Bruce Hood (psychologist)
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Bruce MacFarlane Hood is a Canadian-born British experimental
psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how indi ...
and philosopher who specialises in
developmental cognitive neuroscience Developmental cognitive neuroscience is an interdisciplinary scientific field devoted to understanding psychological processes and their neurological bases in the developing organism. It examines how the mind changes as children grow up, interrelat ...
. He is currently based at the
University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...
and his major research interests include intuitive theories, self identity, essentialism and the cognitive processes behind adult magical thinking.


Biography

Hood completed undergraduate studies in psychology, then received a Master of Arts and a
Master of Philosophy The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil m ...
from the
University of Dundee The University of Dundee; . Abbreviated as ''Dund.'' for post-nominals. is a public university, public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a University college#United Kingdom, university college in 1881 with a donation ...
. He received a PhD from
University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
in 1991, studying the visual development of infants. After moving to the US he took a place as a visiting professor at
MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the mo ...
and faculty professor at
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
. He is currently a professor at the
University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...
, where he conducts research at the School of Psychological Science and teaches the Developmental Psychology modules.


Work


Cognitive development in childhood

In his research, Hood investigates various aspects of cognitive development in children. He best known for discovering a naïve theory of gravity and looking at the origins of superstitious beliefs in children. Most notably, his research showed that children inherently prefer 'their' individual objects over duplicated ones a behaviour which persists into adulthood. Further, he investigates how children use gaze to infer about the mental states of humans they are interacting with.


Science of Happiness

Since 2018, Hood has been delivering the ''Science of Happiness'' course at
University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...
as well as other universities and organizations. Modelled after the successful ''Psychology and the Good Life'' course initiated by
Laurie Santos Laurie may refer to: Places * Laurie, Cantal, France, a commune * Laurie, Missouri, United States, a village * Laurie Island, Antarctica Music * Laurie Records, a record label * ''Laurie'' (EP), a 1992 album by Daniel Johnston * "Laurie (Stran ...
at
Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
, the programme has been shown to improve mental well-being and is the basis for the BBC podcast ''The Happiness Half-Hour'' co-presented by Hood.


Public engagement

Hood has been engaging in science outreach since the beginning of his career. In 2009, he published his first popular science book''SuperSense: Why We Believe in the Unbelievable''. The book tackles how the human brain generates superstitious beliefs. Hood argues that humans evolved to "detect patterns in the world" and defines the supersense as the "inclination to infer that there are hidden forces that create the patterns that we think we detect". Contrary to prominent skeptics such as
Richard Dawkins Richard Dawkins (born 26 March 1941) is a British evolutionary biologist and author. He is an emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford and was Professor for Public Understanding of Science in the University of Oxford from 1995 to 2008. An ath ...
, Hood is convinced that superstitious beliefs are inevitable and even beneficial to humans. For instance, he argues that
essentialism Essentialism is the view that objects have a set of attributes that are necessary to their identity. In early Western thought, Plato's idealism held that all things have such an "essence"—an "idea" or "form". In ''Categories'', Aristotle sim ...
is beneficial to social interactions, since it allows humans to overcome objectification and attribute uniqueness to other humans. However, Hood clearly differentiates between secular and religious beliefs, where secular supernatural beliefs are universally applicable across cultures and religious beliefs are culturally specific. He also argues that secular superstitious beliefs do predispose humans to religious beliefs. In 2012, Hood published his second popular science book ''The Self Illusion: Why there is no 'you' inside your head'' (published under the alternative title ''The Self Illusion: How the social brain creates identity'' in America). In this book, he argues that the human sense of self is a construct of the brain which facilitates experiencing and interacting with the world. "Who we are," Hood writes, "is a story of our self − a constructed narrative that our brain creates". Bruce uses a "a distinction that William James drew between the self as "I" and "me." Our consciousness of the self in the here and now is the "I" and most of the time, we experience this as being an integrated and coherent individual – a bit like the character in the story. The self which we tell others about, is autobiographical or the "me" which again is a coherent account of who we think we are based on past experiences, current events and aspirations for the future." In October 2012, Hood devised the world's largest simultaneous memory experiment for the
Society of Biology The Royal Society of Biology (RSB), previously called the Society of Biology, is a learned society and professional association in the United Kingdom created to advance the interests of biology in academia, industry, education, and research. Fo ...
involving 2000 participants to demonstrate the phenomenon of false memories. This was officially recognised by the
Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
in 2013. Hood's third popular science book, ''The Domesticated Brain'', was published in 2014 and explores the neuro-cognitive origins and consequences of social behaviour in humans. The book's thesis is that "over the most recent evolution, the last 20,000 years", humans have been "selecting each other for prosocial behaviour and that has changed our brains and the way we've become more codependent". He presented this topic at
The Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...
,
The Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
and the 2014
Cheltenham Science Festival Cheltenham Science Festival is one of the UK's leading science festivals, and is part of Cheltenham Festivals: also responsible for the Jazz, Music and Literature Festivals that run every year. The 2018 Cheltenham Science Festival (6–11 June) ...
. Hood's most recent book, ''Possessed: Why Do We Want More Than We Need?'' published in 2019 addresses the psychological mechanisms behind over-consumption and the link between materialism and self-identity building on the ideas of William James and Russell Belk's 'extended self-concept'. In addition to books, Hood has appeared in numerous popular science podcasts, radio shows, TV series and documentary movies. In 2011, Hood was chosen to present the prestigious ''
Royal Institution Christmas Lectures The Royal Institution Christmas Lectures are a series of lectures on a single topic each, which have been held at the Royal Institution in London each year since 1825, missing 1939–1942 because of the Second World War. The lectures present sci ...
'' entitled ''Meet Your Brain'' The lectures were first broadcast on BBC4 and again on BBC2 in 2012. Hood also appeared in the award-winning eco-documentary movie ''Living in the Futures' Past'' co-produced and presented by academy award winner
Jeff Bridges Jeffrey Leon Bridges (born December 4, 1949) is an American actor. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. Bridges comes from a prominent a ...
.


Skepticism

Hood played a key part in exposing the
ADE 651 The ADE 651 is a fake bomb detector produced by the British company Advanced Tactical Security & Communications Ltd (ATSC). Its manufacturer claimed it could detect bombs, guns, ammunition, and more from kilometers away. However, it was a scam ...
bogus bomb detector and similar devices in January 2010. He got involved in exposing the scam upon realising that the devices were produced locally in Somerset (UK) and challenged the creator of the devices, Jim McCormick, to demonstrate their validity. Even though McCormick initially agreed to this, the demonstration was then delayed and McCormick later required Hood to sign a non-disclosure statement concerning their meeting. Hood had also contacted the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
about McCormick and his fraudulent products, which ultimately resulted in the production of a
BBC Newsnight ''Newsnight'' (or ''BBC Newsnight'') is BBC Two's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. The programme is broadcast on weekdays at 22:30. and is also availa ...
documentary about
ADE 651 The ADE 651 is a fake bomb detector produced by the British company Advanced Tactical Security & Communications Ltd (ATSC). Its manufacturer claimed it could detect bombs, guns, ammunition, and more from kilometers away. However, it was a scam ...
and a related device, the
GT200 The GT200 is a fraudulent " remote substance detector" that was claimed by its manufacturer, UK-based Global Technical Ltd, to be able to detect, from a distance, various substances including explosives and drugs. The GT200 was sold to a number ...
. In this documentary, Hood demonstrates that the perceived effect of the devices can be explained by the
ideomotor phenomenon The ideomotor phenomenon is a psychological phenomenon wherein a subject makes motions unconsciously. Also called ideomotor response (or ideomotor reflex) and abbreviated to IMR, it is a concept in hypnosis and psychological research. It is deri ...
, which had fooled naive users.


Awards and recognition

He was awarded a
Sloan Fellowship The Sloan Research Fellowships are awarded annually by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation since 1955 to "provide support and recognition to early-career scientists and scholars". This program is one of the oldest of its kind in the United States. ...
in neuroscience in 1997, a Young Investigator Award from the International Society for Infant Studies and the
Robert L. Fantz Robert Lowell Fantz (1925–1981) was an American developmental psychologist who pioneered several studies into infant perception. In particular, the preferential looking paradigm introduced by Fantz in the 1961 is widely used in cognitive develo ...
prize in 1999. He is the only individual to win the University of Bristol Engagement Award twice (2008–2012) and in 2013, Hood received The British Psychological Society Public Engagement and Media award. From 2014 to 2016, Hood was President of the Psychology Section of the
British Science Association The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Chie ...
and in 2016, he received the inaugural Distinguished Contribution to Developmental Psychology award from the
British Psychological Society The British Psychological Society (BPS) is a representative body for psychologists and psychology in the United Kingdom. History It was founded on 24 October 1901 at University College London (UCL) as ''The Psychological Society'', the organ ...
. In 2019, he received an honorary Doctor of Science from
Abertay University , mottoeng = "Blessed is the one who finds wisdom." , established = 1994 – granted University Status 1888 – Dundee Institute of Technology , type = Public , chancellor = Alice Brown , principal = Liz Bacon , head_label = Chair of C ...
and is honorary life-time fellow of the Association Psychological Science and
The Royal Institution The Royal Institution of Great Britain (often the Royal Institution, Ri or RI) is an organisation for scientific education and research, based in the City of Westminster. It was founded in 1799 by the leading British scientists of the age, in ...
of Great Britain.


Publications


Books

* Bruce Hood: ''Possessed: Why We Want More Than We Need'' (2019),
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
. * Bruce Hood: ''The Domesticated Brain'' (2014),
Pelican Books Pelican Books is a non-fiction imprint of Penguin Books"About Penguin - Compa ...
. * Bruce Hood: ''The Self Illusion: Why there is no 'you' inside your head'' (2012),
Constable & Robinson Constable & Robinson Ltd. is an imprint of Little, Brown which publishes fiction and non-fiction books and ebooks. Founded in Edinburgh in 1795 by Archibald Constable as Constable & Co., and by Nick Robinson as Robinson Publishing Ltd in 1983, ...
. * Daniel Schacter, Daniel Gilbert, Daniel Wegner, Bruce Hood: ''Psychology'' (2011),
Palgrave Macmillan Palgrave Macmillan is a British academic and trade publishing company headquartered in the London Borough of Camden. Its programme includes textbooks, journals, monographs, professional and reference works in print and online. It maintains off ...
. * Bruce Hood: ''SuperSense: Why We Believe in the Unbelievable'' (2009), Constable & Robinson.


Key publications

*


Popular science articles


Bruce Hood on The Huffington Post

Bruce Hood on Scientific American


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hood, Bruce Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century English writers Alumni of the University of Cambridge Alumni of the University of Dundee Canadian psychologists Critics of parapsychology English sceptics English science writers Psychology writers Science activists Canadian science writers