If you, dear reader, can indulge some slightly geeky calculations, I hope to show you that with daily exercise you can live a substantially longer and happier life. Indeed, per the time invested, exercise will benefit you more than smoking…
Posts published in “talk psych”
As I approach five years of www.TalkPsych.com commentary—which has settled into a weekly Thursday essay—I am tempted (given our now larger audience) to replay an occasional favorite. Here is my second focused essay, which still puts a smile on my…
After elections, people often note unexpected outcomes and then complain that “the polls got it wrong.” After Donald Trump’s stunning 2016 presidential victory, the press gave us articles on “Why the Polls were such a Disaster,” on “4 Possible…
This week I interrupt our weekly focus on psychology’s big ideas and new findings to update three prior essays. Loss aversion in sports. A recent essay described how, in sports (as in other realms of life), our fear of…
Originally posted on April 26, 2016. The April 11, 2016 TIME cover story on “Porn and the Threat to Virility” was replete with anecdotes of young men’s real-life sexual responsiveness being depleted by excessive pornography consumption. Really? I…
In this time of political passion, those of us who are instructors and/or text authors may agonize over whether to engage contentious public issues, such as the Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination, fears of immigrant crime, or the possible social toxicity…
Hate-fueled pipe bombs target Democrats. Two African Americans are gunned down in a grocery story. An anti-Semite slaughters synagogue worshippers. Political leaders denigrate and despise their opponents. In National Election Studies surveys, the percentage of Republicans and Democrats who “hate”…
Psychological science delights us with its occasional surprises. For example, who would have imagined that electroconvulsive therapy—shocking the brain into mild convulsions—would often be an effective antidote to otherwise intractable depression? massive losses in brain tissue early in life could…
As I finished a recent presentation, “Thinking Smart in a Post-Truth Age,” a questioner’s hand shot up: “I understand the need to think with our heads as well as our hearts, by considering the evidence. But how can I persuade…
I’m often asked: “What is your favorite introductory psych chapter?” I reply that, when starting to write my text, I presumed that Sensation-Perception would be the dullest topic. Instead, I’ve found it to be the most fascinating. I’m awestruck by…