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Cognition

Banishing Winter Doldrumns

By Richard E. Cytowic, M.D. on February 22, 2012 in The Fallible Mind

What a lark! Sing to yourself, and boost your spirits. Read More

Defining Good to Kill Evil

By Leon Pomeroy, Ph.D. on February 22, 2012 in Beyond Good and Evil

We need a definition of good without using examples of good. It isn't easy! The best minds of history failed. Read More

Why Do Politicians Want to Police Dick and Jane's Private Parts?

By Professor Barry X. Kuhle, Ph.D. on February 22, 2012 in Evolutionary Entertainment

Polls with genitalia-laden names seem fixated on gonads. Read More

Why You Can't Trust Your Brain

By Leon F. Seltzer, Ph.D. on February 22, 2012 in Evolution of the Self

Anyone wanting an update on the fascinating developments in cognitive psychology and neuroscience (and, indirectly, evolutionary psychology as well) would do well to purchase a copy of David DiSalvo's informative and entertaining "What Makes Your Brain Happy and Why You Should Do the Opposite." . . . Read More

On “Cognitive Business”

By Alain Samson, Ph.D. on February 22, 2012 in Consumed

Being preoccupied has its uses -- both in life and the lab. Read More

Mind and Heart: Who Am I?

By Marilyn Mitchell, M.D. on February 22, 2012 in Heart and Soul Healing

When describing our two aspects of Heart and Mind, it begins to sound like these are separate from who we are. In truth, we are complex beings with a large repertoire of potential behaviors and powers. Read More

An Intervention Illusion

By Joachim I. Krueger, Ph.D. on February 22, 2012 in One Among Many

When you study for a test and succeed to improve your score, this does not necessarily mean that you will also do better at the things the test predicts. This will happen only if studying for the test requires the acquisition of the skills needed to succeed outside of the testing room. Read More

Will 10,000 Hours of Practice Make You an Expert at Anything?

By Gary Marcus, Ph.D. on February 22, 2012 in Kluge

10,000 hours of practice: Fact or myth? Read More

The Body Intelligence of a Dancer

By Donna Flagg on February 21, 2012 in Office Diaries

Thinking, and only thinking, keeps us in our heads at the expense of involving everything else. Read More

Do You Need to "Feel" It? Acting Theory and "My Week with Marilyn"

By Thalia R. Goldstein, Ph.D. on February 21, 2012 in The Mind On Stage

"My Week With Marilyn" provides two examples of competing acting theory and its importance for the portrayal of characters. Read More

Debunking Antidepressants

By Jefferson Fish, Ph.D. on February 21, 2012 in Looking in the Cultural Mirror

On Sunday, 60 Minutes on CBS discussed Irving Kirsch’s work showing that anti-depressants are no better than placebos for all but the most severe cases of depression. Read More

DOW 13K, What Does It Mean?

By Denise K. Shull, M.A. on February 21, 2012 in Market Mind Games

Markets are way less a numbers game than you think. Read More

Why the LDS Church Probably Will Not Take Elie Wiesel's Advice

By Robert N. McCauley, Ph.D. on February 21, 2012 in Why Religion Is Natural and Science Is Not

The LDS ritual of the Baptism of the Dead offers a perfect means for circumventing a barrier that all religious ritual systems face. Read More

Even for Young Kids, Explanation Guides Exploration

By Art Markman, Ph.D. on February 21, 2012 in Ulterior Motives

It is generally a positive characteristic to be curious. When you are curious, you spend a lot of time trying to understand the way the world around you works. Read More

The Red of His E String

By Maureen Seaberg on February 21, 2012 in Tasting the Universe

Itzhak Perlman's many gifts include associating color and shape to each note he bows on his priceless Stradivarius. Read More

The Bizarre Disorder of Hemineglect

By Jenni Ogden, Ph.D. on February 20, 2012 in Trouble in Mind

Patients who have right parietal damage and suffer from left hemineglect will often copy only the right half of a drawing, eat the food off only the right side of their plate and disown their left limbs. Read More

Out to Get You

By Katherine Ramsland on February 20, 2012 in Shadow Boxing

Last week I wrote about serial killers who pass as normal. Some readers thought I meant that they give off no signals of their intent. More often, we're vulnerable because we don't know how to read them. Read More

The Shape and Color of Song in Germany

By Maureen Seaberg on February 20, 2012 in Tasting the Universe

Alexandra Kirschner of Stuttgart teaches young synesthetes to sing through the imagery they see while forming sound. Read More

Embodied Cognition: What It Is & Why It's Important

By Jeff Thompson on February 20, 2012 in Beyond Words

Embodied cognition is the latest sexy topic in cognitive science. There is, however, a great deal of confusion about exactly what it means and how to study it. This article explains what it is and why it is important for you to understand. Read More

How to Manage Frustration

By Alex Lickerman, M.D. on February 19, 2012 in Happiness in this World

It's an uncomfortable paradox that the people closest to us often frustrate us the most. My theory about this is that we all have a certain level of tolerance for frustration that diminishes with repeated exposure to a situation or a person we find frustrating. Read More

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