Author: Susan Weinschenk
-
100 Things You Should Know About People: #98 — Attention Is Selective
In the paragraph below, read only the words that are bold, and ignore all the other text. Somewhere Among hidden on a the desert island most near the spectacular X islands, an cognitive old Survivor abilities contestant is has the concealed ability a box to of gold select won one in a message reward from…
-
100 Things You Should Know About People: #97 — People Filter Information
Have you ever met someone that has a long held belief that they just won’t change, no matter how much evidence you show them that their belief is not tenable? People seek out and pay attention to information and cues that confirm the beliefs that they have. They don’t seek out, in fact they ignore,…
-
100 Things You Should Know About People: #96 — Past Experience And Expectations Determine Where People Look
Where do people look first on a computer screen? Where do they look next? It depends partially on what they are doing and expecting. Left to right? — If people read in languages that move from left to right, then they tend to look at the screen from left to right. If they read from…
-
100 Things You Should Know About People: #95 — People Decide Who And What Is Alive By The Eyes
In a previous post, I talked about the special part of the brain that is for recognizing faces. New research by Christine Looser shows that “the eyes have it” when it comes to faces. When is a face human and alive? — Christine Looser takes pictures of people and then morphs them in stages into inanimate manniquin…
-
100 Things You Should Know About People: #94 — Repetition Changes Your Brain
Have you ever wondered what a memory is exactly and how it gets formed? You have hundreds, thousands, perhaps millions of memories in your brain. Songs you remember how to sing. Scenes from movies. Memories of last year’s holiday. Facts such as the names of all the planets, and on and on. Do you know…
-
100 Things You Should Know About People: #93 — Titles Provide Context
Read this paragraph: First you sort the items into like categories. Using color for sorting is common, but you can also use other characteristics, such as texture or type of handling needed. Once you have sorted the items, you are ready to use the equipment. You want to process each category from the sorting separately.…
-
100 Things You Should Know About People: #92 — There Is A Brain Area Dedicated To Perceiving Faces
You are walking down a busy street in a large city and suddenly you see the face of one of your close relatives. Even if you were not expecting to see this person, and even if there are dozens, or even hundreds of people in your visual field, you will immediately recognize this as your…
-
100 Things You Should Know About People: # 91 — Size Matters When It Comes To Fonts
When it comes to fonts, size matters a lot. The font size needs to be big enough so that people can read it without strain. Not just old folks — For older people this is critical. Starting in their 40’s, most people have increasing difficulty reading small fonts. But it’s not just older people that…
-
100 Things You Should Know About People: #90 — Recognition Is Easier Than Recall
Let’s say I asked you to remember this list of words: Apple Table Peach Window Chair Pear Orange Fork Mango And then later on I asked you to reconstruct the list from memory. That is called a “recall” memory task. Now let’s say I bring you into a kitchen and ask you what items in…
-
100 Things You Should Know About People: #89 — You Can Tell If A Smile Is Real Or Fake More Accurately With Video
Research on smiling started as far back as the mid-1800’s. A French doctor named Duchenne used electrical currents with research subjects. He would stimulate certain facial muscles and then take pictures of the expressions that people made. This was painful and many of the pictures look like the people are in pain. Real or…
