Description: Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky (both psychologists) won the Nobel Prize in economics for their work on biases in human decision making in 2002. More recently, Kahneman wrote a book entitled Thinking, Fast and Slow in which he describes, in detail, the different systems we use when we are thinking quickly and “instinctively” as… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Language-Thought
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 »
Psychology of Covid-19: Is Your Mind Wandering More?
Description: You have very likely seen, heard or read a multitude of things lately about the state of stress and anxiety these days in general and about YOUR state of stress and anxiety as we head into the Covid winter before the vaccine spring that we hope will be coming along. However, putting stress and… Read more »
Psychology of Online Shopping: Traps and Pitfalls
Description: I bet, or hope, that you are doing most of your holiday shopping online this year. I also bet that most of what come to mind if you are asked to think about things that retailers do to nudge you to by more involve “real” bricks and mortar stores such as small quantities of… Read more »
What is Your Brain For? Maybe NOT for Thinking!
Description: When you experience a flair of stress or anxiety what is your first thought? I suspect it is some version of “What is going on in my world that is stressful or challenging”. Especially these days with a raging pandemic, that is not a bad first thought as it can lead to problem focused… 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 »
Is it Exercise or Nature That is Good For You? Or is it Both?
Description: Imagine you volunteer for a research study. As part of the study you are shown a pair of pictures (two men or two women) and you are asked to pick the one that is the most attractive. After you make your choice you are handed the picture you chose and asked to explain why… Read more »
Choice Blindness: How Well Do You Really Know What You Are Doing?
Description: Imagine you volunteer for a research study. As part of the study you are shown a pair of pictures (two men or two women) and you are asked to pick the one that is the most attractive. After you make your choice you are handed the picture you chose and asked to explain why… Read more »
Blindsight: A Possible Key to Consciouness?
Description: After having two strokes a man has lost his sight. When you ask him what he can see, he says “Nothing”. Now, imagine that you ask him to walk down a corridor that contains a number of objects, pieces of furniture etc., without the use of his white cane. What will happen if you… Read more »
Answer This RIGHT NOW: Why Do You Procrastinate?
Description: Quick! Off the top of your head, why do people (perhaps you yourself) procrastinate? Procrastination is perceived to be a huge problem generally, and when I ask students to name a few things they think they need to work on in order to improve their academic and life performance, procrastination (doing less of it)… Read more »
Books for Success!
