cognitive psychology — Blog | Dr Clare Jonas

How do we develop our sense of left and right? How it can go wrong? And why can sudden left-right confusion tell us that someone is having a stroke?

but why, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, individual differencesClare Jonas18 December 2024directions, language, strokeComment

Why some of us are bad at maths

Why are some of us good at maths and some of us bad at maths?

developmental psychology, cognitive psychology, but whyClare Jonas7 November 2023nature/nurture debate, maths, memory, gender, learning, childhoodComment

How to remember people's names

We’ve all forgotten someone’s name at one point or another. Here’s how to reduce the chances of that happening.

how to, individual differences, cognitive psychologyClare Jonas12 June 2022memory, ageing, names, language, faces, learningComment

Why we sigh

Is sighing about feelings, thoughts, or maybe both at once?

cognitive psychology, social psychology, individual differences, but whyClare Jonas10 April 2022emotion, bodies, mood, thinking, mathsComment

Dreams that come true: coincidence or precognition?

Ever had a dream that predicted the future? Let’s talk about whether it was a coincidence or not…

cognitive psychology, hallowe'enClare Jonas30 October 2021dreaming, belief, memoryComment

Why people collect celebrity memorabilia

How much would you pay for a half-eaten slice of Vegemite toast?

cognitive psychology, social psychology, but whyClare Jonas4 April 2021celebrities, belief, possessions, mementos, contagion, memoryComment

What is aphantasia?

Can you see the world in your mind’s eye, or is it all a blank? Come find out why not everyone has mental imagery.

Why we can't remember being born

Does the memory of your own birth disappear? Or was it never there in the first place?

Why we copy others’ way of speaking

Ever wonder why you sound different depending on who you’re talking to? Come find out!

cognitive psychology, social psychology, but whyClare Jonas12 April 2020communication, words, speech, geographyComment

Why repeating a word makes it go weird

Hello, is it meaning you’re looking for? Well, you won’t find it if you keep repeating the same word.

cognitive psychology, brain biology, but whyClare Jonas15 March 2020words, repetition, learning, braaaaaaiiinsComment

Why we sometimes see ourselves from outside in memories

Sometimes we see memories as though we’re observing them from outside our own bodies. Ever wonder why this happens? Psychology has the answer!

cognitive psychology, mental health and illness, but whyClare Jonas14 February 2020self-perception, memory, childhood, timeComment

The IKEA effect: why we like the things we make and own

Ever wondered why you’re so fond of the wonky bookcase you put together yourself? Come find out!

cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, but whyClare Jonas14 January 2020possessions, food, health, bloody capitalism, economicsComment

What makes a word funny?

What makes gurgle, tit and bassoon such funny words? Psychology has the answer!

cognitive psychologyClare Jonas1 October 2019humour, culture, words, swearingComment

How false memories happen

It's probably not that we've glitched into an alternate reality, just that we're not very good at remembering…

cognitive psychology, social psychologyClare Jonas12 June 2019memory, braaaaaaiiins, belief, emotion, self-perceptionComment

Why do we get déjà vu?

Déjà vu expert Courtney Aitken explains why it sometimes feels like time has gone in circles.

guest blog, cognitive psychology, brain biology, hallowe'en, but whyClare Jonas25 October 2018memory, braaaaaaiiins, travelComment

Why are people superstitious?

An 🦇extremely spooky🦇 Hallowe’en blog, featuring lucky charms, pigeons behaving weirdly, and bananas conspiring against fishers.

How to get rid of a song that's stuck in your head

How do earworms happen and - more importantly - how can we make them go away?

cognitive psychology, how toClare Jonas8 July 2018memory, music, mental imageryComment

How much do people with dementia understand?

While memory for daily life may go, memory for emotions remains. Dr Lauren Rooney explains…

cognitive psychology, guest blogClare Jonas22 April 2018memory, ageing, braaaaaaiiins, neurological diseasesComment

Why does jetlag affect our memories?

Is it stress, circadian rhythms, or simply the fact that all airports are cursed?

cognitive psychology, brain biology, but whyClare Jonas19 March 2018memory, travel, circadian rhythmsComment

Why do words get stuck on the tip of your tongue?

It’s all to do with the different levels of knowledge we have about a word.

cognitive psychology, but whyClare Jonas3 March 2018language, memory, forgettingComment

Psychology's answers to everyday questions, in blog form!