15 Facts About Human Psychology

The human brain is an interesting and powerful organ, but  understanding why it does what it does is a process that  we’re still studying. The conscious mind and the  subconscious mind, psychological effects on our decisions,  our habits, etc', all occur in the brain, yet most of us aren't  aware when these processes take place. This list encompasses  15 of the more interesting facts about our behaviour.

1. We blame a person’s behavior on their personality, unless it's us

One classic examples is driving – how many times have you seen  someone cut you off on the road, and the first thing on your mind  was “What a crazy *#%@”, but 15 minutes later, you tell yourself  it’s OK to cut another person because you’re “in a hurry, and it’s  just this one time”. We tend to attribute our decisions to external  forces, and other people’s bad behavior on their internal attributes.  Sadly, it’s a very difficult behavior to stop…

2. We overestimate how we would react to future events

How many times were you sure that your reaction to future events  would be one way, only for that event to arrive, and your reaction  is significantly different? The reason behind this is that most of  us are bad at predicting the future. You think that getting the job  of your dreams or marrying that special person will make you  happy, but when you do – you’re pretty much the same. Studies  show that an individual's level of happiness will almost always  revert to an average level.

3. Our strongest memories are usually inaccurate

We feel  the memories of traumatic events “burn” themselves into  our minds, to remain there forever (this is known as “Flashbulb  Memories”). Studies have shown that the stronger the emotional  state you were in during that event, the more the memory is inaccurate.

4. We can only sustain a high level of concentration for 10 minutes

Do you think you can concentrate on a task for more than 10 minutes?  Studies indicate otherwise. On average, a person’s attention span peaks  after 10 minutes and then the mind will start wandering.

5. Our brains wander for about 30% of the day

On average, we spend about 30% of our day daydreaming (though some people do it more). On the up side of this, researchers point out that people who tend to daydream more are better at solving problems and tend to be more creative.

6. Humans can’t multitask!

You may hear people claiming that they’re natural multitasks,  and you even see it in some job requirements, but humans  simply cannot multitask. Sure, you can listen to music while you  work, but your brain can only process one higher-function task  at a time. That means that you’ll either be doing work and  mainly ignore the music or listen to the music and ignore your  work. People simply cannot think about two things at once.

7. Most of your decisions are made subconsciously

Do you think about all the decisions you make, weighing all the  options and calculating the impact of each outcome? You might  think so, but you’re wrong. The majority of your decisions are  made in your subconscious because otherwise – your conscious  mind would be overwhelmed with information, and you’ll probably  get mentally frozen. The reason for this is that your brain receives  over 11 million bits of information every second, and there’s simply  not enough “brain power” to go through all of it consciously.

8. We can only store between 5 and 9 bits of information at once

The average human can only keep an average of 7 bits of information  at once in their short-term memory. Each of the 7 bits of information  can be comprised of several pieces of relevant data. The best  example is remembering a phone number – it can be anywhere  between 9 and 14 digits long, so we break it into segments  country  code, area code, and a set of numbers we split (usually to 3-4 digit  groups).

9. We prefer shorter lines of text, but read longer ones better

Sounds counterintuitive, but while we might prefer to read narrow  columns, we’ll read the same information faster if it’s spread to the  width of the page. The only reason you don’t notice that is because  you visually prefer the shorter layout.

10. We want more choices, but choose better with fewer options

Professor Dan Ariely tells in his book “Predictably Irrational” about  an experiment he and his colleagues performed: They set up two  booths that offered jam for sale. One booth had 24 different kinds  of jams while the other only had six kinds of jam. The table with  fewer options managed to sell six times more jams than the one  with more options. This reverts us back to #8 – our brain just cannot  process too many options.

11. We think other people are more easily influenced than us

We can see the effect advertising has on other people more  clearly than its impact on ourselves - this is known as the “Third  Person Effect”. We can tell how an ad affects our peers, but deny  its effects on ourselves, and it gets worse when it’s an ad for something  we have no interest it. You have ly not realized it, but all the  advertisements you see every day have a subconscious effect on  your mood, desires and even attitude.

12. Your brain doesn’t stop working when you sleep

Your brain is just as active when you sleep as it is when you’re awake.  Scientists have discovered that the only time your brain clears out  toxins and waste is when you sleep. It is also believed that during  the sleep cycles, your brain sorts out all the data from the previous  day and creates new associations.

13. “Wisdom of the Crowd” is not very wise

Psychologists refer to this as “Groupthink” – the larger the group  of individuals, the more ly it is to make choices based on emotions  rather than logic and common sense.

14. Crowds are easily swayed

People with a dominant or charismatic personalities can easily  affect crowd opinions and maneuver groups to do their bidding.  They appeal to the group’s emotions, taking advantage of the  effect in #13. (Oddly enough, research proves that two heads are  still better than one)

15. It takes a person 66 days to form a habit

There is a lot of research data that suggests that following a pattern  for 66 days will make it habitual. If, for example, you want to be  better about cleaning your home or going to the gym – make a  conscious effort to do it for 66 days, after which it will become a habit  and will be easier to persevere. (This also works for breaking habits)