Delusions are the false and often incorrigible beliefs that can cause severe suffering in
mental illness. We cannot yet explain them in terms of underlying neurobiological …

Why is culture the way it is? Here I argue that a major force shaping culture is subjective
(cultural) selection, or the selective retention of cultural variants that people subjectively …

Shamans, including medicine men, mediums, and the prophets of religious movements,
recur across human societies. Shamanism also existed among nearly all documented …

This book reviews how people and animals learn and how their behaviors are later changed
as a result of this learning. Nearly all of our behaviors are influenced by prior learning …

Superstitious behaviours, which arise through the incorrect assignment of cause and effect,
receive considerable attention in psychology and popular culture. Perhaps owing to their …

Positive symptoms of schizophrenia and its extended phenotype—often termed
psychoticism or positive schizotypy—are characterized by the inclusion of novel, erroneous …

What are paranormal, superstitious, magical, and supernatural (PSMS) beliefs and what, if
anything, separates them? Currently, use of the concepts is ambiguous and agreement is …

The functions of cultural beliefs are often opaque to those who hold them. Accordingly, to
benefit from cultural evolution's ability to solve complex adaptive problems, learners must be …

Although socialization is explicitly about preparing newcomers for the future, time plays only
a backstage role in most models and studies. To help move time to the front stage, six issues …

Many scholars have argued that rituals serve to help individuals cope with challenges that
arise under uncertain conditions. Ongoing research has been examining this claim with data …