Stories by Wray Herbert

Finding Self-Discipline in Others

People who lack restraint seek out colleagues and friends who are not impulsive

Troubled Childhood May Predict PTSD

Many soldiers' cases of post-traumatic stress disorder may in fact stem from troubled civilian life

How to Spot a Scoundrel

Certain types of fidgeting give away a person's trustworthiness

Bad Habits May Cause Older Drivers' Mistakes

How we can train elderly drivers to be safer

Imagining the Future Invokes Your Memory

Why we tend to predict rosy times ahead

The Nuts and Bolts of Emotional Sobriety

When to engage with negative feelings and when to ignore them

Thinking about Mortality Changes How We Act

Our dueling existential minds influence our beliefs and behaviors in different ways

On the Trail of the Orchid Child

One genetic variant leads to the best and worst outcomes in kids

The Burden of Lying

Fibbing is tough on the brain. New strategies expose liars by adding to the load

The Partner Paradox: Why Buddying Up to Achieve Goals May Backfire

Deadline Pressure Distorts Our Sense of Time

The difficulty of a task stretches out our perception of time

Border Bias and Our Perception of Risk

Our mental maps of risk and safety rely too heavily on imaginary boundaries

The Midnight Ride Effect

How imagining a different past increases our appreciation for the present

Dog Tired: What Mutts Can Teach Us about Self-Control

Scientists have long thought that delayed gratification requires a sense of self, but experiments with dogs show otherwise

Faking It: Why Wearing Designer Knockoffs May Have Hidden Psychological Costs

Polishing your self-image with counterfeit goods may lead to lying, cheating and cynicism

The Willpower Paradox

Setting your mind on a goal may be counterproductive. Instead think of the future as an open question

Changing the Dating Game

When women approach men instead of vice versa, the gender difference in selectivity disappears

Extraordinary Perception

We think of people with autism as having a deficit in cognitive processing--but their distractibility could also result from having enhanced perceptual capabilities

I Learned It at the Movies--Hollywood as a Teacher

Even films that are historically inaccurate can be a valuable teaching tool

The Color of Sin--Why the Good Guys Wear White

Ancient fears of filth and contagion may explain why we think of morality in black and white