Psychology in Action

Category: Cognition and Perception

  • Psychology Classics: Wason Selection Task (Part I)

    Psychology Classics: Wason Selection Task (Part I)

    This post is the first of three on the Wason selection task (Part II), and part of our ongoing series exploring classic experiments and theories in the history of psychological research.

  • Finding the motivation to stick with goals

    Most of us have gotten loyalty cards at one point or another that treated us to a free item after a certain amount of purchases at that particular establishment. Most of us have also tossed more than one of those cards after realizing they weren’t worth the space in our wallets for the amount of…

  • Are afternoon naps key to enhancing learning?

    Maybe cats and kindergartners are on to something: Recent research out of the University of California, Berkeley suggests that taking an afternoon nap might lead to increases in learning ability throughout the day! Research out of the the Sleep & Memory Lab led by Matt Walker up at UCB shows that, in general, our learning…

  • Read My Mind! Can new science technology really translate my brain activity into words?

    Have you ever wanted to be able to read minds? As children, we are especially smitten with the idea of having special ‘powers’ like these, although we quickly learn that such magical abilities are far from reality. Yet given the new imaging and electrophysiological methods that have allowed researchers to discover even more about the…

  • Muscles and the Mind — See for Yourself

    One of the many reasons I like studying the brain is that its function is so directly tied to all the actions I do every day.  As I go through the world it’s easy to forget that my brain is working hard coordinating my muscles and senses, so I like little demonstrative exercises using ones…

  • How We See Food

    I’m not a great cook, but I know what I like. Or do I? Research from Brian Wansink and colleagues may challenge our ideas about how we think of food. How do we behave at buffets? Can a clever name really encourage us to eat something ordinary? Will placement of food at a cafeteria really…

  • How Self-Regulation Works

    Self-regulation is an extremely important skill to develop.  In fact, as I am writing this post, with no outside person or institution forcing me to do, on a vacation day when it is sunny outside, I am demonstrating formidable self-regulation.  I believe that teaching children, and adults, how to self-regulate is one of the best…

  • Do your eyes always tell you the truth?

    To Review: why do we have multiple interpretations of physical world? As pointed out in Genna’s blog, 3D objects in the real world are represented in 2D format on our retina. Our visual system, then, has to take this 2D signal and build back out of the 3D object that caused it. This is a…

  • Do Animals Suffer Like People?

    Imagine walking into a room filled with people crying. They are all wearing black; makeup running; tissues clutched hard in their hands. Instinctively, you too are overcome by the grief that is flowing through the room, knowing the cause of their misery and empathizing with their suffering.

  • How do I improve my memory? Honest advice for older adults.

    I find working with older adults to be extraordinarily rewarding. The anecdotes, the advice, the good sense – I love them all, even when they’re unsolicited. Because of all the wonderful things my older participants bring into the lab to share with me, I frequently feel the need to give something back. To that end,…