Welcome to the World of Psychology

Almost everyone knows the satisfying feeling that sets in after a physical exertion: Your body awareness intensifies and you get the feeling that you made it. But is physical exercise also effective against major depressive [...]

Whether in advertising, in politics or in everyday conversation with acquaintances or friends: Persuasion is omnipresent. Especially in advertising, persuasion attempts are rarely based on substantial arguments. Instead, marketers often introduce (supposed) experts, celebrities or [...]

The ability to delay short-term rewards in favor of future achievements, can be beneficial in many situations. Therefore it is important to find out whether this ability is a congenital or learned characteristic. Although the [...]

For a long time the famous "marshmallow studies" by Walter Mischel were regarded as prototypical experiments to measure self-control. However, in some studies only low correlations to other measures of self-control were observed. Thus, in [...]

Only a few experiments drew as much attention as the famous "marshmallow experiments" by Walter Mischel. To test the ability of self-control, Mischel and Co. confronted hundreds of children with a difficult decision: "You can [...]

A few years ago, many researchers were in agreement: By far the most important requirement for education and vocational success is a high mental capacity (intelligence). However, even the best intelligence tests can not explain [...]

Using bad measuring instruments can have disastrous consequences. Therefore newly developed tests, questionaires, etc. have to meet the highest standards. Along with reliability and objectivity validity is one of the most important quality criteria. An [...]

People living in poverty often show counterproductive behaviours. On average, poor people use less preventive health care (Katz and Hofer, 1994), are less attentive parents (McLoyd, 1998) and have trouble managing their finances (Barr, 2012). [...]

Say "silk" ten times. Now, spell "silk." What do cows drink? Answer: "Milk. No, wait...!" Many people know about this game or at least similar ones, but only few know the psychological effect that is [...]

In the hustle and bustle of everyday life our mind is rarely at rest. In almost 50% of the time our thoughts are wandering. We are living through either past experiences or simulate future events. [...]