Connections: Sensing the World: The Absolute Threshold
The minimum stimulation necessary to detect reliability a particular stimuli is called the absolute threshold. Thresholds can vary depending on a person's experience and expectations, or level of fatigue. A remarkable quality of the human mind is it...
The Enduring Self: Social-Cognitive Perspective, The
The social-cognitive perspective on personality takes into consideration the interplay between behavior, cognition and the environment. Albert Bandura shares his own background to illustrate why he sees human beings as contributors to their life cir...
Different Strokes: Differences that Define and Separate People
As humans we share a common heritage and face common problems. Yet the differences that help define who we are-our culture, our gender, our race-often separate us in ways that are both cognitive and social. Humans are cognitive misers who distil...
People to People: How Attitudes Can Affect Our Judgment
Attitudes-- feelings based on beliefs-- predispose our reactions to objects, people, and events. The very thing that makes us intelligent beings is also that which allows us to fall prey to biases or mistaken perceptions. When we stereotype people w...
People to People: Conformity
The behavior of those we're with can be contagious as John Bargh and his colleagues observed in a group of experiments. A volunteer who is asked to comment on a some pictures soon begins to mimic the mannerisms of the person she is working with with...