Brain Briefs: Answers to the Most (and Least) Pressing Questions about Your Mind

by Art Markman, Bob Duke

Overview

Why do we love kitten videos so much? Does time speed up as we get older? Should we play brain games? Can we make ourselves happy? Art Markman and Bob Duke, hosts of the popular Austin-based KUT radio show and podcast Two Guys on Your Head, are here to answer all your questions about how the brain works and why we behave the way we do. Featuring the latest empirical findings, this is science served up in fun and revelatory bite-size bits, along with a complete set of references for further study.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781454925033
Publisher:	Union Square & Co.
Publication date:	10/04/2016
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Art Markman, PhD, is one of the premier cognitive scientists in the field. He has been on the faculty at the University of Texas since 1998, where he is the Annabel Irion Worsham Centennial Professor of Psychology and Marketing and director of the program in the Human Dimensions of Organizations at University of Texas. Markman has published over 150 scholarly works on topics including analogical reasoning, categorization, decision making, and motivation. Additionally, he is a member of the medical advisory board of the Dr. Oz Show and on the scientific advisory board of Dr. Phil.

Robert Duke, PhD, is the Marlene and Morton Meyerson Centennial Professor and Head of Music and Human Learning at University of Texas at Austin. A University Distinguished Teaching Professor, Elizabeth Shatto Massey Distinguished Fellow in Teacher Education, and Director of the Center for Music Learning, he is also director of the program in psychology of learning at Colburn Conservatory in Los Angeles. Duke has published over 75 scholarly articles related to music learning, memory, perception, and behavior, and has received national awards for research and teaching from the Music Educators National Conference and from the Music Teachers National Association.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

1 Does being open to experience lead to success? 1

2 Can we really make ourselves happy? 10

3 How do we catch a liar? 18

4 Should we play brain games? 25

5 Do stories help us remember? 32

6 Is pain open to interpretation? 40

7 Do schools teach the way children learn? 46

8 Why do tongue twisters work? 52

9 Do we get more done when we multitask? 58

10 Can we be conscientious and creative? 66

11 Is it true that we only use 10 percent of our brains? 74

12 Is our memory doomed to fail? 80

13 Why are continuity errors in movies difficult to catch? 86

14 Are all narcissists alike? 92

16 Does time speed up as we get older? 98

16 Why is forgiveness so powerful? 104

17 Is our thinking ever coherent? 109

18 Are our beliefs consistent with one another? 116

19 Why is it hard to learn a new language? 122

20 Is our right brain different from our left brain? 130

21 How do we overcome writer's block? 137

22 Is failure necessary? 143

23 How much of what we see is real? 150

24 Does punishment work? 157

25 Why are comparisons so helpful? 164

26 Why do people choke under pressure? 170

27 How do we decide what to buy? 177

28 What is the best way to brainstorm? 184

29 Why is online communication so ineffective? 190

30 Is it possible to remember something that didn't happen? 196

31 Is prejudice avoidable? 202

32 What's the best way to deal with life's endless litany of nuisances? 208

33 Is mind reading a necessary skill? 214

34 What are brains for, anyway? 220

35 Does listening to Mozart make us smarter? 224

36 Why are other people such slackers? 230

37 Can delusion be a good thing? 236

38 Why do we call a dog a "dog"? 242

39 Why do we love kitten videos so much? 248

40 Is nostalgia good or bad? 254

Reference 260

Acknowledgments 272

Index 274

About the Authors 278