Posts Tagged ‘pyschology’

ED paradox

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

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David Tunnicliffe


What is it: A neat build on ‘expectation disconfirmation theory’ (ED), this is about managing expectations and the inherent tension that exists between setting a low expectation (which can be uninteresting) and a high one (which leads to great hopes).Clearly a high initial expectation creates greater opportunity for failure and a low initial expectation creates the potential for a delighted outcome – assuming one ever gets the chance to prove it.

Why is it cool: Though interesting in the context it is presented, ED theory should be considered the foundation for any service organisation.

Where to find it: here!

Submitted by: David Tunnicliffe

If we think of humanity as a kind of holistic organic melange of experience an ideas, this is a great way to draw on the powers of the collective brain.

CQ

Monday, July 12th, 2010

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John Cucka


What is it: This article summarises a range of studies on creativity, making startling observations about the decline of creativity (in the US), that it can be traced directly back to poor education practices, and its implications on a society’s ability to solve big problems and move forward. The good news is that creativity can be taught, learned and practiced – so we really have no excuse!

Why is it cool: On a practical level, this shows that, whilst creativity is often seen as the domain of artisans, creative thinking is, in fact, useful to most everyone in solving everything from small, everyday problems to dealing with the big stressors of life. On a theoretical level, being able to measure, teach and articulate the benefits of creativity (via the Creativity Quotient), we gain a new understanding of the human mind, and a foil for the much maligned Intelligence Quotient (IQ) and more recent Emotional Quotient (EQ). Finally, perhaps most cool is that the best thing we can all do to encourage creativity is to ask questions, and keep asking questions.

Where to find it: here!

Submitted by: John Cucka

Wrong

Monday, July 5th, 2010

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Best of the Month, John Cucka


What is it: A new book, titled Wrong, discusses how often experts are wrong – from 90% of doctors’ medical knowledge being substantially wrong, to an average of at least one substantive error in ever newspaper article. Worse, when people are confronted with “experts”, their brains literally shut down (that is, physiologically) – and that’s just when we need our brains the most!

Why is it cool: We’ve seen in a previous SCIO that people are more likely to believe someone that is confident than someone that is correct, even given perfect information. Here we see just how imperfect that information is, and why we are so susceptible. It really suggests that learning when, and how, to critically think about information is a hugely important skill.

Where to find it: here!

Submitted by: John Cucka

Dreamtime solutions

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

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Best of the Month, John Cucka


What is it: A Harvard psychologist theorises that dreams are basically extra “thinking time”, but thinking that it is more visual and ‘free’, making it better suited for solving problems requiring “projected visualisation” (e.g. innovating a device) or thinking “out of the box” (e.g. approaching a problem from outside the conventional wisdom).

Why is it cool: Evolutionary principles suggest that biology tends not to be wasteful. So, for something like dreaming, which has been around for millions of years, it must have some functionality – and certainly empowering creatures with a second mode of thinking would be an advantage! Besides, it’s a cool way to explain waking up with one of those “ah ha!” moments!

Where to find it: here!

Submitted by: John Cucka

Our parasite overlords

Wednesday, June 9th, 2010

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John Cucka

What is it: There is a common rat parasite which changes the personalities of cats who have it, to make them easier to be caught and be eaten by cats, in order to complete its lifecycle. Interestingly, when humans catch the parasite, their personality also changes making them more warm, outgoing, attentive, relaxed and calm. More amazing, in countries with higher incidence of parasite infection, the local culture mirrors these traits (e.g. Brazil has two-thirds infection amongst women).

Why is it cool: That a parasite can have a significant influence on personality is pretty cool, but that those millions of influenced people could shift a nation’s personality is nothing short of mind-blowing. Certainly myriad other factors influence local culture, so the world’s cultural differences cannot be simply described by the parasite… or maybe that’s what it wants us to believe!

Where to find it: here!

Submitted by: John Cucka

Reducing stigma

Friday, May 28th, 2010

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Melissa Yee

What a mad cow might look like

What is it: A campaign launched recently in the US by SAMHSA and The Advertising Council that aims to promote acceptance of mental health problems by encouraging, educating and inspiring young adults to talk openly about them. The campaign, which includes TVCs, a website and social media, is aimed at 18-25 year olds, who have the highest prevalence of mental illness, yet are the least likely to receive professional help.

Why is it cool: The campaign is a positive step towards reducing the stigma of mental health problems and opening conversations. Too often mental health problems are misunderstood, many peoplebelieve there is no hope for people with mental health issues and that their problems are a result of weakness of character. As a result, friends and family sometimes believe they can’t help, or don’t know how to help. The campaign helps and encourages people to support a loved one or friend who is dealing with a mental health problem so they will have a better chance at recovery.

Where to find it: here!

Submitted by: Melissa Yee

Revealing risk

Friday, April 30th, 2010

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Best of the Month, Melissa Yee

Reach out, I'll be there

What is it: The Implicit Association Test (IAT) measures unconscious stereotyping (e.g. racial) by looking at people’s automatic associations. It works by measuring how quickly participants respond to combinations of judgement words (e.g. positive and negative) with priming words (e.g. “black” vs “white”). The faster the response, the more closely that person unconsciously associates those words.

In this study, mental health patients classified words related to “life” (e.g. breathing) and “death” (e.g. dead) with “me” (e.g. mine) and “not me” (e.g. them). Faster responses to “death”/”me” stimuli than “life”/”me” stimuli suggest a stronger association between death and self and potentially a susceptibility to committing suicide.

Why is it cool: People who are contemplating suicide tend to conceal or deny their thoughts. So, it can be very hard for family or friends to see the warning signs and save them. This study found that participants with strong associations between death/suicide and self were significantly more likely to make a suicide attempt in the next six months than were those who had stronger associations between life and self.

This can be a tool for proactively saving people’s lives.

Where to find it: here!

Submitted by: Melissa Yee

When less is more

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

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John Cucka

Minimalist beauty

What is it: Psychologists managed a live test to answer the question: if you take a group of second graders and teach them arithmetic normally, and take another group but don’t teach them maths until the beginning of sixth grade, how long would it take for the second group to catch up with the first? The surprising answer was, less than a full school year.

Why is it cool: It turns out, that young brains really aren’t ready for the abstract thinking required for understanding arithmetic, and that instead young students learn maths as frustration and boredom and only really pick up rote memorisation of algorithms (eg how to add). By waiting until they’re older, students pick up the abstract side of maths more quickly, and, with superior base skills (eg language, problem solving), can actually do some maths at a higher level from the outset (eg word problems).

Where to find out: here!

Submitted by: John Cucka

The checklist manifesto

Friday, February 12th, 2010

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John Cucka

A book cover you can't miss

What is it: This book showcases the power of checklists using real stories about their application.

Why is it cool: Although checklists are often looked down upon, psychologists say they empower people with a sense of control over a chaotic world. The level of rigour checklists deliver goes hand in hand with high levels of quality and discipline.

Where to find it: here!

Submitted by: John Cucka

I learned it from you!

Monday, December 14th, 2009

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John Cucka

Monkey see, monkey do

What is it: New research has uncovered the contagiousness of blame – that is, if you see people blaming others for mistakes and problems, you are more likely to blame others yourself. As well they have confirmed the contra-positive, that if you see others taking responsibility for their mistakes and problems, you are more likely to take responsibility within your own life.

Why is it cool: Aside from the importance of being conscious of this effect, so that we can counter it in our own lives, this underscores the power we all exert, passively, on each other through our actions. If you want more positivity in your life, be the positive person, and watch others reflect it back to you.

Where to find it: here!

Submitted by: John Cucka

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