Can Seeing Green Increase Creativity?

By Brad Bell  One interesting topic concerns the influence or effects of color.  More specifically, it may be interesting to learn about the possible effects of the color green.  One question concerning the psychology of green is whether viewing the color green can increase creativity. Lichtenfeld, Elliot, Maier, and Pekrun (2012) investigated the influence of… Continue reading Can Seeing Green Increase Creativity?

The Availability Heuristic

By Brad Bell The availability heuristic is an important concept in psychology.  What is the availability heuristic?   Tversky and Kahneman (1973) proposed that people may use an availability heuristic to judge frequency and the probability of events.  Using the availability heuristic, people would judge the probability of events by the ease inwhich instances could be… Continue reading The Availability Heuristic

Why Is Empathy Important?

By Brad Bell Empathy may be one of the most important attributes.  Empathy involves being able to see things from another person’s perspective, as well as being able to feel what another person feels.  There may be several reasons why empathy is important.  These reasons include building rapport, reducing conflicts, and increasing helping behavior. Building… Continue reading Why Is Empathy Important?

Can Funny Lectures Foster Learning?

By Brad Bell Some lectures may be hard to pay attention to.  Some subjects suchas research methods and statistics may seem very dry.  What can theinstructor do to make these topics more interesting?   One possibilityis to use humorous examples in the lectures. In Garner’s (2006) experiment, all the participants viewed threevideo-recorded lectures on statistics and… Continue reading Can Funny Lectures Foster Learning?

Can Exposure to Nature Influence Our Aspirations?

By Brad Bell People have different aspirations.  Some people may wish to befamous and wealthy.  Others may be more concerned with developing good social relationships and making a contribution totheir community.  Could exposure to nature affect our aspirations? In their first three studies, Weinstein, Przybylski, and Ryan (2009)had participants view either slides involving natural scenes… Continue reading Can Exposure to Nature Influence Our Aspirations?

The Nature of Love

By Brad Bell Love is an important concept in psychology.   Love is a word that could be defined in many different ways.   What do people believe love is?    What are the most important attributes of love? What types of love are the best examples of love?    These important questions may help us gain a better… Continue reading The Nature of Love