Psychology for CAT RC, in 10 essays

Psychology is one of the most frequent RC genres: studies, biases, emotion, memory and the self. These essays give you the long, hedged, evidence-heavy prose of real passages, where the author's tone matters as much as the findings.

Read them in order: they go from easiest to hardest. Answer the questions under each before moving on.

1. 1The Dancers of Strasbourg and the Cure That Fed the PlagueIn the summer of 1518 a street in Strasbourg filled with people who could not stop dancing, and the official remedy may have made things worse.Medium · 1 min
2. 2The Pen That Was Said to Make People SmileA pen held in the teeth was once said to make cartoons funnier. When seventeen laboratories tried it again, the effect nearly vanished, and the argument moved to why.Medium · 1 min
3. 3The Number That Was an AverageA popular rule says ten thousand hours make an expert. The study behind it reported an average for one group of violinists, not a threshold for everyone.Medium · 1 min
4. 4The Nurse Who Lay in a Hospital for Four DecadesOne patient's long silence led the Supreme Court to ask whether the right to live with dignity includes the right to die with it.Medium · 2 min
5. 5The Marshmallow That Was Never Only About WillpowerA treat on a plate became the most famous test of character in modern psychology. A larger study and a cleverer experiment suggest that the children may have been answering a different question.Medium · 2 min
6. 6The Mozart Effect Was Never About MozartA 1993 study of 36 students led a US governor to send classical music to every newborn in his state. The effect was small, short and probably not about Mozart at all.Medium · 2 min
7. 7The Seven Stages of Love: From Spark to BecomingA concise philosophical reflection on the seven stages of love, tracing its journey from fleeting attraction to lasting transformation.Medium · 3 min
8. 8Déjà Vu: The Familiarity of the UnlivedAn exploration of déjà vu as an illusion, revealing how the brain constructs false familiarity and exposing the fragile, reconstructed nature of memory.Medium · 3 min
9. 9The Forgotten Third of Our LivesWhy can't we remember our dreams? Discover how REM sleep, memory, and evolution shape the forgotten third of our lives.Medium · 3 min
10. 10The “Good Girl” Tax: How the Madonna–Whore Complex Limits Professional GrowthAn exploration of the “Good Girl Tax,” showing how the ancient Madonna–Whore archetype still shapes workplace expectations and quietly restricts women's professional advancement.Medium · 3 min

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