Thousands of subsequent experiments have confirmed and elaborated on this finding. Rarely has this insight seemed more relevant than it does right now. Still, an essential puzzle remains: How did we come to be this way? Mercier, who works at a French research institute in Lyon, and Sperber, now based at the Central European University, in Budapest, point out that reason is an evolved trait, like bipedalism or three-color vision. It emerged on the savannas of Africa, and has to be understood in that context.
For any individual, freeloading is always the best course of action. Reason developed not to enable us to solve abstract, logical problems or even to help us draw conclusions from unfamiliar data; rather, it developed to resolve the problems posed by living in collaborative groups.
One of the most famous of these was conducted, again, at Stanford. For this experiment, researchers rounded up a group of students who had opposing opinions about capital punishment. Half the students were in favor of it and thought that it deterred crime; the other half were against it and thought that it had no effect on crime.
The students were asked to respond to two studies. One provided data in support of the deterrence argument, and the other provided data that called it into question.
Both studies—you guessed it—were made up, and had been designed to present what were, objectively speaking, equally compelling statistics. At the end of the experiment, the students were asked once again about their views.
Imagine, Mercier and Sperber suggest, a mouse that thinks the way we do. A recent experiment performed by Mercier and some European colleagues neatly demonstrates this asymmetry. Participants were asked to answer a series of simple reasoning problems.
They were then asked to explain their responses, and were given a chance to modify them if they identified mistakes. The majority were satisfied with their original choices; fewer than fifteen per cent changed their minds in step two. Once again, they were given the chance to change their responses.
About half the participants realized what was going on. Among the other half, suddenly people became a lot more critical. This lopsidedness, according to Mercier and Sperber, reflects the task that reason evolved to perform, which is to prevent us from getting screwed by the other members of our group. There was little advantage in reasoning clearly, while much was to be gained from winning arguments.
Nor did they have to contend with fabricated studies, or fake news, or Twitter. Steven Sloman, a professor at Brown, and Philip Fernbach, a professor at the University of Colorado, are also cognitive scientists. They, too, believe sociability is the key to how the human mind functions or, perhaps more pertinently, malfunctions.
Virtually everyone in the United States, and indeed throughout the developed world, is familiar with toilets. A typical flush toilet has a ceramic bowl filled with water.
But how does this actually happen? In a study conducted at Yale, graduate students were asked to rate their understanding of everyday devices, including toilets, zippers, and cylinder locks.
They were then asked to write detailed, step-by-step explanations of how the devices work, and to rate their understanding again. Same goes for other combinations, like red and green. Your short-term memory can only hold on to so much information at a time unless you try one of the simple ways to improve your memory , which is why you use "chunking" to remember long numbers.
For instance, if you try to memorize this number: , you probably naturally thought something like Sorry, kids! One of the most useful psychology facts is that testing really does work. One study published in the journal Psychological Science found that people are more likely to store information in their long-term memory if they've been tested on the information the more, the better than if they just study and don't need to remember it right away.
The whole "paradox of choice" theory has been criticized by researchers who say it hasn't been shown in studies, but there is some evidence that our brains prefer a few options to a ton. When singles at speed-dating events met more people and those people had more diversity in factors like age and occupation, the participants chose fewer potential dates.
Psychologists have found that the brain is sensitive to scarcity—the feeling that you're missing something you need. When farmers have a good cash flow, for instance, they tend to be better planners than when they're tight for money, one study found. When you're feeling cash-strapped, you might need more reminders to pay bills or do chores because your mind is too busy to remember.
Researchers in one Science study fed volunteers false information, then a week later revealed that the facts weren't actually true. Even though the volunteers knew the truth now , fMRI scans showed that they still believed the misinformation about half the time. It's one of the psychology facts to know that could make you smarter. Most of us haven't seen Jesus in a piece of toast, but we've all noticed cartoonish faces seemingly staring back at us from inanimate objects.
That's called pareidolia, and scientists think it comes from the fact that recognizing faces is so important to social life that our brains would rather find one where there isn't one than miss a real-life face. Ever wonder why when one problem resolves, another one takes its place? It's not that the world is against you—but your brain might be, in a sense. Researchers asked volunteers to pick out threatening-looking people from computer-generated faces.
Humans hate " cognitive dissonance ": when a fact counters something we believe. That's why when, we hear that a loved one did something wrong or garbage, we undermine how bad it really was, or we tell ourselves that science exaggerates when a study tells us we really need to move more.
You may have heard of the Pygmalion effect before—basically, we do well when other people think we will, and we don't do well when people expect us to fail. The idea came from a famous s study in which researchers told teachers that certain students chosen at random had high potential based on IQ tests.
Those students did indeed go on to be high achievers, thanks to their teachers' expectations in them. Told yourself you'd just quickly check your Facebook notifications, and 15 minutes later you're still scrolling? You're not alone. Part of that has to do with infinite scroll: When you can stay on the site without actually interacting and clicking, your brain doesn't get that "stop" cue. You've probably heard about the famous Stanford prison experiment. Refresher: College students were randomly assigned to be either a prisoner or guard in a fake prison, and the "guards" started harassing the "prisoners.
That's pretty extreme, but later studies have found that when people feel like they're in a power position, they become worse at judging a person's feelings based on their facial expressions, indicating a loss of empathy.
Why, oh why, does cake have to taste better than vegetables? Well, because that's how we were primed for millions of years. For our ancestors, getting a quick hit of energy from sugar and then storing it as fat, or eating plenty of fat to keep our bodies and brains fueled meant more energy in the long run. But now that sugary, fatty foods are easy a little too easy to eat and overeat, our bodies are still primed to store that fat—even though we don't need it.
Pretty much everyone has procrastinated at one time or another, even though we know logically that it would make more sense to get a jump on our taxes than to turn on Netflix. We prefer urgent, unimportant tasks because we know we'll be able to complete them. There's also evidence that when we see the deadline looming in terms of days, rather than months or years, because we feel more connected to a day-by-day passing of time.
The type of psychologist may depend upon the type of problem you are facing. If you are experiencing emotional or psychological symptoms, you might need a clinical or counseling psychologist. If you have a question about whether your child is developing normally, then you might want to ask a developmental psychologist. Some psychologists work in the field of mental health, treating patients experiencing psychiatric disorders and psychological distress. Subfields such as clinical, counseling, and health psychology are focused on helping people with mental and physical health issues.
Other psychologists work in applied subfields, such as forensic psychology and industrial-organizational psychology, to solve real-world problems. Still other psychologists focus their work on research to contribute to our understanding of the human mind and behavior. Such psychologists may specialize in a particular area such as development, social behavior, cognition, or personality.
When you think of psychology, do you envision a therapist jotting down notes as a client recounts childhood experiences? While therapy is certainly a big part of psychology, it is not the only thing that psychologists do. In fact, many psychologists don't work in the field of mental health at all. Psychology encompasses other areas including teaching, research, and consulting.
Mental health is certainly a major area of interest in psychology, but psychologists also do things such as help athletes hone their motivation and mental focus , help design products that are safe and useful, and help businesses understand how to influence consumers. Psychology is not just an academic subject that exists only in classrooms, research labs, and mental health offices. The principles of psychology can be seen all around you in everyday situations.
The television commercials and print ads you see every day rely on psychology to develop marketing messages that influence and persuade people to purchase the advertised products. The websites you visit on a regular basis utilize psychology to understand how people read, use, and interpret online information.
Psychology can also play a role in improving your health and well-being. For example, understanding some of the basic principles of behavioral psychology might come in handy if you are trying to break a bad habit and establish new routines.
Knowing more about some of the things that motivate behavior can be useful if you are trying to stick to a weight loss plan or exercise regimen. Overcoming phobias, managing stress, improving communication skills, and making better decisions are just a few of the things with which psychology can help.
If your child is experiencing problems at school, you might seek advice from a school psychologist who specializes in helping kids deal with academic, social, emotional, and other issues. If you are concerned about an elderly parent or grandparent, you might want to consult with a developmental psychologist who is specially trained and knowledgeable in issues related to the aging process. In order to determine which professional is right for your needs, it helps to understand some of the different training and licensing requirements for different specialty areas.
If you are trying to select a psychotherapist, it may also be helpful to learn more about which professionals are able to provide therapy services. If you are thinking about majoring in psychology, there are many career paths to choose from.
These depend largely on your educational level and work experience, so it is important to research the training and licensing requirements of your chosen specialty area.
Just a few of the possible career options include clinical psychology , forensic psychology , health psychology , and industrial-organizational psychology. Among the major goals of psychology are to describe, explain, predict, and improve human behavior.
Some psychologists accomplish this by contributing to our basic understanding of how people think, feel, and behave. Others work in applied settings to solve real-world problems that have an impact on everyday life. And finally, many psychologists devote their lives to helping people who are struggling with psychological issues. You may find these professionals working in hospitals, mental health clinics, private practices, and other settings to diagnose psychological disorders and provide psychotherapy to people from all walks of life.
While the work of psychologists may be highly varied, they all share one overriding goal: to help people live better lives. Psychology is a rich and fascinating subject that has practical applications in many areas of life.
If you have ever wanted to learn more about why people think and act the way they do, then studying psychology is a great way to gain greater insight into the human experience. Psychology has a powerful impact on the world today. Our daily lives are deeply impacted by the interaction of biology, relationships, and mental processes. Psychologists are skilled at understanding the role these factors play in influencing health, happiness, and overall well-being.
Ever wonder what your personality type means? Sign up to find out more in our Healthy Mind newsletter. Von Wright G. In defence of psychology. In: Friedman M. Law and Philosophy Library, vol Springer, Dordrecht; Benjafield JG. The long past and short history of the vocabulary of anglophone psychology. History of Psychology.
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