How psychologists kick-started AI

Psychology has played a pivotal role in shaping artificial intelligence, offering insights into human cognition, learning and behaviour that have profoundly influenced AI’s development.

Gut instincts

A psychologist from UNSW Sydney explains what intuition is and how you can harness it to make better decisions.

The psychological perks of big data

The personal data we are now all generating is making it easier for researchers to take psychology out of the lab and into the field.

When two hearts beat as one

People unconsciously synchronize bodily functions like heartbeat and breathing when they share an experience, such as a live performance or a personal conversation, according to new research.

Can positive psychology change the world?

An open mind, an open heart and clear thinking are three core capabilities that underlie wise action and can help people and groups change the world for the better.

Counting the psychological cost of the lockdown

Will the social distancing and extreme hygiene practices advocated to fight COVID-19 be harmful or helpful for the long term?

Taking positive psychology into the classroom

Positive psychology in schools can help students maintain their well-being and develop the skills they need for study and later life.

What is déjà vu? What is déjà vu?

Many of us have had the experience of seeing or doing something and it feeling eerily familiar, but what do we know about what’s happening when we get déjà vu?

Understanding the ‘pavement polka’

Understanding how pedestrians negotiate space and oncoming people on crowded city pavements offers insights into the working of our brains.

Making New Year’s resolutions more personal could help them stick

Many of us embark on life-improving resolutions in the new year, but few of us maintain the effort. Picking personal goals, rather than those suggested by others, could be the key to success.

How to build self-control by copying others

Self-control can appear an inborn trait but identifying with people who display it can help build our own willpower too.

The error in thinking at the root of science denial

There are three important issues on which there is scientific consensus but controversy among laypeople: climate change, biological evolution and childhood vaccination. Many science deniers do cite empirical evidence, but the problem is that they do so in invalid, misleading ways.