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. 'Lord of the Flies': Social Identity Theory 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. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Turns out that it's all about framing.
Contemplative Science and Practice: "How to Do Research You Love" Padam-lama Vajrasattva Heruka, Dorje Sempa with Vajragarvi In early January I presented a lecture on "Contemplative Science and Practice: How to Do Research You Love" to the Faculty Forum at the Wright Institute. I told my personal story (how a meeting with Paul Ekman, the world-famous emotion researcher upon whom the TV series "Lie to me" was based, directed me to Tibetan Buddhism and a Tibetan Buddhist practice). I told a research story, and provided an overview of current findings in contemplative science, including the findings from our own lab at the Wright Institute, the Emotion, Personality and Altruism Research Group (EPARG) ( A few days later, an opinion piece appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education by Owen Flanagan, essentially trashing what he called "Hocus-Pocus Buddhism." I wish Flanagan had let us in on how he came to his conclusion.
Why powerful people -- many of whom take a moral high ground -- don't practice what they preach 2009 may well be remembered for its scandal-ridden headlines, from admissions of extramarital affairs by governors and senators, to corporate executives flying private jets while cutting employee benefits, and most recently, to a mysterious early morning car crash in Florida. The past year has been marked by a series of moral transgressions by powerful figures in political, business and celebrity circles. New research from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University explores why powerful people - many of whom take a moral high ground - don't practice what they preach. Researchers sought to determine whether power inspires hypocrisy, the tendency to hold high standards for others while performing morally suspect behaviors oneself. The research finds that power makes people stricter in moral judgment of others - while being less strict of their own behavior. The research was conducted by Joris Lammers and Diederik A.
Do men and women have different brains?" - (Build 20100401064631 We like to think that men and women are fundamentally the same, excepting their reproductive organs. We all want the same rights and opportunities, and for some things, such as women's suffrage, it was a long, hard fight to achieve equal footing. As a result, we're often appalled at stereotypical suggestions that the sexes might be different. Witness the reaction to the Barbie doll who said "Math class is tough!" in 1992. OK, so we invented that last example, but just because we can't track down a concrete example of such a protest doesn't mean that men aren't the tiniest bit irked. As it turns out, it may be better to turn to neuroscience rather than to Cosmopolitan magazine to figure out what's going on inside that guy's brain. It's these kinds of stereotypes that make some people nervous about the findings on the male and female brain -- what kinds of implications would this have for our world?
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 Brain: Why Athletes Are Geniuses | Memory, Emotions, & Decis Even as practice changes the brain’s anatomy, it also helps different regions of the brain talk to one another. Some neurons strengthen their connections to other neurons and weaken their connections to still others. Early on, neurons in the front of the brain (the prefrontal cortex) are active. That region is vital for top-down control, which enables us to focus on a task and consider a range of responses. With practice, the prefrontal cortex grows quiet. Our predictions get faster and more accurate, so we don’t need so much careful oversight about how to respond. Several years ago Matthew Smith and Craig Chamberlain of the University of Northern Colorado examined the connection between the quieting of the cortex and athletic ability. As the brains of athletes become more efficient, they learn how to make sense of a new situation sooner. Elite cricket players did a much better job than less skilled ones at anticipating the outcome of a pitch.
10 Practical Uses For Psychological Research in Everyday Life | People love to give each other advice. The web is full to bursting with all types of pseudo-psychological advice about life. The problem is, how much of this is based on real scientific evidence? Well, here on PsyBlog we’ve got the scientific evidence. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Two pairs of Mexican wolves to be released at Apache National Fo TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) - A pair of Mexican gray wolves will be released today and next week into the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area of Arizona. According to the U.S. The wolves were held in the enclosure through the breeding season, which occurs in February and March. The second pair will be released next week into the primary recovery zone in Apache National Forest. "This release follows through on a commitment made by the Arizona Game and Fish Commission to support the release of wolves to replace those lost from illegal shootings," said chairman John W. The two female wolves were selected from the captive breeding population to increase genetic diversity of the wild wolf population. "We anticipate the release of these two pregnant females from captivity will have a higher chance of success because they are paired with males that already have extensive wild experience," said Benjamin Tuggle, the Service's Southwest Regional Director. Copyright 2014 Tucson News Now.
Asch Experiment - Conformity in Groups The Asch Experiment, by Solomon Asch, was a famous experiment designed to test how peer pressure to conform would influence the judgment and individuality of a test subject. The experiment is related closely to the Stanford Prison and Milgram Experiments, in that it tries to show how perfectly normal human beings can be pressured into unusual behavior by authority figures, or by the consensus of opinion around them. For the experiment, eight subjects were seated around a table, with the seating plan carefully constructed to prevent any suspicion. Only one participant was actually a genuine subject for the experiment, the rest being confederates, carefully tutored to give certain pre-selected responses. Careful experimental construction placed a varying amount of peer pressure on the individual test subject. The experiment was simple in its construction; each participant, in turn, was asked to answer a series of questions, such as which line was longest or which matched the reference line.
How do we use this Conformity for social good? More persistence, attendance, course completion? by uboost Oct 21