The Psychology of Humor: Why is that Funny?

Psychology often tries to unravel emotional mysteries, but some resist investigation more than others. One of these long-standing mysteries is the psychology of humor. What exactly makes a joke funny or not? And to whom? It is this question which has long puzzled psychologists and philosophers, and Scientific American’s Giovanni Sabato attempts to trace the…

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Exploring the Nonverbal Expression of Dominance

While we often talk about prominent examples of nonverbal behavior, like the triumphant pose, many are actually quite subtle. A fascinating new study out of the University of British Columbia looked at the marked impact of something as simple as head position in evaluations of a person’s inclination towards dominance. This study found that a…

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Social Influence in Investigative Interviews

We talk a lot about how to understand people’s emotions and how to read what they say accurately, but what about learning how we can change our behavior so that they are more forthcoming? This is the subject of a recent paper by Humintell’s Dr. David Matsumoto and Hyisung Hwang. In this study, they sought…

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In Dr. Matsumoto’s Own Words

We’ve been talking about new microexpressions research for the last two weeks, so we’ll all benefit from Dr. David Matsumoto’s own insights. In this new video, Dr. Matsumoto discussed his recent article on microexpressions and the importance of precisely studying microexpressions and their neurological correlates. He emphasizes the striking difference in neurological patterns between expressions…

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