3 questions reveal your thinking skills [Cognitive Reflection Test]
Do you think you can think critically? What does your intuition say? Take this test to see how well you perform on one of the …
Can you spot these Cognitive Biases? [9 scenarios, Quiz]
Take this cognitive biases quiz to understand how these biases affect your daily life and perception. Can you identify them? Context: Cognitive biases are small …
All or None thinking (black/white thinking) examples
Our reality is partially made up of our perception of the world. This perception occurs through our thoughts, which may or may not represent the …
Acting as Batman makes children brilliant
Studies show pretending to be a role model such as Batman (or any other person with skills) can improve children’s executive functions and adaptability in …
Logic needs meaning, but there’s a catch (proof from apes)
I explore how humans need context and meaning for logical thinking. Without context, we aren’t able to use even the simplest of logical thoughts. And …
How mental visualizations improve physical skills [explained]
A version of this article[1] first appeared on psyguitar.com, where I write about how psychology and neuroscience help guitar playing. Visualization is a way to …
Employee mood depends on Skill & Task difficulty: Ideas for CXOs
The combination of skill level and task difficulty gives you 8 different mood experiences, including flow, stress, and boredom. These are feelings for a task. …
Need for Cognition: A personality trait of hungry brains
“Need for cognition” is a personality tendency describing how much people engage and love to engage in effortful cognitive activities like thinking. If one loves …
Why words feel wrong after too many repetitions
I just edited 50 “colours” to “colors” in my article in 1 minute using Grammarly. When I finished, the word “color” seemed wrong and alien. …
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 …
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 are my decisions so Inconsistent or Random? [explanation]
Emotions affect decisions, but there is another hidden influence from the body’s baseline arousal that we cannot estimate or predict, so we change our decisions …
The Science behind Why Subtitles are Better
Sound on, subtitles on. Ready for movie night. There’s science behind this. I had a small argument with my friend about why I love subtitles …
Note-taking guidelines for reading material
The main contributing factor[1] in how note-taking improves learning is the encoding effect – notes help the learner improve information encoding, which is translating the …
Memorization techniques to improve memory for facts
Memory for facts is called declarative memory which has 2 subtypes – semantic memory (concepts, facts, and details you put into words) and episodic memory …