Get the basics right. Understand the fundamentals of psychology.
Many people, including psychology students, teachers, and professionals, find classical and operant conditioning concepts confusing. So, I decided to provide a simple explanation of classical and operant conditioning processes. It can’t get any simpler than what you’re about to read. Classical and operant conditioning are two basic psychological processes explaining how humans and animals learn. …
This article will explore the function of emotions from an evolutionary perspective. Imagine yourself in a zoo watching a caged lion. You’re amused as the majestic animal moves about, occasionally roaring and yawning in the bright sun. Hoping to get some kind of reaction, you roar back at the lion. Say the lion perceives your …
The way to figure people out is by figuring out their core psychological needs. Needs may be general or individual. For instance, the need for survival is a general human need but it tells you nothing of value about a person’s unique psychological make-up. On the other hand, individual needs that are shaped by a person’s past experiences tell you a …
Simply put, cognitive dissonance is the inability of the human mind to hold two conflicting ideas or beliefs. The confusion and uncertainty caused by the presence of two conflicting ideas make the mind unstable. Since our mind constantly seeks stability, it does what it can to reduce cognitive dissonance. A cognitively dissonant state of mind …
The goal of hypnosis is to program the mind of a person with a desired belief or a suggestion or a command. This is done by inducing a highly suggestible ‘trance state’ in the person in which he becomes highly receptive to ‘suggestions’ and his conscious resistance is greatly weakened, if not entirely turned off. …
Duality is an essential feature of the human mind. Our mind makes use of duality to understand the world, to make sense of it. Had our mind not been dual, I don’t think we could ever possibly describe the world around us. There would be no language, no words, no measurements, nothing. The mind is …
This article will explore the concept of psychological stability and explain how some of our behaviours can be understood in the light of psychological stability. Almost every system in the world interacts with some other system so that stability is attained. Every phenomenon that occurs in nature is a result of energy exchanges between two …
Helplessness is an emotion that we experience when we realize that we can’t do anything to solve an important problem. Helplessness is usually experienced after we have used up all the options that were available to us for solving our problem. When there’s no option left or we can’t think of any, we feel helpless. Suppose …
This article will explore the concept of emotional suppression, its causes, and consequences. You’ll also learn what is meant by emotional numbness and how to avoid suppressing your emotions. Suppose something bad happens to you that causes you a great deal of emotional pain. Now there are three possible things that you could do in …