Article archive / January 1, 2010
Originally published: . Volume 1, No. 5. Source pages: 2.
Researchers had people concentrate either on the image of a college professor or a super-model, then after a distraction and some time, participants were given a general knowledge test. Those primed with the professor scored significantly better than expected and those primed with the super-model did more poorly. Since I’m fond of Jung’s archetypes, I’ve been delighted to see that, cognitive, social, and evolutionary psychology are coming together to help explain how these magic tricks work. The rabbit isn’t in the hat, but it’s somewhere close.
For human productivity in any setting, it matters which archetypes (mental images) we conjure (prime). In industry we match people to tasks, so it’s helpful to understand the person’s conscious, non-conscious styles, and for sure, the job to be done. Warriors make trouble if there’s no battle handy, Peacemakers cause trouble if tough decisions have to be made, Wanderers make trouble if everyone needs to come together, and so on. But Magicians creates something out of nothing. One day the light bulb didn’t exist, the next day it did, and things changed forever.
Our association has a renewal coming (bylaws revision) and I suspect we’ll have all the archetypes hanging out. We even have a parliamentarian, who will help us conjure our Wise One. After a time, I’m sure our Magicians will create something better that didn’t exist before.
After all, we’re psychologists. If we can’t pull a rabbit out of a hat, nobody can.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.