Description: When I first started teaching introductory psychology a few decades ago I used to tell students that they had most of the largest number of brain neurons they would ever have at the time they were born. After their birth the number of brain cells dropped due to things like attrition and pruning (neurons… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Higher-Order Cognitive Functions in Aging
This is Your Brain on Lonely
Description: Being lonely is not an enjoyable experience and in many ways that I suspect you are aware of or could guess at, it is not good for you either. But how does prolonged loneliness effect your brain and why might it be useful and important to know how loneliness impacts people’s brains? Think about… Read more »
Pattern Separation and Human versus Animal Intelligence
Description: What do you know about how memory works? You likely have a basic understanding of how information comes in through or senses (via a very short term sensory store), pauses in working memory (if we work on it) and perhaps eventually gets processed into long term memory. Does that take you bac to a… Read more »
Wisdom: What is Your Theory?
Description: Do you know anyone that you would say is wise? If not think about a real person or a character in a book or film that you know about that you would say is wise. What is it about them that leads you to say they are wise? What is wisdom and what does… Read more »
The Psychology of Covid-19: Schooling and Cognitive Health
Description: I do not have a fully developed professional Psychological opinion as yet on the question of whether or how schools should re-open in the (soon) coming fall. Some aspects if such an opinion will, of course, involve vital matters of health-related safety; will students get sick, if so, how sick, and will they infect… Read more »
Literacy and Dementia: Think About It!
Description: Here is a somewhat backhanded test of your current understanding of factors relating to rates of dementia in elder individuals. What would you predict about the comparable rates of depression among otherwise similar groups of literate and illiterate elderly individuals? If you think there will be a rate difference between these two groups what… Read more »
Politicians and Statistics: Why Are We Suckers?
Description: We would all like to think that we are well aware that politicians sometimes play fast and loose with the numbers related to issues and that we are not likely to be fooled by them when they do. The reality, however, is that we buy more of what we hear politicians say about the… Read more »
Clarifying Your Future: Development and Living on Purpose
Description: If you are currently in high school, college or university, or any other post-secondary educational/training setting you undoubtably regularly spend time wondering what the job market will look like when you complete your education and wonder what potential employers will want to see in you when you engage with them in search of employment…. Read more »
Expanding Psychology: Starting with Wisdom
Description: As we enter into spring I am shifting gears a little bit on my posts. Specifically, I am going to focus a little bit on the edges of Psychology – on things that are not part of the mainstream parts of the discipline or on approaches to Psychology that are based on different assumptions… Read more »
Aging Brains: Fewer Neurons or Other Things?
Description: What were you told about the cells in the human brain and aging? That our neurons die off as we age and are not replaced? That we have the most neurons we are ever going to have at birth and things go downhill from there? Well if so, it may be time to rethink… Read more »
Books for Success!
