Mind Hacks | O'Reilly Media

Tell a friend

Mind Hacks Tips & Tricks for Using Your Brain By Tom Stafford, Matt Webb
November 2004
Pages: 394

| Table of Contents | Index | Sample Hacks | Colophon

Chapter 1 Inside the Brain
1. Hacks 1-12
2. Find Out How the Brain Works Without Looking Inside
3. Electroencephalogram: Getting the Big Picture with EEGs
4. Positron Emission Tomography: Measuring Activity Indirectly with PET
5. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging: The State of the Art
6. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation: Turn On and Off Bits of the Brain
7. Neuropsychology, the 10% Myth, and Why You Use All of Your Brain
8. Get Acquainted with the Central Nervous System
9. Tour the Cortex and the Four Lobes
10. The Neuron
11. Detect the Effect of Cognitive Function on Cerebral Blood Flow
12. Why People Don't Work Like Elevator Buttons
13. Build Your Own Sensory Homunculus
Chapter 2 Seeing
1. Hacks 13-33
2. Understand Visual Processing
3. See the Limits of Your Vision
4. To See, Act
5. Map Your Blind Spot
6. Glimpse the Gaps in Your Vision
7. When Time Stands Still
8. Release Eye Fixations for Faster Reactions
9. Fool Yourself into Seeing 3D
10. Objects Move, Lighting Shouldn't
11. Depth Matters
12. See How Brightness Differs from Luminance: The Checker Shadow Illusion
13. Create Illusionary Depth with Sunglasses
14. See Movement When All Is Still
15. Get Adjusted
16. Show Motion Without Anything Moving
17. Motion Extrapolation: The "Flash-Lag Effect"
18. Turn Gliding Blocks into Stepping Feet
19. Understand the Rotating Snakes Illusion
20. Minimize Imaginary Distances
21. Explore Your Defense Hardware
22. Neural Noise Isnt a Bug; Its a Feature
Chapter 3 Attention
1. Hacks 34-43
2. Detail and the Limits of Attention
3. Count Faster with Subitizing
4. Feel the Presence and Loss of Attention
5. Grab Attention
6. Don't Look Back!
7. Avoid Holes in Attention
8. Blind to Change
9. Make Things Invisible Simply by Concentrating (on Something Else)
10. The Brain Punishes Features that Cry Wolf
11. Improve Visual Attention Through Video Games
Chapter 4 Hearing and Language
1. Hacks 44-52
2. Detect Timing with Your Ears
3. Detect Sound Direction
4. Discover Pitch
5. Keep Your Balance
6. Detect Sounds on the Margins of Certainty
7. Speech Is Broadband Input to Your Head
8. Give Big-Sounding Words to Big Concepts
9. Stop Memory-Buffer Overrun While Reading
10. Robust Processing Using Parallelism
Chapter 5 Integrating
1. Hacks 53-61
2. Put Timing Information into Sound and Location Information into Light
3. Don't Divide Attention Across Locations
4. Confuse Color Identification with Mixed Signals
5. Don't Go There
6. Combine Modalities to Increase Intensity
7. Watch Yourself to Feel More
8. Hear with Your Eyes: The McGurk Effect
9. Pay Attention to Thrown Voices
10. Talk to Yourself
Chapter 6 Moving
1. Hacks 62-69
2. The Broken Escalator Phenomenon: When Autopilot Takes Over
3. Keep Hold of Yourself
4. Mold Your Body Schema
5. Why Can't You Tickle Yourself?
6. Trick Half Your Mind
7. Objects Ask to Be Used
8. Test Your Handedness
9. Use Your Right Brain—and Your Left, Too
Chapter 7 Reasoning
1. Hacks 70-74
2. Use Numbers Carefully
3. Think About Frequencies Rather than Probabilities
4. Detect Cheaters
5. Fool Others into Feeling Better
6. Maintain the Status Quo
Chapter 8 Togetherness
1. Hacks 75-80
2. Grasp the Gestalt
3. To Be Noticed, Synchronize in Time
4. See a Person in Moving Lights
5. Make Things Come Alive
6. Make Events Understandable as Cause and Effect
7. Act Without Knowing It
Chapter 9 Remembering
1. Hacks 81-92
2. Bring Stuff to the Front of Your Mind
3. Subliminal Messages Are Weak and Simple
4. Fake Familiarity
5. Keep Your Sources Straight (if You Can)
6. Create False Memories
7. Change Context to Build Robust Memories
8. Boost Memory Using Context
9. Think Yourself Strong
10. Navigate Your Way Through Memory
11. Have an Out-of-Body Experience
12. Enter the Twilight Zone: The Hypnagogic State
13. Make the Caffeine Habit Taste Good
Chapter 10 Other People
1. Hacks 93-100
2. Understand What Makes Faces Special
3. Signal Emotion
4. Make Yourself Happy
5. Reminisce Hot and Cold
6. Look Where I'm Looking
7. Monkey See, Monkey Do
8. Spread a Bad Mood Around
9. You Are What You Think

Colophon

Return to Mind Hacks

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Inside the Brain

Hacks 1-12

Find Out How the Brain Works Without Looking Inside

Electroencephalogram: Getting the Big Picture with EEGs

Positron Emission Tomography: Measuring Activity Indirectly with PET

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging: The State of the Art

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation: Turn On and Off Bits of the Brain

Neuropsychology, the 10% Myth, and Why You Use All of Your Brain

Get Acquainted with the Central Nervous System

Tour the Cortex and the Four Lobes

The Neuron

Detect the Effect of Cognitive Function on Cerebral Blood Flow

Why People Don't Work Like Elevator Buttons

Build Your Own Sensory Homunculus

Chapter 2 Seeing

Hacks 13-33

Understand Visual Processing

See the Limits of Your Vision

To See, Act

Map Your Blind Spot

Glimpse the Gaps in Your Vision

When Time Stands Still

Release Eye Fixations for Faster Reactions

Fool Yourself into Seeing 3D

Objects Move, Lighting Shouldn't

Depth Matters

See How Brightness Differs from Luminance: The Checker Shadow Illusion

Create Illusionary Depth with Sunglasses

See Movement When All Is Still

Get Adjusted

Show Motion Without Anything Moving

Motion Extrapolation: The "Flash-Lag Effect"

Turn Gliding Blocks into Stepping Feet

Understand the Rotating Snakes Illusion

Minimize Imaginary Distances

Explore Your Defense Hardware

Neural Noise Isnt a Bug; Its a Feature

Chapter 3 Attention

Hacks 34-43

Detail and the Limits of Attention

Count Faster with Subitizing

Feel the Presence and Loss of Attention

Grab Attention

Don't Look Back!

Avoid Holes in Attention

Blind to Change

Make Things Invisible Simply by Concentrating (on Something Else)

The Brain Punishes Features that Cry Wolf

Improve Visual Attention Through Video Games

Chapter 4 Hearing and Language

Hacks 44-52

Detect Timing with Your Ears

Detect Sound Direction

Discover Pitch

Keep Your Balance

Detect Sounds on the Margins of Certainty

Speech Is Broadband Input to Your Head

Give Big-Sounding Words to Big Concepts

Stop Memory-Buffer Overrun While Reading

Robust Processing Using Parallelism

Chapter 5 Integrating

Hacks 53-61

Put Timing Information into Sound and Location Information into Light

Don't Divide Attention Across Locations

Confuse Color Identification with Mixed Signals

Don't Go There

Combine Modalities to Increase Intensity

Watch Yourself to Feel More

Hear with Your Eyes: The McGurk Effect

Pay Attention to Thrown Voices

Talk to Yourself

Chapter 6 Moving

Hacks 62-69

The Broken Escalator Phenomenon: When Autopilot Takes Over

Keep Hold of Yourself

Mold Your Body Schema

Why Can't You Tickle Yourself?

Trick Half Your Mind

Objects Ask to Be Used