psychology

Are you submissive? Do you do what others or other machines tell you to do?

Well, according to the Associated Press, John and Starry Rhoads took a high road that almost turned into a very low road indeed, all because they did what their Toyota Sequoia's GPS told them to.

Apparently, the high desert of Eastern Oregon is a lovely place. Until you ask your GPS for the shortest route to your destination and it sends you down a remote forest road, without actually saying: "Yo, people. You go that way and it's really remote and foresty.&… Read more

PsychReport is a clinical case management tool for professionals in the field of psychology. Although the program seems to have a lot of useful features, it's ultimately undermined by its clunky interface.

We were turned off by the program almost immediately when we opened it and the creepy Microsoft Sam text-to-speech voice announced "PsychReport." From there, it only got worse; the program announces the name of each module as it's opened, and there doesn't seem to be any way to turn this annoying and pointless feature off. The main menu is a mix of icons … Read more

Facebook is even more omniscient than you thought: it can now chart the world's collective hopes and dreams and highs and lows--sort of, at least.

The company's data team on Monday launched a trippy new application called the "Gross National Happiness Index." Taking a similar format to its "Lexicon" trend-tracking product, the "GNH" currently displays a graph of data tabulated over the course of the past few years to track the "happiness" of Facebook users based on words picked up in their status messages.

The GNH is currently restricted to … Read more

In my local Starbucks, there's a bald man who wears the same pristine white Prince tennis shoes every day. He is always perched on a stool, his PC open in front of him, typing away with the middle finger of each hand. He has one of those Bluetooth thingies in his ear and he's often talking as he's typing. This somewhat peculiar gentleman is, indeed, running his business from Starbucks.

One might wonder whether he's just getting the slightly better end of this deal. I have never seen him eat there. Perhaps he orders one or … Read more

We've covered several utilities that have found fun and creative ways to analyze Twitter messages, but TweetPsych takes the cake. This one looks at your past 1,000 Twitter posts and gives you a "psychological" profile, including how much you talk about yourself, work, money, and "negative emotions."

In other words, it's a great way to reinforce the fact that you're probably using Twitter for self-promotion, and/or as a way to kvetch. At least that was its analysis of my tweets.

In an introductory blog post about the tool, creator Dan Zarrella … Read more

We stagger around for most of our lives desperately hoping that someone, somewhere will actually understand us.

Not in the "what the bloody hell is he saying?" kind of way. But in the "Oh, I totally realize why he just took his trousers off and did a handstand while singing the national anthem of the Congo" kind of way.

When you go around trying to explain yourself, it can be extremely tiring. Both for you and for the person who has to listen. Thankfully, scientists at University College, London, have taken significant steps in, well, mind-reading.… Read more

My friend Harriet called me in a bit of a state today. No, of course Harriet isn't her real name. No one is really called Harriet.

Anyway, Harriet had just experienced a shock. Her shrink had tried to friend her on Facebook. Perhaps those of you who go to see a mental health professional to gain a little work/life balance, or merely to tell the shrink all those hateful and embarrassing things you just can't tell anyone else, will appreciate the dilemma.

It's one thing if some business associate (your money launderer, your dealer, your mother) … Read more

You sleep with your boss' lover. You steal a stranger's dog. Or you win the lottery. Who is the first person you tell? And who is the second?

I ask only because I came across this utterly depressing conclusion about humanity from John Cacioppo, a professor of psychology at the University of Chicago: Americans have fewer people to confide in now than they did 20 years previously.

Apparently, it's down to two from three.

In 2004, 25 percent of people claimed that they had not been able to confide in anyone for six months. Twenty years previously, that … Read more

There are those who believe that computer games cause trauma rather than soothe it.

Scientists from Oxford University would like to spank that theory with a shovel, throw it to the ground, and kick it till it's unconscious.

In a piece of research that would not seem out of place on an episode of House, Oxford psychologists believe they have taken the first steps in showing that a concerted finger-waggle of your Tetris could help you forget the maniac who plowed straight into you at 60 miles an hour, the contorted features of the insane lover who just smashed … Read more