Description: What happens, inevitably, when you give someone power over others? Baron Acton said it very succinctly, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Too true, right? Well no one, and especially psychological researchers and anyone interested in human behavior should be comfortable saying that a saying perfectly captures human behavior. The author… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Social Psychology
Homo Prospectus: A New Look at Ourselves and at Psychology
Description: Think about all that you know about how human memory and cognition work…. about how we think about and prepare for interacting within our world. Now, based on all that, on how we store memories, on how memories can become or be made unreliable, and on our cognitive biases answer this question: Are we… Read more »
O wad some Power the giftie gie us: To see oursels as ithers see us!
Description: Have you figured out the Robert Burns quote above (Oh would some power the gift give us, To see ourselves as others)? How self-aware are you? What proportion of the general adult population, would you say, IS self-aware? How does how you see yourself match up with how other people see you? And again,… Read more »
Moral Enhancements: Is ‘Fixing Criminals’ Viable and a Good Idea?
Description: Hypothetically, if there were a way to change the brains or the brain chemistry of criminals in order to ‘make them more moral’ would that be a good idea? Should we try it out? Maybe do not answer Yes or No to this question but, rather, think about what else you would like to… Read more »
Love and Your Smartphone: Which is More Important?
Description: Do you love your smart phone? I mean really love your smart phone? Or perhaps think about it another way. How does your use of your smartphone over the course of a typical day impact your primary relationship(s)? If you are not sure about this think about people you have seen together at movies,… Read more »
Good Worry: What Might That Be?
Description: OK here is an exercise in hypothesis generation. Worry and the anxiety and stress potentially associated with it are all bad right? Well, think about possible ways in which worry might be of psychological benefit to us. How would you design a study (ethically) to test your hypotheses? Once you have your thoughts in… Read more »
Social Impact of Facebook: Some of it is Quite Positive!
Description: Perhaps you have heard about concerns about ways in which Facebook and other social media sites can potentially contribute to social isolation (as they do not involve “real social face-to-face connections”). While there IS research supporting this concern can you think of situations and ways in which Facebook could, in fact, have exactly the… Read more »
ALIEN ABDUCTION! well, or maybe, something else?
Description: Apparently about half of people when surveyed will say they believe in the existence of Aliens (little green people, or at least of some colour or other). There are also quite a few people (in fact, 3.7 million Americans in one poll) who believe they have experienced some form of alien abduction. What hypotheses… Read more »
Age of Majority/Maturity? 18!?? How do we know?
Description: The age of majority is 18 where I live, 19 where I grew up and 21 in some other jurisdictions. This is the age at which one can drink legally, vote, and other things. It is also the age at which the local justice system starts to treat you as an adult and to… Read more »
Profile Pictures: Who Should Pick Yours?
Description: OK your new dating site profile is almost ready to go, or your new professional network or social network posting is ready to go and all you have to do is add a profile picture. You have 12 pictures of yourself to choose from. Who should pick the one you post you or a… Read more »
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