Description: Consider this quote from John Watson, one of the founders of Behaviorism: “Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select — doctor, lawyer, artist,… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Personality
Looking Beyond Political Affiliation to Predict Engagement With Conspiracy Theories
Description: Maybe you are not interested in having another look at the question of why it might be that some people are more receptive to the conspiracy theories proffered by the QAnon bunch but, despite their seeming aversion to it, science can help us understand them a bit better. So, take a moment and consider… Read more »
Holiday Loneliness
Description: Of course the holiday period in late December is supposed to be a time away from work and engaged in other activities such as spending time with loved ones, friends and family. This does NOT mean that it is a time to be away from Psychology (in fact maybe just the opposite)! It can,… Read more »
Introverts and the Holiday Season: Who Has Work to Do?
Description: Of course the holiday period in late December is supposed to be a time away from work and engaged in other activities such as spending time with loved ones, friends and family. This does NOT mean that it is a time to be away from Psychology (in fact maybe just the opposite)! It can,… Read more »
Psychology of Gift-Giving: Do Better With Science!
Description: Think for a moment about what a Psychology of gift-giving might involve and include. No, there is no Psychology of Gift-Giving research journal but there has been a fair bit of relevant thought and research directed towards gift-giving. What might it involve? Perhaps questions like, what makes for a good (appreciated) gift? or what… Read more »
Overconfidence: Where is the Line Between Enough and Too Much?
Description: Are you a confident person? It is not really a simple yes or no question is it, as how you answer it will depend on the task you are considering or the situation you are in. However, what if there is a trait of confidence? You likely know people or have read about people,… Read more »
New View of the Brain – Its Everything All at Once
Description: A typical approach to talking about the brain taken in introductory psychology courses involves looking at the consequences of lesions or stroke damage (not the same things) in specific areas of the brain. Lesions in areas of the hypothalamus seem to be related to increases of decreases in appetite in rats, for example. But… Read more »
Lighten Up – And Thrive?
Description: Oh lighten up a bit! That likely does not sound like a helpful thing for you to say to a friend who has been telling you about how stressed and depressed they have been feeling lately. Really, it is not, but what role might humor or seeing humorous parts of even the dark aspects… Read more »
Personality Genetics
Description: How much of your personality is genetically determined? Does that sound like a reasonable question? Some version of that question is a part of how most people and most introductory psychology students think about things like personality (and maybe things like intelligence) when they encounter them in their first-year classes. Given this, would it… Read more »
The Science of Bullshitting: Machiavellianism
Description: I am sure that you have at least heard the name Machiavelli (Niccolò Machiavelli 1469 – 1527) and I suspect you have some thoughts about what it means when someone is referred to as Machiavellian. Machiavelli’s book, The Prince, is typically seen as text or guide to navigating the treachery, deception and crime associated… Read more »
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