Most People Only Use 10% of Their Brain Power
Whenever one of us ventures out of the Ivory Tower to give a public lecture on brain science, one of the questions we most commonly hear is: "Is it true that we only use 10% of our brains?" ... Read More
From 50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology: Shattering Widespread Misconceptions about Human Behavior by Scott O. Lilienfeld, Steven Jay Lynn, John Ruscio, and Barry L. Beyerstein. Copyright © 2010 by Scott O. Lilienfeld, Steven Jay Lynn, John Ruscio, and Barry L. Beyerstein. This material is reproduced with permission of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Newsweek: Why do psychologists reject science? (from Psychological Science in the Public Interest)
By Sharon Begley
Newsweek columnist Sharon Begley discusses a new PSPI report on the current state of clinical psychology and what psychologists can do to steer their field (and their patients) in the right direction.
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Social Emotions and Intertemporal Choice: “Hot” Mechanisms for Building Social and Economic Capital (from Current Directions in Psychological Science)
By David DeSteno
Should you buy those fabulous shoes now or save the money for a larger purchase (like a car) in the future? We are faced with this dilemma all the time but how do we decide what to do? There are specific emotions that help us in these situations, enabling us to hold-off on immediate gratification. In addition, these emotions may help us with social challenges, especially those in which we need to consider long-term consequences of our actions.
Motivating Change in Relationships: Can Prayer Increase Forgiveness? (from Psychological Science)
By Nathaniel M. Lambert, Frank D. Fincham, Tyler F. Stillman, Steven M. Graham, and Steven R.H. Beach
Prayer may be beneficial to relationships by increasingly the likelihood of forgiveness. Study volunteers who prayed for their romantic partners or friends were more likely to forgive them than were volunteers who merely described their partners or thought about their friends. The prayer-forgiveness link may be mediated by selfless caring: Volunteers who prayed for friends over a 4-week period reported an increase in selfless caring for others.
Compensatory Control: Achieving Order Through the Mind, Our Institutions, and the Heavens (from Current Directions in Psychological Science)
By Aaron C. Kay, Jennifer A. Whitson, Danielle Gaucher, and Adam D. Galinsky
Random events make us uncomfortable—we much prefer for things to make sense and occur in some type of logical manner. When things spiral out of their control, people attempt to maintain a sense of order by such means as believing in an interventionist God, defending their government, and perceiving patterns in noise. These processes are driven specifically by lack of personal control and not by a general threat or negativity.
Amputees “Neglect” the Space Near Their Missing Hand (from Psychological Science)
By Tamar R. Makin, Meytal Wilf, Isabella Schwartz, and Ehud Zohary
The space within reach of our hands-where actions such as grasping and touching take place-is known as the “action space.” New findings reveal that amputations of the hand result in distorted visuospatial perception of this area. Amputees who were missing one hand would underestimate how far a target was from a central point when it was shown on the same side as the amputation, suggesting that the potential for a movement within the action space may influence our spatial perception of that area.
