The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society I first heard of the term contemplative practices when reading the book A Fearless Heart by Thupten Jinpa. This involves approaching an inner problem without avoidance or distraction. By establishing some mental space, you can consider the problem without getting caught up in the thoughts and emotions that… Continue reading Exploring Contemplative Practices
Tag: cognition
What Is… a Heuristic
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week's term is heuristic. Heuristics (from the Greek "to discover") are mental rules of thumb or shortcuts that allow our brains to process information and arrive at conclusions more quickly. A post not long ago covered philosophical razors, which are… Continue reading What Is… a Heuristic
What Is… Self-Verification Theory
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week's term is self-verification theory. Self-verification theory comes from social psychology, and it says that we want other people to see us the way we see ourselves. That might seem self-obvious, but what's interesting is that this applies even when… Continue reading What Is… Self-Verification Theory
What Is… Critical Thinking
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week's term is critical thinking. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy says that, while there are various different definitions, the basic underlying idea is "careful thinking directed to a goal." Wikipedia describes critical thinking as "the analysis of facts to form… Continue reading What Is… Critical Thinking
What’s Your Mental Illness Decision-Making Style?
Most of us are naturally inclined towards being more rational or intuitive in our decision-making. Personally, I tend to be much more on the rational side of the spectrum. But then you layer mental illness on top of that, and it can start to get more complicated. The basic scenario we’ll use for the post… Continue reading What’s Your Mental Illness Decision-Making Style?
What Is… Neuroplasticity
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week we're taking a bit of a detour to look at neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to make changes to itself in response to conditions and experiences, including forming new neuronal connections. This ability is maintained in adulthood, although… Continue reading What Is… Neuroplasticity
How Music Affects the Brain and Mood
I started this post about three months ago after Rookyn of Never Stop Growing did a post about the beneficial effect of music and other positive/motivational audio on mood. She wondered what the science/psychology behind it might be, and of course, my virtual ears perked up at that. Unfortunately, she's since vanished from the blogosphere,… Continue reading How Music Affects the Brain and Mood
What Speed Does Your Mind Move At?
Mental illness often affects what we think about, but it can also affect how we think, including the speed of how we think. Mania is an obvious example of speeding things up, and this may show up outwardly as pressure of speech. Anxiety, worry, and rumination can also be speedy in a sense, but tending… Continue reading What Speed Does Your Mind Move At?
What is… Psychological Effects on Reading
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week's term isn't so much a term as a category. We're going to look at psychological effects that impact the process of reading. Missing Letter Effect If someone is asked to identify each occurrence of a particular letter in a… Continue reading What is… Psychological Effects on Reading
What is… Cognitive Remediation
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week's term is cognitive remediation. Cognitive remediation (CR) aims to improve psychosocial functioning by addressing several areas of neurocognitive functioning, such as attention, working memory, and executive functioning. CR is used mostly in schizophrenia and traumatic brain injury. It's also… Continue reading What is… Cognitive Remediation