Essential sites for students

As the new academic year is in full flow, students might find themselves with a raft of information and little to paddle with.

Mind Hacks has collected a list of favourite internet resources for mind and brain sciences students to help with getting yourselves ashore.

News, views and scientific developments

The mind and brain sciences are among the fastest moving areas in terms of research and discovery. Getting to grips with the area can sometimes seem daunting, partly because of the academic language, or just due to the sheer volume of information that needs navigating.

The following are some of our favourite sites that condense or communicate the essentials in a more accessible manner:

100 most influential cognitive science publications of the 20th century.
A panel from the Center for Cognitive Sciences at the University of Minnesota voted for the 100 most influential works in cognitive science. Each is listed with a comment as to why it is important.

Classics in the history of psychology
A full-text collection of some of the most influential works in the development of psychology.

Metapsychology reviews
A psychology, neuroscience and mental health book review site. Updated monthly with 10-20 new book reviews.

MIT Courseware ‘Brain and Cognitive Sciences’
MIT put all the documentation for their academic courses online. This is their mind and brain collection.

BrainBlog
A great site that constantly finds brain-related curios from the medical literature.

Your amazing brain…
Neuroscience, explained as it should be. A fantastic site that includes interactive demos, tests and experiments.

BPS Research Digest
The British Psychological Society release a jargon free fortnightly summary of interesting or eye-catching research. Available on the web or as an email digest.

Cognitive Daily
Scientific papers on cognitive psychology explained in an engaging and relevant way. A great resource for keeping up with the latest and understanding how cognitive psychology is done.

Update: Christian has further suggested the British Psychological Society magazine The Psychologist. All issues older than 6 months are completely free and the forum has a section where students can post questions about psychology or advertise their availability for work experience etc. Christian is not an entirely disinterested party as he does work for the magazine, but as I don’t, and regularly use it myself, I’d certainly recommend checking it out.

The practice of practical psychology

As well as keeping up with other people’s research, you’re likely to getting to grips with some of your own. Research, experimental design and data analysis are often the most challenging parts of the course for new students. These sites might help with that challenge.

Experiments in Psychology
Free software that allows you to take part in some of psychology’s classic experiments as a way of learning about experimental design and analysis. Windows only unfortunately, but an interesting package nonetheless.

Research Methods in the Social Sciences: An Internet Resource List
Put together by the University of Miami, this page has a host of links to everything from pages about doing research on the internet, to tips on designing questionnaires.

‘Research Companion’ discussion board
Currently a hidden gem, psychologist and research expert Petra Boynton runs a message board for discussing research, asking questions and swapping tips. As well as covering the usual topics of study design and data analysis, it also covers issues such as ethics, researcher safety and participant wellbeing. Its focus is on postgraduate research, but undergraduate students might also find it useful. More details here

Know of any other useful sites for students?

Feel free to paste the web address as a comment to this page.

[Thanks to Christian for many of the suggestions here]