Viktor Frankl coined the term “tragic optimism” to describe the human ability to move forward with a positive attitude even when encountering hardship or challenges. Tragic optimism underpins personal resilience; for example, it has been identified as a predictor of well-being and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. I believe that the Psychonomic Society can look towards […]
When confronted with the Black Death in the middle ages, leading authorities resorted to analysis of the position of the planets —Jupiter’s hostility against Mars features prominently— to explain the plague. Today, authorities rely mainly on science to explain and manage the COVID-19 pandemic. The success of this is borne out in countries such as […]
We rarely listen to just one stream of information at a time. Whether we are at a dinner party, on a crowded bus, or talking on the phone while walking down a busy street, more often than not there are multiple voices that compete for our attention. People are generally very good at focusing on […]
#psynom19 concluded more than a week ago, and we have already provided a snapshot of the next generation of Psychonomes. Now it is time for a brief report on some other aspects of the annual meeting, in particular an analysis of our social media presence and in particular the services rendered by our volunteers who […]
Will computers ever think like us? And if they do, how would we know? In 1950, Alan Turing proposed that computers could be considered intelligent if an observer can no longer distinguish which of two partners in a conversation is a “real” human and which is a computer. To date, no computer has passed this […]
The annual meeting of the Psychonomic Society in Montreal drew to a close last Sunday. Following tradition (anything that lasts more than 4 years surely qualifies as a tradition?), I e-interviewed a few mainly junior researchers who were presenting posters at the meeting. I hope this gives us a better sense of what the next […]
Noise can be annoying. It is also by far the most common preventable cause of hearing impairment. Unsurprisingly, noise levels in the workplace are therefore subject to occupational health regulations. Workers must wear headphones to protect themselves against noise from chainsaws, jet engines, or any other loud device. No such standards exist for recreational noise, […]
The Psychomic Society’s Digital Team is welcoming another Digital Associate Editor: Brett Myers has joined our team. Because there have been quite a few recent changes to the team, here is the lineup of current Digital Associate Editors: The newest member, Brett Myers, is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders […]
We owe most of our visual acuity to the fovea, the central area of the retina that is most densely packed with receptors—around 150,000 cones per square millimetre. Whenever we focus on an object, we move our eyes so ensure that the image is projected onto the fovea. And we see whatever is there, irrespective of […]
More changes are afoot among the Psychonomics digital team: I am sad to say good-bye to Joachim Vandekerckhove. I am very pleased to announce that Taylor Curley has joined our team. I am equally pleased to announce that the Society has a further vacancy for a Digital Associate Editor, to be filled effective immediately. Let’s […]