Description: Have you heard of something called the General Adaptation system (GAS)? Hans Selye (1907-1982) working at McGill University in Montreal was trying to find a model with which he could use rats to study the impact of longer-term exposure to moderate to high levels of stress. What he came up with as a rat… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Social Psychology
The Psychology of Incitement to Violence: It is Not New
Description: Discussion and debate about the factors that lead up to the violent actions taken by supporters of Donald Trump in Washington on January 6, 2021 are often wrapped in political stances and loyalties. As the Senate trial of Donald Trump on the single article of impeachment of encouraging insurrection approaches it is useful to… Read more »
Investigator Lies and False Confessions: A Deeper Look
Description: Sometimes an individual who has confessed to a crime recants or withdraws their confession. What comes to mind when you read that sentence? Knowing nothing else about an individual case, what would you estimate is the likelihood that the person recanting a confession is actually guilty of what they origin ally confessed to? Now… Read more »
A Check on Positivity: Sometimes Grumpy is Good
Description: How important and how valuable in terms of long-term wellbeing are mindfulness and positivity? Well, if you have been paying just half-attention to well-ness buzz in the media in recent years you will probably say that positivity and mindfulness are two of the corner stones of success and wellbeing. I don’t really want to… Read more »
Breakthroughs and Discoveries in Psychological Science in 2020
Description: How would you decide which Psychological research articles were the 10 most important of 2020? Well, you could read a lot and come up with your own list but that would not be very scientific would it? So, what would you use for metrics? Well, how about the impact articles have on society in… Read more »
Psychology of COVID-19: Social Science Explosion
Description: Ok, time to take stock! What kinds of Psychology have people been doing as they try to make sense out of other people’s behaviour in relation to the pandemic over the past few months (or whole year)? There has certainly been a LOT more “Psychologizing” going on involving many things such as failures to… Read more »
Emerging Adults and Parents’ Levels of Psychological Control
Description: There has been quite a bit of speculation about what is “wrong” with emerging adults (18- to 29-year-olds) these days. This typically occurs as part of reflections upon the significant rise (jump) in levels of anxiety among undergraduate student in general and first year students in particular. Putting aside non-useful hypotheses such as that… Read more »
Psychology of Covid-19: The Big Picture After
Description: Psychology tends to focus on the experience or behaviors of individual people. While social psychologists DO study people’s behavior in social situations and groups and developmental psychologists examine the effects of early social/relational experiences on later behavior the outcomes examined are those of individuals for the most part. So, if we are to speculate… Read more »
Psychology of Covid-19: Other “Pandemics” – Domestic Abuse
Description: Here is a rather disturbing thing to think about in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic. It is very possible that once we get it under control we will then have to pivot quickly to deal with a number of related “pandemics” involving things like mental illness, anxiety, stress, un (or under) employment, debt, and… Read more »
A Gift Giving Pop Quiz!
Description: Ok, at the risk of incurring your anger for not having passed these secrets along sooner (it is Christmas Eve as I write this), did you know that there is Psychological research into what makes something a good or at least better present and the differences between what gift givers think is the answer… Read more »
Books for Success!
