by david allan van nostrand | Sep 25, 2023 | Human Behavior, Psychology, The Wayback Machine
Sigmund Freud is a name most of us instantly recognize. The classic photo below has him bearded, balding, and scholarly, wearing a three-piece suit and holding a cigar. We know him as a physician who treated mental disorders by exploring repressed and unconscious...
by david allan van nostrand | Sep 18, 2023 | Human Behavior, Psychology
Edward Thorndike is often considered to be the father of modern Educational Psychology. His Law of Effect posits that when our behavior produces a favorable outcome and the same stimulus is presented again, we are more likely to repeat that behavior because we have...
by david allan van nostrand | Aug 14, 2023 | Human Behavior, Psychology, Unintended Consequences
Smile at babies and toddlers and they will almost always do more of what they’re doing, with even more enthusiasm. Frown deeply at them and they will either become hesitant, stop what they’re doing altogether, or even start crying. The smile is rewarding; the frown is...
by david allan van nostrand | Jun 26, 2023 | Human Behavior, Psychology, Shaky Science
Personality tests are designed to reveal what’s going on in our subconscious minds, the deep-down place where our emotions and inner conflicts reside. Structured surveys have a list of anywhere from 10 to 600 questions and test takers answer each by choosing...
by david allan van nostrand | Nov 21, 2022 | Americana, Psychology
Autumn harvests have been celebrated with feasts since before people started telling time. Historians tell us the harvest feast the Americans observe today began in Virginia 400 years ago when English Protestant settlers decided the day of their arrival in the New...
by david allan van nostrand | Apr 11, 2022 | Human Behavior, Misinformation traps, Psychology
Devotees of rump reading purport to find deeper meaning in the lines, crevices, dimples, warts, and moles of people’s buttocks. Rump reading was big in ancient Babylon, where seekers of rectal wisdom (one wonders who they were) covered their hindquarters with liquid...
