文章分類: 心理 (燦榮之友)

邊個投訴銀行最多?

licw2004 — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:39:03 +0800

有本港銀行做大型研究，睇下邊類人投訴最多

有結果，無意外

一係公務員

二係教師

有無得解?

有，表面係因為係地有個共通點，公務員依紀律做事，老師教人守紀律，都係重視紀律一族。

但我認為仲有一個原因: 因為佢地近年比人投訴多，要發洩

男人色盲同用TELE看世界

licw2004 — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:34:51 +0800

與心理學醫生閒聊，得到男女有別關鍵:

男人用TELE，女人用WIDE ANGLE望外界事物。

有解: 因為男人係天生獵人，所以用TELE來望

問題: 女友還老婆在身邊，還只能用TELE望女仔，於是經常露出馬腳

旁枝: 男人色盲比例高於女人

有解: 色盲就唔怕血，又係方便做獵人

信不信由你，真係心理醫生講的

安慰劑效果二

licw2004 — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:16:58 +0800

西方醫學界有一個長期疑問，究竟安慰劑效果是否存在? 即不具醫學作用的用品，例如維他命，能否在病人不知情的安排下，產生心理作用，變成具體療效。

美國學者丹艾瑞里做了兩個極具參考的實驗，答案差不多是肯定存在安慰劑效果。

實驗很簡單，利用一些維生素，提供給病人，然後再讓病人接受電擊，說吃過藥後，可以減輕痛楚。

結果一如所料，有九成二病人，在服藥10分鐘之內，認為有效減輕痛楚。

但最有趣的部份，是他們有第二組實驗，這一組病人，得悉藥丸的價錢，只及原來藥品的五分之二，結果又有沒有差異呢?

有。一如所料，認為這些維生素有效有人大幅減少，只有一半。

丹艾瑞里的結論就是，人們往往依賴一些非理性的直覺作判斷，但這些判斷，又往往反過來變成事實。而進一步的研究又發現，醫生對一種治療方案是否熱心，很大程度能影響實際療效。

丹艾瑞里認為，這方面的研究，至今遠遠不足，要繼續努力，但基本原則，不應該是無休止的做實驗。

偏見的代價

licw2004 — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 11:33:38 +0800

當我們選擇職業、拍檔或上司，究竟有沒有任何偏見呢?

請細心聆聽以下的問題

一. 選擇拍擋，請問寧願是肥還是瘦呢?

二. 同樣是選擇拍擋，請問寧願是IQ高一點還是低一點呢

三. 假如上司是可以由你決定的，你寧願是男還是女呢?

相信大家都會有些微傾向，但問題是，這個傾向，我們究竟願意用多大的金錢代價來換取呢?

有研究發現，為著選擇較瘦的拍擋，原來我們願意拍擋的IQ降十二點

另方面，為著要選擇一個男上司，原來有人願意減百份之廿二的薪金。

不可思議，不能相信，是不是呢?

但這是芝加哥大學尤金教授最近的研究成果，而且在權威的科學雜誌SCIENTIC AMERICAN MIND刊登。

尤金教授指出，大部份人都會詑異有這樣的結果，原因是我們受潛意識影響亦不自覺。

但何以人們會較喜歡瘦的拍擋和男上司，看來還有待研究。

情人眼裡出西施

licw2004 — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 11:28:05 +0800

中國人說情人眼裡出西施，不用太多解說，大家都覺得理所當然。今時今日，西方人用科學的方式來印正了，佛羅里達大學心理學教授祖恩文拿Jon Maner做了有力的實驗。第一個實驗，參加者首先觀看不同人的面孔，每個的時間都是半秒，然後再看一組圓形或正方形圖案，並以最快時間決定所看的是甚麼圖形。結果發現，參加者看過美麗的異性面孔之後，要轉移注意力到圓形或正方形，時間會較長。實驗二，要求一夫一妻，或已經同居的人參加做研究，參加者分成兩半，一半先講出愛的感受，一半先講出開心的感受，然後再重覆第一個實驗，結果發現，談到愛的感覺才參與實驗的人，比常人更快抽離美麗的異性面孔，快捷地說出圓形還是正方形。但談到快樂感受的另一半參加者，則則常人沒有分別，容易受到美麗的異性面孔吸引。心理學家認為，只要我們心中的是愛，就容易對其他美貎視而不見。不信的話，一是參照在Scientific American mind的原文，一是與愛人携手，看看他會否仍然對街上的其他美人目不轉睛

大腦與小盆骨

licw2004 — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 11:25:33 +0800

小馬剛出生一小時後即可以步行，小狒狒一出母體，又已經可以緊抓母親的毛髮隨母親穿樹過河，，比較之下，人類的嬰兒可算是動物中最不靈活。究竟原因何在?

美國加利福尼亞大學人類學教授約翰保克John Bock認為，這是人類在進化過程中，腦袋與盆骨協調的結果。

不容易明白，因為腦袋和盆骨表面上風馬牛不相及，約翰教授指出，原始人類本來不是直立行走，是長年累月後，日漸變成今天的直立走動，由於要配合這個走動方式，人類的盆骨亦必須變細，變窄。

但同時間，人腦越聰明，就需要一個更大的腦袋，但這個大腦袋，如何能通過日漸變小的盆骨呢?

於是，盆骨和腦袋做了一個妥協，剛出生的人類嬰兒，腦袋尚未完全長大，留待出生之後，再變變成長，這就解釋了，何以人類的嬰兒相對不靈活。

相關文章，已刊在科學雜誌SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN MIND今年第九期

creativity

licw2004 — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 01:11:15 +0800

Ernest Hemingway and Pablo Picasso were on to something: a recent study suggests that by living abroad artists may be fueling their creativity. Researchers from the French business school INSEAD and Northwestern University studied responses from subjects in five separate experiments, finding that those who had lived abroad — and had adapted to a nonnative culture — more consistently showed innovation and creativity in negotiations, in the use of ordinary items, and in drawings. More research is necessary to discern if an already creative person benefits more from living abroad than a noncreative one does or if the noted higher levels of creativity are permanent.

why we buy what we buy

licw2004 — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 01:05:06 +0800

But in the end, why we buy what we buy comes down to our evolutionary history, explains psychologist Geoffrey Miller in Spent — Sex, Evolution, and Consumer Behavior (Viking, 2009). He argues that although we are not consciously aware of it, our product choices are rooted in our desire to advertise our personality and attract mates and friends.

power of possiblity

licw2004 — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 01:00:07 +0800

Her 1989 book Mindfulness, summarizing a decade of ingenious experiments, became an instant classic. Now, in her new book, Counterclockwise, with more of those experiments under her belt, she presents a more thoughtful and thorough look at the power of mindful thinking: "the simple process of actively drawing distinctions."

Counterclockwise: Mindful Health and the Power of Possibility
by Ellen J. Langer.
Random House, 2009 ($25)

what is truth---quote from Scientific American Mind

licw2004 — Sun, 17 May 2009 03:39:49 +0800

Consider a woman who has just received a positive result from a mammogram and asks her doctor: Do I have breast cancer for sure, or what are the chances that I have the disease? In a 2007 continuing education course for gynecologists, Gigerenzer asked 160 of these practitioners to answer that question given the following information about women in the region:
The probability that a woman has breast cancer (prevalence) is 1 percent.
If a woman has breast cancer, the probability that she tests positive (sensitivity) is 90 percent.
If a woman does not have breast cancer, the probability that she nonetheless tests positive (false-positive rate) is 9 percent.
What is the best answer to the patient's query?
A. The probability that she has breast cancer is about 81 percent.
B. Out of 10 women with a positive mammogram, about nine have breast cancer.
C. Out of 10 women with a positive mammogram, about one has breast cancer.
D. The probability that she has breast cancer is about 1 percent.
Gynecologists could derive the answer from the statistics above, or they could simply recall what they should have known anyhow. In either case, the best answer is C; only about one out of every 10 women who test positive in screening actually has breast cancer. The other nine are falsely alarmed. Prior to training, most (60 percent) of the gynecologists answered 90 percent or 81 percent, thus grossly overestimating the probability of cancer. Only 21 percent of physicians picked the best answer — one out of 10.

See No Beauty

licw2004 — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:35:01 +0800

Attractive faces hold no power over people in love
If your loved one claims to "only have eyes for you" this Valentine's Day, it might be truer than you think. Research shows that people in a committed relationship who have been thinking about their partner actually avert their eyes from attractive members of the opposite sex without even being aware they are doing it.
Psychologist Jon Maner of Florida State University and his colleagues flashed pictures of faces on a computer screen for half a second, following it immediately with a square or circle, which participants had to identify by pushing the correct button. Earlier research using this method has found that it takes longer for viewers to shift their attention away from attractive faces of the opposite sex.
Maner, however, took subjects who were married or living together monogamously and asked half of them to write about feelings of love for their partner and the other half to write about a happy experience. Those who wrote about love actually turned their attention away from attractive members of the opposite sex even more quickly than they looked away from average-looking people. Subjects who wrote about being happy, however, remained as distracted by a pretty face as ever.
This unconscious attentional bias probably evolved to help men and women stay in monogamous relationships, which in humans tend to have a reproductive advantage, Maner explains: "This whole research area is guided largely by an evolutionary perspective. These biases have been built into our psychology to enhance people's reproductive success."
~~~~~~~~
By Kurt Kleiner

give it to me plain

licw2004 — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:34:21 +0800

How Things "Feel"
Psychologists are very interested in the complex interplay of effort, motivation and cognitive crunching — the ease with which we think about a task in our mind. Is it possible that the simplicity (or complexity) of how a task is described and processed — whether it feels "fluid" or "difficult" — actually affects our attitude toward the task itself and ultimately our willingness to put our head down and work?
Two psychologists at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor decided to investigate this idea in their lab. Hyunjin Song and Norbert Schwarz wanted to see if they could motivate a group of 20-year-old college students to exercise regularly. They gave all the students written instructions for a regular exercise routine, but they used a simple yet ingenious method to make the how-to instructions either cognitively palatable or challenging: some received instructions printed in Arial typeface, a plain font designed for easy reading; others got their instructions printed in a Brush font, which basically looks as if it has been written by hand with a Japanese paintbrush — it is unfamiliar and much harder to read.
There are many ways to make something mentally palatable — or not. You can use clear, straightforward language or arcane vocabulary words; simple sentences or convoluted sentences with lots of clauses.
The psychologists chose to vary the font, because it is easy to manipulate in the lab. After the students had all read the instructions, the researchers asked them some questions about the exercise regimen: how long they thought it would take, whether it would flow naturally or drag on endlessly, whether it would be boring, and so forth. They also queried the students about whether they were likely to make exercise a routine part of their day.
Give It to Me Plain
The findings were remarkable. Those who had read the exercise instructions in an unadorned, accessible typeface were much more open to the prospect of exercising: they believed that the regimen would take less time and that it would feel more fluid and easy. Most important, they were more willing to make exercise part of their day.
Apparently the students' brains mistook the ease of reading about exercise for the ease of actually doing push-ups and crunches, and this misunderstanding motivated them to think about a life change. Those who struggled through the Japanese brushstrokes had no intention of heading to the gym; the reading alone tired them out.
Song and Schwarz decided to doublecheck these results with another experiment, this one involving a completely unrelated activity: cooking.
Again they used easy-and hard-to-read typefaces, but in this case the instructions were for making a Japanese sushi roll. After the volunteers had read the recipe, they estimated how long it would take them to make the dish and whether they were inclined to do it. They were also asked how much skill a professional cook would need to prepare the sushi roll.
The results were basically the same as before. As reported in the October 2008 issue of the journal Psychological Science, those who read the instructions in the mentally challenging script saw the task as time-consuming and requiring a high level of culinary skill; they were not apt to try it themselves. They, in effect, viewed the alien writing as a proxy for the actual task and as a result ended up avoiding it. Those who received the more digestible instructions were much more likely to head for the kitchen and sharpen their knives.
Our brains employ all kinds of tricks and shortcuts to get us through the day with the least mental and physical effort, but it is good to be wary of these automatic judgments. If unchecked, our tendency to confuse thoughts and actions can make dubious choices seem easier and more desirable than they ought to be, or it can discourage us from healthy habits and creative exploration. After all, most of the time using a "self-operating" napkin is just as simple as it appears to be.
• For more insights into the quirks of human nature, visit the "We're only Human …" blog and podcasts at www.psychologicalscience.org/onlyhuman

Changing Your Mind

licw2004 — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:24:12 +0800

FAST FACTS Scientists are finding that the adult human brain is far more malleable than they once thought. Your behavior and environment can cause substantial rewiring of your brain or a reorganization of its functions.
Studies have shown that exercise can improve the brain's executive skills, which include planning, organizing and multitasking. What you eat can also influence how effectively your brain operates.
Activities such as listening to music, playing video games and meditating may boost cognitive performance as well.

pets and heart attack

licw2004 — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 23:57:33 +0800

In 1980 Brooklyn College health scientist Erika Friedmann designed a survey to assess how social support affects survival after a heart attack. Just for fun, she threw in a question about pet ownership. When she analyzed her results months later, she was startled to find that pets — more than support from family and friends — kept people alive. Patients who owned pets were 22 percent more likely to be alive a year after their heart attack than those who did not.

incentives backfire

licw2004 — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 23:17:38 +0800

A generation ago, Richard Titmuss claimed that paying people to donate blood reduced the supply. Economists were skeptical, citing a lack of empirical evidence. But since then, new data and models have prompted a sea change in how economists think about incentives -- showing, among other things, that Titmuss was right often enough that businesses should take note. Experimental economists have found that offering to pay women for donating blood decreases the number willing to donate by almost half, and that letting them contribute the payment to charity reverses the effect. Consider another example: When six day-care centers in Haifa, Israel, began fining parents for late pickups, the number of tardy parents doubled. The fine seems to have reduced their ethical obligation to avoid inconveniencing the teachers and led them to think of lateness as simply a commodity they could purchase.