Author: Cescup

“We are our memories” it is often said. Remembering is something each of us does on a daily basis in several ways and for several reasons. We can “remember” things we have to do on a particular day. Or we can remember past events that either involve us or not. Today we will tackle cases [...]

Lundi svelte, mardi gras, mercredi mince, jeudi bouffi, vendredi maigre, samedi arrondi et dimanche dodu. When you hear someone talk about “Mardi Gras” what are the first things that come to mind? Most people would probably imagine scenes of Mardi Gras celebrations with plastic beads, parades, loud music, and crowded parties. However, Mardi Gras is [...]

We are usually happy and proud of ourselves when we have positive feedback from our boss. Still, we tend to feel ashamed when we fall on the street and people are looking or we usually feel guilty when we misbehave towards a friend. These are all common emotions that we can feel whenever we succeed [...]

More than 60 years ago, Gordon W. Allport published his renowned book “The Nature of Prejudice“ (1954)  in which he discussed why individuals hold negative opinions about, for instance, African Americans or Catholics and how contact between social groups (i.e., intergroup contact) may reduce such prejudices.  The latter proposition—also known as the contact hypothesis—inspired an ever-growing literature [...]

Gordon Gekko (Wall Street, O.Stone, 1987) A la fin du 19ème siècle, les sciences humaines se sont focalisées sur l’analyse des problèmes sociaux avec pour finalité de les réduire. Or, les recherches sur la délinquance se sont majoritairement focalisées sur l’idée que la criminalité était le fait des classes laborieuses réputées « dangereuses ». La délinquance des [...]

Because the world is round ... The Beatles                                                     ... and not flat                                       [...]

On se dit parfois qu'un professeur a changé notre vie...Mais cela semble souvent relever de l'appréciation subjective. J'ai récemment découvert une étude (Chetty, Friedman, & Rockoff, 2014) dont le but était d'examiner quantitativement l'impact à long terme d'avoir un bon (ou un mauvais) prof durant son apprentissage scolaire. Comment s'y sont pris les chercheurs en [...]

Crispy caterpillars, fried crickets and butter tossed larvae. Doesn’t that sound appetizing? Okay, so maybe something more ‘common’? What about a black hamburger, made with black buns and black cheese? The impression people get from their food, influences how people select their food, and how much they eat. Palatability, how pleasant you rate your food, [...]