a.m.r.l.
smart money is on the one with an actually testable hypothesis…..and you know…..science
This generates a ton of discussion
“Jefferson( Mad Hatter): You know what the issue is with this world, everyone wants a magical solutions for their problems and everyone refuses to believe in magic.”
- Once Upon A Time, Season 1, Episode: Hat Trick
Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable deaths globally. Unfortunately smoking cessation is difficult, with more than 90% of attempts to quit resulting in relapse.
(Image: Jupiterimages)
There are a growing number of available methods that can be tried in the effort to…
I should try this
(Source: alphagalileo.org)
yet another unrealistic expectation for women
There’s a glitch in the matrix
(Source: escroto, via gazumpy-deactivated20130426)
And that’s when you knew London wasn’t a complete ditz.
what if she was just witch and she just didn’t understand the muggle world
That explains why we never saw her parents… they were probably too busy with their jobs in the Ministry… 0_o
LONDON’S A SQUIB
BUT WAT IF SHE WASN’T
WAT IF SHE ACTUALLY HAD POWERS BUT HID THEM
GRADUATED FROM HOGWARTS EARLY
AND INTERNED IN OUR WORLD BECAUSE SHE WANTED TO WORK WITH MUGGLES
IT WOULD EXPLAIN WHY SHE FOUND IT DIFFICULT TO USE SO MANY MUNDANE MUGGLE OBJECTS
Totally true
Mindfulness Improves Reading Ability, Working Memory, and Task-Focus
If you think your inability to concentrate is a hopeless condition, think again –– and breathe, and focus. According to a study by researchers at the UC Santa Barbara, as little as two weeks of mindfulness training can significantly improve one’s reading comprehension, working memory capacity, and ability to focus.
Their findings were recently published online in the empirical psychology journal Psychological Science.
“What surprised me the most was actually the clarity of the results,” said Michael Mrazek, graduate student researcher in psychology and the lead and corresponding author of the paper, “Mindfulness Training Improves Working Memory Capacity and GRE Performance While Reducing Mind Wandering.” “Even with a rigorous design and effective training program, it wouldn’t be unusual to find mixed results. But we found reduced mind-wandering in every way we measured it.”
Many psychologists define mindfulness as a state of non-distraction characterized by full engagement with our current task or situation. For much of our waking hours, however, we are anything but mindful. We tend to replay past events –– like the fight we just had or the person who just cut us off on the freeway –– or we think ahead to future circumstances, such as our plans for the weekend.
Mind-wandering may not be a serious issue in many circumstances, but in tasks requiring attention, the ability to stay focused is crucial.
To investigate whether mindfulness training can reduce mind-wandering and thereby improve performance, the scientists randomly assigned 48 undergraduate students to either a class that taught the practice of mindfulness or a class that covered fundamental topics in nutrition. Both classes were taught by professionals with extensive teaching experience in their fields. Within a week before the classes, the students were given two tests: a modified verbal reasoning test from the GRE (Graduate Record Examination) and a working memory capacity (WMC) test. Mind-wandering during both tests was also measured.
The mindfulness classes provided a conceptual introduction along with practical instruction on how to practice mindfulness in both targeted exercises and daily life. Meanwhile, the nutrition class taught nutrition science and strategies for healthy eating, and required students to log their daily food intake.
Within a week after the classes ended, the students were tested again. Their scores indicated that the mindfulness group significantly improved on both the verbal GRE test and the working memory capacity test. They also mind-wandered less during testing. None of these changes were true of the nutrition group.
“This is the most complete and rigorous demonstration that mindfulness can reduce mind-wandering, one of the clearest demonstrations that mindfulness can improve working memory and reading, and the first study to tie all this together to show that mind-wandering mediates the improvements in performance,” said Mrazek. He added that the research establishes with greater certainty that some cognitive abilities often seen as immutable, such as working memory capacity, can be improved through mindfulness training.
Mrazek and the rest of the research team –– which includes Michael S. Franklin, project scientist; mindfulness teacher and research specialist Dawa Tarchin Phillips; graduate student Benjamin Baird; and senior investigator Jonathan Schooler, professor of psychological and brain sciences –– are extending their work by investigating whether similar results can be achieved with younger populations, or with web-based mindfulness interventions. They are also examining whether or not the benefits of mindfulness can be compounded by a program of personal development that also targets nutrition, exercise, sleep, and personal relationships.
(Image: fotopakismo)
SUPER IMPRESSIVE, COHESIVE AND JUST AMAZING
My time at Briercliff manor has come to an end. Finally had the courage to finish it. I really liked the end, Jessica Lange was splendid. Loved the ending and how things came together. What was cool is that what mattered at the end was the characters and not the crazy supernatural freak show. I am still a little shook but it was worth it. Great writing and great cast. Can’t wait for season 3.
Links Between Physical And Emotional Pain Relief
We often regard relief as the dissipation of pain, discomfort or stress. However, the specific emotion associated with the sense of relief really isn’t fully understood. It is for this reason a team of researchers from the Association for Psychological Science undertook a study in which they aimed to explore and understand more fully the psychological mechanisms at work responsible for providing us with the idea of relief.
To experts in the field, the term for relief after the removal of pain is called the pain offset relief.
The team states their research recognizes the concept of relief, and the mechanisms behind it, are nearly identical for both healthy individuals and those with a history of self-harm. They claim the identical nature of pain offset relief in both of these groups suggests it is a natural mechanism useful in regulating our emotions. Prior to the laboratory portion of the experiment, the researchers assessed participants for emotion dysregulation and reactivity, self-injurious behavior, and various psychiatric disorders.
When an individual is experiencing the sensation of pain or discomfort, the likelihood they will experience a negative emotion is significantly increased. The team wanted to learn specifically if pain offset relief led to more positive emotions being experienced or if it only aided in alleviation of negative emotions.
Lead author Joseph Franklin, along with his colleagues working on the study, employed the use of electrodes intended to measure the participants’ negative emotions and positive emotions when the participants were subjected to loud noises. The loud noise was sometimes presented on its own. At other times, the participants would have received a low- or high-intensity shock at either a 3.5, 6 or 14 second interval preceding the loud noise.
Participants in the study showed an increase in positive emotion in combination with decreased negative emotion after pain offset. They learned the greatest increase in positive emotion occurred almost simultaneously with the culmination of the high-intensity shocks. Alternately, the greatest decrease in negative emotion was associated with the culmination of a low-intensity shock.
The team has published their findings, which they claim will shed light on the emotional nature of pain offset relief, in the journal Psychological Science, as well as the journal Clinical Psychological Science. Additionally, they feel their study might be useful in gaining a better understanding into why some people would seek the sensation of relief by engaging in self-harm behaviors.
It is important to note the results of this study do not support the hypothesis that heightened pain offset relief is a risk factor for engaging in self-harm behaviors. In fact, the team speculates the biggest risk factors for nonsuicidal self-injury may concern how some people overcome the instinctive barriers that keep most people from inflicting self-harm.
Interesting
