Answer to Question 1
Answer: You might combat his overconfidence barrier, making him a little more humble in his assessments of his own cognitive prowess; more specifically, you might ask him to consider the opposite point of viewto consider how things might have come out otherwise. You might recommend that he take a college or university course in statistics or the scientific method or that he pursue graduate work in psychology.
Answer to Question 2
Answer: Counterfactual thinking is the process of mentally redoing the past. Sometimes this may be done by going through a series of what if scenarios to mentally determine how to correct a previous mistake. Counterfactual thinking can be beneficial if people use it as a means to learn from their mistakes and to do better in the future. However, it can be detrimental if people get caught in a cycle of rumination, in which they focus on the negative aspects of their mistakes. Rumination has been linked to depression, suggesting that counterfactual thinking may lead to depression if people focus only on the mistake.
Three Tasmanian devils feeding. Eating is a social event for the Tasmanian devil, and groups of 2 to
Attachment security correlates with later social competence.
Healthier choices can be made when time is taken to read a nutrition label.
Measuring Social Development
Social Psychologist
Critical-Thinking Tip