Although executive control and automatic behavior have often been considered separate and distinct processes, there is strong emerging and convergent evidence that they may in fact be intricately interlinked. In this review, we draw together evidence showing that visual stimuli cause automatic and unconscious motor activation, and how this in turn has implications for executive control. We disc...

Unconscious plagiarism occurs in a recall task when someone presents someone else's idea as his or her own. Recent research has shown that the likelihood of such an error is inflated if the idea is improved during the retention interval, but not if it is imagined. Here, we explore the effects of repeating the elaboration phase during the retention interval. Participants in a group first generat...

This electronic document is a “live” template. The various components of your paper [title, text, heads, etc.] are already defined on the style sheet, as illustrated by portions given in this document. It believed that humans tend to have better memory performance under survival conditions, and advantage effect should be beneficial human reproduction according evolutionary psychology. In resear...

With the global obesity crisis continuing to take its toll, the demand for solutions has increased. The discussion about nature vs. nurture and biology vs. psychology has culminated in declaring obesity as a disease by some medical organizations. Environmental factors and genetic predisposition, rather than personal responsibility are to blame, as for any other disease. This view implies that t...

Transformative learning as explained by Mezirow in the field of adult education has been criticized as a process that is overly dependent on critical reflection, such that it minimizes the role of feelings and overlooks transformation through the unconscious development of thoughts and actions. This paper further substantiates these concerns by exploring the emotional nature of rationality and ...

In 1839, Georg Friedrich Parrot (1767-1852) published a short note about a peculiar visual phenomenon--the diminishing of the size of external objects situated at a relatively small distance from the window of a fast-moving train. For the explanation of this illusion, Parrot proposed a concept of unconscious inferences, a very rapid syllogistic conclusion from two premises, which anticipated th...

[Editor’s Note: Having read several variants of “Cinderella,” you may have wondered what it is about this story that has prompted people in different parts of the world at different times, to show interest in a child who’s been debased but then rises above her misfortune. Why are people so fascinated with “Cinderella”? Depending on the people you ask and their perspectives, you’ll find this que...

The prevailing wisdom in web design literature cautions against the use of distracting website features; such as animated banners, pop-ups and floating advertisements, as they have the potential to cause annoyance and disrupt the process of pre-purchase evaluation in the context of online shopping. Recent advances in the field of cognitive psychology however, have suggested that a systematic an...

In this article we argue that self-deception evolved to facilitate interpersonal deception by allowing people to avoid the cues to conscious deception that might reveal deceptive intent. Self-deception has two additional advantages: It eliminates the costly cognitive load that is typically associated with deceiving, and it can minimize retribution if the deception is discovered. Beyond its role...