Psychological Science & Research Insights
There is some debate on whether reading literary fiction has any effect on the brain. Can reading improve empathy, mentalizing (being aware of one’s and other’s thoughts), and desirable attitudes? Research in this area looks at the theory of mind and social cognition. Let us first understand these terms. Theory of Mind – This framework …
Read moreThe Effect of Reading Fiction on The Brain: Do Books Increase Empathy?
One of the strongest applications of research in psychology, neuroscience, and cognitive science is brain-based learning. It allows us to leverage research on how the brain learns in creating a new set of guiding principles for learning, teaching, training, and education. What is Brain-Based Learning? Brain-based learning is a paradigm of learning which addresses student …
Read moreBrain-Based Learning: Theory, Strategies, And Concepts
After a series of long & detailed posts, let me share something fun and amusing. Let’s look at 3 amazingly surprising and interesting quirks of the human brain. The word “fact” is used for creating some dramatic influence. A more accurate description would be interesting psychological findings. 1. Side-to-Side eye movements can temporarily boost memory …
Read more3 Stupidly Useless, Pointless & Amazing Facts About the Human Brain
There are several ways to influence and persuade people, but this post will only focus on persuasion and motivation for adopting pro-environmental behaviors. Environmental awareness is one part of the solution. The other part is motivating people to adopt behaviors that help conserve, preserve, and sustain the environment. How can psychologists help in promoting these …
Read morePro-Environmental Behavior: Herd Mentality Motivates, Money Does Not
We all experience emotions with a huge subjective component. Most of us can recognize the emotions we experience, and sometimes we don’t know what to do with them. Whether it is trauma, a bad day, a terrible event, uncontrolled anger, pent-up stress, or unadulterated anxiety and sadness, emotions and thoughts manifest in ways we don’t …
Read more7 Proven and Practical Emotional Regulation Skills & Techniques [How-To]
Speaking anecdotally, have you ever had an interaction with a professional who has a vast amount of experience but ultimately failed to offer a smart and creative solution? One possibility is that the expert really wasn’t an expert and genuinely lacked problem-solving skills. The other possibility is that you experienced the Einstellung Effect; also known …
Read moreThe Einstellung Effect: Why Experts Lack Creativity And Problem Solving Skills
Suffering from stress and anxiety is no joke and should not be underestimated. Many people start having depressive episodes that cannot be controlled at the later stage. Overthinking can be blamed for a lot of stress and anxiety. When we start to worry and overthink about problems that are not in our hands, anxiety happens. …
Yoga is quite a popular choice when it comes to improving the quality of life, coping with mental health issues, and increasing the amount of daily physical activity. But is this popularity founded in scientific evidence? Most research reviews, today, conclude that Yoga has a generally positive influence on the mind and body – as …
Research shows that self-talk, when done in 3rd person, can be an effective method of emotional self-regulation which can reduce anxiety. It provides the necessary psychological distance between the self and anxiety-inducing contexts. This also helps when you are thinking about negative events and ruminating anxiety-ridden thoughts. This psychological distance allows a person to reflect …
Do you like it when you are surrounded by nature? Do you have a primeval desire to connect with nature? Most of us would answer that with a resounding YES. There is a term for that. Biophilia: The innate tendency of humans to connect with nature and other lifeforms. An exciting hypothesis emerged in 1984 …
Read moreBiophilia: Sensory Contact With Nature Can Improve Your Overall Well-being & Mental Health
There are two trains of thought – One leads to procrastination and one leads to motivation. And somewhere in between, there is a junction called anxiety. Let’s first look at the procrastination train of thought (at least that’s going somewhere, amirite?). People often think procrastination is about time management, laziness, or a weak will but …
Read moreYou Procrastinate Because Of Emotions, Not Laziness. Regulate Them To Stop Procrastinating!
As a student, you are probably worrying about the non-stop barrage of demanding tasks, project deadlines, and forthcoming exams. To make things worse, you probably are not prepared to take exams which creates a whole different class of stress called exam stress. The demands can cause a longterm study-life imbalance. The pressure can lead to …
Read more7 Practical ways students can manage exam stress and school Stress [Guest Post]