Just about every highschool and college psychology textbook offers extensive coverage of Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE). The meaning of the SPE seemed obvious — that when given roles with power, people naturally become brutal tyrants. This message has had lasting influence, not only in...
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On Friday November 13th 2015, a group of at least 7 attackers started shooting and bombing at six locations in Paris, killing at least 129 people, while injuring more than 300. One day before the Paris attacks, Beirut was attacked in a similar vein. Both attacks brutally killed and injured innocent...
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We respond on many levels, like our readers, to the 2015 attack on Charlie Hebdo staff in France. The human tragedy makes us sad and angry. The moral atrocity screams for outraged condemnation. The sense of threat calls out community determination, courage, and sacrifice. The counter-mobilisation of...
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At a recent event honoring Navajo Code Talkers who are World War II Veterans, President Donald Trump stated, "You were here long before any of us were here. Although we have a representative in Congress who they say was here a long time ago. They call her Pocahontas"[1]. This was not a first offense...
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Recently celebrity activists such as Beyoncé, Jennifer Garner, and Sheryl Sandberg have thrown their weight behind a campaign to ban the term “bossy” to describe women (banbossy.com, #banbossy). The goal of the campaign is to encourage young women to step into leadership roles and to assert...
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The newest installment of the Star Wars saga, The Last Jedi, was released last month. Despite critical success, the film has been met with a polarized audience reaction online. Although likely not the primary reason for polarization, some of the negative reaction can be attributed to the perceived...
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Circle of Willis is a podcast series from Associate Professor and Clinical Psychologist Dr. James Coan. The podcast features interviews with many of today's top social scientists, journalists, authors, and more. In a recent special episode of Circle of Willis, Dr. Coan speaks with five developmental...
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With the recent news regarding the questionable nature of the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment, we thought it was purdent to republish one of our earlier blog articles drawing attention to the issue. The piece below appeared on our blog in 2012. A blogpost by the Neurocritic suggests that the...
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In a press release earlier this month, Target corp. announced that it would no longer have separate sections for girls’ toys and boys’ toys, and that the current gendered color-coding would be removed from their aisles. The declaration has been met with a mixed reception. Opponents to the switch...
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