How Power Naps Power the Brain
Daytime power naps ranging from 2 to 30 minutes outside regular sleep are not just a bandaid solution to fatigue. They are an evidence-based method …
Behavior generally refers to observable aspects of our life. Researchers have long considered behavior to be the central focus of psychology, whether its adjustment, mental health, or learning.
Behavior looks at 2 aspects of our lives:
1. What is a person doing?
2. How is it related to the environment or other behavior?
Behavior is typically understood through 2 approaches:
1. Reinforcement: What incentive or problem is increasing or decreasing a behavior.
2. Stimulus-response: If the brain is stimulated with any information or object, what is the human response to it?
Why does Caffeine alter Mood, Focus, & Cognition?
Like a thermostat or air conditioner, coffee is a brain and body regulator. Some people can’t start their day without coffee. And some get so …
Chewing Gum affects Mood & Cognition in surprising ways!
Many research studies show chewing gum can improve attention, concentration, alertness, test performance, and mood. It can even prevent or extinguish a song stuck in …
Why is it hard to make friends as an adult? And what can you do about it?
First, let’s look at how many friends people have. Because, you might just have an expected amount of friends and not know it. Others can …
Examples of everyday procrastination (mindsets and beliefs)
Procrastination is an everyday problem for many, and it is a pathological problem for a few, especially when there is some associated mental health disturbance. …
14 Easy Productivity Tips for Early-career Employees
Suppose you are at the start of your career. Your work is hard, and you are burning out. What can you do to make it …
Do Violent Games make us Violent? Mostly No, but also Yes!
Forget what media says about how violent gaming causes violence. Sensationalism gives science a bad name. Instead, let’s look at research flooded with nuanced insights …
Don’t forget your Prospective Memory, here’s how to build it
When we think of memory, we usually think of “retrospective” memory which is the memory of past events/facts, or “working” memory which is the memory …
Sensation Seeking: What it is + How it affects you
Sensation seeking is the tendency to seek high-intensity experiences and novelty. Sensation seekers typically want bold, complex, varied, and dramatic experiences as opposed to mild, …
Habit Guide: 12 Tricks to Build Good Habits + 6 Ways to Break Bad Ones
Forming new habits can be difficult but ultimately necessary to live easily. Habits are stable patterns of behavior or thought that happen automatically without needing …
Here’s how to stay motivated for a long time [Precise strategies]
People often advise, “you need to stay motivated” or “you need to feel the motivation from within.” However, it’s easier said than done. The very …
STOP these 14 Habits & Patterns that Degrade Mental Health
Assuming 2021 turns out better, what bad habits and thinking patterns would you leave behind in 2020? There are habits that take a toll on …
14 Signs of High Intelligence. Do you show these?
Without taking an Intelligence Quotient test, what traits, thoughts patterns, or behaviors would a high IQ person show? When we observe or interact with people, …
Cyberchondria: Health Anxiety by Googling Symptoms
Free online access to quality health information is nothing short of amazing, but it does create an unfortunate problem. What is health anxiety? When it …
How Food Portions Affect Eating Habits (The Portion Size Effect)
According to WHO, with over 300 million people deemed clinically obese, obesity[1] has reached epidemic proportions. We are in a ‘weight-watching’ culture where we give …
How to counter pseudoscience; it’s not about the evidence
People try to make sense of their experiences. Some of that sense-making is pseudoscientific. The Sense-making fulfills psychological needs. That creates an emotional attachment to …