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How many times have you spent hours slaving over an impossible problem, only to take a break and then easily solve the problem, sometimes within minutes of looking at it again? New research suggests that unconscious thought results in creative problem-solving via a two-step process. Click here to read the article.
Psychological Science, September 2008
A team of behavioural scientists from four major US universities have found that sadness impacts spending. Specifically, people who feel sad and self-focused pay more money for goods than those in neutral states, even when purchasing the same item.
Researchers have found that the anticipation of a positive humorous laughter experience reduces potentially detrimental stress hormones.
Sixteen fasting male volunteers were assigned to either a control group or a group who were told they were going to watch a comedy. They also had their cortisol levels (stress hormone) measured prior to the event, during the event, and afterward.
Analysis showed that there was a significant lower level of cortisol in the group anticipating watching a comedy. The reduction in cortisol levels when anticipating the positive event was greater than when watching the actual comedy.
Experimental Biology 2008 scientific conference.
New research suggests that doctors need to charge more to be successful.
The study involved giving people a placebo (sugar pill) pain killer and administering a small electric shock. Half the participants were given a brochure describing the pill as a newly-approved pain-killer which cost $2.50 per dose and half were given a brochure describing it as marked down to 10 cents, without saying why.
In the full-price group, 85 percent of subjects experienced a reduction in pain after taking the placebo. In the low-price group, 61 percent said the pain was less.
The researchers concluded that “The placebo effect is one of the most fascinating, least harnessed forces in the universe”
Journal of the American Medical Association, March 5
Editors comments:
High end corporate consultancies also use the placebo effect.
Several weeks ago I attended a stress seminar run by a high end consultancy. Several hundred people attended the seminar and all were very positive about the program. Unfortunately most of the material was based on obsolete research.
So how do they get away with it - the registration fee was over $1000 per person and as a consequence people assume they are getting the best possible advise (treatment) - doesn’t that sound like the placebo effect.
A new study suggests that Heart Rate Variability training may be an effective treatment for major depression. Read study
Biofeedback 2008
Editors comments:
We use HRV training in our stress seminars. Watch a demonstration of the software.
New research shows that angry women are perceived to be less competent whilst the opposite is true for men.
Psychological Science, March 2008
Anxiety gets a lot of bad press. Dwelling on the negative can lead to chronic stress and anxiety disorders and phobias, but evolutionarily speaking, anxiety holds some functional value. In humans, learning to avoid harm is necessary not only for surviving in the face of basic threats but also for avoiding more complex threats such as questionable investments.
Psychological Science, April 2008