You never used to hear anyone say the word cognition. More and more, it seems to crop up in all kinds of places. I see cognition crop up in newspapers, magazines, and letters from my kid’s school. As someone who makes his living off of cognition, that’s comforting. But what is cognition really … [Read more...] about What is Cognition and What Good is it?
Why Overconfidence Occurs and How to Overcome It
Overconfidence happens to all of us. Ever have a plan that just couldn’t go wrong? And then you get a kick in the butt. Ever know that something must be true, only to find out later that you had it backwards? Overconfidence is when you think you are more likely to be right than you actually … [Read more...] about Why Overconfidence Occurs and How to Overcome It
Metacognition is Knowing Your Mind
Metacognition refers to what you know about your own thinking and learning. It is the part of cognition that monitors other cognitive processes, and makes adjustments to them. Cognition and metacognition are closely connected. Cognitive scientists study metacognition as an essential aspect of … [Read more...] about Metacognition is Knowing Your Mind
Cultural Norms: Do they Matter?
In some countries, women are expected to cover themselves from head to toe. In others, bikini bottoms are plenty sufficient. In some places, baskets are carried in the arms. In others, they are placed on the head. Cultural norms are the standards we live by. They are the shared expectations and … [Read more...] about Cultural Norms: Do they Matter?
How to be Smart: A Simple Approach
Smart is in… And that’s intimidating. Most thinking people quietly belittle their own great brains. They envy the geniuses around them, wanting to know how to be smart like "those guys"? There’s currently a lot of confusion about how to be smart, what it means to be smart, and whether … [Read more...] about How to be Smart: A Simple Approach
Cross-Cultural Perspective Taking
Can we really ‘put ourselves in the shoes’ of someone who has a different cultural background? Can we truly take a cultural perspective? The success of so many of our daily interactions depends on our ability to make sense of other people’s point of view—figuring out why they do the things they do … [Read more...] about Cross-Cultural Perspective Taking