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(via leilockheart)

thecollectedintellect:

THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX

When Psychologists Take Things Too Literally:

“Angela Leung, a researcher in Singapore, and her colleagues in the United States were studying a phenomenon called “embodied cognition.” The idea is that a brain can’t help being influenced by the body it’s stuck inside. Feelings can run backward: We might be smiling because we’re happy, or we might feel happy because our face is being forced into a smile.

Researchers have extended this idea to figurative language. They’ve found that people who hold a hot cup of coffee judge others as having warmer personalities, compared to when they’re holding an iced coffee. When people hold a heavy clipboard, they judge certain matters as weightier. After tasting a sweet food, people feel more agreeable and helpful—that is, sweeter.

The new study looked at a few different metaphors for creative thinking and problem solving. One experiment involved a 5-foot-by-5-foot box made out of cardboard and PVC piping. Subjects completed a word association test while sitting inside the box, outside of the box, or with the box nowhere in sight. The test presented sets of three words and asked for a fourth word that went with all of them. For example, the word that goes with the set measure, worm, and video is tape. (Subjects also filled out a claustrophobia questionnaire.)

Subjects who sat in the box performed as well on the test as those who never saw the box at all. But subjects who sat outside the box—witnessing themselves acting out the metaphor—did significantly better.”

*Photo by Artist Anton Tang

(via psychology2010)

(via psychology2010)

lickypickystickyfree:

25 Napping Facts Every College Student Should Know

1. It makes you smarter
   According to Dr. Matthew Walker of the University of California, napping for as little as one hour resets your short-term memory and helps you learn facts more easily after you wake up.
2. Abandon all-nighters
   Foregoing sleep by cramming all night reduces your ability to retain information by up to 40%. If you can, mix in a nap somewhere to refresh your hippocampus.
3. It doesn’t mean what you think
   If you know you have to pull an all-nighter, try a “prophylactic nap.” It’s a short nap in advance of expected sleep deprivation that will help you stay alert for up to 10 hours afterwards.
4. You can’t avoid that down period after lunch by not eating
   Human bodies naturally go through two phases of deep tiredness, one between 2-4 a.m. and between 1-3 p.m. Skipping lunch won’t help this period of diminished alertness and coordination.
5. Pick the right time
   After lunch in the early afternoon your body naturally gets tired. This is the best time to take a brief nap, as it’s early enough to not mess with your nighttime sleep.
6. Hour naps are great
   A 60-minute nap improves alertness for 10 hours, although with naps over 45 minutes you risk what’s known as “sleep inertia,” that groggy feeling that may last for half an hour or more.
7. But short naps are best
   For healthy young adults, naps as short as 20, 10, or even 2 minutes can be all you need to get the mental benefits of sleep, without risking grogginess.
8. Drink coffee first
   The way this works is you drink a cup of coffee right before taking your 20-minute or half-hour nap, which is precisely how long caffeine takes to kick in. That way when you wake up, you’re not only refreshed, but ready to go.
9. The NASA nap
   A little group called NASA discovered that just a 26-minute nap increases performance by 34% and alertness by 54%. Pilots take advantage of NASA naps while planes are on autopilot.
10. Can’t sleep? Don’t stress
    Even if you can’t fall asleep for a nap, just laying down and resting has benefits. Studies have found resting results in lowered blood pressure, which even some college kids have to worry about if they are genetically predisposed to high blood pressure.
11. Napping may save your life
    A multi-year Greek study found napping at least three times per week for at least 30 minutes resulted in a 37% lower death rate due to heart problems.
12. More nap benefits for the brain
    Not only will napping improve your alertness, it will also help your decision-making, creativity, and sensory perception.
13. But wait, there’s more
    Studies have found napping raises your stamina 11%, increases ability to stay asleep all night by 12%, and lowers the time required to fall asleep by 14%.
14. The ultimate nap
    According to Dr. Sara Mednick, the best nap occurs when REM sleep is in proportion to slow-wave sleep. Use her patented Take A Nap Nap Wheel to calculate what time of day you can nap to the max.
15. Fight the Freshman 15
    Research shows that women who sleep five hours at night are 32% more likely to experience major weight gain than those sleeping seven hours. A two-hour nap isn’t feasible for many, but napping is a good way to make up for at least some lost night sleep.
16. If it was good enough for them…
    Presidents JFK and Bill Clinton used to nap every day to help ease the heavy burden of ruling the free world. Of course, they also had other relaxation methods, but we won’t get into those.
17. Do like the Romans do
    In ancient Rome, everyone, including children, retreated for a 2 or 3-hour nap after lunch. No doubt this is the reason the Roman empire lasted over 1,000 years
18. Don’t wait too long
    The latest you want to wake up from a nap is five hours before bedtime, otherwise you risk not being able to fall asleep at night.
19. Sugar is not a good substitute for a nap
    When we are tired, we instinctively reach for foods with a high glycemic index, but after the initial energy wears off, we’re left more tired than we were before.
20. It’s a good way to catch up
    If it takes you less than five minutes to fall asleep at night, you are sleep deprived. If you never can seem to get to bed earlier at night, a mid-day nap is a great way to catch up on sleep.
21. Underclassmen need more sleep
    Freshmen and sophomores who are still in your teens: you need up to 10 hours of sleep to feel rested. So odds are, you are sleep-deprived.
22. You’ll have to leave the party sooner
    After one school-week of not getting enough sleep, three alcoholic drinks will affect you the same way six would when you are fully rested.
23. Don’t drive drowsy
    Don’t be afraid to take advantage of an “emergency nap” on the side of the road in your car. Every year, as many as 100,000 traffic fatalities are caused by sleepy people behind the wheel.
24. The Einstein Method
    If you are concerned about sleeping too long, do what Albert Einstein regularly did: hold a pencil while you’re drifting off, so when you fall asleep, the pencil dropping will wake you up. (We do not guarantee you will wake up with a 180 IQ.)
25. Missing sleep is worse at your age
    For people ages 18 to 24, sleep deprivation impairs performance more significantly than in other age brackets.

(via psychology2010)

(via psychology2010)

thisisnotpsychology:

We’re usually one or the other, either preferring to be in the thick of crowds or sitting on the sidelines and observing the passing show.

In fact, in current psychological research, extroversion and introversion are considered the most stable personality traits that differentiate people from each other and that can be reliably measured. 

Creative individuals, on the other hand, seem to exhibit both traits simultaneously.

Creative individuals are remarkable for their ability to adapt to almost any situation and to make do with whatever is at hand to reach their goals.

They show tendencies of thought and action that in most people are segregated. They contain contradictory extremes; instead of being an “individual,” each of them is a “multitude.”

from book: Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention(Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi)

(via 070392)

Skinny Bitch

by Micah Robles
February 20, 2012

You,
who choose
to close your ears,
who turn their gaze away
from “beautiful women”
on the covers
of Vogue
and the boards
scattered
across the metro,
I applaud.

You,
who are not consumed
by the numbers
on the scale
beneath your feet
that try to dictate
how much
(or rather,
how little)
you should eat,
I envy.

You,
who know
that true beauty
is found within,
whose inner beauty radiates
and expands
to touch those
outside
and around you,
I commend.

You,
who have been found
by a man
who is decent,
bold,
and a man, truly;
who treats you
with respect,
who never allows your
looks to define
how he must love you,
I congratulate.

You,
who have chosen
not to submit to the pull
of the media,
who have chosen to
be much better than that,
who have known beforehand
its deceit,
and have chosen to be wise,
I beg,
“Save the rest.”

You,
whom I applaud,
envy,
commend,
and congratulate;
whose values are set,
firm,
and steady;
whose minds (and bodies)
are healthy;
whose outlooks and
perspectives are yet untainted;
whose confidence and security
do not waver;
and whose beauty
does not fade;
I warn.

For
there was a time
you and I
were no different.

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