Note: This research is part of a series of assignments for Cognitive Psychology, part of my MSc in Psychology. Autobiographical memory (AM) is memories from past experiences of our own lives (Fivush, 2011). This type of memory contains episodic memories (specific events) and semantic memories (personal semantic memories, facts related to those events) (Cabeza &... Continue Reading →
Adults don’t have memories of their early ages. Why?
Note: This research is part of a series of assignments for Cognitive Psychology, part of my MSc in Psychology. My first childhood memory comes from being separated from my brother at five in kindergarten. I found out that not having memories as an infant is called childhood amnesia/infantile amnesia, as the earliest memories in children... Continue Reading →
Heuristics and bias: you make errors in judgement on a regular basis
Note: This research is part of a series of assignments for Cognitive Psychology, part of my MSc in Psychology. People make decisions based on past experiences and learning by using shortcuts or “rules of thumb” to reach the correct conclusion and take action. These shortcuts are called heuristics, and they play an essential role in... Continue Reading →
Self-fulfilling prophecies due to stereotype threat: are girls bad at math?
Note: This research is part of a series of assignments for Cognitive Psychology, part of my MSc in Psychology. Growing up in post-communist Romania, we always knew what our future held for us: my brother was meant to study mathematics, and I was meant to study humanities. However, 90% of girls in high school were... Continue Reading →
Practice mindfulness if you want to reduce stress and anxiety
Note: This research is part of a series of assignments for Cognitive Psychology, part of my MSc in Psychology. Mindfulness means “paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally” (Kabat-Zinn, p. 4, 1994). Thus, mindfulness is a practice that takes us to the present moment, where we exist with... Continue Reading →
How do groups become hostile or extreme? An analysis of the online incel community
Note: an assignment I wrote for Social Psychology (part of my MSc in Psychology). The assignment is a position statement that should answer the question: Are traditional social psychological theories useful for explaining interaction in online environments? The Incel community (Incels) is an internet subculture of men who are involuntary celibates, unable to find a... Continue Reading →
Laissez-faire Leadership enables workplace bullying
Note: an assignment I wrote for Social Psychology (part of my MSc in Psychology). The assignment is a position statement that should answer the question: Is there evidence that group processes transfer to different contexts and cultures? Laissez-faire is a passive leadership style with devastating effects on employees. Laissez-faire leaders do not recognise or motivate... Continue Reading →
Strategies to regulate emotions in high states of anxiety
Note: This research is part of a series of assignments for the Cognitive Psychology course, part of my MSc in Psychology. Going through my third lockdown caused by a new strain of COVID-19, I am not as anxious as when the pandemic started. In the beginning, I was in a state of high alert and... Continue Reading →
Center Yourself Before You Enter Coaching Conversations
From Journey to Center: Lessons in Unifying Body, Mind, and Spirit, by Thomas F. Crum "You do the "doing" part of facilitation well; you have to work on centring and entering the conversation", my manager told me some time ago. What does being centred mean? How can you learn to get centred? How does it... Continue Reading →
I read 163 Books in 2019 Using Atomic Habits
Ten years ago, I had after-work drinks with one of my best friends. Her husband read 100+ books per year, and I found it fascinating (I was in the 20-30 books per year category). I don't have time to read 100 books per year, I said, thinking of my (then) schedule, packed with work, events,... Continue Reading →