett on individuals with a psychophysiological superpower. 

People agree it's harder to conjure a frog with magic than change its colour
Christian Jarrett on our use of intuitive physics to make sense of imaginary worlds.

Why you should watch a horror film before going to the art gallery
Christian Jarrett on enhancing the sublime power of art.

Weird things start to happen when you stare into someone's eyes for 10 minutes
Christian Jarrett on a simple way to induce an altered state of consciousness.