June 2026 - David R Hamilton PHD

Name It to Tame It

By Dr David R Hamilton | June 10, 2026 |

Square block of nine squares (3 by 3), each of a different colour and containing a cartoon face depicting different expressions - mostly smiles. Top middle (yellow) shows boredom and top right (blue) shows irritation, but the rest are of varying types of smiles, with the eyes helping to distinguish between smiles.

That process of identifying and naming a specific emotion appears to change how the brain responds to it. It’s known as ‘affect labelling’ and it reduces activity in the brain’s threat detection system.

Why Expectations Change Experience… and How to Change Yours

By Dr David R Hamilton | June 3, 2026 |

Cartoon of woman walking across a blue sky by stepping on three floating lightbulbs. Two bulbs are yellow and one is grey. Moving from the left, she's currently stepping from the grey one, which is smaller, onto a larger yellow one in the middle, and there's an even larger yellow one on the right, which would be her next step.

Expectation shapes perception across many domains – from taste and pain to performance and wellbeing. Here’s the science and some ways to work with your own expectation.

Archive for June 2026

Name It to Tame It

Why Expectations Change Experience… and How to Change Yours

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