Imagine throwing a baseball and not being able to tell exactly where it’ll go, despite your ability to throw accurately. Say that you are able to predict only that it …
How Antisocial Personality Disorder Is Diagnosed
Antisocial personality disorder is diagnosed based on meeting criteria described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual on Mental Disorders, the book that mental health professionals use to assess patients. Although …
Are All Pleasures Pretty Much The Same?
Parents often say that they don’t mind what their children do in life just as long as they are happy. Happiness and pleasure are almost universally seen as among the …
Do psychotropic drugs enhance, or diminish, human agency?
From medication to recreational and spiritual substances, drugs offer us respite from pain, open opportunities for mental exploration, and escape from – or into – altered psychological states. They are …
What are delusions of grandeur?
A delusion of grandeur is a false or unusual belief about one’s greatness. A person may believe, for instance, that they are famous, can end world wars, or that they …
Autism From The Inside
Too many depictions of autistic people rely on tired clichés. The neurotypical world needs to take note of our own voices. I found myself at a lunch table recently with …
A Landmark Study on the Origins of Alcoholism
By studying rats in a smarter way, scientists are finally learning something useful about why some drinkers become addicted and others don’t. For Markus Heilig, the years of dead ends …
Does Getting Angry Make You Angrier?
Should angry people act out how they feel? The popular idea is that venting your anger helps get rid of it. There’s even a woman in San Diego who makes …
The Psychology of Roller Coasters
Perhaps the draw of roller coasters is the enjoyment of the visceral sensation of fear itself, much like watching a horror movie. Roller coasters may seem like a very modern …