perception — Blog | Dr Clare Jonas — That Thinking Feeling

How does information get from the eyes to the brain?

Your brain’s doing its best, but what you see isn’t reality. It's more like a useful hallucination that lets you interact with the world.

brain biology, perceptionClare Jonas21 May 2023vision, animals, braaaaaaiiins, colour, hallucinations, shed catComment

How to echolocate

Navigating by sound isn’t just for bats! If you can hear, you can probably learn to echolocate. Find out how.

how to, perceptionClare Jonas15 April 2023learning, deafness, hearing, vision, navigation, bodies, sensesComment

The ugly side of cuteness

What makes an animal cute, and why is that sometimes a bad thing?

perception, evolutionary psychologyClare Jonas28 February 2022animals, faces, babiesComment

How many senses do humans have?

Spoiler alert: it’s far more than five

perception, brain biologyClare Jonas30 August 2021senses, animals, bodies, philosophy, magnetsComment

How to make food taste better – with psychology

… and why this research could get us to Mars.

how to, perception, individual differences, but whyClare Jonas6 June 2021food, culture, bodies, travelComment

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.

What is synaesthesia?

I spent 10 years researching synaesthesia and I’ve squashed all my knowledge into one blog!

perception, individual differences, what is...?Clare Jonas13 June 2020senses, creativity, aut, memory, hypnosis, colour, ageingComment

Why it's so difficult to describe smells

I thought it was about brain structure, but it’s actually about language!

individual differences, perception, but whyClare Jonas16 May 2020smell, language, comm, linguistics, sensesComment

Why do out of body experiences happen?

Find out what’s happening in the brain when you have an out of body experience, and how to trick yourself into having one!

Clare explains: What's up with this optical illusion?

This picture looks like it’s in full colour but it’s really black-and-white with an overlaid grid of colour. How does it work?

perceptionClare Jonas30 July 2019optical illusions, vision, colourComment

Why we have food preferences

You like potato and I like potahto, so let's do some science and find out why.

individual differences, perception, evolutionary psychology, but whyClare Jonas29 April 2019food, childhood, culture, tasteComment

Why we see faces in inanimate objects

It’s called pareidolia and it’s amazing! But why do our brains do it?

Why time speeds up as we get older

Summer seemed to last forever when we were young but is now only five minutes long. What gives?

developmental psychology, perception, but whyClare Jonas3 February 2019ageing, emotion, timeComment

What is ASMR?

Ever had a strange but nice tingly sensation in your scalp while watching a video? That’s ASMR - but why does it happen?

mental health and illness, individual differences, perception, what is...?Clare Jonas3 January 2019autism, music, emotion, mindfulnessComment

Why we believe in ghosts

Maybe they’re real; maybe it’s just magnets.

brain biology, perception, personality, hallowe'en, but whyClare Jonas29 October 2018suggestion, ghosts, magnetsComment

Is red a winning colour?

Did England do well in the 2018 Men’s World Cup because they were wearing red?

perception, sport psychologyClare Jonas15 July 2018football, gender, boxing, emotionComment

Selfie-ish behaviour

Quick, take a selfie! Now, click to find out why you’re likely to have shown one side of your face to the camera.

perception, brain biologyClare Jonas6 January 2018selfies, faces, photography, braaaaaaiiins, art

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