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We know that people make up false memories if prompted. But since our brain never stops being a jerk, we can also convert real memories into things we believe we imagined…
Cryptomnesia – the misattribution of memories – is a fairly easy trap to fall into. According to the The British Journal of Psychiatry, we experience partial cryptomnesia all the time. We remember things, but don’t remember where we learned them. So we may recommend a book to the person who recommended it to us, or tell a new piece of gossip to the person who first told us about it. We remember learning something, but not where we learned it. -Esther Inglis-Arkell
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a story that relies on cryptomnesia as a plot point.
Journaling Prompt: Write about a time when you misremembered something.
Art Prompt: Cryptomnesia
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Inform your audience about the phenomenon of cryptomnesia and give a humorous example of a time when you experienced it.
Photo Credit: knitsteel on Flickr
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People seeking shelter during tornadoes and cyclones are often called back, or delayed, by people doing normal activities, who refuse to believe the emergency is happening. These people are displaying what’s known as normalcy bias. About 70% of people in a disaster do it. Although movies show crowds screaming and panicking, most people move dazedly through normal activities in a crisis. This can be a good thing; researchers find that people who are in this state are docile and can be directed without chaos. They even tend to quiet and calm the 10-15% of people who freak out.
The downside of the bias is the fact that they tend to retard the progress of the 10-15% of people who act appropriately. The main source of delay masquerades as the need to get more data. Scientists call this “milling.” People will usually get about four opinions on what’s going on and what they should do before taking any action — even in an obvious crisis. People in emergency situations report calling out to others, asking, “What’s going on?” When someone tells them to evacuate, or to take shelter, they fail to comply and move on, asking other people the same question. -Esther Inglis-Arkell
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a story using normalcy bias to create conflict.
Journaling Prompt: When do you tend to deny danger, whether it’s a tornado or something more abstract, like overdue bills? How do you act?
Art Prompt: Normalcy Bias
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Inform your audience about normalcy bias and how it reveals information about our ability to deny what is in front of us. Give your audience strategies to break through denial.
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If you’ve found yourself wandering zombie-like through a mall or a grocery store, looking around and hoping that something will catch your eye, many would say that you’ve been the victim of a Gruen Transfer. The “transfer” is the moment when you stop shopping for something in particular, and start just shopping in general. -Esther Inglis-Arkell
Fiction Writing Prompt: Take your character on a shopping trip.
Journaling Prompt: Have you ever been the victim of the Gruen Transfer, or do you go window shopping on purpose?
Art Prompt: Gruen Transfer
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Inform your audience about the Gruen Transfer and give them some strategies to avoid it.
Photo Credit: rowens27 on Flickr
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Know your enemy if you want to defeat him. -Kate Elliott, Shadowgate
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a story, scene, or poem about enemies.
Journaling Prompt: Imagine that one of your bad habits is your enemy. How much do you know about that bad habit? Is it enough to defeat it?
Art Prompt: Know your enemy.
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write about how knowing your “enemy” can help your audience in their personal and professional lives.
Photo Credit: Official U.S. Navy Imagery on Flickr
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The things that really make people fuming mad tend to be things that we can rarely speak up about without blowing the problem out of proportion. This is why people are so glad to vent their anger when anyone brings up petty offenses. They’re finally in a situation when they can express the full frustration they feel. Everyone has had experience with these kind of minor irritations, so outrage over relatively minor stuff becomes huge. That outrage, of course, doesn’t solve the problem. -Esther Inglis-Arkell
Fiction Writing Prompt: Add to your character sketch. What is your character really angry about? What are the minor annoyances that he or she talks about instead?
Journaling Prompt: What are you angry about that you can’t talk about?
Art Prompt: Outrage over Petty Offenses
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: How do you blow off the steam that builds up because you can’t effectively deal with your deepest issues? Give your audiences some strategies they can use.
Photo Credit: joshjanssen on Flickr
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…parents from different social classes teach their children different lessons about interacting with institutions. …parents help to perpetuate inequalities not only through what they do for their children, such as equipping them with different resources or opportunities, but also through what they teach children to do for themselves. -Science Daily
Fiction Writing Prompt: Add to your character sketch. How did your protagonist’s parents teach social interaction and how does that affect your protagonist in your story? (Click through and read the entire article to learn how social class affects what parents teach children.)
Journaling Prompt: What is the most valuable lesson your parents taught you?
Art Prompt: Parent teaching Child
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write about the essential lessons that parents must teach their children.
Photo Credit: Nationaal Archief on Flickr
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The human mind can achieve fantastic things. One of them is ‘…our almost unlimited ability to ignore our ignorance…’ – Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow (Source: David Ropeik, Big Think)
Fiction Writing Prompt: What is your character ignoring about his or her ignorance? Add to your character sketch.
Journaling Prompt: What areas of ignorance do you prefer to ignore in your life?
Art Prompt: Denial of Ignorance
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write about the psychological phenomenon of denial.
Photo Credit: jungmoon on Flickr
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Do we lose our sense of moral responsibility in a crowd? This condition is called “the diffusion of responsibility” in social science, or “the bystander effect.” The idea is that you would help a stranger if you were alone, but you are less inclined to be a good samaritan when part of a crowd. -Daniel Honan
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a story or scene utilizing the bystander effect.
Journaling Prompt: Would you help a stranger if you were in a crowd of people? Why or why not?
Art Prompt: Bystander Effect
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write about the bystander effect and give your audience information about how they can choose to be different.
Photo Credit: ..c.m… on Flickr
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Cause-and-effect thinking is critical to human survival, Legare said. So it’s natural for people to find logic in supernatural rituals that emphasize repetition and procedural steps. If doing something once has some effect, then repeating it must have a greater effect. For example, if a mechanic says he inspected something five times, the frequency of his actions leads the customer to overestimate the effectiveness of his work. -Science Daily
Fiction Writing Prompt: Create a ritual for your character to use and then write a scene about it. Focus on the internal monologue.
Journaling Prompt: What rituals do you use?
Art Prompt: Supernatural Ritual
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write about the psychology of ritual. Include stories about the rituals used by famous people.
Photo Credit: rodolfoaraiza.com on Flickr
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…the greatest unspoken rule of bus travel is that if other seats are available you shouldn’t sit next to someone else. As the passengers claimed, “It makes you look weird.” When all the rows are filled and more passengers are getting aboard the seated passengers initiate a performance to strategically avoid anyone sitting next to them…
Kim found that this nonsocial behavior is also driven by safety concerns, especially for coach travel which is perceived to be dangerous with ill lit bus stations.
“In a cafe, which is more relaxed, people often ask strangers to watch their stuff for a moment,” said Kim. “Yet at bus stations that rarely happens as people assume their fellow passengers will be tired and stressed out.”
“Ultimately this nonsocial behavior is due to the many frustrations of sharing a small public space together for a lengthy amount of time,” concluded Kim. “Yet this deliberate disengagement is a calculated social action, which is part of a wider culture of social isolation in public spaces.” -Science Daily
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Photo Credit: epSos.de on Flickr
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