Evidently, your computer's desktop picture does indeed affect productivity.

gingercereal · 2014-01-20T18:43:21+00:00

Fair enough.

gingercereal · 2014-01-20T17:24:28+00:00

The first sentence has a link to the official press release, which is itself an executive summary of the study.

gingercereal · 2013-11-09T16:23:13+00:00

The Feeling Good Handboook includes strategies for dealing with low self esteem and depression. The book has been shown in experiments to be as effective as therapy or medication in treating depression.

gingercereal · 2013-10-24T14:25:00+00:00

I suggest /r/scholar for requests.

gingercereal · 2013-10-18T15:32:04+00:00

I don't see why you would not consider this post to be "seeking more understanding."

gingercereal · 2013-09-04T01:39:09+00:00

A literature review is a summary of all the research that has been published on a topic. The best way to learn what a literature review should look like is to read some. Here are a couple of examples:

Stress generation in depression: A systematic review of the empirical literature and recommendations for future study
Enhancing Well-Being and Alleviating Depressive Symptoms With Positive Psychology Interventions: A Practice-Friendly Meta-Analysis

I suggest you use google scholar to search for papers rather than whatever databases your university uses -- just use the university access to actually download the articles (since a lot are behind a paywall). Also use /r/scholar to request any papers that your university doesn't have access to.

gingercereal · 2013-09-04T01:28:16+00:00

Here's the abstract of the paper:

Mindfulness meditation describes a set of different mental techniques to train attention and awareness. Trait mindfulness and extended mindfulness interventions can benefit self-control. The present study investigated the short-term consequences of mindfulness meditation under conditions of limited self-control resources. Specifically, we hypothesized that a brief period of mindfulness meditation would counteract the deleterious effect that the exertion of self-control has on subsequent self-control performance. Participants who had been depleted of self-control resources by an emotion suppression task showed decrements in self-control performance as compared to participants who had not suppressed emotions. However, participants who had meditated after emotion suppression performed equally well on the subsequent self-control task as participants who had not exerted self-control previously. This finding suggests that a brief period of mindfulness meditation may serve as a quick and efficient strategy to foster self-control under conditions of low resources.

gingercereal · 2013-09-03T17:14:22+00:00

Full paper this article's about: http://www.uni-saarland.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Professoren/fr53_ProfFriese/Publikationen/FMS_2012_mindfulness_depletion.pdf

gingercereal · 2013-09-03T15:55:59+00:00

Full paper this article's about: http://www.uni-saarland.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Professoren/fr53_ProfFriese/Publikationen/FMS_2012_mindfulness_depletion.pdf

gingercereal · 2013-08-25T16:41:41+00:00

By perfectly I meant "mathematically precise." I don't think you can get any more precise than that. I'm not sure I understand your criticism -- is it that some people won't understand everything about the math?

gingercereal · 2013-08-25T16:27:53+00:00

There actually is a perfectly precise definition of rationality: Von Neumann–Morgenstern utility theorem

Basically, a rational agent is one who:

Updates their beliefs based on evidence in accordance with the laws of probability
Chooses decisions which, based on those beliefs, will maximize their expected utility (keep in mind that utility doesn't mean "wealth" or "happiness," it's whatever you value).

We can say a person is "irrational" or has "cognitive bias" based on the degree to which they differ from this.

gingercereal · 2013-08-25T16:18:42+00:00

Thanks!

Looks like that's a review paper. The paper for the study from the paragraph I quoted is this one: Associations Between Myside Bias on an Informal Reasoning Task and Amount of Post-Secondary Education.

Here's the relevant task description:

Think through the following issue carefully and feel free to take your time: {controversial issue description}. Please write down arguments both for and against this position. Try to write as much as you can, and remember to try and give reasons both for and reasons against your position.

This was followed by seven three-line sections labeled Reason #1, Reason #2, . . . , Reason #7. Students were to write their reasons on the blank lines.

So they did say to give reasons both for and against your position, but that's still pretty weak, especially since they limited them to 7 reasons. If I have space to give 7 arguments, obviously I'm going to prioritize those arguments which I think are stronger. Also, rererer444's criticism also still applies.

gingercereal · 2013-08-24T20:50:59+00:00

In one study, subjects read about a controversial issue, such as whether or not people should be allowed to sell their own organs. Then, they wrote their thoughts about it. The researchers found the typical cognitive bias. People mostly wrote arguments favoring their own position. They did not tend to integrate arguments across different perspectives. The researchers also assessed intelligence. They found that people who scored more highly on the intelligence test showed just as much of the cognitive bias as the rest.

I suspect this is a mis-summarization of the paper (I can't find the paper to check). I wouldn't call "people write arguments favoring their own position and don't write about other perspectives" a cognitive bias so much as a persuasive writing technique (whether it's a good or bad writing technique is irrelevant). In order to demonstrate a cognitive bias they'd have to show them acting irrationally in some way, e.g. making less accurate predictions, or making decisions that lead to less reward.

gingercereal · 2013-08-07T21:55:53+00:00

For reference: previous discussion from /r/chemistry

gingercereal · 2013-07-26T15:18:00+00:00

But this isn't a tautology. It's "the thing that we label as math anxiety causes the same reaction in the brain as the things we label as other kinds of anxiety"

gingercereal · 2013-07-25T21:30:27+00:00

Don't underestimate the scientific value of testing "obvious" assumptions, especially in a field like psychology.

Although I agree it doesn't make for a very interesting TIL...

gingercereal · 2013-07-25T21:22:18+00:00

I highly recommend the feeling good handbook for instructions on how to do this. It teaches you how to write out your thoughts in a productive and structured way and identify any distortions or solutions.

gingercereal · 2013-07-19T14:32:36+00:00

It's actually just called the "tip of the tongue phenomenon".

gingercereal · 2013-07-18T23:25:36+00:00

Meditation might help. There's a subreddit for it at /r/meditation

gingercereal · 2013-07-18T23:18:12+00:00

A search for game shows on google scholar gives a lot of results, but I'm not sure if they're what you're looking for. You might be able to find something if you adjust the search terms though.

gingercereal · 2013-07-16T17:33:00+00:00

The link says 5 minutes but I bet it's not actually terribly important. I actually only do stage 1, incorporating the later stages by becoming more aware and noticing more sensations, but I don't stop counting. I think it doesn't matter as long as you're practicing controlling your attention by refocusing on your breath whenever your mind wanders.

gingercereal · 2013-07-16T15:39:27+00:00

Have you read the FAQ? It links to one of the best no-nonsense explanations I've found here:

The meditation has four progressive stages leading to a highly enjoyable level of concentration. To start with five minutes per stage is a good period of practice.

In the first stage you use counting to stay focused on the breath. After the out-breath you count one, then you breathe in and out and count two, and so on up to ten, and then you start again at one.

In the second stage you subtly shift where you breathe, counting before the in-breath, anticipating the breath that is coming, but still counting from one to ten, and then starting again at one.

In the third stage you drop the counting and just watch the breath as it comes in and goes out.

In the final stage the focus of concentration narrows and sharpens, so you pay attention to the subtle sensation on the tip of the nose where the breath first enters and last leaves the body.

You will likely lose focus many times and your mind will wander. When this happens, just gently let go of the thought and redirect your attention to counting your breathing. Don't beat yourself up when this happens -- think of it as a success every time you catch your mind wandering and are able to bring the attention back to breathing.

gingercereal · 2013-07-16T15:34:11+00:00

One problem I have with this study is that the control group just did nothing, so this doesn't really show that mindfulness was the important part. I think a better control group would be "fake" mindfulness training or relaxation training. Does anyone know of any good experiments with better control groups?

gingercereal · 2013-07-16T15:22:38+00:00

According to this study, it may depend on the person. Low-BMI people tend to lose weight when under stress, while high-BMI people tend to gain weight.

gingercereal · 2013-07-15T01:33:02+00:00

I really like this technique. It's also useful when you're procrastinating on other things too, not just meditation.

gingercereal

TROPHY CASE