Psychology
The Ineffectiveness of Subliminal Advertising
The theater is dark. Specks of dust float visibly in the thin stream of light coming from the movie projector. The action flick projected on the screen seems reassuringly solid, the protagonist’s leap from the flaming car looks fluid and unbroken. But to James M. Vicary, a practicing psychologist and marketing researcher, the movie failed [...]
Turning Evil Inside Out
“We fear evil, but are fascinated by it.” So writes Philip Zimbardo, the author of The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil. While the precise line where immoral action becomes evil may vary from individual to individual, the evil Zimbardo writes of are actions that, in general, evoke a deep feeling moral reprehensibility. As [...]
Classification of Intelligence: Addressing the Misconceptions and Benefits
In our society today, “intelligence” is often referred to colloquially; few understand the cognitive complexities and nuances behind this commonly used term. By correcting misconceptions and encouraging a more thorough understanding of intelligence and its classifications, our society will be better equipped to fight cognitive disorders. The general population’s idea of intelligence is mostly related [...]
Serial Killers, the Brain, and the Mind: Empathy Research in Current Society
“I am the most cold-blooded son of a bitch you’ll ever meet…I just liked to kill, I wanted to kill.” Such were the words of the infamous serial killer Ted Bundy. Ted Bundy was a psychopath, suffering from a disorder characterized by “aggressive narcissism” and a “socially deviant lifestyle.” These two traits are clinically diagnosed [...]
The Places We Learn: Online Collaborative Learning
How do we learn? This question has fascinated ancient philosophers and modern scientists alike, from Plato to Piaget, and there is much we still don’t know. Educational psychology has only begun to explore the complexities of this uniquely human capacity, and effective teaching is still more an art than a science. However, in the past [...]
reMIND – Creative Eccentrics: Making the Connection
Known as “Japan’s Edison,” Yoshiro NakaMats holds the world record for patents, with over 3,000 to his credit. You can thank NakaMats for the digital watch, the CD, and the DVD, just to name a few of his most popular inventions1. However, his method for invention, as well as his daily routine, may strike you [...]
Music: An Adaptation or a Side Effect?
Humans have evolved all sorts of advantageous adaptations for survival and reproduction, the two aspects of living things that drive natural selection. Music, however, does not seem to directly benefit either. So why has it evolved as such a significant and indispensable part of human culture for over (at least) the last 35,000 years2? What [...]
Our Draining Willpower in the Digital Age?
Quick, say the colors of the following words out loud: BLUE, ORANGE, GREEN, PURPLE, PINK, YELLOW. How many did you get right? And what does this have to do with willpower? Psychologists use this kind of test to measure our current level of willpower.1 The speed and accuracy of your responses reflects your level of [...]
Rolling Thunder: Racing Across America
For the Rolling Thunder Special Needs Program—a running and wheelchair racing club based in Long Island, New York for athletes with disabilities—the Sunday morning run is the last run of the training week. At 8 AM one Sunday morning in December, the distance runners on the team gathered at the gates of Connetquot State Park [...]
Generation Y: The Internet’s Effects on Cognition and Education
It is difficult for young people today to imagine a time without text messaging and internet surfing. The current generation of college students in particular have literally grown up with the internet, and are often more technologically literate than their parents and professors. Studies have shown that young people’s frequent use of the internet affected [...]
Grassroots Special Needs Program Seeks the Paralympic Dream
On any given Saturday morning, there are countless 5K races going on around the country. Dan Renahan, a recent college graduate of Long Island University, won one of these 5K races in 16 minutes and 20 seconds on a Saturday in September. As usual, a local newspaper reporter wrote a short article on the event [...]
Harry Potter, Psychology and Scientific Inquiry
The Harry Potter series is more than a simple collection of books and films. It is an enterprise that has accrued an estimated $21 billion from book sales, box office tickets, and merchandise.1 With over 450 million copies in print,2 J.K. Rowling’s writings have had a significant cultural impact on fans spanning various age groups, [...]
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