The ‘All in the Mind’ group seeks to explore, describe an explain various aspects of human behaviour by using a range of Psychological Approaches. The group uses discussion, short talks, TED videos and occasional visiting speakers to explore this wide ranging and fascinating area of study.

Psychology is the study of Human Behaviour and over the past 50 years or so Western Psychology has become increasingly Scientific in its approach. This is demonstrated by the fact that whereas in the 1960s the vast majority of University undergraduate degrees in the UK were awarded as Bachelor of Arts, they are now almost exclusively Bachelor of Science degrees.

We recognise the following six approaches in our group;

Social Psychology: --- is the behaviour affected by the people around us and the social groups we belong to?

Physiological Psychology; --- is the behaviour the result of body systems such as the Endocrine system (hormone producing glands)?

Cognitive Psychology; --- is the behaviour the result of higher centres in the brain such as those dealing with speech and memory?

Developmental Psychology; --- is the behaviour pattern something which develops and changes as we get older?

Comparative Psychology; --- can we learn anything about the behaviour by looking at other, non-human animals?

Evolutionary Psychology; --- is the behaviour something which is ‘hard-wired’ into us by millions of years of evolution?

When discussing a particular aspect of human behaviour we will frequently refer to one or more of these approaches to help us understand the behaviour better.

Over the past 30 or more meetings we have discussed questions such as;

Eating behaviour; why do some people eat more than they need to? Why is there a problem with obesity in this country and in the USA? Why do some people not eat enough?

Games and Sport; why do we play games? Why do we enjoy competition? Why do we watch sport and sometimes become very emotionally involved in it?

Shopping; why do we go shopping? Why do we feel a sense of achievement when we come home from a successful shopping trip? Why do we buy more than we need? To what extent are we influenced by advertising?

Driving; Why do we sometimes break the speed limit when driving? What is road rage? Why does it happen?

Anxiety and Stress; what is stress? What are stress-related illnesses? Why are some people more vulnerable to stress-related illness and what could be done to avoid it?

Sleep; why do we sleep? How much sleep do we need? What happens if I don’t get enough sleep?

Pandemic; what are the lasting effects of the pandemic on children / on young adults / on ‘third generation people?

Memory; how does memory work? How much can we remember and what prevents us from remembering? How can important memories become distorted, eg in Witness testimony?

These are just a few of the topics we’ve considered over the last three years. If you are interested in questions like this, why don’t you come along and join us?

Barry Walmsley

Group Leader