Psychology and Statistics

All aggression is calculated, although some is poorly calculated.  How is aggression controlled at the individual level? We talk about hormones and neurotransmitters, the functions of amygdala and pre-frontal cortex. How is aggression controlled in society? Inter-personal factors would include retaliation, as in the game theory.At the societal level we think of law and order.  How is aggression different from competitiveness?  Freud would believe that aggression is inevitable. People use defense mechanisms to control it.  Why do people enjoy violent contents in movies? Is it wishfulfillment or vacarious satisfaction? Cathasis is simply priming, increasing accessibility of violence. Cathasis is also a form of displacement. Aggression is based on two factors. The first one is cost benefit computation. The second factor is one's ability to choose the most benificial route of action. How is aggression differ from competitiveness, e.g., in sports? They are both related wi...

  “This Is Your Brain on Lockdown.”

Here are some of the classics  A useful overview of photographic ethnography The Country Doctor Righteous Dopefiend

 Interesting article about how we detect liers from National Georegphic.

There are some interesting articles on the topic Daphna Oyserman has done a lot of research in self identity, self regulation and health behavior. Check out her wibsite . It will lead you to tons of useful information. Habit and Identity: Behavioral, Cognitive, Affective, and Motivational Facets of an Integrated Self Race, discrimination and health inequality Translating the Link between Social Identity and Health Behavior into Effective Health Communication Strategies: An Experimental Application Using Anti-Smoking Advertisements Nudging is a critical choice-making framework introduced by behavioral economists Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler. It is relevant to health behavior choices. More to come.

With the lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and rainy season of the Greater Vancouver Area, some students have to miss classes from time to time.  I was thinking about making and sharing a video recording of my in-person classes. However, if you are going to watch a video, it would make more sense for you to watch a more well-known person in the field of psychology than me to talk about psychology.  Fortunately, the good folks at Massachusetts Institute of Technology have made online psychology courses available to the general public.    Here are the videos. You may also want to go to their website to find the transcripts of the lectures and read them multiple times, to master the key concepts and contents.  Lecture 1: Overview of psychology Leture 2: Science and Research Lecture 3: the Brain Part I Lecture 4: the Brain Part II Lecture 7: Attention Lecture 9: Learning Lecture 10: Memory I Lecture 11: Memory II Lecture 12: Language Lecture 13: Thinkin...

The following are interesting and useful resources from the social psychology literature on the impact of the pandemic.  How the social and behavioral sciences explain our reactions to COVID-19 with Jay Van Bavel, PhD   ; from the APA website. Using social and behavioural science to support COVID-19 pandemic response   The “Self” under COVID-19: Social role disruptions, self-authenticity and present-focused coping Social norms, social identities and the COVID‐19 pandemic: Theory and recommendations These peer-reviewed journal articles above use a lot of the concepts we learn from the social psychology class. Changes in risk perception and self-reported protective behaviour during the first week of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States Good article from a reliable source