Promoting Science and Critical Thinking
On 9th August Time magazine published a really great article titled “How Your Brain Tricks You Into Believing Fake News“. I can highly recommend reading. It dives below the surface into the heart of the problem and is not simply another article having a bit of a moan about it all. I have one huge … Read more
The Marshmallow Test is all about delayed gratification and the potential impact that can have on our lives. It dates back to the late 1960s when psychologist Walter Mischel conducted a series of tests on very young children. It works like this. The child is presented with a marshmallow on a plate and told something like … Read more
In 1971 there was an attempt to explore the psychological effects of perceived power that is known as the Stanford Prison Experiment. It is perhaps one of the most well-know psychological experiments of all time and has entered popular culture as such, and yet what is perhaps not so well appreciated is that it was … Read more
I’m building up to an explanation for the “Yanni or Laurel” audio illusion. First, let’s talk about audio illusions in general. Pictured above is Ben Langley on Britains Got Talent last weekend. His act consisted of playing various very well-known songs, but he primed you to hear something distinctly different by holding up a series … Read more
A group of researchers from Yale University have published a working paper that discusses two studies that demonstrate that some people have a tendency to be far more prone to an acceptance of Fake News than others. It is entitled “Reduced Analytic and Actively Open-Minded Thinking Help to Explain the Link between Belief in Fake … Read more
Whenever something dramatic happens, for example 9/11 or a school shooting, you are more or less guaranteed to find somebody popping up to explain that it is all part of some plot, and that behind this event there are puppet masters pulling the strings manipulating events. It’s supposedly a conspiracy of epic proportions. The Puppet … Read more