Stockholm syndrome Stockholm syndrome, or capture-bonding, is a psychological phenomenon in which hostages express empathy and sympathy and have positive feelings toward their captors, sometimes to the point of defending and identifying with the captors. These feelings are generally considered irrational in light of the danger or risk endured by the victims, who essentially mistake a lack of abuse from their captors for an act of kindness.[1][2] The FBI's Hostage Barricade Database System shows that roughly 8 percent of victims show evidence of Stockholm syndrome.[3] Stockholm syndrome can be seen as a form of traumatic bonding, which does not necessarily require a hostage scenario, but which describes "strong emotional ties that develop between two persons where one person intermittently harasses, beats, threatens, abuses, or intimidates the other History[edit] Stockholm syndrome is named after the Norrmalmstorg robbery of Kreditbanken at Norrmalmstorg in Stockholm, Sweden. Similarly named syndromes[edit]
Parents: How to raise a creative genius A combination of heredity and unique characteristics of the individual contribute to creativityParents should cheer on their children but should not be attached to outcomesSome kids will drop an activity if they believe their parents have too many expectations about itCheck out CNN's Geek Out (CNN) -- When Gavin Ovsak started multiplying double-digit numbers in his head in kindergarten, his mother, Cathy, was astonished. "We were like, where did that come from? When did they cover that today?" said his mother, who lives in Hopkins, Minnesota. Today, Gavin is a 16-year-old award-winning inventor who's finishing up applications for two prestigious science competitions. What motivates this passion for learning, and achievement? BLOG: Read more about Gavin's device, the CHAD Sparking curiosity As a parent, you have to love learning yourself. Be an advocate -- go to whomever you need to talk to, to sit down and really explain what's going on with your child. Setting up challenges
Madonna–whore complex In sexual politics the view of women as either Madonnas or whores limits women's sexual expression, offering two mutually exclusive ways to construct a sexual identity.[4] The term is also used popularly, often with subtly different meanings. Causes[edit] Freud argued that the Madonna–whore complex is caused by oedipal castration fears which arise when a man experiences the affection he once felt for his mother with women he now sexually desires. In order to manage this anxiety, the man categorizes women into two groups: women he can admire and women he finds sexually attractive. Whereas the man loves women in the former category, he despises and devalues the latter group.[5] Psychoanalyst Richard Tuch suggests that Freud offered at least one alternative explanation for the Madonna–whore complex: According to Freudian psychology, this complex often develops when the sufferer is raised by a cold and distant mother. In popular culture[edit] See also[edit] References[edit] Notes Literature John A.
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? 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. Be OK with making mistakes. 4. 5.
Hedgehog's dilemma Both Arthur Schopenhauer and Sigmund Freud have used this situation to describe what they feel is the state of individual in relation to others in society. The hedgehog's dilemma suggests that despite goodwill, human intimacy cannot occur without substantial mutual harm, and what results is cautious behavior and weak relationships. With the hedgehog's dilemma, one is recommended to use moderation in affairs with others both because of self-interest, as well as out of consideration for others. The hedgehog's dilemma is used to explain introversion and isolationism. Schopenhauer[edit] The concept originates in the following parable from the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer's Parerga und Paralipomena, Volume II, Chapter XXXI, Section 396:[1] A number of porcupines huddled together for warmth on a cold day in winter; but, as they began to prick one another with their quills, they were obliged to disperse. Freud[edit] Social psychological research[edit] References[edit]
Does the comfort of conformity ease thoughts of death? - life - 25 February 2011 AS THE light at the end of the tunnel approaches, the need to belong to a group and be near loved ones may be among your final thoughts. So say Markus Quirin and his colleagues at the University of Osnabrück in Germany. The team prompted thoughts of death in 17 young men with an average age of 23 by asking them whether they agreed or disagreed with a series of statements such as "I am afraid of dying a painful death". To compare the brain activity associated with thoughts of death with that coupled to another unpleasant experience, the team also prompted thoughts of dental pain using statements like "I panic when I am sitting in the dentist's waiting room". Quirin's team found that thoughts of death, but not of dental pain, triggered heightened activity in brain regions such as the right amygdala, which is associated with fear and anxiety. Quirin thinks the work of German philosopher Martin Heidegger could explain the unexpected result. New Scientist Not just a website! Promoted Stories
Ten Psychology Studies from 2009 Worth Knowing About - David DiSalvo - Brainspin Image by AFP/Getty Images via Daylife Several great psychology and neuroscience studies were published in 2009. Below I’ve chosen 10 that I think are among the most noteworthy, not just because they’re interesting, but useful as well. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Ten Politically Incorrect Truths About Human Nature Human nature is one of those things that everybody talks about but no one can define precisely. Every time we fall in love, fight with our spouse, get upset about the influx of immigrants into our country, or go to church, we are, in part, behaving as a human animal with our own unique evolved nature—human nature. This means two things. Human behavior is a product both of our innate human nature and of our individual experience and environment. The implications of some of the ideas in this article may seem immoral, contrary to our ideals, or offensive. Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters, Long before TV—in 15th- and 16th- century Italy, and possibly two millennia ago—women were dying their hair blond. Women's desire to look like Barbie—young with small waist, large breasts, long blond hair, and blue eyes—is a direct, realistic, and sensible response to the desire of men to mate with women who look like her. Blond hair is unique in that it changes dramatically with age.
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. 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 In the U.S. flag, white stands for purity and innocence. Food for Thought
DISCERN Artificial Neural Network - How to Build a Schizophrenic Computer Schizophrenia is one of the most infamous and mysterious mental disorders. Attempting to get to the root of the problem, scientists recently came up with an extraordinary solution: They built a schizophrenic computer. In a study published in the online version of Biological Psychiatry in March, researchers altered an artificial neural network capable of learning language and stories, to the point where it started "acting" schizophrenic. People who suffer from schizophrenia often have difficulty thinking logically or discerning what is real or not real in their lives. "It is characterized by delusions or disassociation of language, often with hallucinations of spoken speech," says psychiatrist Ralph Hoffman of Yale University, coauthor of the study along with computer scientist Risto Miikkulainen of the University of Texas, Austin. Hoffman and his colleagues then started to tell simple stories to the computer. Then, it was DISCERN's job to repeat the tales back to the scientists.
this is (not) psychology Edge of the abyss Daddy’s little girl … Michael Schofield with his daughter, Janni, in 2006. The first weeks of Janni's life, my wife, Susan, and I are taking lots of home video, imagining her watching these tapes alongside us and her friends as a teenager, pretending to be mortified, but happy on the inside knowing how important she's been to us from the beginning. About a week into her life, she stops sleeping, aside from 20 to 30 naps within a 24-hour day. A couple of weeks go by and she's still not sleeping for even one hour straight. Keeping it together … the Schofield family in 2011. We tell our paediatrician that Janni is getting a total of four to five hours of sleep a day. Advertisement We leave somewhat relieved, but still have to figure out what to do. Before Janni was born, we were given baby toys by family and friends. One toy has three shapes on it: a red square, a blue triangle and a yellow circle. "Janni, where's the yellow circle?" "Correct," the toy announces. No. Oh my God. I'm stunned.
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. 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. This infamous experiment to plumb the depths of evil in human hearts ended up affecting its lead researcher as much as its subjects. 3. 4.
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