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Mindless tasks boost creative potential
The Globe and Mail: “Do you have a numbingly dull job, one so monotonous that you frequently find your mind wandering?” asks Pacific Standard magazine. “Well, congratulations: Without realizing it, you have boosted your creative potential. Mindless tasks that allow our thoughts to roam can be catalysts for innovation. That’s the conclusion of a research team led by Benjamin Baird and Jonathan Schooler of the University of California, Santa Barbara’s META Lab (which focuses on Memory, Emotion, Thought and Awareness). Their research, published in the journal Psychological Science, suggests putting a difficult problem in the back of your mind won’t, by itself, lead to creative thinking.
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Bang? Zeg wat je voelt. (Afraid? Say what you feel)
De Telegraaf: Dat blijkt uit een nieuwe studie van UCLA. Psychologen vroegen 88 vrijwilligers met angst voor spinnen, een tarantula in de buitenlucht onder ogen te komen. De vrijwilligers moesten stapje voor stapje dichterbij komen en uiteindelijk de spin aanraken. Gevoel omschrijven De proefpersonen werden vervolgens verdeeld in vier groepen en moesten in een kamer gaan zitten voor een bak met daarin een tarantula. De mensen uit de eerste groep beschreven hun emoties bij het zien van de spin. Bijvoorbeeld door te zeggen: ‘Ik ben bang voor die lelijke angstaanjagende harige spin’. Gevoelens onderdrukken De tweede groep moest hun gevoelens onderdrukken en de ervaring veranderen.
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Yes We Can Go Forward and Believe in America! When did US campaign slogans become self-help mantras?
New Statesman: Something's happened to US campaign slogans. Something affirmative. Inspiring. Motivational. Yes! They've become self-help mantras. Romney has his rather hectoring “Believe in America” and Obama the grammatically pointed “Forward.” – the much discussed full stop signifying, apparently, a mind set on its course. Last election, of course, we had the rabble-rousing chant “Yes, we can”. The tone now borrows from life coaches where it once borrowed from the advertising industry (“I like Ike”, “Keep cool and keep Coolidge”), and this time it’s much harder to oppose. Agreeing is not only right – it’s healthy!
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10th International Conference on Bipolar Disorders
The 10th International Conference on Bipolar Disorders to be held 13-16 June, 2013, is accepting proposals for presentations at the conference. For the first time in the history of the conference, the meeting will not be held in Pittsburgh, but in Miami Beach, Florida, and now under the auspices of the International Society for Bipolar Disorders (ISBD). Clinicians, researchers, patients, family members, and mental health advocates from around the world will again come together for this four-day conference to share their clinical expertise, research findings, and personal experiences with the goal of improving the quality of life for those living with bipolar disorder.
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CALL FOR PAPERS: Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition (SARMAC) June 2013 Meeting
The Society for Applied Research in Memory & Cognition (SARMAC) invites submissions for its 10th Biennial meeting to be held in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, June 26-29, 2013. SARMAC welcomes submissions for papers, symposia, or posters in any area of applied research on memory and cognition. Rotterdam is a major port in Europe with beautiful museums, restaurants, and nightlife, and is close to Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, nearby historic city Delft, and the seat of Parliament in the Hague. Dutch hospitality will make you feel most welcome! To make a submission, visit http://www.sarmac.org/conferences. Deadline for submissions is December 12th, 2012.
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Why We’re Happy Being Sad: Pop’s Emotional Evolution
NPR: Six years ago, Glenn Schellenberg decided to do an experiment. Schellenberg works at the University of Toronto, where he studies the psychology of music. The idea behind his experiment couldn't have been more straightforward: He simply wanted to play music for people and get them to rate how happy or sad that music made them feel. These two emotions — happy and sad — are relatively easy to identify in music, and though there are different ways for music to convey emotion (through lyrics or what kind of instruments are used), Schellenberg says the tempo of a song and whether it's in a major or minor key often strongly influences which emotion the song conveys. Read the whole story: NPR
