Spiking Neural Network Simulation: Measuring and Classifying Bump Attractor States

0: As you suggested, use a temporal filter to get a smoothed rate representation
1.a: Clean up each frame by using (e.g.) a morphological opening then closing step
1.b: Locate the centres of bumps, perhaps using non-maximum suppression.
1.c: Choose a reasonable activity threshold for neurons to still be "inside" the bump: Maybe 80% of the distance between zero and the activity at the bump-centre.
1.d: Assign neurons to bumps by finding connected regions around the bump centres.
2, 2: Once you have the neurons assigned to bumps, this is just simple stats
4: Track bumps between frames by assigning nearest bump centres across frames. Apply some uniqueness criterion to detect bumps appearing and disappearing.
5: This is also easy once you have the bumps tracked.


Why can't we do the things we know instantaneously?

Motor learning is a complex process (Wolpert & Flanagan, 2010). Oftentimes the process is broken up in elements (Weaver, 2015):

a cognitive phase;
an associative phase;
an autonomous phase.

The process you describe as having the 'knowledge' is part of phase 1, namely cognitively analyzing what is needed to do the job. However, the associative phase is necessary, where one actively practices and obtains feedback through observation and instructions by a teacher of what is correct, and what still needs work. Lastly, the motor behavior needs to be automated, such that it can happen without conscious control (Weaver, 2015).

This process needs a lot of time and hence the scene in the Matrix where Neo learns Kung Fu in a split second is obviously not possible. In fact, mastering martial arts, and in fact any skill, leads to profound changes in the brain, including gross structural changes that can only happen over the course of days, weeks, or even months. For instance, jugglers have been shown to increase gray matter over time in specific areas of the brain (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1. Expert jugglers show increased gray matter volume in several brain areas, including the secondary visual cortex and the hMT +/V5 (Gerber et al. , 2014)

References
- Gerber et al., NeuroImage (2015); 95: 320-5
- Weaver, PLoS Biol (2015); 13(12): e1002313
- Wolpert & Flanagan, Curr Biol (2010); 20(11): R467-72


Is Behaviorism incompatible with Cognitive Psychology?

I think cognitive scientists would say that these views are compatible, insofar as cogsci admits results from behaviorism as valid results to be explained by understanding the cognitive constructs underlying them.  Obviously (they would say) we have minds, our minds arise from physical processes in our brains, and as such have internal states that sometimes explicitly manifest in behavior, but other times do not manifest in any way that is perceivable.  This is not a problem for non-behaviorist cognitive scientists.

Hardcore behaviorists, however, cannot be so accommodating.  Internal and non-manifest mental states are not admissible in their theoretical universe, and so what most cognitive scientists would have no difficulty in describing as a state change in some internal mental edifice, behaviorists must reframe as some kind of 'mental behavior' in the same way they tried to do with 'verbal behavior.'

Of course, if one is very rigorous, and pushes very hard on this behaviorist view, it is either rendered nonsensical, or becomes an excessively ornate re-statement of normative cognitive science in behaviorist language.  What this accomplishes I have no idea, although, to be honest, this seems to be nearly a straw man at this point.  Hardcore behaviorists are increasingly hard to spot in the wild.


Mental rotation test in a virtual environment

I found a fairly recent redo of the "classic" mental rotation by Foroughi et al (2015) which also reproduced the "classic" results (unlike the study in my question):

  Many studies have found gender differences in mental rotation ability in young adults when completing mental rotation tests on paper and pencil (e.g., Peters et al., 1995; Vandenberg & Kuse, 1978). Two previous studies have been unable to replicate these findings when testing mental rotation ability inside of a virtual environment (Parsons et al., 2004; Rizzo et al., 2001). We created a new virtual mental rotation test (VMRT) based on a full, validated test of mental rotation ability (MRT-A; Peters et al., 1995) that 128 participants (79 females) completed while wearing an Oculus Rift DK1. Our data replicate previous findings of paper and pencil tests of mental rotation ability: men scored approximately one standard deviation higher (d = .90) than women.

It's worth noting that the study of Parsons (and also Rizzo, which I didn't know about) both used  ImmersaDesk 3D, but more importantly they differed in methodology from "classics" (pen-and-paper) in that in Parsons' or Rizzo's version wasn't a multiple-choice test, but just a speed of rotation test:

  Additionally, in both studies, a base stimuli
  was presented and then replaced with a working
  stimuli. The dependent variable in these studies was
  the time it took to successfully rotate the working
  stimuli to correctly match the base stimuli.
  However, most of the traditional mental rotation
  tasks showing the gender effect use a comparison based
  test where a base stimuli is presented
  simultaneously with multiple working stimuli that
  may or may not match the base stimuli.(e.g., Peters
  et al., 1995; Vandenberg & Kuse, 1978). In these
  studies, participants must then identify which
  stimuli are correct (i.e., accuracy).

After stating their result is in contrast to Parsons' they comment/repeat that

  there are many possible reasons for the differences in results.  First, we replicated a full, validated test of mental rotation (i.e., MRT-A). Additionally, we scored our test for accuracy whereas Rizzo and
  colleagues (2001) and Parsons and colleagues (2004) measured the time to rotate a working stimulus to match a base stimuli. Second, we used a
  newer technology (i.e., Oculus Rift DK1) that may
  have had a higher quality or fidelity facilitating
  performance on the test. Third, the generation of
  participants in our study may be more familiar with
  technology (e.g., smart phones, tablets, etc.) as a
  whole now that technologies are ubiquitous.
   Future research should be directed at
  determining whether scores on the VMRT are
  predictive of performance on tasks inside of VE,
  namely tasks tapping spatial ability.  For example,
  studies have shown new surgeons benefit from
  simulated VE training (e.g., Seymour, 2008;
  Seymour et al., 2002). Visuospatial skills are
  necessary to successfully interact and complete such
  tasks; thus, it would be interesting to determine
  whether scores on the VMRT predict performance
  on a simulated surgery task.

In other words, they reproduced the classic result by more faithfully sticking to the classic paradigm (multiple choice answer) in the virtual version. But it's also not clear how this impacts spatial skills the more usual ways they are used in a virtual environment.


Getting upset from the creation of your own imagination

Generally this is known as rumination. I don't know if there has been a more specific name for the specific type you mention, but it has been studied somewhat:

  Certain characteristics of rumination, such as compulsion to continue ruminating, occurrence of unproductive thoughts, and "why" and "what if" type questions, as well as negative emotions before and after rumination, were significantly associated with PTSD, concurrently and prospectively. These characteristics explained significantly more variance in PTSD severity than the mere presence of rumination, thereby indicating that not all ways of ruminative thinking are equally maladaptive.

A problem in this area is that there's not an agreed definition of rumination, as the intro the Wikipedia article on the topic says.

Alternatively, one can also call persistent "what if" thinking just worry. In fact there are some older papers discussing "what if" thinking under worry alone.

  The worrier is likely to engage in a series of 'What if...'
  self-statements. For example, 'What if I fail? My parents might shut off my funding, and I'll have to leave school. What
  if I can't get a job?.., etc.' There may be some attempted solutions offered (e.g. 'I'11 plead with my folks to continue
  supporting me'), but these will be followed by further 'What if... ' statements (e.g. 'What if they don't listen to me? What
  if they are too angry to listen to reason?'). This kind of mental behavior may have very different consequences for the worrier
  than for someone else who is anxious about some upcoming event but does not engage in worrisome activity. Data do
  exist that indicate that cognitive avoidance can maintain anxiety (Borkovec, 1974) and catastrophizing self-statements can
  worsen anxiety (e.g. Grayson and Borkovec, 1978), both despite repeated exposure to the feared stimulus. Although the
  stated function of worry by the worrier is to attempt to anticipate and cope with an uncertain future, the actual functional
  effect may be the maintenance of anxiety and its continued and frequent elicitation prior to actual outcomes.

More recent research trying to separate worry from rumination has generally proposed that time orientation (future or past) should be distinguishing factor:

  Several researchers have investigated the content of worry and rumination to study the differences between both
  processes. The only stable difference that has been consistently found pertains to the temporal orientation
  (Papageorgiou & Wells, 1999; Watkins, 2004; Watkins, Moulds, & Mackintosh, 2005); whereas worry is
  predominantly focused on the future, rumination is predominantly focused on the past.

In my opinion, it's a bit of grey area whether pondering about what someone has said in the past is entirely past-oriented or it if it may have a future-oriented component as well. E.g. you may worry that they'll do something else related to the past discussion like come back to you and continue it. Counterfactual thinking as to what they could have said (but didn't say) is ruminative if you don't really think they might come back and say (more) to you. On the other hand, if you project that they may do so (and you're anticipating responses to a future conversation), it could just as well be considered a worry.


How long should I work before taking a break?

It appears extended working days, such as, 16 hours are counterproductive.
(1) Safe working hours - doctors in training a best practice issue examines the effects of extended working hours on performance for doctors. It is recommended that a 7-8 hour working day is more productive than extended days. One issue being the sleep deprivation that accompanies extended working days.

There is research on optimal work-break rhythms. It has been found that work performance is optimized  in 90 minute time slots. This is improved by dividing this into 25 minute time slots, with short breaks. With relation to the type of work, it is suggested that breaks be taken away from the working environment, optimally, within an altogether different environment.

This is consistent with natural ultradian cycles:

Image taken from The origin of the 8 hour work day and why we should rethink it a blog by Leo Widrich

I have quoted extensively from the following article:
(2) Best Rest Practices for Optimal Productivity and Creativity.
This addresses your questions comprehensively and also confirms that an extended working day is counter productive.

Timing of natural working rythms

  Rossi champions the 20-Minute Break in his book of the same name for
  peak performance. And Anders et al studied in 1993 a group of
  violinists and discovered that the best performers practiced in
  90-minute intervals and learned not to over-practice.

  We can break down that 90-minute rhythm even further into 25-minute
  spurts. Most people can pay attention to a talk for 25 minutes (hence,
  the brilliance of TED Talks’ 17-minute limit).

  Hence, another client, a highly reputed novelist and short story
  writer, wisely writes in three 25-minute periods—each divided with a
  timer. At the end of the third period, she takes a walk or switches to
  another activity

....

Breaks away from the workplace

  I recommend to clients they remove themselves from the work
  environment if possible.

  For a corporate client, I recommended he schedule a walk to another
  part of his vast office quarters, glance out a floor-to-ceiling
  window, and then return to his office room, sit in a comfortable sofa
  normally reserved for clients, and remember the last time he was
  outdoors working on his ranch—one of his favorite activities.

  Step outdoors if you can. I suggested that one client who gets
  overwhelmed with multiple tasks in the afternoon to step outdoors and
  sit in her garden for fifteen minutes and simply observes the colors,
  textures, sounds, and smells. Ideally, she would weed for fifteen
  minutes as the physical activity more likely will let her processor
  mind incubate some of her creative problems.

  Or step away from your work space, and read four pages from a book
  that brings you delight.

  If you can jog or bicycle for 20 minutes, even better—as you’re also
  increasing the chances of your hippocampus forging new neurons in your
  middle-aged gray matter, according to Fred Gage of the Salk Institute
  and other researchers who’ve examined the benefits of intentional,
  enjoyable cardiovascular exercise.

...

Techniques to combat fatigue

  DISTRACTION CAN RE-BOOT LONG-TERM FOCUS. () Here’s a mind-twister:
  Atsunori Ariga and Alejandro Lleras of University of Illinois at
  Urbana-Champaign, United States questioned the assumption that loss of
  focus came from, say, fatigue or lack of attention. In 2010, their
  study published in Cognition concluded that a deliberate distraction
  or introduction of a second task actually can increase vigilant
  attention on the first task.

....

Utilising multi tasking to break mental fatigue.

  Pay attention to when you need to introduce a quick second task. Maybe
  sending off an email or text message will free up mental bandwidth and
  get you re-committed to the high-thinking task. Do this in tandem with
  the “Break with Rhythm” suggestions above.

....

The benefits of a daily nap

  Some students took no naps. Some students took catnaps. And some
  students took full-fledged 90-minute naps complete with REM
  dreams...//...    students who took the full REM-level naps showed
  boosts in creative problem-solving performance.

....

The concept that a longer working day is counter-productive

  Schedule non-digital time in the evenings, especially 45 minutes
  before sleep. Set up a bi-weekly schedule of evening rhythms: One
  Monday as “reading night,” One Tuesday as “date night,” et cetera. If
  you must work some evenings, schedule work evenings. Make them the
  exception instead of the rule.

 (1) Safe working hours - doctors in training a best practice issue
ANDREW LEWIS
Andrew Lewis is Senior Industrial Relations Adviser with the Australian Medical Association Victoria
(2) Best Rest Practices for Optimal Productivity and Creativity
How and when to break from creative work.
Published on April 30, 2012 by Jeffrey Davis, M.A. in Tracking Wonder
The Seattle Longitudinal Study  K. Warner Schaie, Ph.D. and Sherry L. Willis, Ph.D. UW Medicine
Life In The Middle  Life in the Middle: Psychological and Social Development in Middle Age
 edited by Sherry L. Willis, James B. Reid
Recovering from Work: Interview with Sabine Sonnentag
Brief and rare mental ‘‘breaks’’ keep you focused: Deactivation
and reactivation of task goals preempt vigilance decrements
Atsunori Ariga, Alejandro Lleras
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, United States
 The Role of Deliberate Practice in the Acquisition of Expert Performance
K. Anders Ericsson, Ralf Th. Krampe, and Clemens Tesch-Romer
Psychological Review
1993, Vol. 100. No. 3, 363-406
Copyright 1993 by the American Psychological Association, Inc.
0033-295X/93/S3.00


What did Carl Jung mean by "subjectivization of consciousness"?

Reviewing Jung’s nature of objects the object for which the introvert becomes alienated is the item, topic, or nature that is causing a subjective reaction. This in keeping with the struggle of maintaining a proper distinction between the self and ego creates a confusion toward which is “steering the ship” so to speak. That is to say which is the

  perceived subject of the psychic process

This subjective experience of consciousness causes a withdrawal from the “object” in question.

I like to think of this withdrawal as a form of cognitive dissonance  as the inconsistency between what is expected to be felt or perceived as the correct feeling versus what the actual feeling toward the object is, causes mental discomfort changing the perceived attitude towards the object. This is a loose association but allows some abstraction towards the question at hand.


Do Jewish people have better cognitive abilities than average population?

Your explanation limits your question to the present day United States. Richard Lynn (2004) indeed found that American Jews have a higher verbal intelligence than non-Jewish whites by an average of 7.5 IQ points. But since American Jews are largely descendants of European immigrants, their higher relative intelligence might be a result of so-called "eugenic practices" (Zeidner, 2012): many highly intelligent Jews (e.g. scientists and artists) received special help from foreign parties to flee the Nazi holocaust, and those that where wealthy (presumably because they were more intelligent) had better resources, e.g. to bribe German officials (which is documented) or simply to pay for their transportation. From the current situation in the US it is therefore unclear if Jews are hereditary more intelligent or other factors have influenced the selection of Jewish American immigrants, if compared to the descendants of non-Jewish immigrants, many of which where poor (and uneducated). As other studies show (e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IQ_and_the_Wealth_of_Nations), intelligence is influenced by food (= wealth) and education (= wealth) by about 10 IQ points. So the higher intelligence of American Jews lies within what those factors might explain.

Taking a wider view, there are other studies that find higher intelligence in Jews as far back as the middle ages or in other areas of the world also. The debate is summarized in a Wikipedia article as well as countless articles on the web.

Sources:

Lynn, R. (2004). The intelligence of American Jews. Personality and Individual Differences, 36(1), 201-206.
Zeidner, M. (2012). The Chosen People: A Study of Jewish Intelligence and Achievement (Review). Times Higher Education. Available online at http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/books/the-chosen-people-a-study-of-jewish-intelligence-and-achievement/418945.article


Handwriting analysis by profession (muscular control) - Athletes, musicians, etc

Short answer: Not really, because a) handwriting style is generally individual-dependent and not occupation-dependent, and b) the fine-motor skills responsible for handwriting legibility are specific enough to be near-independent of the muscle control that mandates one's success in athletics and/or music.

Detailed answer:

It is probably difficult to say anything definite about the variance in style of handwriting among profession, as handwriting style is something subjective. Furthermore, one's handwriting style is typically well-formed before the time of their occupation.

In terms of the objective nature of handwriting -- i.e. its legibility and general readability -- there tends to be a greater relationship with fine motor coordination. However, even then, the motor coordination is fairly specific to handwriting or letter generation. The ability to generate written text is largely dependent on orthographic-motor integration [1] and finger sequencing. [2] The latter variable may be practiced by musicians or certain athletes in specific sports, but these variables are by-and-large specific to handwriting and letter generation. In general, a greater indicator in how legible one's handwriting will be is how 'automatic' one's handwriting is. Thus, interventions that promote higher orthographic-motor integration tend to improve the 'automaticity' of one's handwriting, thus leading to better legibility and readability in their handwriting. [1] Again, these interventions are specific to handwriting, and general fine-motor skills typically do not affect this area.

You might also be interested to know that there is a field of study called graphology that attempts to analyze handwriting based on personality or personal characteristics, such as profession. However, it is largely regarded as a 'pseudoscientific' field due to its lack of reproducible research thus far. I mention this because a lot of the resources I found when looking up more information on this question came from books on graphology, and so I could not use them as scientific resources. :)

Sources used:

[1] Jones, Dian; Christensen, Carol A. (1999). Relationship between automaticity in handwriting and students' ability to generate written text. Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol 91(1), 44-49.

[2] Berninger, V.W.; B.J. Wolf (2009). Teaching students with dyslexia and dysgraphia: Lessons from teaching and science. Baltimore, Maryland: Paul H. Brooks Publishing Co. pp. 1–240.


Why do drivers not slow down when they see signs indicating road work?

Presumably the decision of drivers to slow down in response to work zone signage is influenced by many factors.

Signage and road factors: Presumably there are a wide range of factors related to the nature of the signs and the structure of the road setting that influence whether people slow down. For example, I've seen road work signage on freeways that were often in place even when no actual road work is occurring. In these cases I've seen many drivers slow down little if at all. In contrast, I typically see much greater reduction in speeds when actual road work is occurring. Or for example, I imagine that a worker standing with a sign would be more effective than a static sign.
Cultural and norm factors: Presumably countries and regions  differ in cultural attitudes to driving, the acceptability of speeding, and the general tolerance for risk taking. Road safety advertising employ a wide range of strategies for reducing speeding including targeting personal interest (e.g., you'll get fined if you speed) or highlighting consequences (e.g., speeding increases the likelihood of killing yourself and others).

A few empirical studies

Jarvis (1983) performed empirical research on Australian highways and found that

  There is a clear indication that work area speed limits reduce vehicle speed on entry into the work zone; however, the large majority of drivers still exceed the speed limit posted.

Garber and Patel (1995) found that signs triggered by radars indicating excessive speed were more effective in slowing cars than static signs.

References

Garber, N. J., & Patel, S. T. (1995). Control of vehicle speeds in temporary traffic control zones (work zones) using changeable message signs with radar. Transportation Research Record, (1509), 73-81.
Jarvis, J. R. (1983). The Effectiveness of Road Work Speed Limit Signs. Australian Road Research, 13(3).


For the purposes of this question, it would likely be useful to consider "pain" as simply a stimulus demanding the attention of the individual. In this light, any decrease in "cognitive abilities"—however you define that phrase—would likely be explainable as resultant from the same cognitive decrease that accompanies multitasking (or "task switching", as it is sometimes referred to) in general, which is a well-known and well-published finding.

Relevant papers can be found at the above link.


Identify kind of descriptive role playing game for self-discovery

I finally found it, apparently it's called The Forest Test

Hindrances and annoyances that take away our happiness, entrenched
fears, values that govern our choices and behavior. The forest test
tries to clarify and interpret many of these issues based on the
approach from which it was designed: relational psychoanalysis.
According to this theory, our psychological suffering is rooted in
underlying issues that we must bring to light in order to heal the
hurts and move forward.
For those who have not heard about this relational test, we should
first say that it isn’t in any way conventional. The forest test
doesn’t have enough reliability and validity to be part of normal
clinical practice. However, we cannot rule out its relevance within
the context and the theoretical framework from which it was created.
It is, without a doubt, worth taking into account.
The forest test is a projective test which can reveal the fears, hindrances and deepest interests of each patient.


What, other than humans, can possess an IQ?

Short answer
IQ tests are designed to compare individuals within a given species. IQ tests for other animals than humans have been devised, however, and give insights in the distribution of smartness in other animalia.

Background
What is 'intelligence' within the confines of an IQ test?

David Wechsler – the creator of the most widely used psychometric IQ test, the WAIS – defined intelligence as:

  the global capacity of the individual to act purposefully, to think
  rationally and to deal effectively with his environments.

Our general intelligence (G) can be understood in terms of 3 underlying dimensions, made up of 5 factors (source: IQ Mindware):
(1) our knowledge base (crystallized intelligence)
(2) our thinking skills (fluid intelligence, visual intelligence)
(3) our cognitive efficiency or ‘brain power’ (processing speed, working memory/short-term memory)

IQ tests are generally administered behind the computer, or using pen and paper. This in itself is a rather challenging and cumbersome approach, even for the smartest dolphin around.

Indeed, IQ tests are made for humans and in fact, they are designed for educated people that have learned to read and write and know the difference between a triangle and a square. Many people around the world don't know what a trapezium looks like. They haven't had the education and likely, above all, They do not need to know it and yet be considered wise and smart in their communities.

To put this differently, IQ tests are a Western construct designed for developed countries -

  IQ tests are widely used in our society. Universities use IQ tests [...] to select students, companies use IQ tests (job aptitude tests) to screen applicants, and high IQ societies such as Mensa use IQ test scores as membership criteria
  (source: IQ Mindware)

An IQ test is designed such that the average person in the population targeted by the test scores 100 (Fig. 1). The distribution around that 100-point average takes the shape of a standard bell-shape curve.

Fig. 1. Bell-shaped distribution of standard IQ tests. source: IQ Mindware

In humans, factors like education and socioeconomic status can affect performance. Hence, even within the human species the test may rather reflect educational status and hence can even mirror dad's well-paid job who happened to be able to pay for a respected University Fee.

Importantly, for your question, IQ tests are designed to compare people, i.e., they are tests to compare the abilities of individuals within a species. And it goes further, they are tests with a certain reference population, namely well-educated white folks, to put it bluntly.

So to extrapolate IQ tests to other species is difficult, because intelligence tests need to be designed and administered such that they measure the overall smartness, and not just a specific set of skills, such as the keen memories of food-hoarding birds or the fine motor skills of chimpanzees that make tools for finding insects in trees. Further, differences in animal test scores can depend on how motivated they are to perform the tests. Because most experiments with animals are carried out using positive reinforcement (food rewards), animals with full stomachs won't be driven to perform well and hence may get low outcomes. To be blunt again - satisfied animals will look stupid. Thus, even studies that suggest variations in intelligence among animals, including humans, carry the caveat that they might be skewed by motivational issues (source: Science Magazine News, 2016).

Nonetheless, researchers have been trying to develop tailored IQ tests to other species. For example, in one study on New Zealand robins (Fig. 2), IQ was defined and tested on six different tests to measure various skills thought to be linked to the specific types of robin cognition, namely the ability to acquire, process, and act on information about the environment. In a test of motor skills, for example, the birds learned to flip plastic lids, one of which had a tasty meal worm at the bottom. In another test the ability to distinguish colors was quantified. In this test birds had to figure out whether the worm was hiding under a red or a blue lid. To show they could distinguish symbols, they had to discern whether the worm was under a lid marked with a cross or a square. And because these robins store food for the winter, the scientists also measured their spatial memories. They saw how well the birds could remember in which of eight wells the researchers had hidden a worm (source: Science Magazine News, 2016).

The robin experiment showed that between 34% and 45% of the differences in the robins’ overall performances could be explained by a similar general intelligence factor, suggesting that the birds’ performance is not just due to their talent on individual tests, but to their overall level of intelligence. Among humans, researchers have found that general intelligence can account for about 40% of the individual differences in IQ-type test scores. In other words, a battery of different, well-designed tests appears to be measuring overall intelligence rather than simply how well a person does on each individual test in humans and robins alike.

Fig. 2. New Zealand Northern Island robin. source: Wikimedia

Likewise, the great apes have been subject to specific, species-tailored IQ tests (Hermann & Call, 2012).

Reference
- Hermann & Call, Phil Trans Soc B (2012); 367: 1603


When can we say that machines are conscious?

Short answer: We don't know.
Long answer: There are a few major lines of thinking on the subject currently.

Cognitive closure: One common argument is that this question is simply not answerable - at least not by humans.  By this view, it is possible that the creation of an artificial intelligence that even resembles humans sufficiently to suggest consciousness is an intractable engineering problem, or it is possible that understanding consciousness well enough to determine whether or not such an artificially intelligent system might be conscious is beyond us, or it is possible that we will never understand the question well enough to have a meaningful response.

Functionalism: Several interpretations of the implications of monism on consciousness suggest that consciousness is an intrinsic property of whatever it is that our brain does, and therefore, any machine that performs an equivalent function should be equally conscious.  This view potentially allows for a variety of machines to be conscious, as well as having different kinds of consciousness.  In this framework, it may be more meaningful to ask not whether a machine is conscious, but rather, in what way, or how does it compare to our consciousness.

Physicalism: Another interpretation of monism suggests that the function of a machine is not sufficient to determine its consciousness - its physical properties are important as well.  This possibility makes it difficult to ascertain whether a silicon-based computer program of a conscious entity could ever do more than simulate consciousness, or how many other kinds of physical systems like our brain can potentially become conscious.  A theoretical framework under this umbrella that is currently fairly popular and has some empirical support is IIT that suggests that consciousness can be measured in humans using available tools of neuroscience.  How this might be applied to non-human candidates is still unclear.

There are many other possibilities, but hopefully I've captured the most prominent ones.  Currently, there is nothing within our knowledge of physical systems that makes it obvious why (or whether) certain systems might be conscious (and not others).  Put another way: If a race of non-conscious alien robots visited Earth, they might assume that we are non-conscious machines like them - they may have no reason to believe that there is anything more going on.  Similarly, under the assumption of monism, where consciousness appears to somehow supervene on physical systems, if there were other properties aside from consciousness (or different types of consciousness) that supervened on physical systems, then we would have no reason to suspect that they exist either.  So for the moment, we just don't know.


Efficiency of multitasking depending on task difficulty

First, it is important to disambiguate between concurrent multitasking and sequential multitasking (Salvucci et al, 2009). In a recent publication I present a short overview on related work of both (Jeuris and Bardram, 2016):

  During concurrent multitasking cognitive resources have to be divided across several competing parallel tasks, such as driving while talking on the phone. Many ‘dual-task’ studies investigate dual-task interference and reduction of performance while performing two simultaneous tasks. ...

  In contrast to concurrent multitasking, sequential multitasking denotes the interleaving of several primary tasks which are executed one at a time. ... Studies investigating sequential multitasking are among other things interested in measuring the effects of task interleaving on productivity and accuracy.
  ...

  Results show an inverted U-relationship between multitasking and productivity; there is thus an optimal amount of task switching which leads to the highest productivity. However, increased levels of multitasking lead to a significant loss in accuracy, indicating a trade-off between productivity and accuracy (Adler & Benbunan-Fich, 2012).

In regards to the effect of task difficulty on sequential multitasking, "subjective task difficulty has been found to be a determining factor: easy tasks benefit from multitasking by increasing stimulation, whereas hard tasks decrease performance as the result of an overload in mental workload (Adler & Benbunan-Fich, 2015)".

So to answer your question, at least one study has found that for the tasks they used more challenging tasks do 'suffer' more from multitasking. However, there is still an optimum amount of multitasking.

Salvucci, D. D., Taatgen, N. A., & Borst, J. P. (2009, April). Toward a unified theory of the multitasking continuum: From concurrent performance to task switching, interruption, and resumption. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on human factors in computing systems (pp. 1819-1828). ACM.
Jeuris, S., & Bardram, J. E. (2016). Dedicated workspaces: Faster resumption times and reduced cognitive load in sequential multitasking. Computers in Human Behavior, 62, 404-414.
Adler, R. F., & Benbunan-Fich, R. (2015). The effects of task difficulty and multitasking on performance. Interacting with Computers, 27(4), 430-439.
Adler, R. F., & Benbunan-Fich, R. (2012). Juggling on a high wire: Multitasking effects on performance. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 70(2), 156-168.


The term for this phenomenon is "lucid dreaming". It is common to have some lucid dreaming experiences, but different people have different occurrence rates of lucid vs non-lucid dreams, and the level of "control" varies as well.

A previous SE Q&A addresses some of the possible influences on lucid dreaming including the potential to learn to have more lucid dreams as a skill.


Do personality survey responses correlate to the success or failure of minimum wage employees?

Do personality tests predict job performance in general?

There is a large academic literature correlating personality test scores with job performance. You might want to check out the meta-analysis by Barrick et al (2001). It reports the meta-analytic correlations often based on hundreds of studies between Big 5 personality test scores and job performance.

In general the correlations reported in the meta analysis are relatively small (e.g., $r=.12$ for conscientiousness is the biggest). These correlations get a little bigger if you adjust for measurement error in job performance.
So, in summary, in general Big 5 measures of personality tend to predict job performance; however, the predictive validity is not that high.
To see this in the context of other selection tests check out the meta-analysis by Schmitt and Hunter (1998).

Do personality tests predict job performance for minimum wage jobs?

I'm not sure if the category "minimum wage" necessarily captures the right distinction given such a category could refer to a diverse range of jobs.

That said, in terms of breaking analyses down by occupation, at least at this very broad meta-analytic level, the correlation between conscientiousness and job performance appeared to be fairly similar across sales performance ($r=.11$), managerial performance ($r=.12$), and skilled or semi-skilled ($r=.12$) (Barrick et al 2001).

Thus, at least from this meta-analysis, these measures of personality appear to predict job performance about as well for minimum wage jobs as they do for other jobs.

So what are these surveys really testing?

Tests can be developed in a variety of ways. In general, there are theory driven processes and there are empirically driven processes of test development. From a theory driven perspective, constructs of interest can be defined, and items can be developed. From an empirically driven perspective, various statistical techniques can be applied to check for test properties such as the degree to which items intercorrelate in meaningful ways.

Particularly in the applied setting, items or scales can be selected based on the degree to which they provide predictive validity (e.g., correlations with job performance).

More generally, personality tests provide a sampling of behaviour in a standardised way. If items have been developed in a more empirical way, then an explicit theory may not necessarily exist for the meaning of every item. Rather, it is the scale as a whole that takes on meaning which can be informed by a wide range of information including correlations within the test and correlations between the scales of the test and other measures of interest.

References

Barrick, M.R., Mount, M.K. & Judge, T.A. (2001). Personality and performance at the beginning of the new millennium: What do we know and where do we go next?. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 9, 9-30. PDF
Schmidt, F.L. & Hunter, J.E. (1998). The validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology: Practical and theoretical implications of 85 years of research findings.. Psychological Bulletin; Psychological Bulletin, 124, 262. PDF


Is the mathematician's activity psychologically healthy?

Well that looks like the behavior of any person with a strong passion and focus for his work. There are plenty of these around!

I guess it would be more common in any field of work were people already have dedicated a significant part of their life to it, and where it is almost a prerequisite. Being a mathematician selects and cultivates people able to display consistently that kind of behavior. Otherwise you just don't succesfully study high level maths, or fail at it. That is why you may observe many occurences of this phenomenon in your environment, when you work with other mathematicians.

Nothing to worry much about i think, there are plenty of people like you around, and this is not directly related to mathematics.


If people did not have to work, what would motivate them to work?

If you take a look at games like minecraft, they have quite a lot of players who do not work (students, college students, etc). These people first mine thousands of blocks, then rearrange them in a creative way. There's absolutely no need to do so, it is entirely voluntary, yet people end up moving hundreds of thousands of blocks to do something creative or to fulfill their design.

Players of minecraft explore the game environment, make tools, extract raw resources and ultimately make virtual structures like in the image below.

Statistically speaking, minecraft has more players(11 million paid users) and instructional videos(with millions of views) on YouTube than any other game I know of.

From this, it appears that in a world without need to work, creativity, design and "market of 1 person" would motivate people to do something. Cleaning toilets is not such thing. Maybe painting toilets, or designing them is.


Do .sav files expire after the trial version expires?

The only difference between trial software and the 'real' thing is that trial software looses some or all functions after the trial period. Any files generated with it will be kept and be functional; only the exe file is affected. The company of course hopes that you wish to use those files after the trial period and buy the full license.


What is the difference between a biological and behaviorist perspective in psychology?

Behaviorism is the idea that psychology should be limited to what it can directly observe: behavior and the stimuli that drive behavior. A behaviorist approach to studying a psychological phenomenon would be based on studying observable behaviors and the observable things that cause those behaviors. Behaviorist explanations of the phenomenon would not rely on descriptions of internal processes, like thinking, since those are not directly observable.

Biological psychology takes the perspective that pyschological processes (e.g. thinking) are rooted in biology, and focuses on how biological processes cause and interact with psychological processes. Techniques like measuring neural activity through EEG or fMRI are common, as are (non-human animal) studies that involve more invasive manipulation of neural tissues. A biological psychology approach to studying a psychological phenomenon might identify particular patterns of brain activity that are related to the phenomenon, genetic correlates, or neural mechanisms that give rise to the phenomenon.


What is the "personality of a relationship" called?

Perhaps this?

An individual's personality
A couple's relationship
A group's dynamics
An organisation's culture


Why has behaviourism fallen out of favour?

There is a lot of research here so there is a lot to cover.  Please bear with me.

There are what is known as 3 forces of psychology

  Behavioural Theory (First Force) – (Short & Thomas, 2014, p. 203)
  Psychodynamic Theory (Second Force) – (Short & Thomas, 2014, p. 139)
  Humanistic Theory (Third Force) – (Short & Thomas, 2014, p. 79)

Although there is now talk of a possible fourth force such as Multicultural Psychology or Transpersonal Psychology

Short & Thomas (2014) also stated on page 203, that

  Psychology was initially defined as the study of the human mind and linked to work in medicine and philosophy, however, animal research in the early 1900s produced results that could be generalised to human behaviour. (Thorndike, 1898; Pavlov, 1928) This led to psychology being redefined as the study of human behaviour.Tabula rasaBehavioural approach focuses exclusively on observable and measurable behaviour [and] emphasises the importance of nurture. Humans are born as a tabula rasa or blank slate on which experience writes the patterns of their future behaviour.

On page 205, the book then states

  Popularity of behaviourism decreased in the 1960s to 1980s

This is my speculation, but I strongly believe this could be due to the work of Sigmund Freud's daughter, Anna Freud, and the popularisation of the works of

Melanie Klein with her work on child psychology and contemporary psychoanalysis,
John Bowlby with his work on Attachment Theory,
Eric Berne with his work on Transactional Analysis, and
Erik Erikson with his theory of personality.

  Cognitive revolution redirected psychological research away from the study of behaviour to focus on theoretical models about the nature of the mind

  Radical behaviourism softened into behaviour analysis

  Behaviourism that refused to accept the existence of cognitive states was rejected in favour of a less extreme version which focused on analysing behaviour as an external (measurable) evidence of cognitive states
  Staats (1996) argued that radical behaviourism failed as an approach in psychology because it did not incorporate other known phenomena, such as cognition.  Psychological behaviourism should aim to unify all elements of psychology (biology, environment, cognition, emotion, etc.) into a single grand theory
  Behaviour analysis adopts an interdisciplinary approach. Theories include elements from other approaches such as cognitive, humanistic, etc.

  The UK Society for Behaviour Analysis describes it as the science of learning.

  [The] experimental branch is the experimental analysis of behaviour and this aims to conduct research on how humans learn new behaviours
  [The] applied branch is applied behaviour analysis (ABA) and this aims to promote behaviour change by analysing behaviours and developing interventions to modify these behaviours in a positive direction for individuals and society

As my first link indicates, Behaviourism hasn't completely fallen out of favour.  Due to the work of Carl Rogers (1902-1987) there has been some shift, although not a complete shift, away from the rigidity of the Psychodynamic approach towards the Humanistic approach to therapy and Behaviourism has also started to gain more of the spotlight again.

There is a prolific use of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) within health organisations such as the NHS and I know of a fair few people who have been referred for CBT by NHS staff for various problems.  One thing I would like to point out though is that CBT isn't without its criticisms. Some believe that CBT is not a 'cure all' that some believe, and is not effective in helping PTSD sufferers, whilst there is some data which could back this claim up

References

Pavlov, I.P. (1928) Lectures on Conditioned Reflexes: Twenty-Five Years of Objective Study of the Higher Nervous Activity Behavior of Animals. New York: Liverwright Publishing Corporation.

Short, F. & Thomas, P. (2015) Core Approaches in Counselling and Psychotherapy. Hove: Routledge.

Staats, A.W. (1996) Behavior and Personality: Psychological Behaviorism. New York: Springer.

Thorndike, E.L. (1898) Animal intelligence: an experimental study of the associative processes in animals. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 2, 4.


Several studies using word lists have tried to see if informing participants of false recall would make them less likely to form false memories, results are a little mixed:

  1) Although subjects were not able to perform accurately under these
  conditions, the warning instruction did attenuate the false
  recognition effect. This
  illusion of memory appears to be remarkably robust and little affected
  by the instructional manipulations.

  2) forewarning did not eliminate the false recognition effect, as
  these subjects and those in the other groups made numerous false
  recognitions in this task.

  3) When a warning about false recall was provided, young adults virtually eliminated false recall by the second trial. Even though old adults also used warnings to reduce false recall on Trial 1, they were unable to decrease false memories across the remaining four study–test trials. Old adults
  also reduced false recall more with slower presentation rates. These findings suggest that old adults have a breakdown in spontaneous, self-initiated source monitoring as reflected by little change in false recall across study–test trials but a preserved ability to use warnings and slow presentation rates to reduce false memories.

References:

1) McDermott, K. B., & Roediger, H. L. (1998). Attempting to avoid illusory memories: Robust false recognition of associates persists under conditions of explicit warnings and immediate testing. Journal of Memory and Language, 39(3), 508-520.

2) Gallo, D. A., Roberts, M. J., & Seamon, J. G. (1997). Remembering words not presented in lists: Can we avoid creating false memories?. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 4(2), 271-276.

3) Watson, J. M., Mcdermott, K. B., & Balota, D. A. (2004). Attempting to avoid false memories in the Deese/Roediger—McDermott paradigm: Assessing the combined influence of practice and warnings in young and old adults. Memory & Cognition, 32(1), 135-141.


Is there a standard list of Default Answers which are used in Likert 'type' Scales

Here are links to several lists of common Likert-type response anchors (the first link provides a nice variety):

http://www.clemson.edu/centers-institutes/tourism/documents/sample-scales.pdf

http://www.rpgroup.org/sites/default/files/Surveys%20Interactive%20Activity%20-%20Examples%20of%20Likert%20scales.pdf

And these links provide suggestions regarding designing these scales and may help you determine how to adapt the anchor options from the first set of links:
http://www.uwex.edu/ces/4h/evaluation/documents/wordingforratingscales.pdf

http://surveynet.ac.uk/sqb/datacollection/likertfactsheet.pdf

http://academics.lmu.edu/spee/officeofassessment/surveysevaluation/surveydesign/step3determinetheformatoftheresponseoptions/

http://www.dism.ssri.duke.edu/pdfs/Tipsheet%20-%20Response%20Scales.pdf


Does Spaun's serial memory exhibit proactive interference and serial searching

Choo's OSE model paper does not present evidence that would allow us to say whether or not the model exhibits proactive interference or set size effects. Presumably, this is because it is specifically a model of primacy and recency effects, not a general model of working memory. The thesis scope is given on page two:

Two major behavioural effects are often observed when analyzing recall performance data. The first is known as the primacy effect, which is generally seen in most serial recall tasks. The primacy effect describes the tendency for items near the start of a sequence to be more accurately recalled than other items in the sequence. The second effects is the recency effect, which describes the opposite of the primacy effect.
[...]
Identifying the mechanisms in serial memory that are responsible for this behaviour [primacy and recency effects in serial memory] and developing a model that is able to capture this behaviour while maintaining biological plausibility is the primary motivation of the research behind this thesis.

All results are reported with respect to serial position, because the scope of the thesis is relatively narrow. Without also modeling response time and semantic categories, I'm not sure how or why the particular model would be adapted to investigate either of these effects. That's just not what it does.
Developing a model of proactive interference with Spaun seems improbable, because the framework doesn't appear to have any way to model semantic or declarative memory, and you need that to show proactive interference effects. There is no reason the Spaun framework/NEF could not be used as a basis for memory models which exhibit set-size effects, however. Spaun's input is visual and image-based, so that should be no problem.
For proactive interference, something like ACT-R, or another biologically plausible cognitive architecture which already features declarative memory, would be more apt. There are a number of papers on modeling proactive interference with ACT-R on the publications page (click on "Interference").


Does the perception of odors change over time?

An interesting question.

It depends how you interpret "perception". Using its most common definition, following cognitive information processing theories, then yes. The perception of odors changes of over time.

This reference is comprehensive about the issue. Specifically about external factors and internal factors (e.g. individual's earlier experiences) on perception (Shiffrin and Schneider, 1977).

A question to pursue could be if there are certain differences among odors that makes some of them more or less susceptible for change in perception over time.

You can further argue that, even if the odor has the same molecules (formula), a person's capabilities of detecting all the molecules will change over time (deterioration), hence changing the perception of the odor over time.

Shiffrin, R. M., & Schneider, W. (1977). Controlled and automatic human information processing: II. Perceptual learning, automatic attending and a general theory. Psychological review, 84(2), 127.


Does medication to treat Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder reduce associated cognitive deficits?

Look up Jeffery Schwartz. He has done decades worth of scientific studies with hundreds of OCD patients. In his book "You Are Not Your Brain" (worth a read) he mentions this bad brain wiring or cognitive deficits are the culprit behind the "Deceptive Brain Messages (OCD).

His studies show that self directed neuro-plasticity make the most corrections in brain wiring - and that the medicine can be an aid in the self directed steps. These self directed steps rely on the mind to alter the physical brain.


How do we know what colors animals perceive?

There are some levels of confusion in this in question, but basically we can test

what wavelengths animals perceive (simple behavioral tests, e.g. training & testing them to distinguish a certain wavelength)
inspect their cones to determine what wavelengths they could perceive. The latter doesn't necessarily imply that if an animal has say 4 different cones, it has tetrachromatic vision, because there's some degeneracy in some species, which unlike in humans (which have 3 types of cones and trichromatic vision) don't really use all their cones.

To give you a nearly random example of such a paper (this species doesn't have degeneracy), a (freely available) paper on chicks' vision:

  The colour vision of domestic chicks (Gallus gallus) was
  investigated by training them to small food containers
  decorated with tilings of grey and coloured rectangles.
  Chicks learn to recognise the colour quickly and
  accurately. Chicks have four types of single-cone
  photoreceptor sensitive to ultraviolet, short-, medium- or
  long-wavelength light. To establish how these receptors
  are used for colour vision, stimuli were designed to be
  distinguished only by specific combinations of receptors.
  We infer (1) that all four single cones are used, and (2) that
  their outputs are encoded by at least three opponency
  mechanisms: one comparing the outputs of ultraviolet- and
  short-wavelength-sensitive receptors, one comparing the
  outputs of medium- and long-wavelength receptors and a
  third comparing of the outputs of short- and long- and/or
  medium-wavelength receptors. Thus, the chicks have
  tetrachromatic colour vision. These experiments do not
  exclude a role for the fifth cone type, double cones, but
  other evidence suggests that these cones serve luminance-based tasks, such as motion detection, and not colour
  recognition.

If you want to get philosophical qualia discussions, akin to whether all humans describe the same color with same language, that's a whole different kettle of fish. I don't know of any studies like that in the absence of language. I'm guessing you might be familiar with the dress.


What forms of human thinking are present on animals and protohumans?

Animal brains, especially mammals', are quite similar to humans. So far, attempts to define what makes human cognition "different" in some way have been for the most part a failure - the goal posts continue to be pushed. What seems to remain is a suggestion that human brains are especially socially-focused, and that humans have a uniquely developed ability to understand, plan, and simulate how others may be thinking (for example: Adolphs, R. (2003). Cognitive neuroscience: Cognitive neuroscience of human social behaviour. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 4(3), 165.).

However, we don't even need to look to apes, primates, or even mammals, to see cognitive abilities of the types that you mention.

For example, at least some birds are capable of quite a lot. As far as easily digestible material, there is a NOVA program on animal minds. I have only seen the bird episode, so I cannot speak to the others.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/nature/inside-animal-minds.html#animal-minds-birds

Although for the made-for-TV format a lot of the details are omitted for the sake of brevity, the program attempts to test the hypothesis that birds are capable of some advanced behaviors that are not attributable to simple memorization or repeated tasks. These include the ability to solve novel puzzles, and to learn hierarchical relationships of the form: X>Y and Y>Z therefore X>Z.

Some others from a variety of species:

Monkeys learning the value of tokens:

Addessi, E., Crescimbene, L., & Visalberghi, E. (2007). Do capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) use tokens as symbols?. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 274(1625), 2579-2585.

Basic arithmetic in chimpanzees:

Rumbaugh, D. M., Savage-Rumbaugh, E. S., and Hegel, M. T. (1987). Summation in the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes). J. Exp. Psychol. Anim. Behav. Process. 13, 107–115.

A paper and further discussion on generalization of a learned rule in birds:

Kamil, A. C. & Jones, J. J. 1997. The seed-storing corvid
Clark’s nutcrackers learns geometric relationships
among landmarks. Nature, 390, 276–279.

Biegler, R., McGregor, A. & Healy, S. D. 1999. How do
animals ‘do’ geometry? Animal Behaviour, 57, F4–F8

Kamil, Alan and Jones, Juli E., "How do they, indeed? A reply to Biegler et al." (1999). Avian Cognition Papers. 12.
http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/biosciaviancog/12

Macaques recognizing themselves in the mirror

Rajala, A. Z., Reininger, K. R., Lancaster, K. M., & Populin, L. C. (2010). Rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) do recognize themselves in the mirror: implications for the evolution of self-recognition. PloS one, 5(9), e12865.

Monkeys reject unequal pay

Brosnan, S. F., & De Waal, F. B. (2003). Monkeys reject unequal pay. Nature, 425(6955), 297.

And I could go on and on - these are just a few examples, not necessarily the best or most current ones. What you will see that all these works share is that it is very difficult to probe animal behavior, because it is often difficult to rule out alternative strategies as we impose our own cognitive biases on animal behavior.

That said, it seems very unlikely that most of the higher-order cognitive skills humans possess are in any way unique to humans. Some specifics like the exact structure of human language are probably fairly specialized, but other social animals also have forms of language, it may just not be as complex or developed as human language.

I'll close with what I find to be a couple cartoons that are highly insightful in this area of research:

https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/2013-01-25

https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/humans-are-amazing

https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/humans-are-special


The general consensus of the scientific community would be that the human heart is not capable of consciousness.

The machinery behind consciousness is not well understood, of course, and there is quite a bit of debate, but it is thought that some minimum level of complexity is required in order for consciousness to arise. The human heart, while containing some neural circuitry, is very unlikely to reach this minimum level of complexity.

Here is a Quora discussion that further explores this issue.


Is there an explanation of why some colors seem to move forward/backward on a 2D plane?

Lenses, both in glasses and in the eye, refract light of different wavelengths by different amounts. This is the well known prism effect. Opticians do their best to correct for it but it is inevitable to some degree. The technical term for this phenomenon is chromatic aberration.

In optics, chromatic aberration (CA, also called achromatism, chromatic distortion, and spherochromatism) is a type of distortion in which there is a failure of a lens to focus all colors to the same convergence point.[1] It occurs because lenses have different refractive indices for different wavelengths of light (the dispersion of the lens). The refractive index of transparent materials decreases with increasing wavelength in degrees unique to each.
Chromatic aberration manifests itself as "fringes" of color along boundaries that separate dark and bright parts of the image, because each color in the optical spectrum cannot be focused at a single common point. Since the focal length f of a lens is dependent on the refractive index n, different wavelengths of light will be focused on different positions.
Wikipedia

This effect alone can, I believe, give rise to depth perception anomalies.
Note: The above explanation refers primarily to a single lens.  I'll hazard a guess that our binocular vision combined with chromatic aberration makes even more of a difference in depth perception.


What are the cognitive elements of dangerous behaviors?

There are correlations betweeen risk behaviours and temperament traits. According to Strelau's theory of temperament (1998) people are devided into those who have low and high demand for stimulation. The second one will probably do risk behaviours more often. There are also anothar temperament traits which can influence sb's behaviour.

You can read more there:
Strelau (1998) Temperament: A Psychological Perspective

And some other scientific articles with research results:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0376871603003570
http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/psp/73/5/1052/


Is there any evidence of a relationship between learning music and increased ability in Mathematics?

There is a clear association between musical ability and mathematical ability, perhaps best recognised in savantism in people with developmental disabilities. There are limited domains in which savantism appears to occur, including mathematical calculations, reproducing music instantly, recalling specific facts, and perfect-perspective drawing.

There are a number of psychological theories from this literature that tie maths and music as related abilities. One is the "male-brain" theory, which argues that male-brains are better at systemising (prediciting how systems work through rules) than empathising (predicting how people work through their emotions and thoughts), while female-brains work vice-versa (Baron-Cohen, 2002). Both music and maths are highly systemised, making them well-suited to "male-brained" individuals.

Another relevant theory is the "Central Coherence" theory, which again argues for different cognitive styles that may assist individuals to excel at both maths and music. Happe and Frith (2009) note that individuals with weak central coherence process information in fine detail, often at the expense of the greater context in which these details occur. This method of information processing may be beneficial to developing talents in both maths and music. The authors give the example of developing absolute pitch - a common ability in musical savants - as this requires attention to the exact notes rather than the relationship between notes.


What would be the result if a color-sound synesthete were to go color blind due to diabetes?

To whatever extent colorblindness is a consequence of sensation loss, perceptual loss should necessarily follow. If colorblindness results from diabetes solely due to retinal damage, this means diabetes prevents these two colors from causing different sensory stimulation. If the sensory stimulation is truly the same, it should be perceived the same. A signal (red) that cannot be discriminated from another signal (green) in terms of the basic sensation information received at the retina (stimulation of the same sets of cones, for lack of a more specially sensitive alternative) cannot be better discriminated in perceptual processes that occur thereafter in the brain, unless there's some other source of discriminating information involved in that perceptual process (I doubt there is in this case).

To answer @ChuckSherrington's expansion of the question, common cases of genetic colorblindness involve abnormal function at the retina as well, so there is likely to be some similarity. I'm unaware of any inherited conditions resulting in colorblindness through abnormal perceptual function (in the brain). However, the Wikipedia page draks linked lists quite a variety of manifestations for genetic colorblindness, so there probably are some subtle differences between the consequences of some genetic abnormalities and the consequences of diabetes. For instance, it seems genetically-based loss of color vision can affect one or more colors, partially or completely. Maybe diabetes-based symptoms are similarly various at certain stages! It is a degenerative process that can result in complete blindness, but which aspects of visual sensation are the first to go may vary across individual cases.


What is the current status of neuroeducation?

The general is that neuroeducation or educational neuroscience holds great promise for the future, but is in a very early stage of development. There is great interest in the topic, which is evident in scientific journal, textbooks, and science centres dedicated to the topic that have recently been created. These are good sources of reference as well.

Journals:

Educational Neuroscience: https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/educational-neuroscience/journal202455

Trends in Neuroscience and Education: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/trends-in-neuroscience-and-education/

Book:

Educational Neuroscience: http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1119973198.html

Scientific centres:

These centres will often organise seminars, workshops, or other events and have a list of their research output and current projects on their websites.

http://www.educationalneuroscience.org.uk
http://www.cne.psychol.cam.ac.uk

As an introduction, I recommend the following Opinion Article:

Goswami, U. (2006). Neuroscience and education: from research to practice? Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 7(5), 406–413. doi:10.1038/nrn1907

Please note that this is not a comprehensive list, but just some resources that I can recommend as someone working in a related field.


Is extreme empathy and compassion considered a disorder?

Yes and No

By the standards of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (or DSM-IV in its current form), perhaps the most prominent all-in-one manual to assist physicians in accurately defining a patient's disorder, has specific criteria for a disorder, including:

is associated with present distress (e.g., a painful symptom) or disability (i.e., impairment in one or more important areas of functioning) or with an increased risk of suffering death, pain, disability, or an important loss of freedom

A level of empathy such that you've described could certainly fit this definition. In practice most physicians don't consider culturally/socially sanctioned actions as symptoms of mental illness (whether they are is an age-old debate for philosophers, anthropologists, and sociologists/psychologists). Indeed, even the DSM-V has proposed changing criteria C (which rules out acceptable responses to loss/stress) to exclude "a culturally sanctioned response to a particular event." It seems that most cultures value empathy enough that it's unlikely to be viewed as a disorder. In fact, even the most extreme examples of empathy (complete self sacrifice) are often considered admirable things in books and movies.

If, however, empathy is directed toward someone who abuses the relationship, it could result in codependency. While the DSM doesn't list codependency, it is still often diagnosed as a mental illness. In the case of codependency, the empathetic person often cannot bring themselves to end the relationship, due to their concern over the negative effect it would have on the other person. Since this relationship is dangerous to the empath and caused by said empathy, this could be a case where too much empathy in an individual is a mental disorder.

Then again, if the other person had more empathy, the situation wouldn't occur. I think it's safe to say that in theory empathy shouldn't be a disorder but in practice it can lead to disordered behavior.


Yes of course. Most work with eeg and imagination focuses on the inner voice and what people are telling themselves and thinking to themselves. Imagine (pun intended) if we could reach into the mind of a terrorist and as they think about plots. Its not really all that hard but its not at all covert at the moment (all the schizoiod type personalities can relax). With a bunch of electrodes connected to the brain we are able to transfer what one person's imagined actions into another persons head for execution. Its really crude at the moment but at some point it will revolutionize the way we think about communication, art, education and intimacy. Connecting to imagined visualizations would be simular only instead of involving the motor cortex it would work with the visual centers.


Bias in survey questions based on either positive or negative wording

I think your examples can be explained with the Anchoring bias (aslo know as focalism).

  Anchoring or focalism is a cognitive bias that describes the common
  human tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information
  offered (the "anchor") when making decisions. During decision making,
  anchoring occurs when individuals use an initial piece of information
  to make subsequent judgments. Once an anchor is set, other judgments
  are made by adjusting away from that anchor, and there is a bias
  toward interpreting other information around the anchor.

A theory that explains anchoring is selective accessibility.

  selective accessibility proposes that when given an anchor, a judge
  (i.e. a person making some judgment) will evaluate the hypothesis that
  the anchor is a suitable answer. Assuming it is not, the judge moves
  on to another guess, but not before accessing all the relevant
  attributes of the anchor itself. Then, when evaluating the new answer,
  the judge looks for ways in which it is similar to the anchor,
  resulting in the anchoring effect.

The Anchoring is a type of priming. The following extract is from Brain Bugs by Dean Buonomano :

Below is the definition of priming :

  Priming is a technique whereby exposure to one stimulus influences a
  response to a subsequent stimulus, without conscious guidance or
  intention. For example, the word NURSE is recognized more quickly
  following the word DOCTOR than following the word BREAD. Priming can
  be perceptual, semantic, or conceptual.


What is the correlation between objective indexes and aggregated self-report measures of life satisfaction?

The World Values Survey seems like a good starting point for examining nation level life satisfaction and then correlating it with other indicators.

Diener (2000) summarises this research on

  mean levels  of life satisfaction for selected nations from the  World
  Values  Survey  (World  Values  Study  Group,  1994),  conducted  with
  representative  samples  of  approximately  1,000 respondents  per
  nation  between  1990  and  1993.  The  purchasing  power  parity
  figure  is  the  percentage  of  purchasing power (based  on a
  standard  "basket"  of goods) that  the  average person  in  each
  country  can  buy  with  his  or her  yearly  income,  compared  with
  the  average  purchasing  power  of individuals  in  the  United
  States.  The  correlation  between  mean  purchasing  power  income
  and  mean  life  satisfaction  was  .62  across  all  nations  in  the
  survey.  The  finding that wealthier  nations have higher levels of
  reported  well-being  has  been replicated  several  times  (see
  Diener  &  Suh,  1999).  One  reason  that  wealthy  nations  may  be
  hap-  pier is that they are more likely to fulfill basic human needs
  for  food,  shelter,  and  health,  as  well  as  to have  better
  human-fights  records  (Diener  et  al.,  1995).

OECD Life Index

I performed a quick analysis of data from up to 36 countries from the OECD Better Life Index Site. You can download the datafile used directly from http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/. The R code, data file, and output of this draft set of analyses is available here, along with a list of the included countries.

I obtained the following correlations between other variables and self-reported life satisfaction (r is correlation; n is number of countries):

##                                               r  n
## Rooms.per.person                           0.70 30
## Personal.earnings                          0.67 34
## Employment.rate                            0.63 36
## Households.income                          0.59 32
## Water.quality                              0.59 36
## Long.term.unemployment.rate               -0.58 34
## Self.reported.health                       0.58 34
## Life.expectancy                            0.57 36
## Dwellings.with.basic.facilities            0.54 32
## Social.network                             0.50 36
## Time.devoted.to.leisure.and.personal.care  0.43 21
## Household.financial.wealth                 0.41 31
## Voter.turn.out                             0.36 36
## Educational.attainment                     0.22 35
## Students..skills                           0.21 36
## Air.pollution                             -0.18 36
## Housing.expenditure                        0.12 32
## Years.in.education                         0.12 35
## Consultation.on.rule.making                0.12 35
## Employees.working.very.long.hours         -0.09 33
## Job.security                               0.08 32
## Homicide.rate                             -0.07 36
## Assault.rate                              -0.02 36

References

Diener, E. (2000). Subjective well-being: The science of happiness and a proposal for a national index. American psychologist, 55, 34.
Diener,  E.,  Diener,  M.,  &  Diener,  C.  (1995).  Factors  predicting  the
subjective  well-being  of  nations.  Journal  of Personality  and  Social
Psychology,  69,  851-864.
Diener,  E.,  &  Sub,  E.  (1999).  Societies we  live  in: International  compar-
isons. In  D.  Kahneman, E.  Diener,  &  N.  Schwarz  (Eds.),  Well-being:
The foundations  of  hedonic  psychology  (pp.  434-452).  New  York:
Russell Sage  Foundation.
World Values Study Group. (1994).  World Values Survey,  1981-1994  and
1990-1993  [Computer file,  ICPSR  version].  Ann Arbor,  MI:  Institute
for  Social  Research.


Research into auditory processing deficits is a minefield and there is no real consensus as to what is and is not a deficit in auditory processing. Further, and possibly more relevant for individuals with, or dealing with, a processing disorder, is how to treat/manage the disorder. Again, unfortunately, there is no real consensus on the issue. Ferguson (2009) presents a relatively non-technical overview of the issues.

--

Ferguson MA (2009) Diagnosing Auditory Processing Disorders. ENT News, January/February.


How to determine nerve conduction velocity?

I think there are many ways to accomplish this in terms of technical detail, but they will all boil down to measuring the arrival of an action potential along the axon on at least two points with known distance from each other on the axon. From these two arrival times the latency can be deducted. Then, by dividing the distance between the elektrodes by the latency (i.e., the time it took the action potential from going from electrode 1 to number 2), the conduction speed can be estimated. In a paper by DeMaegd et al. (2017) they use extracellular electrodes and the figure in their paper is quite informative (Fig.1 ).

Fig. 1. Measuring axon conduction velocity by recording action potentials. source: DeMaegd et al. (2017)
Reference
- DeMaegd et al., Bio Protocol (2017); 7(5)


What positive writing exercises improve happiness?

Writing therapy

There is quite a lot of research on writing therapy and expressive writing more generally. As you note, much of this research relates to writing about negative emotional experiences. There is some support for the positive mental health benefits in writing about traumatic events (e.g., see the meta-analysis by Smyth, 1998).
While the interventions are focused on writing about negative events, the intervention

Positive psychology and writing

I have read about a few specific positive psychology writing interventions, such as those mentioned here:

  Keep a gratitude diary: Take the time each day to write down three things that went  well and why. This causes psychological well-being
  levels to increase in a lasting way.
  Thank a mentor: Write a letter of thanks to someone to whom you owe a debt of  gratitude such as a teacher or grandparent. Then visit the
  person and read the letter to  them. People who do this are measurably
  happier for more than a month.
  Learn to forgive: Let go of anger and resentment by writing a letter of forgiveness to a person who has wronged you. Inability to forgive is associated with persistent rumination.

Toepfer and Walker (2009) discuss writing letters of gratitude. They cite several studies showing positive effect, stating that

  Expressive writing studies are plentiful and the once anemic domain of
  letter writing as  a vehicle for improving health has seen a recent
  surge of interest (King, 2001; Sheldon &  Lyubomirsky, 2006a; Seligman
  et al., 2005; Lyubomirsky, Dickerhoof, Boehm, & Sheldon,  2009). For
  example, VandeCreek, Janus, Pennebaker and Binau (2002) asked
  participants to  pray and write letters to God and found that both
  prayer and the letters increased insight  and positive emotion, more
  so than simple written descriptions, where a single letter to God  had
  the most impact. The authors explained that the act of praying or
  explaining to another  (in this case in a letter to God) was more
  conducive to personal insight and greater positive  emotional
  formulations about life events. In other words, writing a letter to
  God was found  to improve participant’s positive feelings about life
  events.

  Watkins, Woodward, Stone and Kolts (2003) conducted a study
  that examined mood  changes as the result of various gratitude
  inductions, one of which was a letter writing  condition. Their
  findings revealed that writing a gratitude based letter produced a
  positive  affect increase compared to the other gratitude inductions
  (Watkins et al., 2003).

Burton and King found positive effects from getting participants to write about positive experiences. They also summarise some of the literature noting that

  research has begun to explore a variety of writing topics that
  might be associated with health beneﬁts that do not focus exclusively
  on negative experience. King and Miner (2000) found that writing only
  about the positive aspects of a traumatic experience was associated
  with the same health beneﬁts as writing about trauma. King (2001)
  found that individuals who wrote about their best possible future
  selves showed physical health beneﬁts as well as enhanced
  psychological well-being after writing.

Burton and King's instructions were:

  Think of the most wonderful experience or experiences in your life,
  happiest moments, ecstatic moments, moments of rapture, perhaps from
  being in love, or from listening to music, or suddenly ‘‘being hit’’
  by a book or painting or from some great creative moment. Choose one
  such experience or moment. Try to imagine yourself at that moment,
  including all the feelings and emotions associated with the
  experience. Now write about the experience in as much detail as
  possible trying to include the feelings, thoughts, and emotions that
  were present at the time. Please try your best to re-experience the
  emotions involved.

As for a mechanism of operation, Wing et al present the following ideas:

  Writing about nontraumatic events likely shares some effects with
  writing about traumatic events. Writing about any meaningful aspect of
  life may promote cognitive processing, encouraging the examination,
  understanding, and assimilation of emotions that might otherwise be
  left unscrutinized (Pennebaker, 2002; Pennebaker, Mayne, & Francis,
  1997; Pennebaker & Seagal, 1999). Writing about a meaningful topic may
  result in enhanced emotional regulation, related to perceptions of
  self-efficacy and control over emotional experiences (Greenberg,
  Wortman & Stone, 1996; King, 2001, 2002; Lepore et al., 2002). Writing
  may afford the writer the opportunity to gain a sense of mastery over
  his or her emotions and to clearly identify priorities, preferred
  outcomes, and goals (King, 2001).

References

Burton, C. M., & King, L. A. (2004). The health benefits of writing about intensely positive experiences. Journal of research in personality, 38(2), 150-163. PDF
King, L. A. (2001). The health beneﬁts of writing about life goals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27(7), 798–807.
King, L. A., & Miner, K. N. (2000). Writing about the perceived beneﬁts of traumatic events: Implications
for physical health. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26(2), 220–230.
Wright, J. (2002). Online counselling: Learning from writing therapy. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 30(3), 285-298. PDF
SMYTH, J.M.(1998).Written emotional expression: effect size, outcome types, and moderating variables.
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 66(1), 174±184. PDF
Toepfer, S., & Walker, K. (2009). Letters of gratitude: Improving well-being through expressive writing. Journal of Writing Research, 1(3), 181-198. PDF
Wing, J. F., Schutte, N. S., & Byrne, B. (2006). The effect of positive writing on emotional intelligence and life satisfaction. Journal of clinical psychology, 62(10), 1291-1302.


Is there a relationship between body composition and intelligence?

A systematic meta-analysis of the relationship between IQ and obesity (Yu, Han, Cao and Guo, 2010) suggested that lower IQ in childhood was associated with later adult obesity via educational level. No evidence of a relationship between IQ and obesity was found for adults.

  Our study and review of the literature overall suggests that there are inverse FIQ/obesity associations, except in pre-school children. However, after adjusting for educational attainment, this FIQ/obesity association became null. In the present study, a lower IQ score in childhood is associated with obesity in later adulthood; this relationship is perhaps mediated via educational attainment in later life.

References

Yu, Z. B., Han, S. P., Cao, X. G., & Guo, X. R. (2010). Intelligence in relation to obesity: a systematic review and meta‐analysis. Obesity reviews, 11(9), 656-670.


Is there a psychological condition which promotes literal and overly complicated thinking?

Literal thinking can be associated with circumstantial thinking, and could be the result of thought 1 or communication disorders:

  Circumstantial thinking
   A type of thought disorder in which each of a series of thoughts seems
   less closely related to the original thought than the one before it at
   first, but the patient's thoughts eventually return to the original
   subject.

Circumstantial thinking can be a symptom of autism, some schizophrenia and schizotypal affects.

The assumption can be made that verbal skills are a prerequisite for effective communication. (without discussion of the mute or deaf)

Metaphorical intelligence is inversely linked to literal thinking.

  that the ability to process metaphors functions as a relatively stable
  individual differences variable, and that those who are “less able” to
  process metaphors can be said to have a more “literal” thinking style.
  ...
  Frozen metaphors are those that are in common use in the language and
  which are often thought to be treated as single linguistic units by
  native speakers. Novel metaphors are ones in which ideas are combined
  in new or unusual ways.

Logical thinking is not linked to creative thinking. Creative thinking is linked with metaphorical thinking.

  Divergent (as opposed to “convergent”) thinking is a relatively old
  concept, proposed by Guilford (1967). He described the convergent
  thinker as a person who finds it easy to deal with problems requiring
  one conventional correct answer, clearly obtainable from the
  information provided. The divergent thinker, on the other hand, is
  better able to solve problems requiring the generation of several
  equally acceptable answers where the emphasis is on the quantity,
  variety and originality of responses. Those who engage more readily in
  divergent thinking are more likely to display metaphoric intelligence. 2

  Creative thinking (divergent thinking) and critical thinking
  (convergent thinking) are two powerful aspects of effective thinking  3

A photographic or eidetic memory,  is often associated with high intelligence or savant intelligence.
There is evidence that suggests that the creation of photographic or eidetic memories is impaired by concurrent verbalisation.   An interesting point that the mental processes involving this talent are not only independent from verbal skills, but, potentially, hindered by such. One thing it does reveal, is that verbal skills are not linked to this type of "genius".

  Research has shown that if a person verbalizes during the time he or
  she is scanning the original picture, this interferes with eidetic
  image formation.

The same features of simultaneous brilliance with impaired social skills and varying cognitive impairments, are observed with "savants".  4

I think a better question would be, what processes cause literal thinkers, who may be highly intelligent in some ways; to frequently over complicate or misinterpret, seemingly, simple concepts?

Literal and over complicated thinking can be linked with a logical thinker, who lacks creative thought skills. Some of the complications could be the result of interpreting problems literally and missing metaphorical meanings.

1. The Confusing Area of Disturbed Thinking
Journal of Personality Assessment
Volume 40, Issue 5, 1976
Preview
Access options
DOI:10.1207/s15327752jpa4005_5
Bert Loro
2. Dr. Jeannette Littlemore
English for International Students Unit
University of Birmingham
Birmingham
B15 2TT
U.K.
3. Critical Thinking and the Art of Learning and Living
John F. Kennedy
4.  Is there such a thing as a photographic memory? And if so, can it be learned?
Alan Searleman,
Professor of psychology
St. Lawrence University


Can we identify specific emotions on the basis of fMRI scans?

From meta-analyses that include musical emotion inductions, there is not much evidence that we can reliably distinguish between emotions in the brain, independent of the emotion induction procedure or meta-analytical method (1 2 3 4 5).

We might be able to distinguish emotions with specificity and reliability within an individual, but this kind of work is just starting to happen.


You are asking some very important questions. And your skepticism is a sign of a scholar in my book. ;o)

I agree with you that the definition provided by your textbook falls short.

Emotion is a huge topic. It might help to narrow the scope of your question.

I also suggest carefully defining a word like "feelings". For example, how are feelings and emotion different? (if they are).

Here is an article that will give you an introduction to contemporary research on emotion:

Critchley, Hugo D. and Sarah N. Garfinkel. "Interoception and emotion." Current Opinion in Psychology 17 (2017): 7–14. [Open access]

  Abstract: Influential theories suggest emotional feeling states arise from physiological changes from within the body.

  Interoception describes the afferent signalling, central processing,
  and neural and mental representation of internal bodily signals.
  Recent progress is made in conceptualizing interoception and its
  neural underpinnings. These developments are supported by empirical
  data concerning interoceptive mechanisms and their contribution to
  emotion.

  Fresh insights include description of short-term interoceptive effects
  on neural and mental processes (including fear-specific cardiac
  effects), the recognition of dissociable psychological dimensions of
  interoception, and models of interoceptive predictive coding that
  explain emotions and selfhood (reinforced by structural anatomical
  models and brain and experimental findings).

  This growing grasp of interoception is enriching our understanding of
  emotion and its disorders.

Wikipedia has a good article on interoception.


Can we increase our higher order thinking (HOT) skills by practicing inductive reasoning?

This is more of a comment than an answer. In fact it's more of an advice.

Higher-order thinking and inductive reasoning have rather vague definitions, in my mind. They seem to also come from different backgrounds. If you don't mind, I think it's easier to approach your situation rather than your question. You might find it refreshing to think of higher-order thinking as a phenomena that occurs under certain conditions; in addition to thinking of it as a muscle (which is implied by your question). Specifically, if you look at higher-order thinking, as you call it, as a state to be entered into, some of the greater facilitators are ability to relax and to change perspectives effectively with emphasis on relaxation. This is within the scope of neurolinguistics, if you'd prefer a contemporary approach; if you don't mind going old school with this, more or less any meditation, should lead to noticeable improvements or autogenic training might float your boat.

I hope this is helpful. I regret not providing any references. Edits are welcome.


Is there evidence for a unique isolated internal representation of loved ones?

Alex, the following few remarks hardly deserve the status of an answer, but I think your interesting question, taken with with Greg's pertinent rider, makes it worth sharing a couple of ideas, even at the risk of downvotes from the type of churls and trolls I have already become familiar with on math stack exchange.

really I just want to relate your question to a couple of other well-known phenomena in our mental life.

firstly, I have occasionally thought that there is a curious analogy between the sufferings related to grief (whether through bereavement or various forms of traumatic separation - e.g. at adoption, or in certain cases of asymmetric relationship breakdown) and the discomfort sometimes experienced after surgical or traumatic amputation known in the literature as phantom limbs. personally I think this analogy tends to support some form of the hypothesis you propose regarding internal representations.

Greg's question is useful: how can one distinguish such internal representations from memories? of course it all depends what is meant by memory. so your question could, if necessary, be rephrased as a question about certain high-level structural aspects of memory and perception. in this context it is also worth noting that the same type of things we call self-awareness, recognition of others, and grief, have been attributed to non-human animals, particularly some species of mammals and birds.

my personal academic study of psychology took place in the early 1970's. this was an interesting time, because the intellectual bankruptcy of the still-dominant behavioristic paradigm had recently become very apparent due to its utter inadequacy to provide a basis for any but the most trivial aspects of psycholinguistics. in consequence there was a growing enthusiasm for the investigation of generative grammars and the complementary idea of species-specific biological bases for the deep structures which underlie complex aspects of perception, memory and cognition. this shift in paradigm was contemporary with a similar refocusing of interest in anthropology, which was part of a wider shift towards an approach which had become known as structuralism. those within the orbit of Anglo-Saxon empiricism were in general more resistant to this new way of thinking, but the influence was notable nevertheless.

my second point is merely a simple observation, but one whose genuineness is unproblematic in informal discourse. in personal terms, I have often noticed myself in quite casual conversation confusing the names of two former partners. to me this is evidence (admittedly only one tiny piece of a very large jigsaw) for the existence of a deep-structure corresponding to the social category of significant other. this, if it exists, is completely distinct from any kind of specific memory of individuals one has related to. of course the hard-core empiricist would still be obliged to insist this was "merely" a type of misremembering. but such a dogmatic approach ignores the insights which have long been available through the informal paradigm which underlies Freud's methodology in The Psychopathology of Everyday Life and also perhaps Jokes and the Subconscious - the general hypothesis that minor errors or distortions on the accessible surface of behaviour can offer valuable clues about the deeper mental processes which underlie the surface behaviour and play a key part in its production, but which are far less accessible to introspection. a very good example which clarifies this particular distinction is the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon where we "know what we want to say" but just "can't find the word". often the sought-after word spontaneously arises in consciousness some time afterwards. i.e. the search, once initated, continues at the preconscious level, and this process continues to run - in the background, as it were, to use computer parlance - even though the conversation is long finished. have you ever rung a friend with some rather unimportant revelation of this type - "I've just remembered the word I couldn't recall" - only to find that the relevant context has been entirely forgotten by them?


What was the quantified brain volume of Albert Einstein?

I was interested in the same question a while ago. Unfortunately, Witelson et al (1999) reported here (http://penthai.sc.mahidol.ac.th/html/articles/newsletter/paper3.pdf) that  volume measurements haven't been taken at the time. Weight data is available, but weight and volume aren't correlated perfectly.

Witelson, S. F., Kigar, D. L., & Harvey, T. (1999). The exceptional brain of Albert Einstein. The Lancet, 353(9170), 2149-2153.


Evidence for this tapping therapy - EFT (Emotional freedom technique)

Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) is part of the energy psychology movement which draws on various forms of alternative medicine to stimulate meridian points of the body (Gaudiano, 2000). At the moment it is considered pseudoscience because it has no effect beyond the placebo-effect in clinical psychology (Bakker, 2013).

This is an excerpt from a study by Waite & Holder (2003) that assessed the effectiveness of EFT for anxiety:

  These results do not support the idea that the purported benefits of EFT are uniquely dependent on the "tapping of meridians." Rather, these results suggest that the reported effectiveness of EFT is attributable to characteristics it shares with more traditional therapies.

And here is the abstract from another article by Bakker (2013) on energy psychology, the "field" EFT falls in:

  Proponents of energy psychology techniques, such as Thought Field Therapy and Emotional Freedom Techniques, have sought “empirically supported therapy” status despite an unsupported and implausible theoretical basis and claims in response of representing a “pseudoscientific” movement. Two major reviews of the supportive evidence which has accumulated over the past 30 years have been published recently. This current status report describes the history, theory, techniques, claims, and implications of the energy psychology movement, examines support for its theoretical base, its current outcome study support, and offers conclusions and recommendations as to its research and clinical prospects. It is concluded that there is scant support for the radical theories underlying energy psychology techniques, and that empirical support for their efficacy is methodologically weak, and has not been able to demonstrate an effect beyond nonspecific or placebo effects, or the incorporation of known‐effective elements. The only dismantling studies to date have been disconfirmatory. Further research is highly unlikely to be scientifically productive, and scientist practitioners are advised to continue to adhere to well‐established cognitive and behavioural principles.

So, overall there is little scientific evidence for the underlying assumptions of EFT, hope this answers your question!

References

Bakker, G. (2013). The current status of energy psychology: Extraordinary claims with less than ordinary evidence. Clinical Psychologist, 17(3), 91-99. doi:10.1111/cp.12020

Gaudiano B.A., Herbert JD (2000). "Can we really tap our problems away?". Skeptical Inquirer. 24 (4). Retrieved 2019-08-20.

Waite, L.W. & Holder, M.D. (2003). Assessment of the Emotional Freedom Technique: An alternative treatment for fear. The Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice, 2(1), 20-26.