Gauri Sarda-Joshi, Author at Brain Fodder

Confirmation Bias: why some facts ring truer than others

Gauri Sarda-Joshi03/Feb/2016

In order to cope with the vast amount of information we encounter every day, our brains are constantly using 'shortcuts' to simply our actions and decisions. On... More...

Cognitive biasMind & BehaviourPsychology

5 scientific reasons why reading fiction makes you a better person

Gauri Sarda-Joshi31/Jan/2016

The tradition of story-telling and using fiction to explain human behavior is as old as human civilization itself. Over time, storybooks took the place of the v... More...

HappinessLearningWisdom

Asch Conformity experiment - why hipsters look alike

You’re more of a conformist than you think

Gauri Sarda-Joshi24/Jan/2016

In the 1950's Solomon Asch undertook a series of landmark experiments that revealed the extent to which conformity rules our lives The original experiment In ... More...

PsychologySociety

18 things successful couples do effortlessly

Gauri Sarda-Joshi30/Dec/2015

Committing to a relationship is not for the faint-hearted. So how do those annoyingly perfect couples manage to make it work so well?. Thankfully, science is st... More...

LifehacksRelationships

The psychology of online sharing

Gauri Sarda-Joshi22/Dec/2015

What prompts us to share on social media and why do we share the things we do? Science has started to figure this out. Why we share We all do it... A lot! Pos... More...

PsychologySociety & CultureTechnology

Mind wandering - day dreaming - benefits

How to get more done by daydreaming

Gauri Sarda-Joshi02/Dec/2015

Daydreaming, wool-gathering, zoning-out, everybody does it. But it's a guilty pleasure, universally considered to be a waste of time, the realm of the slacker, ... More...

Health & LifestylePsychologyWisdom

What science says about hooking up with your ex

Gauri Sarda-Joshi30/Nov/2015

Hooking up with your ex, or relationship churning, is is on the rise. Psychologists say it's a worrying trend. According to research, staying in touch with a ro... More...

PsychologyRelationships

Money really can buy happiness – but only if you spend it right

Gauri Sarda-Joshi27/Nov/2015

They say it can't buy you love, but can money buy you happiness? The money-happiness relationship is far from straightforward. In some cases, ie people liv... More...

HappinessPsychologyWork & Money

3 ways food messes with your brain and emotions

Gauri Sarda-Joshi24/Nov/2015

Food is just as important for our mental well-being as it is for our physical health For millennia healers have advocated food as medicine, but now, mental hea... More...

BodyBrainEmotion

Facial feedback theory: how Botox makes you less empathetic

Gauri Sarda-Joshi16/Nov/2015

Our own facial expressions play an essential part in understanding other people's emotions Human learn to show emotions through facial expressions very early i... More...

BodyCommunicationEmotion

6 psychological benefits of family meals

Gauri Sarda-Joshi03/Nov/2015

Family mealtimes may be going out of fashion, but studies indicate there are multiple benefits to eating together If there is one tradition that spans all ... More...

FamilyFoodPsychology

Dunning-Kruger Effect: Why you’re not as smart as you think you are

Gauri Sarda-Joshi23/Oct/2015

"The seemingly straightforward task of judging one's knowledge may not be so simple" In just a few decades, the wide web has grown from a user-base of zero... More...

Cognitive biasPsychology

Mind & Behaviour

Philip Zimbardo: Beyond the Stanford Prison Experiment

The science behind an impulse purchase

The Imposter Syndrome: Do you feel your life is a fraud?

Health & Lifestyle

Why chatting to strangers is good for you

Why is junk food so irresistible?

Work & Money