This idea that fear cannot effectively regulate behavior after a certain time is founded on basic social psychological principles. There is a concept of internal versus external justification. With an external justification, such as fear, one does something only because they know they have to, which leads to only a temporary change. Internal justifications, such as belief in a system of governance or code of ethics, leads to a permanent change because one does it because they believe it is right.

The Bystander Effect - Crowds sometimes fail to help someone in trouble: everyone assumes someone else will do it.

Similarly, people in groups often fail to check facts as carefully as they would if they were alone. They assume someone else has already checked.

Careless people, and bots, tend to share news quickly, without bothering to fact check. Once something has been shared thousands of times, even fairly careful people are likely to assume it must be true.

Again, if social media was to think a bit bigger, there are ways to apply this insight to deprivilege the influence of the quickest, and privilege the influence of those making informed decisions.

In psychology, classical conditioning is a type of associative learning that links automatic behaviors with previously neutral, or unrelated, stimuli. Ivan Pavlov’s experiments on dog digestion first introduced the concept of learned associations to the psychology community by demonstrating the transformation of a neutral stimulus into a stimulus that can prompt unconscious behavior. In his experiments, Ivan Pavlov recognized that the natural, unlearned response of dogs to the presence of food was salivation. Salivation was not a learned behavior, but an automatic response to a natural stimulus (food) in the dog’s environment. In this case, food is an unconditioned stimulus because it always induces salivation, which, itself, is an unconditioned response. These two variables encompass a natural stimulus-response relationship, which Pavlov sought to infiltrate with a third variable.

Ivan Pavlov:

Ivan Pavlov wondered if introducing a neutral stimulus before the unconditioned stimulus would cause a dog to associate both stimuli with salivation. In other words, would the dog execute the unconditioned response of salivation even before the unconditioned stimulus is presented? If this neutral stimulus, able to be perceived by the dog but not naturally associated with his experiment’s unconditioned stimulus (food), regularly preceded the arrival of the unconditioned stimulus, would the dog eventually begin salivating before the unconditioned stimulus (food) even arrived? The answer is yes. Pavlov and his fellow researches sounded a bell before presenting a dog with food for several trials. Once the food was given to the dog, the dog would salivate.

Principally, the sound of the bell was a neutral stimulus. It did not naturally cause the dog to salivate. However, through its continuous pairing with the unconditioned stimulus, food, the sound of the bell became conditioned. Acquisition took place as the dogs learned the link between the sound of the bell (the neutral stimulus) and the arrival of food. Eventually, as classical conditioning completed, the dogs salivated at the sound of the bell alone because they began to anticipate the arrival of food.

One episode of The Office demonstrates this concept of classical conditioning. Jim, a character on the show, conditions his coworker Dwight to reach for an altoid every time his computer shuts down. Because his computer emits an audible noise every time it shuts down, Jim is able to condition Dwight into associating meaning with the sound of his computer shutting down. As mentioned in the text, “small aural components convey meaning,” This clip of The Office demonstrates why and how, seemingly insignificant aural sounds like the sound of a computer turning off, can provoke unconscious or conscious meaning in our lives. In this case, every time Dwight hears the sound of a computer shutting down, he unconsciously reaches for an altoid.

The following variables are necessary to understand the following clip of The Office:

Unconditioned Stimulus: offering an altoid

Unconditioned Response: reaching to grab the altoid

Conditioned Stimulus: sound of the computer shutting down

Conditioned Response: reaching to grab the altoid

Jim Classically Conditions Dwight on The Office: https://vimeo.com/35754924

Link to photo of Ivan Pavlov: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Pavlov

An example of a mode being used in an unintentionally effective way would be the aural mode of Flannery O’Connor’s voice as she reads her short story “A Good Man Is Hard To Find.” Before reading the linguistic content of her story, my high school professor played an audio recording of O’Connor reading this story in a ballroom theater.

O’Connor is a Southern author from Savannah, Georgia, so one of the first characteristics I noticed of her voice was its accent. Next, I noticed the bluntness with which she spoke. Her voice sounded rather dry and sarcastic at times, which perfectly illustrated, even softened the uncomfortable humor present in the story. I became so engrossed with the aural mode of O’Connor’s short story that once the linguistic mode caught up to me, I felt shocked by the grotesqueness of the events unfolding.

The aural mode of O’Connor’s reading deceived me and lured me into a state of selective-attentiveness, however, this deception worked well to demonstrate the content of her story. “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” is, itself, an illusory and misleading narrative that culminates in a dreadful tragedy which appears quite suddenly and viciously. Until one rereads the story and recognizes the points of foreshadowing present all along, O’Connor’s voice served an unintentional purpose of misleading the (in this case) listener.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQT7y4L5aKU

In her TEDx Talk, Amy Cuddy shared research of other scientists in her field that demonstrates the significance of body language in our conscious and unconscious judgements of others. The “quick comparisons” of “visual representation[s]” mentioned in the text can be directly related to Nalini Ambady’s research on what she termed “thin-slice judgements.” Thin-slice judgements are often unconscious, initial evaluations of another person’s character, yet they influence our perceptions and long-term impressions immensely.

Nalini Ambady’s research challenges the popular belief that human intuition is biased and inaccurate. Brief observations, such as those based on a singular photo or 2-second clip, are powerful demonstrations of “fast thinking.” Fast thinking, despite its quick judgement and conclusion, is no less significant than long-term evaluations. According to Ambady, quick comparisons shape our preference towards both job candidates and romantic partners. They even accurately predict the teaching effectiveness of college professors.

In 1993, Ambady published her first findings on the significance of nonverbal behavior in our determination of another person’s character. In this study, Ambady produced 30-second soundless clips of college lectures; she then asked participants to whom the professor was a stranger to evaluate that professor’s teaching effectiveness. Students of the professor also rated his or her teaching effectiveness, and surprisingly, independent scorers and actual students of the professor produced similar assessments of teaching effectiveness.

Even when shortened to 10 second, 6 second, and 2 second clips, brief, soundless college lectures induced similar ratings of teaching effectiveness between independent raters and actual students. Ambady’s following studies further supported her assessment of the accuracy of “thin-slice judgements, showing that nonverbal behavior (which can be taken into context as all that does not encompass the linguistic mode or the aural mode) efficiently communicates information about our environment.

Alex Todorov of Princeton University conducted a study that found that 70% of the outcomes of Senate and gubernatorial races could be predicted solely based on photos of the candidates’ faces.

Thin-Slice Judgements in the Clinical Context by Michael L. Slepian, Kathleen R. Bogart, and Nalini Ambady

The 30-Sec Scale: Using Thin-Slice Judgements to Evaluate Sales Effectiveness by Nalini Ambady, Mary Anne Krabbenhoft, and Daniel Hogan

Nalini Ambady, Stanford psychology professor, dies at 54 by Bjorn Carey

Alex Todorov's Research: On the Face of It: The Psychology of Electability by Maria Konnikova

Amy Cuddy is an American social psychologist who has produced significant research on nonverbal behavior and language. In her TEDx Talk, Amy Cuddy shared research (both her own as well as that of others) that demonstrates the significance of body language and other nonverbal cues in our daily interactions and perceptions of our environment. Our emotions and our physiology are influenced by and understood through our nonverbal expressions. Nonverbal expressions of power and dominance cause humans and animals alike to make themselves bigger. When we feel powerful, we take up more space by spreading ourselves on a couch or entering a room emphatically and assertively. These expressions of power are “universal and old.” In fact, they are ingrained within us. Congenitally blind people and those born with sight perform the same gesture of pride when they win at a physical competition. It doesn't matter if they've never seen anyone do it. Both groups of people lift their arms over their head in a V shape and lift their chin - this is the posture of pride studied extensively by Jessica Tracy.

In contrast, expressions of powerlessness make the person or animal small. When we feel powerless or scared, we close in on ourselves, and wrap ourselves up. We don’t want to bump into the person next to us. As a professor at a competitive collegiate institution, Amy Cuddy has observed classic cases of alpha male gestures of dominance as well as gestures of powerlessness most often occurring within populations of women in her classes.

Some people raise their hands really high and occupy a lot of space in the classroom environment; others appear to be “collapsing in on themselves” when they enter her classroom. Correlated with gender, expressions of power engender greater participation in class; expressions of powerlessness are associated with lower participation in the classroom setting. So, even though equally qualified women and men enter the same university, they still experience differences in grades, a fact that seems to be partly attributable to participation. So Cuddy hoped to answer the question of whether or not our nonverbal expressions govern how we think, feel, and behave. She also wanted to explore if one could experience a behavioral outcome by faking confidence and enthusiastic participation.

Physiologically, those who feel more powerful are more likely to be assertive, confident, and optimistic; these people feel that they will win even at games of chance. Powerful people take more risks, and show higher levels of testosterone or the dominance hormone, and lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol. For one of Cuddy’s experiments, people were made to adopt either high power poses or low power poses. First, participants spat in a cup. Then, for two minutes, participants would either adopt a high-power or low-power pose. After two minutes, participants are asked to rate how powerful they feel on a series of items. Then, they are given an opportunity gamble, and afterwards spit in another cup.

Cuddy’s results:

1. 86% of the participants who adopted a high-power pose gambled.
2. 60% of the participants who adopted a low-power pose gambled.
3. People who adopted the high-power pose experienced a 20% increase in testosterone.
4. People who adopted a low-power pose experienced a 10% decrease in testosterone.
5. Participants who adopted a high-power pose experienced a 25% decrease in cortisol.
6. Participants who adopted a low-power pose experienced a 15% increase in cortisol.

Cuddy’s results demonstrate that as little time as two minutes of power-posing can lead to hormonal changes and behavioral differences, causing us to either feel confident or stress-reactive. In order to apply the significance of body language and power posing to real life, Cuddy and fellow researchers needed to choose a situation that is comparatively evaluative and invites social threat, and other stressors. They felt the most relatable situation would be that of a job interview. Participants in this second study either adopt low-power or high-power poses and aftwerwards undergo a stressful, five-minute job interview. Participants are recorded and judged during the interview. Judges are trained in nonverbal cues, and appear with stoic expressions the entire time.

Four independent coders then evaluate the interview tapes of the study’s participants, and determine who they would hire. These coders are unaware of the hypothesis and conditions of the experiment’s participants. Participants who adopted the high-power poses were hired, and rated more positively overall. The content of the participants’ speech was not necessarily the determining factor. In other words, their linguistic communication did not significantly influence their hiring. The presence of their speech (their enthusiasm, passion, and seeming authenticity) did, all of which was influenced by their initial body language.

Amy Cuddy’s TEDx Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks-_Mh1QhMc

Link to photo of high-power and low-power poses

Link to photo of Allyson Felix

4,997 English words rated on a scale from 1 (humorless) to 5 (humorous) by 821 participants.

Funny, easy to read, lay description of Lacan's different personality configurations. From a Malaysian news source, so some of the examples might seem obscure to some.

Alison Darcy of Stanford has designed a chatbot to help treat anxiety and depression using CBT, cognitive-behavioral therapy.

http://woebot.io/

The Shouting Class -- people who criticize things as a way of life.

If we're talking about reasoning, it is very psychological. All of these different focuses are connected as we all know. But, something like reasoning connects to the psychology of your audience. I would not deliver the same reasons for an argument to our class as I would say a grade school class.

Web comic explaining the backfire effect -- our tendency to react hostilely to information that contradicts our core beliefs. Trying to argue past this tendency is usually futile. The best thing we can do is to be aware of it within ourselves, and try to raise the same awareness in others. The kind of examples given here seem like a good way to do that.

For the uninitiated, I wonder if one of these resources is a good, openly-licensed introduction to Erikson's ideas, or if there is something better. I didn't see a good overview at The Noba Project.

• Simply Psychology
• Wikipedia

One of many times the fields of psychology and rhetoric overlap and blend

Here we the explicit use of faculty psychology to compose a rhetoric.

But for me, hope is not a feeling. It is not an emotion. Hope is action. Hope is found in motion.

...

Hope begins the moment that somebody stands up and says, “Let’s roll.”

...

It is clear to me though that hopelessness and despair often lead to an inability to act. When that happens, we must rely on others to act. Anyone that was gone through trauma and faced extended periods of indecisiveness can understand this. This is why a sense of community is so important, and that we share in our action by relying on others to back us up.

The question that I think we should be asking ourselves is, what is it that my culture is preventing me from seeing?

...

It seems that education is more about filling brains, than teaching people to think.

Education ought to be about drawing something out, not putting something in. One of the things that people should be taught at school, is to think critically about the things that they consider most indisputably correct.

-- Iain McGilchrist (The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World)

http://iainmcgilchrist.com/

Thoughtful blog by Grete Howland, about being raised as an evangelical Christian -- and then discovering that it isn't for her.

For those raised in more liberal, free-thinking denominations, such as certain Episcopal congregations or the Unitarian-Universalist church, the religious molding might not be such a bad thing. In those cases, you might have been taught that everyone is unconditionally welcome in the love of God, that all belief systems are worthy of respect, that decolonization is mandatory practice, to have a community service mindset, and the basic lesson of self-reliance. These are examples of habits and traditions one might want to continue practicing, regardless of personal faith or continued church involvement.

...

I had been taught (1) to put my faith in God regarding everything--finances, relationships, and so on--and (2) that the way to deal with stress and pain was to pray for their causes to be gone. I was not supposed to change my thinking; God was supposed to change my circumstances.

The headline for this article is really deceptive. Or the summary of the statistics is sloppy. Or both. Either way, this is dangerous from a political perspective, as is evident in the comments field. From bipartisan, lazy accusations of "fake news" to disbelief in the accounts of survivors of abuse, this story will be used in nasty ways that go far beyond what it deserves.

At least, they’ve become unavoidable in class discussions even tangentially related to social psychology. In intro sociology, they lead to some interesting thoughts about lab vs. field experiments.

Dependence is equivalent of powerlessness, and powerlessness leads to inhibition, avoidance.

http://psychsciencenotes.blogspot.com/p/about-us.html<br> Psychologists Andrew Wilson and Sabrina Golonka

A mathematical psychologist at Penn State University, Molenaar extended ergodic theory (link is external) to prove that it was not mathematically permissible to use assessment instruments based on group averages to evaluate individuals.

A Manifesto on Psychology as Idiographic Science, Peter Molenaar

Alice Maz on communication failures due to different cultures of conversation and values.

Most people value feelings, shared perspectives, and social status. They see correction as an attempt to knock them down a peg. Nerds value facts, logic, and the sharing of information. A genuine nerd shares information with no intention of knocking anyone down, and prefers being corrected to remaining misinformed.

The Book of Human Emotions, Tiffany Watt Smith

Emotions are not just biological, but cultural. Different societies have unique concepts for combinations of feelings in particular circumstances.

If you know a word for an emotion, you can more easily recognize it, control it -- and perhaps feel it more intensely.

Emotions and how they are valued also varies across time as well as space. Sadness was valued in Renaissance Europe: they felt it made you closer to God. Today we value happiness, and we may value it too much. Emodiversity is the idea that feeling a wide range of emotions is good for you mentally and physically.

This could be the first time we can talk with empirical evidence about language requiring innate components or not.

So if it threatens our understanding of what it means to be human.. is that beneficial to our ongoing research of essentially what makes us humans by constantly pushing our understanding to be deeper? or is harmful and uprooting of the interpersonal/cultural norms we've established?

This is a very atheistic argument for such an early time. It gives us insight into Greek society - the Greeks didn't think anywhere near as highly of gods as our society does now. This is a valid argument, and it also provides insight into human nature. In this case, Glaucon is denying the existence of god in order to promote his argument. Often, people will reject hypotheses because they want increased freedom of action.

I just highlighted the title. Woot!

Interesting claim on human psychology. The hermit thinks he's more clever than he actually is. From a weak empirical standpoint, I am inclined to agree with him.

Wise caution

Detailed attention to the psychology of one's audience.

Straying into psychology