Author: Dr. Corey Wrenn

Cognitive Priming for Positive Outcomes Cognitive priming refers to the process of manipulating an audience's interpretation of information. Professors, for instance, might make subtle hints to their students about positive experiences in the classroom hopingContinue reading

What is the Illusion of Transparency? The illusion of transparency refers to the mistaken assumption that others can read our internal states quite easily. Humans, as social animals, are quite good at reading the bodyContinue reading

Social psychological research conducted in the 1970s finds that children exposed to prosocial programs like Sesame Street significantly increased their prosocial behaviors. This was especially true of those children with low baseline prosocial tendencies (CoatesContinue reading

Frequently, social psychological research refutes what we take to be common sense when it comes to behavioral motivation and attitude formation. This is certainly the case with presentation vividness. Although it is easy to assumeContinue reading

What is Empathy? Empathy is a psychological concern for with others made possible by a vicarious experience of others' experiences. It is most easily achieved when a person can identify with those in need. IdentificationContinue reading

A number of variables can induce prosocial, helping behaviors. Mood is one such variable. According to the social psychological research, happy people are helpful people (Salovey et al. 1991). Folks may wish to help inContinue reading

Why Help? What motivates people to help? Is it altruism, peer pressure, legal force, or simply egoism? The motivations for prosocial behavior are numerous, but generally, it behooves humans, a social species, to help. AndContinue reading