PsyBlog Now on Twitter
PsyBlog is now on Twitter, right here.
So many people have kindly been sharing articles from PsyBlog with others on Twitter that the tweet count for recent articles is now fairly hefty. Thanks very much to all the Twitterers who've been spreading the word!
How Long to Form a Habit?
Say you want to create a new habit, whether it's taking more exercise, eating more healthily or writing a blog post every day, how often does it need to be performed before it no longer requires Herculean self-control?
Why You Can’t Help Believing Everything You Read
What is the mind's default position: are we naturally critical or naturally gullible? As a species do we have a tendency to behave like Agent Mulder from the X-Files who always wanted to believe in mythical monsters and alien abductions? Or are we like his partner Agent Scully who was the critical scientist, generating alternative explanations, trying to understand and evaluate the strange occurrences they encountered rationally?
Sit Up Straight! Be Confident!
At school all the cool kids were slouchers. No one wanted to be seen sitting up straight, paying attention or, heaven forbid making an effort to learn. It was only the geeks in the front row, hoovering up all that useless knowledge, who kept their backs straight. The rest were doing their best to reach the horizontal, and sometimes exceeding it.
Essentials of Group Psychology
When we're in a group other people have an incredibly powerful effect on us. Groups can kill our creativity, inspire us to work harder, allow us to slack off, skew our decision-making and make us clam up.
Group Polarization: The Trend to Extreme Decisions
Say you put 10 people in a room and asked them to design a car. Would they design something average or something wacky? Would they be more likely to come up with the Ford Focus or 'The Homer', designed by Homer Simpson in this classic episode of The Simpsons?
The Acceptance Prophecy: How You Control Who Likes You
The mystical-sounding 'acceptance prophecy' is simply this: when we think other people are going to like us, we behave more warmly towards them and consequently they like us more. When we think other people aren't going to like us, we behave more coldly and they don't like us as much.
Brainstorming Reloaded
ยท Why brainstorming is ineffective and how to fix it.
Brainstorming was once thought a fantastic way for groups to generate new ideas. Although not as fashionable as it once was, brainstorming is still frequently used in business and, often inadvertently, for all sorts of personal decisions; people happily brainstorm for holiday destinations, restaurants and even new careers.
