10 surprising psychological phenomena (that perhaps you did not know)
Our brain is a highly complex organ that never ceases to amaze us. Its operation has nothing to envy that of complex machines made by humans, which is why we never know enough about it. In the field of psychology and neurosciences, it is always about putting our brain in "trouble" in laboratory contexts, with the aim of understanding the processes that are carried out in it.
This powerful machinery that we possess and call the brain is highly efficient, as it always manages to act in the fastest and most adapted way possible. However, perfection does not exist and our brain was not going to be the exception. Proof of this are the errors and biases that we often commit unconsciously. These types of errors are mental shortcuts that allow us to think quickly and adapt to the environment, although they do not always go hand in hand with logic.
Thus, many times, our brain leads us to interpret reality in a biased way. Although at first this may seem incomprehensible, the truth is that it has a meaning. Our brain is an organ of great capacity, but it has a limit. Since we cannot store all the information we receive, the brain is responsible for simplifying and summarizing it to facilitate the assimilation of reality. This is how our prejudices, biases and stereotypes come into play.
This mode of operation is very interesting for science, since it has given rise to numerous psychological phenomena that often leave us open-mouthed. If you are interested in knowing the most surprising ones, keep reading, because we are going to review the 10 most shocking psychological phenomena.
A selection of psychological phenomena that will surprise you
There are different psychological phenomena that occur as a result of these shortcuts that our brain uses to function. We are going to know the most surprising.
1. Placebo effect
The placebo effect takes place when we believe that an intervention or substance has generated effects on us, although it has actually been innocuous. This effect is shocking, since there are real health effects as a consequence of the perception and confidence of the patient about the placebo that is administered, which can be a pill, a therapy or a simple statement.
In other words, the observed changes are in no case explained by specific effects of the intervention, but rather by the entire situation surrounding the treatment, which makes the patient adopt the belief that they are receiving a real health intervention and that for this reason they should improve. .
2. Cognitive dissonance
This phenomenon is a classic. Cognitive dissonance occurs when our actions and beliefs conflict. When this happens, we often feel guilty, uncomfortable, or anxious. When we realize that opposition between what we think and what we do, we unconsciously do everything possible to regain harmony.
To do this, we argue and justify our decision, in order to deceive ourselves and convince ourselves that we have not broken our beliefs. Justifying ourselves allows us to reduce the tension for having acted in such a way that is inconsistent with our way of thinking. If, for example, we are trying to quit smoking and we relapse, we can tell ourselves that “nothing will happen for a cigarette” to stop feeling bad about having used tobacco again.
Another of the strange phenomena that have been studied in psychology has to do with obedience to authority. When we receive instructions from someone in a uniform (for example, from a police officer), we will accept what they send us due to the fact that our brain associates that clothing with the legitimacy of their orders. Similarly, when someone we know occupies a position of power commands us to do something, we tend to accept doing that thing blindly.
When human beings receive instructions from someone to whom we attribute that legitimacy, we do not reflect too much on them and we put them into practice in an almost automated way. Researcher Stanley Milgram conducted a well-known experiment where he empirically demonstrated this curious phenomenon and the implications it may have.
4. Hallucinations
Although we always usually link hallucinations with substance use or psychopathologies such as schizophrenia, the truth is that everyone can experience them at some point. This happens because, on many occasions, our brain receives confusing or incomplete information. Faced with this situation, he chooses to fill in the missing part with his own content, giving rise to hallucinations of all kinds (visual, auditory ...).
5. Mandela effect
This curious effect was coined by blogger Fiona Broome. East refers to some false memories shared by the whole of society. Our brain plays tricks on us and reminds us of events that never really happened. Some experts believe that our memories are modified by external and internal stimuli, so that the original memories are modified over time
This effect was named in this way after the Nobel Peace Prize Nelson Mandela, because when his death was announced in 2013, several people claimed that he had died in the 1980s.
6. Choices Mediated by Emotions
Something very curious that happens to us has to do with our way of making decisions. Although it has always been believed that everyday decisions or those relating to more serious issues (such as the economy) are taken from pure reason, the truth is that this is not the case at all.
People move by our emotions, and in many of our decisions our brain decides based on instincts and emotional routes instead of choosing the most appropriate alternative from the logical point of view. Although this system allows us to decide quickly and save energy and resources on many occasions, it can sometimes harm us and make us make inappropriate decisions without really evaluating all the available options.
7. Brainstorming is not effective
The brainstorming technique for collective brainstorming is widespread. However, science does not seem to agree very much with this strategy, as the results it offers do not seem to be as good as it is believed. This is explained because people, when we meet in a group, dilute our responsibility with the final objective (to find a brilliant idea). We get lazier and think less. In addition, we can feel self-conscious for fear of what others think. This means that we are more efficient when we come up with brilliant ideas alone.
8. Pareidolia
This curious phenomenon consists of see a familiar face or shape when observing a poorly structured stimulus. This phenomenon has an adaptive explanation, since for our species recognizing faces is of vital importance for survival. This tendency to look for faces in stimuli has been transmitted from generation to generation until today. The most typical examples of pareidolias are those for which we see faces on the moon or in the mountains, as well as animal shapes in the clouds.
9. Bandwagon effect
This effect, which is also known as the carry-over effect, occurs when a person or group follows the behavior of an individual. This effect is the one that explains the pull of fashions, by which a famous person begins to wear a garment that immediately spreads throughout the population. The logic behind this effect has to do with the sense of belonging to the group. We follow fashions to fit in and feel accepted, which is why fashions are so pronounced among teenagers.
10. Effect of Lake Wobegon
This effect is also known as the galate effect. It has to do with the way each of us perceives our level of intelligence compared to the average. Most people tend to consider themselves above averageWhile only a few believe they have average intelligence and very few recognize themselves as less intelligent than average. Scientists believe that this optimistic cutoff bias has a protective function of our self-esteem.
Conclusions.
In this article we have talked about surprising psychological phenomena. Our brain is a very efficient and complex organ. He always tries to offer answers as quickly as possible, which is why he frequently resorts to mental shortcuts. Although these are adaptive on many occasions, they can sometimes lead us to error.
These types of expressways can distort our perception of reality., since they lead us to see it in a biased way and, many times, to act in an illogical way. Perfection is never possible, and our brain was not going to be the exception. Although this powerful machinery that we have in the skull achieves wonderful things, these kinds of curious phenomena are the price to pay for an efficient processing capacity.
Many of these biases may be illogical, but they can also serve a regulatory and protective role. Perceiving reality with certain biases can be helpful at times, so talking about these phenomena is not always a negative thing. All of them are committed in an unconscious way, so we do not notice them at the time they occur. Surely when reading our list you have identified with one. If not, we would not be surprised either, as there are many more biases, although these are the most common effects in the population.
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