June 9, 2012
There are many theories of humor which attempt to explain what humor is, what social function it serves, and what would be considered humorous. It would be very difficult to explain humor to a hypothetical person who did not have a sense of humor already. In fact, to such a person humor would appear to be quite strange if not outright irrational behavior.
Among the prevailing types of theories that attempt to account for the existence of humor there are: psychological theories (the vast majority of which consider humor to be very healthy behavior); spiritual theories (which may consider humor to be a ‘gift from God’). There are also theories that consider humor to be an unexplainable mystery, very much like a mystical experience. Although various classical theories of humor and laughter may be found, in contemporary academic literature three theories of humor appear repeatedly: relief theory, superiority theory, and incongruity theory.
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June 9, 2012
Nervous laughter is laughter evoked from an audience’s expression of embarrassment, alarm, discomfort, or confusion, rather than amusement. Nervous laughter is usually less robust in expression than ‘a good belly laugh,’ and may be combined with confused glances or awkward silence on the part of others in the audience. Nervous laughter is considered analogous to a courtesy laugh, which may be rendered by more of a conscious effort in an attempt to move a situation along more quickly, especially when the comedian is pausing for laughter.
Nervous laughter is a physical reaction to stress, tension, confusion, or anxiety – just like sweaty palms or an elevated heart-rate. It’s not a conscious decision; it has nothing to do with one’s sense of humor and can occur at the unfunniest of times. Neuroscientist Vilayanur Ramachandran states ‘We have nervous laughter because we want to make ourselves think what horrible thing we encountered isn’t really as horrible as it appears, something we want to believe.’ Those are the most embarrassing times, too, naturally.
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June 8, 2012
Laughter is an audible expression or appearance of excitement, an inward feeling of joy. It may ensue from jokes, tickling, and other stimuli. It is associated with a number of positive emotional states, such as joy, mirth, happiness, and relief. However on some occasions it may express other emotions, such as embarrassment, contrition, or confusion.
A nervous laugh or courtesy laugh is rendered by a more conscious effort, in an attempt to move a situation along more quickly. Laughter is a part of human behavior regulated by the brain, helping humans clarify their intentions in social interaction and providing an emotional context to conversations.
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June 7, 2012
The evolutionary psychology of religion is the study of religious belief using evolutionary psychology principles. As with all other organs and organ functions, the brain and cognition’s functional structure have been argued to have a genetic basis, and are therefore subject to the effects of natural selection and evolution. Like other organs and tissues, this functional structure should be universally shared amongst humans and should solve important problems of survival and reproduction. Evolutionary psychologists seek to understand cognitive processes, religion in this case, by understanding the survival and reproductive functions they might serve.
There is general agreement among scientists that a propensity to engage in religious behavior evolved early in human history. However, there is disagreement on the exact mechanisms that drove the evolution of the religious mind. There are two schools of thought. One is that religion itself evolved due to natural selection and is an adaptation, in which case religion conferred some sort of evolutionary advantage. Alternatively, religious beliefs and behaviors may have emerged as by-products of other adaptive traits without initially being selected for because of their own benefits (called spandrels).
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May 25, 2012
The memory-prediction framework is a theory of brain function that was created by Jeff Hawkins and described in his 2004 book, ‘On Intelligence.’ This theory concerns the role of the mammalian neocortex and its associations with the hippocampus and the thalamus in matching sensory inputs to stored memory patterns and how this process leads to predictions of what will happen in the future.
The theory is motivated by the observed similarities between the brain structures (especially neocortical tissue) that are used for a wide range of behaviours available to mammals. It posits that the remarkably uniform physical arrangement of cortical tissue reflects a single principle or algorithm which underlies all cortical information processing.
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May 21, 2012
Delayed gratification denotes a person’s ability to wait in order to obtain something that he or she wants. This intellectual attribute is also called impulse control, will power, self control, and ‘low’ time preference, in economics. Delay discounting is defined as ‘the preference for smaller immediate rewards over larger but delayed rewards and to the well established fact that the subjective value of reward decreases with increasing delay to its receipt.’ Sociologically, good impulse control is considered a positive personality trait.
Moreover, people who lack the psychological trait of being able to delay gratification are said to require instant gratification and might suffer poor impulse control. The Stanford Marshmallow Experiment indicates that good impulse control might be psychologically important for academic achievement and for success in adult life.
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May 18, 2012
An anxiolytic [ang-zee-uh-lit-ik] is a drug used for the treatment of anxiety and its related psychological and physical symptoms. Anxiolytics have been shown to be useful in the treatment of anxiety disorders. Beta-blockers, although not anxiolytics, can be used to combat the somatic symptoms of anxiety (such as an elevated heart rate).
Anxiolytics are also known as minor tranquilizers. The term is less common in modern texts, and was originally derived from a dichotomy with major tranquilizers, also known as neuroleptics or antipsychotics.
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May 18, 2012
Selank is a nootropic (smart drug), anxiolytic (antianxiety) peptide (string of amino acids) based drug developed by the Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Russian academy of sciences. Selank is a synthetic analogue of the immunomodulatory peptide tuftsin; as such, it mimics many of its effects, strengthening the immune system.
It is has been shown to influence the concentration of monoamine neurotransmitters (e.g. dopamine, serotonin) and induce metabolism of serotonin. There is evidence that it may also modulate the expression of Brain-derived neurotropic factor (which is related to nerve growth) in rats.
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May 17, 2012
Emotional intelligence is a thought model that claims that to be successful, people must be able to know their own feelings. They must also be able to guess and influence the emotions of other people, and of groups of other people. There are several different models that disagree about the exact definition of the term. Criticisms have centered on whether the construct is a real intelligence and whether it has incremental validity over IQ and the Big Five personality dimensions.
The earliest roots of emotional intelligence can be traced to Charles Darwin’s work on the importance of emotional expression for survival and, second, adaptation. In the 1900s, even though traditional definitions of intelligence emphasized cognitive aspects such as memory and problem-solving, several influential researchers in the intelligence field of study had begun to recognize the importance of the non-cognitive aspects. For instance, as early as 1920, American psychologist E.L. Thorndike used the term ‘social intelligence’ to describe the skill of understanding and managing other people.
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May 15, 2012
Psychomagic is a therapeutic practice used by Chilean-French filmmaker and spiritual guru Alejandro Jodorowsky. The technique is alleged to be useful in psychotherapy. It combines art, Eastern philosophies (particularly Zen Buddhism), mysticism and modern psychotherapy to allegedly heal patients with emotional problems.
The principle relies on the belief that the unconscious mind takes a symbolic act as a fact. So a symbolic act could accordingly help solve some types of non rational conflicts. These acts are prescribed by the therapist after having studied the patient’s personality and family tree (Psychogenealogy).
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May 14, 2012
Liquorice [lik-uh-rish] or licorice is the root of Glycyrrhiza glabra (a legume) from which a somewhat sweet flavor can be extracted. It is native to southern Europe and parts of Asia, and is not related to anise, star anise, or fennel, which are the sources of similar-tasting compounds. The word ‘liquorice’ is derived from the Greek ‘glukurrhiza’ (‘sweet root’).
The flavor of liquorice comes mainly from a sweet-tasting compound called anethole, an aromatic, unsaturated ether compound also found in anise, fennel, and several other herbs. Much of the sweetness in liquorice comes from glycyrrhizin, a compound 30 to 50 times sweeter than sucrose (table sugar).
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May 14, 2012
Prison tattoos often signal gang membership, form a code, or have hidden meanings. However, due to the lack of proper equipment and sterile environments in prison, the practice poses health risks.
Tattooing in prison is illegal in the U.S., but inmates find ways to create their own tattooing devices out of their belongings. Improvised equipment is assembled from mechanical pencils, magnets, radio transistors, staples, paper clips, guitar strings, and other common items.
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