Read new essays, papers, and announcements on cognitive and forensic cognitive science in law enforcement, emergency service, science and exploration, and “paranormal” sightings and interpretations. For the latest in my blog series The Forensic View from Psychology Today, go to that button on the home page. Read essays on current research in my Research Essays page, and watch my YouTube videos on human behavior today, in history, and at the extremes by pressing the YouTube button on the home page. I hope you’ll find everything on this website interesting and useful!
Most Recent posts
-
Why Our Minds Mimic the Screen: The Power of Supernormal Stimuli
Why do male beetles try to mate with beer bottles, and why did two young girls attempt to sacrifice a classmate to a fictional internet character named Slender Man? The answer may lie in a biological concept known as supernormal stimuli, which are exaggerated versions of things that would normally elicit a response in a…
-
From Local Crime Scenes to Historical Myths: The Art of Misinterpreting Clues
How does a completely unrelated item at a crime scene derail a real world homicide investigation? The answer lies in how our minds interpret evidence. In the investigative world, we often joke about the Weird Homicide Fairy, an imaginary character who throws irrelevant clues in all directions. Though it is a joke, the underlying cognitive…
-
Mermaids, Inflatable Goats, and the Cognitive Illusions of AI
When Christopher Columbus sailed the Caribbean, he reported seeing mermaids, though he noted they were far less beautiful than the legends suggested. In reality, he was looking at West Indian manatees, creatures he had never seen before. Because his mind lacked a category for manatees, his prior mental frameworks substituted mermaids. This is not merely…