Tag Archives: cognitive framing

Maslow’s Pyramid versus the Deep/Nanny State

Posted on 8 February 2025 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

Earlier this week, I was thinking about the “ACK!” that most of us have been feeling, in regard to Elon Musk’s rampage through the federal agencies. This ACK is closely related to the “why does some billionaire get to have … Continue reading →

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Inside or outside the box?

Posted on 31 October 2024 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

Getting dressed for Halloween is a challenge, when one hasn’t planned in advance. I’d been thinking of revisiting my identity as Cecil Featherstone, Professor of Morbid Poetry, who spends the day reciting the various death-themed poems I memorized as a … Continue reading →

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Mighty Ducks, Under-Dawgs

Posted on 2 December 2023 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

Yesterday, alas, we may have seen the psychological power of meta-narratives in action, in a different arena than usual – Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, to be more precise. As my readers know by now, meta-narratives are the story-based frameworks … Continue reading →

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Is it “good”? Or is it “sweet”?

Posted on 12 April 2023 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

This year on Easter, after a lovely dinner with my partner and son, and after we each looked to see what the Easter Bunny had put in our Easter baskets, we settled down to consider playing the board game Bunny … Continue reading →

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Beyond love/hate binaries

Posted on 15 October 2022 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

Quick! What do e-cigarettes, fossil fuels, and Downton Abbey all have in common? E-cigarettes are great – if you used to be a heavy smoker and managed to switch your nicotine addiction entirely to e-cigarettes, which are much less likely … Continue reading →

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From clickbait to transcendent meaning

Posted on 22 July 2022 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

This evening the weather was perfect for reading outside, and that’s what we were doing, enjoying the rustling leaves overhead, the trickle of water from our little fountain, and the antics of four of our cats, when my phone gave … Continue reading →

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Growing up “meta”

Posted on 3 June 2022 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

Our young friend Maddie recently celebrated her first birthday. Maddie loves berries and books! We do too! And thus, my partner and I gave her three books about berries. One is a book about colors of fruit. One is a … Continue reading →

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Mindset and “genius” – life lessons from the Schumanns

Posted on 8 March 2022 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

One of the most popular – and practically useful – concepts to emerge in psychology in recent decades has been Carol Dweck’s concept of “fixed” versus “growth” mindsets. Dweck, a Stanford researcher, found that in any given context, people tend … Continue reading →

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All the “porns”

Posted on 12 February 2022 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

The last time I was in our neighborhood supermarket, I narrowly avoided buying the latest special issue of Good Housekeeping, full of recipes for the Mediterranean diet. Although I was tempted, $13.99 was non-trivial, and I reminded myself that if … Continue reading →

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Empirical and conceptual science: a vital partnership

Posted on 11 August 2021 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

It’s great fun to be an interdisciplinary thinker. It’s exciting to make connections that shed new light on old problems. I love the world “outside the box.” Or rather, here’s the graphic on my ironic Halloween t-shirt: Even though it’s … Continue reading →

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