Notes from a Psychologist
Dr. Mel Whitehurst

​​​​​                            THE NOBBY HOPGOOD COLLECTIONS

Nobby Hopgood is a somewhat mysterious correspondent.  Some people reported they’ve seen him lurking in the library reading research journals.  He answers your questions about life problems or just about anything else that has to do with human behavior.  Nobby is an optimistic free-thinker that now and then contributes astute and interesting answers to your questions.   If you have a question for Nobby, send to drmelwhitehurst@gmail.com and I will pass on to Nobby.

                                                     Letter 

Dear Nobby:

What is our real age?

Sincerely,

Sandro Platzgummer

Dear Sandro:

Society employs chronological age as the marker of aging.  However, a study has shown that chronological age does not explain or consistently predict the physical changes of aging.**  Instead, individuals’ subjective perception of age provides a more reliable predictor of physical change, particularly in late life.  If you believe you are older, age-related health problems may increase and if you believe you are younger, age-related health related problems may be less.

CONCLUSION:  Subjective belief about your age is associated with acceleration or deceleration of physical aging, therefore, it could be seen as the real age.  Think younger!

**Joel Petashnick, Yaakov Hoffman, Amit Shrira, Yuval Palgi, Gitit Kave, Dov Shmotkin, and Ella Cohen-Schwartz, Subjective Age and Personality Traits in Older Adults:  Reciprocal and Indirect Effects Through Positive and Negative Effect, Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 2025, Vol. 57, No. 1, 53-58

Your Friend Nobby

                                            Letter

Dear Nobby:

What do you think would happen if I set out to do one good deed a day?

BRIXHAM BIGGLESWADE

DEAR BRIXHAM:

I don’t know for sure.  People might think you are up to something sneaky, being nice and kind like that.

To adequately answer your question, I would have to first observe other people performing good deeds, and take notes of the good deeds along with how people respond to good deeds.  Over time, that should give me several ideas for good deeds. Then I could set out to do some of them and observe the results. 

After doing this research, I could probably give you a good answer.  Nevertheless, I encourage you to keep doing good deeds when you can because I think nothing but good can result.

GOOD DEED:  Any action that is considerate, kind, or helpful to another.

YOUR FRIEND NOBBY

                                            Letter

DEAR NOBBY:

You've been known to be a rather nerdy human behavior researcher.  What are some things that you 've learned from your research?

Know How

​Dear Know How

I am still learning things about these humans. The following are just a few I've found out so far.

1. There is some, while sketchy, experimental evidence that direct mind-to-mind communication from one person is at least plausible.  Distant healing such as prayer and other forms of healing thoughts/prayers show a positive treatment effect in a limited number of research studies.

2. As people get older, they tend to get quicker at processing negative emotions, resulting in lower anxiety levels. 

3. Most people when directly confronted with proof that they are wrong, do not generally change their point of view or course of action but justify it even more tenaciously. 

4. People love to get even. Given the opportunity, most of us are generally more than happy to seek revenge if we think we will not get caught.  The results of revenge makes us feel better for the short-term but we will ultimately makes us feel worse as guilt tends to creep in.

5. People will stand up more forcefully for political beliefs that cannot be proven factually than for beliefs that can be demonstrated precisely by facts.

6. Individuals in the American population who more frequently endorsed cynical beliefs had comparatively lower incomes than less cynical.

7. Everything is changing.  We must all be verbs.

8. Participation online in the cyber world increases anonymity and escalates disinhibition, giving people the mistaken illusion they are safe in the things they say or do. 

9. Reading the reduced cheating just before taking a test, reduced cheating.  Simply reading a moral code before undertaking a task increased honesty. 

10.Excepting injury or disease, the fact is with accumulated experience, seniors can in many situations out-perform those with less experience.  Our memory or intellect does not diminish with age unless we have disease or injury!

11.Happy and unhappy people tend to have similar life experiences, both good and bad.  However, the difference is that on the average, unhappy people spend more than twice as much time thinking about unpleasant events in their lives, while happy people tend to seek and rely upon information that brightens their personal outlook.

12.There is a general acceptance that deceased persons communicate with living individuals after death.  In after-death communication, an extremely high number of living individuals reportedly experienced positive direct contact with a deceased entity, usually someone with whom the living person had a personal relationship.

13.If you feel the need to shade the truth or simply pull the wool over somebody’s eyes in order to make a point or achieve a goal, talk faster than normal.  When people rapidly responded by talking faster they were viewed as more sincere.  Slower responding people were viewed as less genuine.  The success of prosperity gospel as a religious belief system is the ability to generate positivity in people, not in its theological teachings.

14.Political issues that gain attention, no matter how ridiculous, gain importance.

15.Consciously using positive words will elevate your mood and consciously using negative words will lower your mood. 

16.Making a private promise to yourself without anyone knowing, increases your chances of achieving that promise.

17.Being connected to others is much important to subjective well-being (happiness) than being rich.

18.People evaluate civil people more favorable than uncivil people.  Political leaders who were uncivil (discourteous) in speeches and debates are seen as less warm and less honest regardless of their political ideology

19.It’s easier to fool you with fake news than with factual information.  Fake news, conspiracy theories, hate speech, junk science, and rumors require less effort to read and understand than real news.

20.Having a near-death experience will reduce your fear of death, strengthen belief in life after death, increase love for others and lessen concern for material gain, recognition of status.

21.People get stronger when they take action.

22.People are generally motivated to follow other people’s behavior. 

23.Silently sending positive thoughts to others will raise your level of happiness

24.Make a personal commitment to notice anything that inspires you.  Consciously look for inspirations add happiness and meaning to your life.  

Your Friend Nobby

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