Brain Tour. Psychology. The Top 10 Psychology Studies of 2010. The end of 2010 fast approaches, and I'm thrilled to have been asked by the editors of Psychology Today to write about the Top 10 psychology studies of the year. I've focused on studies that I personally feel stand out, not only as examples of great science, but even more importantly, as examples of how the science of psychology can improve our lives. Each study has a clear "take home" message, offering the reader an insight or a simple strategy they can use to reach their goals , strengthen their relationships, make better decisions, or become happier.
If you extract the wisdom from these ten studies and apply them in your own life, 2011 just might be a very good year. 1) How to Break Bad Habits If you are trying to stop smoking , swearing, or chewing your nails, you have probably tried the strategy of distracting yourself - taking your mind off whatever it is you are trying not to do - to break the habit. J. 2) How to Make Everything Seem Easier J. 3) How To Manage Your Time Better M. J. 10 Brilliant Social Psychology Studies | PsyBlog. Ten of the most influential social psychology experiments explain why we sometimes do dumb or irrational things. “I have been primarily interested in how and why ordinary people do unusual things, things that seem alien to their natures.Why do good people sometimes act evil? Why do smart people sometimes do dumb or irrational things?”
–Philip Zimbardo Like famous social psychologist Professor Philip Zimbardo (author of The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil), I’m also obsessed with why we do dumb or irrational things. The answer quite often is because of other people — something social psychologists have comprehensively shown. Each of the 10 brilliant social psychology experiments below tells a unique, insightful story relevant to all our lives, every day. Click the link in each social psychology experiment to get the full description and explanation of each phenomenon. 1. The halo effect is a finding from a famous social psychology experiment. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. The Ten Most Revealing Psych Experiments. Psychology is the study of the human mind and mental processes in relation to human behaviors - human nature.
Due to its subject matter, psychology is not considered a 'hard' science, even though psychologists do experiment and publish their findings in respected journals. Some of the experiments psychologists have conducted over the years reveal things about the way we humans think and behave that we might not want to embrace, but which can at least help keep us humble. That's something. 1. The Robbers Cave Experiment is a classic social psychology experiment conducted with two groups of 11-year old boys at a state park in Oklahoma, and demonstrates just how easily an exclusive group identity is adopted and how quickly the group can degenerate into prejudice and antagonism toward outsiders. Researcher Muzafer Sherif actually conducted a series of 3 experiments. 2. The prisoners rebelled on the second day, and the reaction of the guards was swift and brutal. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Psychology studies relevant to everyday life - PsyBlog. Six. Color Psychology. By David Johnson Like death and taxes, there is no escaping color. It is ubiquitous. Yet what does it all mean? Why are people more relaxed in green rooms? Why do weightlifters do their best in blue gyms? Colors often have different meanings in various cultures. And even in Western societies, the meanings of various colors have changed over the years. Black Black is the color of authority and power. White Brides wear white to symbolize innocence and purity. Red The most emotionally intense color, red stimulates a faster heartbeat and breathing. The most romantic color, pink, is more tranquilizing. Blue The color of the sky and the ocean, blue is one of the most popular colors. Green Currently the most popular decorating color, green symbolizes nature.
Yellow Cheerful sunny yellow is an attention getter. Purple The color of royalty, purple connotes luxury, wealth, and sophistication. Brown Solid, reliable brown is the color of earth and is abundant in nature. Colors of the Flag Food for Thought. 10 More Common Faults in Human Thought. Humans This list is a follow up to Top 10 Common Faults in Human Thought. Thanks for everyone’s comments and feedback; you have inspired this second list! It is amazing that with all these biases, people are able to actually have a rational thought every now and then. There is no end to the mistakes we make when we process information, so here are 10 more common errors to be aware of. The confirmation bias is the tendency to look for or interpret information in a way that confirms beliefs. Individuals reinforce their ideas and attitudes by selectively collecting evidence or retrieving biased memories.
For example, I think that there are more emergency room admissions on nights where there is a full moon. The Availability heuristic is gauging what is more likely based on vivid memories. Illusion of Control is the tendency for individuals to believe they can control or at least influence outcomes that they clearly have no influence on. Bonus Attribute Substitution. Top 10 Thinking Traps Exposed. Our minds set up many traps for us. Unless we’re aware of them, these traps can seriously hinder our ability to think rationally, leading us to bad reasoning and making stupid decisions.
Features of our minds that are meant to help us may, eventually, get us into trouble. Here are the first 5 of the most harmful of these traps and how to avoid each one of them. 1. The Anchoring Trap: Over-Relying on First Thoughts “Is the population of Turkey greater than 35 million? What’s your best estimate?” Lesson: Your starting point can heavily bias your thinking: initial impressions, ideas, estimates or data “anchor” subsequent thoughts. This trap is particularly dangerous as it’s deliberately used in many occasions, such as by experienced salesmen, who will show you a higher-priced item first, “anchoring” that price in your mind, for example. What can you do about it? Always view a problem from different perspectives. 2. Consider the status quo as just another alternative. 3. 4. 5. 30 Things to Stop Doing to Yourself. Dunning–Kruger effect.
Cognitive bias about one's own skill The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people with limited competence in a particular domain overestimate their abilities. Some researchers also include the opposite effect for high performers: their tendency to underestimate their skills. In popular culture, the Dunning–Kruger effect is often misunderstood as a claim about general overconfidence of people with low intelligence instead of specific overconfidence of people unskilled at a particular task. The Dunning–Kruger effect is usually measured by comparing self-assessment with objective performance. For example, participants may take a quiz and estimate their performance afterward, which is then compared to their actual results. There are disagreements about what causes the Dunning–Kruger effect.
There are disagreements about the Dunning–Kruger effect's magnitude and practical consequences. Definition[edit] David Dunning Measurement, analysis, and investigated tasks[edit] [edit] What makes people feel pleasure? Paul Bloom: The origins of pleasure Paul Bloom: Some pleasures seem easy to explain as a result of biologyHe says others depend on our thoughts about the value of what we're experiencingWine experts will rate a wine with a fancy label more highly than an ordinary oneThere is always more to pleasure than its physical aspect, Bloom says Editor's note: Paul Bloom is professor of psychology and cognitive science at Yale University, where he directs the Mind and Development Lab.
Follow him at twitter.com/paulbloomatyale. Bloom spoke at the TED Global conference last month in Edinburgh, UK. This article is adapted from his book, "How Pleasure Works" (Norton, 2010). TED is a nonprofit dedicated to "ideas worth spreading" which it makes available on its website. (CNN) -- Some questions about pleasure have easy answers. Animals like us need food and water to survive, need sex to reproduce, and need to attend to and care for our children in order to pass on our genes.
The essence of pleasure. Emotional Skills Toolkit: Bring Your Life Into Balance. We often hear from people who feel overwhelmed by stress, family, work and relationship problems, health challenges, and painful emotions. They’ve tried many approaches to help themselves feel better, but they just can’t seem to follow through, or what they’ve done hasn't helped them enough. If this sounds familiar, you know that it’s all too easy to become discouraged when you’re stuck. The problem is not willpower—all the willpower in the world won’t matter if you can’t manage stress or keep your emotions in balance. The good news: you can learn these important emotional skills, no matter your age or the obstacles you face.
That’s what this free online program teaches. Skill building, like any learning, takes time and effort.