Does Free Will exist?

One argument in Psychology is whether we have free will. In essence do we have complete control of our behaviour and consciously decide what course of action to take. Determinists argue that our behaviour is essentially predictable and that free will is an illusion. Most people believe strongly in free will, but some research questions this.

I find Derren Brown’s abilities to manipulate people’s behaviour quite hard to explain in terms of free will. As this video shows, subliminal cues do seem to be able to influence peoples behaviours….. Lookout for the unexpected donation of shoes at the end!

Thanks to Catherine Joyce for the video!

Dress for success

Did you know that our clothes affect our thoughts? Most of us are well aware that our clothing affects how other people perceive us but what about the power of clothes on our own thoughts?

If you wear a white coat that you believe belongs to a doctor, your ability to pay attention will increase sharply, but if you wear a white coat believing it belongs to a painter, you will not show such improvements. A study has shown that clothes can have profound and systematic psychological and behavioural consequences for their wearers. The term used for this is known as ‘enclothed cognition’ which is defined as the effects of clothing on cognitive processes.

I love the idea of trying to figure out why, when we put on certain clothes, we might more readily take on a role and how that might affect our basic abilities.

By Ruqeia Ahmadi

Science gone mad?!

Review: Elephants on acid and other bizarre experiments By Alex Boese

Alex Boese’s collection of bizarre anecdotes really does win the award for shocking readers when explaining the experiments that have happened in the past in the area of Psychology and Science. Some of which are extremely funny, weird and completely wrong but all would not be something you would expect to happen in this day and age. As we wander through Boese’s book of obscurities, we learn the real story behind Frankenstein, the precise weight of a human’s soul, whether cockroaches would survive if a nuclear bomb went off and a story about a two headed dog. All of course seem completely absurd but Boese’s humorous tone throughout the book makes each and every topic seem hilarious and completely ridiculous.

The purpose of the book is to both inform and entertain and the book can be said to be fictional. It has also been argued that Boese has been known to over exaggerate when telling his stories due to his in-depth interest in weird science. But whether each and every detail that is included in the book is true or not, the book definitely does not fail to entertain.

I would not suggest a particular type of person that would find the book enjoyable because I truly believe that the book would entertain everyone. You do not have to be interested in Science, Psychology or know anything about the two to understand the weird but wonderful stories embedded in the book. Additionally, the book is a reasonable size and it wouldn’t be a chore to read it.

Boese uses anecdotes which is genuine research to make the book more interesting and understandable by underlining the key points and turning it humorous by adding to the shock value. All in all, Boese’s take on past weird experiments gives readers an insight in to the frontiers of strange science.

Review written by Sally Hasselby

Ugly Celebrity Illusion

After our halloween illusion last week somebody sent me this other face related illusion. It’s a lot easier to trigger, just stare at the cross in the centre. Illusions are a good way of identify the different processes involved in perception.

Halloween special! Scare your friends and family with the “strange face illusion”

This weird illusion is very odd! It causes your face to morph into other faces, it takes about a minute to trigger and if you made up some scary mumbo jumbo about it, I’m pretty sure you could terrify your nearest and dearest.

It was first discovered by G B Caputo in 2010.

To trigger the illusion: you need a room lit only by a dim lamp (he suggests a 25W bulb) that is placed behind the sitter, while the participant stares into a large mirror placed about 40 cm in front. You could try candles for extra scariness!

The participant just has to gaze at his or her reflected face within the mirror and usually “after less than a minute, the observer began to perceive the strange-face illusion”. I found it works best when you stare at the same point (I stared straight between my eyes).

The set-up was tried out on 50 people, and the effects they describe are quite striking:

At the end of a 10 min session of mirror gazing, the participant was asked to write what he or she saw in the mirror.

• huge deformations of one’s own face (66%)
• a parent’s face with traits changed (18%)
• an unknown person (28%)
• an archetypal face, such as that of an old woman, a child, or a portrait of an ancestor (28%)
• an animal face such as that of a cat, pig, or lion (18%)
• fantastical and monstrous beings (48%).

I think you’ll agree that could be pretty scary for the unexpecting victim!

Let me know if it works for you.