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Behavioral Psychology
Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.
In a major shift, psychologists now view an out-of-control compulsion to work as an addiction with its own set of risk factors and consequences.
Thinking of a number between one and ten? Here's how predictable human responses create the illusion of telepathy.
It's high time owners learned to speak their dog's language.
How to make sure our formative tendencies don't derail us from being the great leaders we are trying to become.
50 years ago, Herman Chernoff proposed using human faces to represent multidimensional datasets. It was a good idea in theory — but a disaster in practice.
10mins
Are humans naturally selfless? Psychologist Abigail Marsh is using studies on psychopathy and altruism to find out.
Waistlines are expanding in most countries, except for a skinny list of nations bucking the trend.
Big Think recently spoke with behavioral scientist and author Katy Milkman about what really motivates us and steers our behavior.
If words are really only 7% of communication, then why would anyone need to learn a foreign language?
Nobody likes the uneasy feeling of being watched — so can there be any workplace benefit to the all-seeing eye?
Psychologist Mary C. Murphy explains why growth-mindset teams outperform those centered around a lone genius.
Public mass shooters almost always have worldviews shaped by the "3 Rs": rage, resentment, and revenge.
Claims circulating on the Internet — some from dentists' websites — suggest toothpaste isn't necessary for dental health. Is that true?
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder has been a controversial diagnosis since it was first described, back in the 1940s.
Is it genes or their special bond that drives identical twins to offend at similar rates?
A simple dice game shines a bit of light on the psychology of regret.
15mins
Social media distorts reality. Here’s how to take it back.
An MIT study finds the brains of children who grow up in less affluent households are less responsive to rewarding experiences.
To solve “addition bias” don’t punish people who subtract — call in the “friction fixers” instead.
Prolonged and repetitive tasks rewire us in profound ways – which can be a force for good at work.
People who score high in "obsessive passion" can become rigidly consumed by ideological causes — sometimes dangerously so.
Actor and science communicator Alan Alda shares his three rules of three for effective and empathic communication.
Is it better to be the oldest sibling, the youngest, or in the middle?
We often assume that movement means progress and that doing something is better than doing nothing. That is often not true.
We are wired to value things more when we work hard at attaining them — even if, objectively, they aren't worth that much.
“Feedback is a gift,” is an easy bumper sticker to apply, but a harder philosophy to put into execution in your real life.
We all have a place in our lives where we look the other way and pretend everything is fine. It's a built-in excuse to act selfishly.
Clear communication is good for business and life — but compelling communication can take you to another level.
The flavor is "simultaneously fascinating and... abusive."