20 psychological facts you didn't know about yourself

Incredible facts

The human psyche remains one of the biggest mysteries in the world.

Although researchers have learned many interesting facts about human psychological characteristics

, and can even predict our behavior based on certain rules, much remains unknown.

Did you know how fallible your memories are, how long your habits take to form, or how many friends you can make?

Here are these and other psychological facts that will help you get to know yourself better.

Human psychological processes

1. You suffer from “inattention blindness”

If you haven't heard about the invisible gorilla experiment...

, watch the following video. You need to count the number of passes made by people wearing white T-shirts (watch the video before reading further).

This is an example of what is called " inattentional blindness"

". The idea is that we are often blind to what is literally happening under our noses if we are focused on some other task.

In this case, a man in a gorilla suit walks through a group of players, stops and walks away. Participants busy counting passes often simply do not notice the gorilla. Moreover, those who are aware of the gorilla's appearance become even more inattentive and miss other changes (such as a change in the color of the curtains, or the departure of one girl).

2. You can only remember 3-4 items at a time

There is a rule of the “magic number 7 plus minus 2”

, according to which a person cannot store more than 5-9 blocks of information at the same time. Most information is stored in short-term memory for 20-30 seconds, after which we quickly forget it, unless we repeat it over and over again.

Although most people can retain about 7 digits in memory for a short period, almost all of us have difficulty retaining 10 digits in our minds.

Recent research shows that we are able to store even less: about 3-4 blocks of information at a time

. And although we try to group the data we receive, our short-term memory is still quite limited.

For example, a telephone number is divided into several sets of numbers so that we can remember it more easily.

3. We do not perceive the combination of red and blue colors well.

Although these colors are used in many national flags, red and blue are difficult for our eyes to perceive when they are next to each other.

This is due to an effect called "chromostereopsis", which causes some colors to "pop out" while others are removed. This causes irritation and eye fatigue

This effect is most pronounced when combining red and blue, as well as red and green.

4. You see things differently than you perceive them.

According to a study from the University of Cambridge, “it’s not very easy to do in the same time period. Smaoe vaonzhe, this is chotby perevya and nesdyalya bkuva blyi na sviokh metsah.”

Even if the other letters are jumbled, you will be able to read the sentence. This happens because the human brain does not read each letter, but the word as a whole.

. It constantly processes information it receives from the senses, and the way you perceive the information (words) is usually different from what you see (confused letters).

5. You are able to maintain rapt attention for about 10 minutes.

Even if you are at a meeting, you are interested in the topic, and the person presents the subject in an interesting way, then the maximum attention you can maintain is 7-10 minutes. After this, your attention will begin to wane and you need to take a break to continue to maintain your interest.

Individual psyche

The human psyche is a nebulous area that scientists have been unable to unravel for many years. Proven facts:

When the subject begins to remember the past, he unconsciously changes it. Nerve pathways are activated in different ways. Changes are influenced by events from the present, the desire to remember the forgotten.
The Dunning-Kruger effect explains the intensity of career growth. People with low qualifications often overestimate their abilities due to incompetence. When making bad decisions, they are not able to realize the mistakes, and therefore do not worry about the current situation. Experts assess the situation soberly and often underestimate their capabilities. Because of this, career growth slows down.
According to statistics, 90% of diseases have a psychological basis. Therefore, final recovery can only be achieved by restoring mental balance.
A person feels happiest only at 23 and 69 years old. Youth gives many opportunities, a sense of the future. In old age, a person experiences the moments that happened to him.

Experts who study psychological disorders insist on adding Internet addiction to the mix.

Psychological characteristics of a person

6. The ability to delay gratification begins in childhood.

Your ability to delay immediate gratification of your desires begins in early childhood. People who were able to delay gratification from an early age did better in school and were better able to cope with stress and frustration.

7. We daydream 30 percent of the time.

Do you like to be in the clouds? According to psychologists, we all like to daydream at least 30 percent of the time. Some of us are even bigger, but that's not always a bad thing. Researchers say people who daydream tend to be more creative and better problem solvers.

8. It takes 66 days to form a habit.

Scientists studying how long it takes for certain actions to become habits have found that on average it takes us about 66 days to do this.

The more complex the behavior we want to acquire, the longer we need

. Thus, those who wanted to develop the habit of exercise most often took 1.5 times longer for it to become automatic than those who developed the habit of eating fruit for lunch. Even if you miss a day or two, it won't affect the time it takes to get into the habit, but missing too many days in a row can slow down the process.

9. You overestimate your reaction to future events.

We are not very good at predicting the future. More specifically, we overestimate our reaction to future events, whether pleasant or negative.

Research has shown that people believe that positive events, such as getting married or winning big, will make them much happier than they actually are. Likewise, we believe that negative events, such as losing a job or having an accident, will make us feel much more depressed than they actually are.

10. You blame the other person, not the situation (and the situation, not yourself)

Remember when you were waiting for another person who was late for a meeting. Most likely, you attributed his delay to irresponsibility and lack of composure. In the same situation, you attributed your lateness to external circumstances (traffic jams).

In psychology this is called the fundamental attribution error.

” – that is, the tendency to blame the behavior of other people on internal personality traits, and one’s own behavior on external factors (“I had no choice,” “I was unlucky”). Unfortunately, even though we are aware of our tendency to make unfair judgments, we still continue to make this fundamental mistake.

11. The number of friends you can have is limited.

Even if you can boast of several thousand friends on social networks, in reality you have many fewer. Psychologists and anthropologists have identified the “Dunbar number” - that is, the maximum number of close connections that a person can have, and it ranges from 50 to 150.

12. You can't help but pay attention to food, sex and danger.

Have you noticed that people always stop to look at scenes of accidents. In fact, we cannot ignore the situation of danger. Every person has an ancient brain structure that is responsible for survival

and asks: “Can I eat this? Is it possible to have sex with this? Could this kill me?

Food, sex and danger are all he cares about. After all, without food a person will die, without sex the race will not continue, and if a person dies, the first two points will not make sense.

13. You know how to do things that have never been done before.

Imagine that you have never seen an iPad, but they gave it to you and told you to read books on it. Before you even turn on your iPad and start using it, you'll already have a model in your head of how to read books with it. You will have ideas about what the book will look like on screen, what features you will be able to use, and how you will do it.

In other words, you have a "mental model"

reading a book from your tablet, even if you've never done it before. Your mental model will be different from someone who has read e-books before and someone who doesn't even know what an iPad is.

Our mental models are based on incomplete facts, past experiences, and even intuitions.

14. You want more choices than you can handle.

If you go to any supermarket, you will see a huge range of products, and that's because people want a lot of choice.

In one study conducted in a supermarket, researchers presented participants with 6 types of jam, followed by 24 types of jam. And while people were more likely to stop at a stand with 24 types of jam, they were 6 times more likely to buy jam from a stand with 6 types of jam.

The explanation is simple: despite the fact that we think we want more, our brains can only handle so many things at once.

15. You're happier when you're busy.

Imagine that you are at the airport and you need to pick up your luggage. However, it will take you about 12 minutes to get to the baggage claim area. When you arrive at baggage claim, you immediately collect your suitcase. How impatient do you feel?

Now try to imagine a similar situation, but you get to the delivery lane in 2 minutes and wait 10 minutes for your luggage. Although in both situations it took you 12 minutes to get your luggage, in the second case you were probably more impatient and unhappy.

If a person has no reason to be active, he decides to do nothing. And while it helps us maintain energy, idleness makes us feel impatient and unhappy.

The truth about human memory

The key to success is the ability to absorb information. Facts about human memory:

If the interlocutor begins to remember while looking closely into the interlocutor's eyes, he will lie.
People looking up, to the left, are trying to remember something.
Looking up to the right indicates that the interlocutor is trying to create an image of an object that he has never seen.
The direction of gaze to the left indicates that the person is remembering sounds.

Taking into account the peculiarities of human memory, it is possible to predict the thoughts of the interlocutor.

Characteristics of approaches that reveal the essence of the concept of “communication”

Communication is a complex and very multi-level process. B.D. Parygin noted that this process can act simultaneously as a process of human interaction, and as an information process, and as the relationship of people to each other, and as a process of their mutual experience and understanding of each other.

In the definition of B.D. Parygina focuses on a systematic understanding of the essence of communication, its multifunctionality and the nature of activity.

Communication can also be considered in two main aspects: as the assimilation of sociocultural values by a person and as his self-realization as a creative, unique individuality in the process of social interaction with other people.

Consideration of communication problems is complicated by different interpretations of the term “communication”. Thus, A.S. Zolotnyakova viewed communication as a socially and personally oriented process in which not only personal relationships are realized, but also attitudes towards social norms. She viewed communication as a process of transmitting normative values. At the same time, she introduced “communication” as “the social process by which society influences the individual.” Combining these two definitions, we see that for her communication was a communicative-regulatory process in which not only the sum of social values is transmitted, but also their assimilation is regulated by the social system.

A.A. Bodalev proposes to consider communication as “the interaction of people, the content of which is the exchange of information through various means of communication to establish relationships between people.”

A.A. Leontiev understands communication “not as an interpersonal, but as a social phenomenon,” the subject of which “should not be considered in isolation.” At the same time, he approaches communication as a condition for “any human activity.”

Position of A.A. Leontiev is also supported by other authors. So, V.N. Panferov claims that “any activity is impossible without communication.” He further supports the view of communication as an interaction process, but emphasizes that communication is necessary “to establish interaction favorable to the process of activity.”

The problem of communication has also been studied by philosophers. Thus, B.D. Parygin believes that “communication is a necessary condition for the existence and socialization of the individual.” L.P. Bueva notes that a person learns forms of behavior through communication. M.S. Kagan considers communication as a “communicative activity” that expresses “the practical activity of the subject.” V.S. Korobeinikov defines communication as “the interaction of subjects with certain social properties.” “From a philosophical point of view,” writes V.M. Sokovin, - communication is a form of information transfer that arose at a certain stage in the development of life and is included in work activity and is its necessary side. It is also a form of social relations and a social form of social consciousness.”

From this far from exhaustive list of statements by psychologists, sociologists and philosophers, it becomes clear how great the interest of scientists in the phenomenon of communication is.

But from all the abundance of interpretations of communication, the most important can be highlighted:

Communication is a type of independent human activity;
Communication is a symptom of other human activity;
Communication is the interaction of subjects.

In the psychological approach, communication is defined as a specific form of activity and an independent process of interaction necessary for the implementation of other types of activity of the individual.

Psychological analysis of communication reveals the mechanisms of its implementation. The most important social need is communication, without which the formation of personality slows down and sometimes even stops. Psychologists consider the need for communication as one of the most important factors determining the need for communication as a result of the interaction of the individual and the sociocultural environment, and the latter simultaneously serves as the source of the formation of this need.

Memory

The ability to absorb information is important to success. Many studies in psychology are devoted to it. Interesting facts about human memory are listed below.

Smell can be an effective trigger. Research has shown that a particular scent can evoke many memories in a person. For example, the smell of candy may remind you of time spent in your grandmother's house as a child.
There is a direct connection between memory and sleep. People who are deprived of the opportunity to get enough sleep remember information worse.
A newborn has a memory. Research has helped establish that already at 20 weeks of pregnancy, the embryo begins to record certain events.
Memory depends on the profession. For example, scientists, teachers, actors, and announcers have problems with it less often. This is due to the fact that these people get used to memorizing a large amount of text.
Memory develops up to 25 years of age. The peak occurs at 19-20 years of age, and the decline begins at 50 years of age.

Stories from the past are also of interest. Some famous people have had extraordinary memories. Archaeologist G. Schliemann could learn a new language in 6-8 weeks. Themistocles knew by name all the inhabitants of Athens - about 20 thousand people. Cardinal Mezzofanti spoke 100 languages. Alexander the Great knew by name all the soldiers in his army - about 30 thousand people.

How to become more attentive?

Unfortunately, like all skills in our lives, attention requires an integrated approach and it’s worth starting with the most important tips that help not only attention work well, but also all cognitive processes

The first piece of advice is simple and straightforward: a varied diet rich in microelements and adequate healthy sleep. It is impossible to expect attentiveness from a tired person suffering from a lack of vitamins or hunger. Lack of sleep affects alertness - this is a well-known fact.

Haste and haste are the enemies of mindfulness. If you want to develop attention, especially to internal processes, then the first thing you have to part with is haste. It is not necessary to meticulously and meticulously plan all tasks. But sketching out a short plan in your head is a simple but effective option. Everyone knows that absent-mindedness and inattention are most pronounced when a person acts in haste.

What is also important here is that if we take our time, we will have time to dwell on all the little things and analyze them. After all, as a rule, inattention manifests itself precisely in them - we miss some important details.

Motivation is very important for training attention

Sustainability of attention also depends on motivation. Understanding your motivation for performing a particular task offers a chance to improve your mindfulness.

You should not do several things at the same time. Some people think that doing everything at once makes them more productive. Multitasking is a myth, there is only good switching of attention, so, as a rule, the average person is better off doing things one at a time.

Memory training is another important point. You can notice something and forget it in a second. To train your memory, you can resort to various exercises, from playing Memo to observing passersby.

Forms of attention

Since attention acts as a side of cognitive processes as an activity aimed at an object, then, depending on the content of this activity, they distinguish:

external attention (sensory-perceptual) – directed to objects of the external world. A necessary condition for knowledge and transformation of the external world;
internal attention (intellectual) – is directed to objects of the subjective world of a person. A necessary condition for self-knowledge and self-education;
motor attention - attention is directed to the movements and actions performed by a person.

Love

What other interesting facts about psychology are known? This science pays great attention to love.

Scientists compare this feeling to drug addiction. Therefore, the treatment of unhappy love is carried out in a similar way. First of all, a person needs to remove all reminders (joint photos, gifts, etc.) and do something completely new.
Love lasts on average 1.5-3 years. If there are various obstacles (separation, lack of reciprocity), this period may increase.
Novelty saves love. Many couples regain the ability to do crazy things when they come to a foreign country, stay in an unfamiliar hotel, and so on.

Hatred

In psychology, attention is also paid to hatred.

A study was once conducted to determine whether all people experience this feeling. It turned out that over half of the respondents had never encountered it.
It's hard to hate without personal contact. Typically, people experience this feeling towards those they encounter regularly.
Love can truly turn into hate. Often the targets are close relatives (mother, father, sisters, brothers), ex-husbands and wives.
Many people hate the other halves of their friends.