I am currently the Director of the Bristol Cognitive Development Centre in the Experimental Psychology Department at the University of Bristol. I have been a research fellow at Cambridge University and University College London, a visiting scientist at MIT and a faculty professor at Harvard. I have been awarded an Alfred Sloan Fellowship in neuroscience, the Young Investigator Award from the International Society of Infancy Researchers, the Robert Fantz memorial award and voted to Fellowship status by the society of American Psychological Science.
I have diverse research interests including the origins of supernatural beliefs, intuitive theory formation, object representation, spatial cognition, inhibitory control and general cognitive development.
I am a great fan of British 1960′s horror movies especially Hammer Films and have a reasonable collection of original US ‘B’ movie posters. But like many irrational collections, I don’t have the space to display them. I also have a perverse fascination for early postcards from the sideshow era. Although I do not believe in supernatural powers, I generally enjoy hearing about them as well as all the strange beliefs surrounding them.
I have just adapted the highly successful US student textbook “Psychology” by the three Dans (Schacter, Gilbert & Wegner) for the non-US market. I have also just finished my next book, “The Self Illusion” which will be published in the US by OUP and the UK by Constable & Robinson in 2012. It is also due out in Canada, Israel and South Korea! I have also just completed the 2011 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures which are broadcast on the BBC. You can see the lectures as well as behind-the-scenes at the Ri Channel You know what they say? “The Devil finds work for idle hands!”
DISCLAIMER: The content and opinions expressed on this site having nothing to do with the University of Bristol.
More personal stuff can be found here at my Author’s Page.
I have recently joined the celebrated ranks of Skeptic Top Trumps
Hello! You left a comment on my blog – can I email you? My email details are on the ‘About’ on my blog… very interested in talking to you!
I like to think I have an open mind about such things supernatural or strange, though the only real strangeness I’ve experienced firsthand has been of the completely mundane variety. I am fascinated by ghost stories and tales of supernatural beings, even write some fiction in that vein. I once had a conversation with a biological scientist I worked with several years ago involving his experiences all his life with spirits. He was as logical and ‘normal’ a person you could imagine, yet had experienced unexplainable things. This leads me to lean more toward the believer end of the spectrum, though if a scientific explanation for such events were presented, I wouldn’t dismiss either as impossible. I feel there are things we don’t understand; and among them are things we aren’t meant to understand. Which is which? Beats me…
Thanks for the heads up, Bruce. And for the informative alphainventions.com post. Will read up on this asap – have to finish a grant application first. Oh, the joys of academia!
Kind regards,
Tom
Thank you for alerting me to your book: I’d be very happy to purchase it when it comes out in Australia!
I’m very interested in how people can believe the things they do, and it seems like SuperSense covers this exact topic in a lot of detail.
I hope everything goes well.
Cheers,
Jack
your blog looks great! I will henceforth be a reader. =) Thanks for shouting out to our piece on Ari on the Daily!
-Carrie
Stimulating site Bruce. I am certain it will generate plenty of interest.
Maureen
Really interesting blog Bruce.
I consider myself toward the believing end of open minded, having never ‘experienced’ anything other than the ‘Parking Angel’ to satisfy my need of proof.
Working on a stroke unit has enabled me to witness first hand effects of brain damage on personality, inhibition and cognative function. It is a fascinating field.
Last night a very poorly elderly patient of mine became very agitated and upset, she has difficulty in communicating though her cognative functions are still essentially in tact. At one point she was clearly having a conversation with someone, when I was the only other person in the room.
I asked her if she could see some one and she indicated that it was her Father. To cut a long story short, she indicated that his presence was not frightening, (she had been a Daddy’s girl) but she became upset and said she wasn’t ready to go.
This followed a night of her pulling off her blankets (even though she was cold), slapping herself and sucessfully batteling sleep.
Often sick patients can be seen looking upwards towards the corner of their vision for a few hours or days before they die, and most staff believe that ‘someone comes to take them’. I have witnessed the grumpiest of grumpy old men ‘see’ these ‘visions’ and spend the last two hours of his life with the biggest smile on his face.
Are these patients hallucinating as the brain closes down? I don’t know, but it much more reasuring for all of us to believe the alternative.
Wow! How did such a smart guy run into my blog?…lol. My father went to MIT. I once was going to move to the UK, but it didn’t work out.
P.S. supernatural things scare me! =(
http://www.singleinatlanta.wordpress.com
Hmmm…somehow I landed here while checking out alphainventions.com after they appeared as a link on my blog.
Interesting “about” you have. I must confess, I am a believer. I know what I have seen. Then again maybe I am simply crazy. :O
I’ll be back to read your words.
Thanks for the comment, Bruce. I’ll definitely be dropping by here regularly. Excellent blog. Looking forward to reading more when I have time.
great blog! well written and concise post! i will be back for more great reads…
Ah Bruce, why did you have to go and bump me off AI, now I have been wasting my time trying to return the compliment (to no avail). Oh well, never mind.
Hi Bruce, I have found another clip showing the Royal Guard clipping the tourist behind the ear. Fingers crossed they keep it up long enough for you to view it (oh, before the Queen gets it removed again!).
http://frigginloon.wordpress.com/2009/01/23/royal-guardsman-attacks-mimicking-tourist/
Hi Bruce,
Thanks for all of the great posts and for adding me to your blogroll. It’s greatly appreciated (and I will be happy to return the favour!) I have a friend who shares your Hammer fascination and also collects the posters. He too doesn’t have space to hang them all. I caught the bug and have a handful of movie posters but only one Hammer; “The Gorgon.” It’s a great piece.
Thanks again, Ram
Hi Bruce. I cruised along after reading your comments in a discussion at Condron.us. Interesting to see educated people thriving on the blog scene as well. Australian release for your book?
W
Zephyr — a superhero webcomic in prose
wereviking.wordpress.com
hi bruce, came here by way of http://tothewire.wordpress.com.
i’m enjoying your blog. i’m curious about all things supernatural and like to debunk them but am fascinated by them anyway and delight in reading about the subject. anything on crop circles? england seems to have the best manifestations. how about spontaneous human combustion? that is a real phenomena…
thanks!
you don’t believe in supernatural abilities? clairvoyance, telekinesis, etc?? in the realm of parapsychology i do believe some individuals are able to harness their psychic energies and are able to manifest them in different ways- consciously or subconsciously, e.g ouija board planchettes and poltergeist activity, debunking ghosts but evidencing psychic energy.
Hi Bruce! I’m Mary from Jon and Mary in the Morning Radio show in Wisconsin. We interview you this coming Monday morning and I can’t wait! I started SuperSense last night. This kind of information is fascinating to me. Of course, growing up in an Irish Catholic household where there was a new superstition spewing from my Grandma McCarthy’s lips every day, may have had an impact on my thoughts. (Yes, I fly with my rosary in my purse and I wear a Miraculous Medal. Having said that, I deeply believe in the power of prayer.) I’ll keep reading and we’ll talk to you Monday morning, Bruce!
Dear Richard,
That was thrown in for a bit of humor… I didn’t realize that someone had actually worked it out! But you do agree there has been more than one shroud – no? And that there was an medieval industry in relics in much the same way that James Randi recounts in the book. Thanks for the comment.
Best
Bruce
I definitely with you on Chomsky/deep structure vs. Skinner. But I think
skeptics err when making replicability the touchstone of scientific
inquiry. I think there are phenomena worthy of scientific investigation
which cannot be replicated under laboratory conditions. William James,
whom you cite favorably on other matters at several points in the book,
certainly was a “believer” in the possibility of psychic phenomena.
There
certainly was a profit motive in the medieval relic trade. But with
respect to the Shroud, I’ll get back to you.
Thanks for your response.
Richard
I would love to chat with you about any upcoming US tours. I could not find your email anywhere though.
Best,
Whitney
Enjoyed your MCing at the Conspiracy Theories lecture at the Bristol Festival of Ideas. Sorry we didn’t manage to get tickets for your session.
On page 26 in “SuperSense” you say that the limbic system is “Sometimes referred to as the ‘reptilian’ part of the brain”. Perhaps others have made the same mistake, but Paul MacLean, originator of the concept, on page 16 in his book “The Triune Brain in Evolution” refers to the limbic system as the “Paleomammalian Brain”. “Reptilian Brain” refers to the brain stem.
Ooops Alvin. I stand corrected. The book is ambitious in its scope. I’ll need to be more careful in future but I hope the general story is reasonably accurate.
I needed to know this info too. How has this misinformation come about. Thanks Alvin.
Hi Bruce, your book was recommended to me by my PhD supervisor, what an excellent choice! It lead me onto about a dozen other books in a similar vein, including Stuart Vyse’s ‘Believing in Magic’ and Dean Hamer’s ‘The God Gene’, basically your book has helped me figured out my hypothesis! So if I get through my viva, it will be partly due to your book and where it lead me! Thanks! You the man!
Thank you Fiona-Jane… that was such a kind thing to write.
I enjoyed your book. I’m a pathologist and I sometimes wonder about where the “soul” is when I hold a brain in my hands. I think the theory of emergence may have an answer.
Anyway, I didn’t see a link to this article from the Sunday NYT on Capgras syndrome so I didn’t know if you had seen it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/health/research/09brain.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=when%20loved%20ones%20seem%20imposters&st=cse
Thanks Paul… No I hadn’t seen the article – thanks for the link.
Bruce,
A statement you made at the end of Supersense gave me an idea for a new book you could write; or maybe I’ll write it. It’s called “Playing God with Information”.
See, at the end of the book you talked about how you met the current residents at the cardigan killer house. You decided to TAKE information from them, but not GIVE them any information in return. This is critical information that you researched through “great pains” as you say. This is information that you were sharing with the entire world who would buy your book. The residents were the only people NOT to know. That’s crazy, because they were the ones who needed the information the most.
This is a classic example of making your decision first, then justifying it afterwards. Do you know why you made that decision? You said it was to protect them. Ahhh, no. It was to protect you. It was to let sleeping dogs lie. It was to not open a can of worms. It was to not inconvenience yourself.
It’s ok. People do this all the time. We all play God with information. The premise of the book can answer the simple question: Why do we all want the full information from others, while we withhold the full information from others?
Lack of information NEVER protects listener. It only serves the person holding back the information.
I’m a fan of full disclosure to an extreme and to let the chips fall where they may.
Anyway, I’m not trying to give you a hard time. I liked your book. Its just that the ending shows a clear reason why we have a Supersense; because people hold back the truth and we’re left having to figure it out another way. The residents feel the ghosts, but it would be a helluva lot easier if you just told them what happened there like you told the rest of the world.
Are you saying that we should always tell everyone any information that may have some bearing on their situation? Surely not. Also are you also saying that the residents probably experienced ghosts?
But yes, I did wonder if I should include the epilogue and mention that the house still existed. I figured that if the rest of the world knew then the book would have done pretty well and I could justify my disclosure. If the book did not do well then it would generally not be known. At the time, it just seemed wrong to tell them.
Thanks for reading and commenting.
Best
Bruce
Lack of information NEVER protects the listener? OK, then, my alcoholic friend, you should know that the pub around the corner is having a 2 for 1 special right now. Matt, you are assuming that people are perfectly rational and will use information to their best interests. However, the main point of Bruce’s book is that people are not and never will be fully rational. He did not tell the people living there of the history of the house because he, quite rightly, recognised they might not react fully rationally to this information, just like the alcoholic from my example. I would have done exactly the same thing that Bruce did. Doing otherwise would have been irresponsible.
Bruce? Bruce from Dundee Uni circa 1981/82? Party Bruce, coolest dude in town?
Would you believe I began reading your book today? It’s a fascinating topic especially the ‘humans as pattern recognition machines’ aspect in terms of explaining curious perceptual phenomena (I did Psychology at Dundee too). Excellent work.
Click my Website link for some photos of that era – does the name Plastic Flies conjour memories?
Apologies if I have confused you with another Bruce Hood. I’ll get my coat.
bruce
im enjoying your book but i have a question.
why can’t intelligent design be evolution, after all evolution would be the intelligent way to design any being?
regards
gary
Well I think this is really Dawkins’ point about the difference between a system that has a goal in mind (designed) as to one where there is no goal (chance variation and selection by competition), where complexity simply emerges as a consequence.
Does that help?
Bruce – many thanks for a very interesting and entertaining presentation this evening, and for being so accessible afterwards – fascinating, and now looking forward to reading the book.
Regards! I’m extremely interested in the Cognitive Science of the Religion, and I have followed some publications from his blog and other sites.
I direct a blog and a forum of divulgation (all in spanish) of this topic: http://humanismonaturalistacientifico.blogspot.com/ that focuses in neuroscience of religion. It would be good that you visit the site, because there is a lot of information. I think that you would be interested in seeing that there is a temporo-parieto-frontal network in the right hemisphere of the brain (homologus to languague network on left side) that it correlates with the cognitive bases (agency, causality, folk psychology, empathy, ToM) that support the supernatural belief.
I have dedicated some publications on your work:
http://foroshnc.freeforums.org/supersense-t53.html (on “Supersense…”, extracting information from your blog)
http://foroshnc.freeforums.org/somos-creyentes-innatos-o-receptores-culturales-t60.html (on an online interview)
http://humanismonaturalistacientifico.blogspot.com/2009/09/ciencia-cognitiva-de-la-religion.html (on the controversial note “We are born to believe in God”, updated with your crticis about it).
And now I’m preparing an entry on his your video-interview with Eduardo Punset.
Congratulations for your brilliant work.
Antonio
hello bruce!
here’s something one of our cheeky authors at ADKOB posted that made me think of supersense: http://tothewire.wordpress.com/2009/12/03/virgin-mary-in-a-pancake/
Bruce, Just heard your On Point interview (re-broadcast).
Excellent talk , can’t wait to read your book when it arrives.
My own specialism is consumer behavior so you can see the connection.
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Hey there, mr. Hood. Just wanted to let you know that I was the person in charge of translating your book into Portuguese. It was really an enjoyable experience, and your book really made me think about a few things. Keep up the good work!
Hello, Dr. Hood! My name is Daria Okuneva and I am a journalist on the Russian broadcasting channel TVC (Moscow). Currently I am working on the news item about your investigation in the field of children s pcycology. I have read that you came to the conclusion that all children subconciensly do believe in supernatural things, do belive in God. Would appreciate very much if you could find time to comment on your interesting findings. If you are interested, it is possible to hold an interview by Skype or telephone. For doing so you could kindly inform us about the most suitable time for you for holding the interview and provide us with your Skype details or contact telephone number. Or, may be, your collegues from the Institute will help us with that.
I would be very grateful for your answer and for your assistance!
If you have any questions or would like to receive any additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me.
tel: +7916147-73-05, mail: stardog@yandex.ru
Kind regards,
Hello Bruce,
I had a small epiphany the other day while standing in a grocery story line-up.
The lady behind me had a toddler who was named “Bella”. I recalled that the main female character in the movies series “Twilight” had that name, and this got me to thinking about how often people name their children after TV/Movie characters.
Do you suppose that, just like people collect things that they subconsciously think gives them some of the essence of the previous owner (e.g. a signature of a movie star) that somehow they also believe that naming their children after a famous TV/movie character somehow will rub off some of that character’s essence on their child?
I wonder what your thoughts might be on that?
Hmm.. I think that would be taking the essentialist concept too far. People just like the sound of some names or the associations they conjure.. Essentialism is not simply association as I have been at pains to argue – if it is then it becomes an invalid concept which I don’t think it is. Rather, the behavioural consequences of essentialism speak to a much richer notion than association supplies e.g. contamination fears
But thanks for the thought
Thanks Bruce. Yes, that makes sense now that you’ve explained it again. I leant my book out and was struggling to clearly remember the concept as described in Supersense.
Thanks for setting me straight.
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I enjoyed your interview on SGU and thought some of your points were very valid. I was, however, disappointed that you don’t seem to know what country you are in. You state that the UK charges around $5000 per year for higher education. I have recently completed my M.Sci. in Chemistry at the University of Glasgow and didn’t pay any fees along with every other Scottish student studying for their first degree in Scotland. I now live in Canada and I am constantly frustrated with North Americans thinking that England and the UK/Britain are the same place and professors from universities in England thinking the same thing does not help the situation. Although I should point out that this was only a very small part of the interview and I found the rest very thought provoking and informative.
Ah Susan, I take your point but Scottish students are the exception and the minority (but for how long who knows). I’ll try and be more inclusive in describing the whole of the UK next time. Thanks forth positive comments. B.
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Hello again, mr. Hood. I wrote a post in March about being the translator for the Brazilian Portuguese version of Supersense. I just got my copy from the publisher. If you’d like to take a look at the cover, please feel free to come to my blog: http://artmakers.wordpress.com
Keep up the great work!
Dear Ivar,
I received copies of the Brazilian publication and absolutely love the cover. I am working on a new book – hopefully that will also be published in Brazil with another beautiful cover.
Best
Bruce
Bruce, this book filled a very necessary spot and provided a piece of the puzzle that was previously missing – bravo!
It also provides an explanation for why – despite decades of effort, the Skeptic movement has been unable to erase bunkum, and why centuries of education have not made horoscopes disappear.
I particularly enjoyed the passages on contagion, and felt you have provided ample space for more research and testable predictions about behavior.
One area that I felt begged for more space in the book were the results of the “Mister Rogers” experiment. The fact that the adult students believed more strongly than children that somebody ignorant of the person or the origin of the clothing would “behave differently and feel more special”, deserves more scrutiny.
Dear Matthew,
Thank you for the kind words. Your points about contagion are being addressed as we speak. I have a grad student working on positive and negative contagion from wearing sweater. Also Paul Bloom just just published a “George Clooney” sweater study and we have been looking at moral contagion from organ donation that has just been published – so more research coming out or in the works.
Best
Bruce
Hello,
My name is Alyssa Jacobs. I have been reading through your blog and finding it very interesting. I love the a squared plus b squared, equals salt shared. it is a nice touch. I love to write, and i think I could make a great contribution to your page. If this is something that interests you, then shoot me a quick email when you get a chance.
Kind regards,
Alyssa
AlyssaMJacobs@gmail.com
Cheeky .Monkeys doesn’t seem to be there .
`The BBC asked me to take it down
I stumbled across a commentary on your work, and thought you might like to browse through my very unstructured look at our cognitive life. CRC – Comprehension, Rationalisation and Conclusion
http://www.sl4p.net.crc
I have been loosely following this as a personal study for almost 20 years – and it’s never failed.
wordpress tweaked the link above –
it shoud be /slash/ CRC
http://www.sl4p.net/crc
A psychic has recently channeled Heath Ledger:
http://divinechanneljacqueline.blogspot.com/
Bruce, I want to email you but I can’t find an address. Are you purposely coy or am I thick? Probably the latter. Anyway, there is a favour I want to ask of you to which you’ll probably say no, but my Australian publicist says I should try.
Oh come on, I am the least coy guy you can find. If it is an endorsement or blurb, I am likely to decline as I have no time to read anything at the moment
It’s bruce.hood at bristol.ac.uk (reformat accordingly)
You are a very intelligent individual!
I have only just watched the second episode of “Meet Your Brain”.
I’m 48 years old and I don’t think I have ever had so much fun!
I am anxious to see the third, and will be exploring your books and other projects with hunger.
Elephant juice!
Bruce,
I have recently been watching your Christmas Lectures about the brain and found them very interesting. I have been reading you blog and other sections of your website and have found your adapted edition of ‘Psychology’. I have been reading many product descriptions about this book online and I just wondered what the recommended age would be. I am thirteen years old and am highly interested on the topic of psychology; would I understand the text and other sections of this title?
Regards
Sam
Hi Sam, “Psychology” is a textbook for university undergraduate students but I am sure that a bright young person like you would understand it. But it is quite expensive. Send me an email to my university address and I’ll see about getting a copy sent to you. You can find me on Google.
Best
Bruce
Thank you for bringing this to my attention – I haven’t laughed so much for a long time
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Dear Mr. Hood
Could you please tell me when your book “The Self Illusion” comes out in full on Kindle (UK)?
Thanks
Henry Swanson
I was walking the streets of Bristol last week when I saw you and was going to tell you how much I enjoyed the Christmas Lectures when I thought to myself “don’t be silly, what would Bruce Hood be doing in Bristol?!”. Then I am told (much later) that it is actually quite likely that you would be in Bristol so I probably wouldn’t have seemed mad.
I really enjoyed the Christmas Lectures.
Your book is incredible. I do have one complaint, however, though it is not about any of the large ideas in “The Self Illusion”. You accept the idea that some of our beliefs are the result of believing what we are told, rather than any type of reasoning process. It is one of these unconscious beliefs that I take issue with, and though not stated explicitly, it came through at one point and was transmitted to others through your writing.
“Maybe that’s why belief in free will predicts not only better job performance but also expected career success. Workers who believe in free will outperform their colleagues, and this is recognized and rewarded by their supervisors. So, when we belive in free will, we enjoy life more.”
The last statement begins with the word “so”. This implies that it is a logical conclusion of the preceding statements. For the statement to be a logical conclusion, however, one would have to accept the notion that enjoyment of life is related to work, performance at work, or success at work. I disagree with that notion. It is embedded so deep in so many ways of life – in the US, at least – that it is difficult to recognize and even harder to combat, though this is my first attempt to do so.
I have no doubt that belief in free will (as opposed to not believing it) translates into better job performance, increased recognition by employers, and success* in one’s chosen career. I have a problem with the assumption that those things are somehow related to how much a person enjoys life. There is no discussion linking enjoyment of life with a person’s job or career. Rather, it is blindly accepted as a given that success at one’s job is correlated with enjoyment of life.
If examined closely, I’d bet that the two actually are strongly correlated. But only because of the widespread acceptance of this notion – through writings like yours which implicitly reinforce the meme – the notion that your job and what you do for a living is more important than any other aspect of your life. It doesn’t have to be that way, and I think such focus on one’s career keeps people from actively celebrating or wondering about what a remarkable thing life is.
Oddly enough, people who accept this notion (that career success and happiness go hand-in-hand) have less free will about many things simply because they haven’t even considered alternatives (e.g., happiness can be achieved through means other than succeeding at work and/or making money).
(*I’m sure that the notion of career success is also something that most people blindly accept rather than consciously define for themselves, probably something such as having high rank in an organization, or making lots of money regardless of what one’s job is.)