20 Questions

Since I started studying psychology a little over a decade ago I've probably come across more questions than answers. Whether they're research questions, excerpts from questionnaires, or otherwise, and regardless of how well they've been answered so far, here are some of my favourites.

1. If you can't tell where you got an idea from, how did it come about?

2. How do you know if other species are conscious, and if so, what is their consciousness like?

3. Can you be addicted to food?

4. When can stress make you think better?

5. Why does the same amount of money seem so different when you gain it compared to when you lose it?

6. Are you satisfied with your bowel habit?

7. Why is it people underestimate how long it will take to do something, even when reminded about how much longer it took to complete similar projects in the past?

8. How is the vast amount of information that hits our senses parsed into the small amount of information we attend to?

9. Do only humans have minds?

10. How do the bacteria in our gut influence our mood and cognition?

11. How do you treat someone who has antisocial personality disorder?

12. How do you study human behaviour without altering the behaviour of the people you are studying?

13. How do you interpret statistical effects of the same magnitude when one set of stats is trying to demonstrate an obvious, almost prosaic point and the other set of stats is trying to demonstrate an outlandish hypothesis?

14. Can chewing gum or drinking caffeine make you more alert?

15. Is there a difference between teaching something so that people remember versus so that they fully understand it?

16. What is wisdom?

17. If your country's society were a ladder with 10 rungs, with those on the highest rung having the best jobs, the most education, and the highest income, where would you place yourself?

18. What can we learn about human brains and behaviour by studying non-human animals?

19. Why is it that we can remember so much of the past, yet it is so difficult to remember to do something?

20. Are you happy?

And the least interesting:

1. Will this be on the exam?