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.
Mapping Emotions On The Body: Love Makes Us Warm All Over : Shots - Health News People drew maps of body locations where they feel basic emotions (top row) and more complex ones (bottom row). Hot colors show regions that people say are stimulated during the emotion. Cool colors indicate deactivated areas. Image courtesy of Lauri Nummenmaa, Enrico Glerean, Riitta Hari, and Jari Hietanen. hide caption toggle caption Image courtesy of Lauri Nummenmaa, Enrico Glerean, Riitta Hari, and Jari Hietanen. People drew maps of body locations where they feel basic emotions (top row) and more complex ones (bottom row). Image courtesy of Lauri Nummenmaa, Enrico Glerean, Riitta Hari, and Jari Hietanen. Close your eyes and imagine the last time you fell in love. Where did you feel the love? When a team of scientists in Finland asked people to map out where they felt different emotions on their bodies, they found that the results were surprisingly consistent, even across cultures. "Say you see a snake and you feel fear," Nummenmaa says. That idea has been known for centuries.
How I Wish the Homosexuality Debate Would Go Just once, I’d like to see a TV interview go more like this: Host: You are a Christian pastor, and you say you believe the Bible, which means you are supposed to love all people. Pastor: That’s right. Host: But it appears to me that you and your church take a rather unloving position when it comes to gay people. Are homosexuals welcome to come to your church? Pastor: Of course. Host: But you said there, “We’re a place for sinners.” Pastor: Yes, I do. Host: So how do you reconcile the command to love all people with a position on homosexuality that some would say is radically intolerant? Pastor: (smiling) If you think my position on homosexuality is radical, just wait until you hear what else I believe! Host: But Jesus didn’t condemn homosexuality outright, did He? Pastor: He didn’t have to. Host: You say he condemned adultery, but he chose not to condemn the woman caught in adultery. Pastor: That’s right, but He did tell her to “go and sin no more.” Pastor: Who am I? Host: But you are judging.
16 things I know are true but haven’t quite learned yet There’s a difference between knowing something and living as if it were true. At the end of 2013, these truths are all lingering on that awkward threshold, for me anyway. 1) The sooner you do something, the more of your life you get to spend with that thing done — even though it takes less effort (or at least no more) than it will later. It’s the ultimate sure-thing investment and I pass it up all the time. 2) I never regret working out. 3) Whenever I’m playing with my phone I am only shortening my life. 4) Nothing makes me more productive and in-the-moment than a clean house. 5) Minute-for-minute, nothing I do is more rewarding than meditation. 6) Creative work is something that can be done at any time. 7) Acting the way you want to feel usually works. 8) Ninety-five per cent of my happiness comes from having a home, a functioning body and something to eat. 9) Our minds are geared to manage much less than we typically end up managing. Goodbye 2013, you were great. Photo by David Cain