People with a depressed mood interpret and store the past differently than their healthy peers.
M & M Experiment
In a well-known experiment (Gopnik and Astington, 1998), children aged three to six were shown an oblong bag of M&Ms and then asked what they thought was inside. They all answered "M&Ms," and presumably were all disappointed to see that there was only one […]
Dalmatian pattern recognition.
Find the Dalmatian: Somewhere in this picture is a Dalmatian hidden. If you look for it, you'll probably find it, and once you do, you won't be able to imagine it without it. Consider this: is that Dalmatian actually there, or have you just […]
Better to be proud than pitiful, thinks the fox
Once upon a time, there was a fox who was terribly hungry. He passed a bower and saw some delicious grapes hanging high up, "perfectly ripe, it seemed, dark purple." He longed to eat them, but he couldn't reach them. The wall was much too high. He had a hard time reaching them […]
Autobiographical memory, “My worst sins”
In his book "Why Life Speeds Up as You Get Older," author Douwe Draaisma asks himself: "Why do we have an insanely good memory for humiliations?" "My worst sins" have a humiliating effect. In his search for an answer, he turns to psychologist Willem Wagenaar. Wagenaar has studied his diary […]
Children naughty due to strict punishment
When parents often punish harshly, their children become rebellious, disobedient and aggressive – but strangely enough…
Page 83
Just as many a father quotes Preacher or Isaiah, my father quoted literary critic Kees Fens. "Fens says" was almost impossible for him to say… (…). "Fens says that Thea Beckman is no good!" That was a heavy blow, one that perhaps hit me even harder than the others. In The Wheel of Fortune, a book that […]
Knowledge transfer trust
Knowledge-transfer trust, or "epistemic trust," is a social skill learned in childhood. Developing this trust is a process in which parents teach their children to assess with whom they can lower their natural guard against knowledge transfer, and with whom they should not. […]
Deep within ourselves
By Václav Havel Deep within ourselves, we carry hope. If it isn't there, it's nowhere. Hope is a consciousness, and it doesn't depend on what happens in the world. Hope is neither predicting nor foreseeing. Hope resides in our souls, etched in our hearts, anchored beyond the horizon. Hope, in this deep […]
Fragile people
Fragile PeopleFragile PeopleLooking for a Little HappinessFragile PeopleI know, I know themSensitive and easily upsetFragile PeoplePamper them, spoil themOh, don't put them under pressure They try to live like someone elseBut that often isn't easy for themThey keep giving alms to the homelessThey keep walking […]