Science of the SpiritS


Megaphone

Researchers say we perform up to 20% better when we have an audience despite being more nervous

Speech 1
Asked to give a speech, many people experience sweaty palms, a dry mouth and rising sense of panic. But we perform better when people are watching than alone (stock image)
Asked to give a speech in front of an audience, many people experience sweaty palms, a dry mouth and rising sense of panic.

Whether it is singing, playing an instrument or taking part in an amateur dramatics production, there is a very real fear in front of an audience of 'choking' or forgetting the words on stage.

But, believe it or not, we actually perform better when people are watching than alone because having an audience boosts our motor skills, researchers have revealed.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University asked participants to play a tricky computer game involving moving a cursor to reach a cross hair target at the optimum speed.

When watched by an audience of two, all but two of the participants did better - up to 20 per cent better than if they were playing alone.

Brain scans showed that when they knew they were being observed, the parts of the brain linked to social awareness and reward triggered those controlling motor skills to improve performance.

Comment: Another method for calming your nerves that is very effective: Éiriú Eolas - Irish Gaelic for "Growth of Knowledge"


2 + 2 = 4

A cognitive theory and politics

politics
In recent years, a consensus has been forming about how we reason and develop the opinions we defend. In his influential 2012 book The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion, Jonathan Haidt argued that the first principle of moral psychology is: Intuition comes first and reasoning follows. Intuition is the reflexive gut feeling of like or dislike we experience in response to the things we see in the social world around us.

In Thinking Fast and Slow, psychologist Daniel Kahneman observed that conscious reasoning requires language, the construction of an argument, and therefore time, so it can happen only after our intuition has already told us whether we approve or disapprove of something. In their book The Enigma of Reason, Hugo Mercier and Dan Sperber argue that the main evolved purpose of reason is to justify our intuitions and to persuade others that our own intuitions are correct. When it comes to social issues that we care about, reason is usually a post hoc rationalization of feelings already felt and decisions already taken. In other words, it turns out that David Hume was right almost 300 years ago when he said:

Gift 2

Generosity makes people happier

happiness
Brain scans reveal that just a little of this personality trait boosts happiness.

Even a small amount of generosity towards others makes people happier, psychological research finds.

In fact, merely promising to be more generous is enough to trigger changes in our brain that lead to greater happiness.

People in the study did not need to be extremely generous to see the benefits to happiness levels.

Dr Philippe Tobler, one of the study's authors, said:
"You don't need to become a self-sacrificing martyr to feel happier.

Just being a little more generous will suffice."

Cell Phone

No different from substance abuse: Smartphone addiction increases loneliness and isolation, experts say

smartphone ladies
A new study finds that smartphone addiction can cause serious social problems — boosting feelings of loneliness and isolation — while worsening anxiety and depression symptoms.
It's well-known that smartphone, or more broadly, digital addiction can result in many negative mental effects on people over time. Recent research even found it creates a brain imbalance in teens. Now a new study finds that over-attachment to your phone can cause serious social problems - boosting feelings of loneliness and isolation - while worsening anxiety and depression symptoms.

Smartphones have become useful, everyday tools that essentially manage our daily lives. From calendars to calorie monitors to sleep aids, smartphone owners find themselves constantly glancing at their screens from the minute they wake up to the seconds before hitting the sack. Whether it's reading push notifications, responding to dings and vibrations, or constantly refreshing one's Facebook newsfeed on the go, the need for phone time is becoming a more serious problem.

Comment: As with all technologies, smartphones have the power to make our lives easier and more productive, or paradoxically, they can do the opposite, wasting time and squandering our productivity. What is required is smart smartphone use - being aware of the dangers and taking measures to counter them.

See also:


Bulb

Ten things self-confident people don't do

office lady fight
© Getty
In The Empire Strikes Back, when Yoda is training Luke to be a Jedi, he demonstrates the power of the Force by raising an X-wing fighter from a swamp. Luke mutters, "I don't believe it." Yoda replies, "That is why you fail."

As usual, Yoda was right - and science backs him up. Numerous studies have proved that confidence is the real key to success.

Studies exploring the performance gap between men and women in math and spatial skills have found that confidence plays a huge role. Women who were asked to identify their gender before taking a spatial skills test performed more poorly than those who weren't. Women also performed better when they were told to envision themselves as men, and both genders performed better when they were told that their gender is better at the task.

Comment: For some, confidence is an ephemeral quality that seems forever out of reach. While adopting the behaviors of confident people can help, the pathway to becoming a confident person is long and may need to involve other interventions.

See also:


Books

Children prefer books over digital devices for reading

girl reading
There is a common perception that children are more likely to read if it is on a device such as an iPad or Kindles. But new research shows that this is not necessarily the case.

In a study of children in Year 4 and 6, those who had regular access to devices with eReading capability (such as Kindles, iPads and mobile phones) did not tend to use their devices for reading - and this was the case even when they were daily book readers.

Research also found that the more devices a child had access to, the less they read in general.

It suggests that providing children with eReading devices can actually inhibit their reading, and that paper books are often still preferred by young people.

These findings match previous research which looked at how teenagers prefer to read. This research found that while some students enjoyed reading books on devices, the majority of students with access to these technologies did not use them regularly for this purpose. Importantly, the most avid book readers did not frequently read books on screens.

Comment: Adults feel the same way: Boosting your brain: Why reading and writing on paper beats digital screens


Apple Green

Study finds grandiose narcissists less prone to envy

envy kids ice cream
Envy: An emotion which "occurs when a person lacks another's superior quality, achievement, or possession and either desires it or wishes that the other lacked it"
Many narcissist do not feel much envy, research finds. This is because grandiose narcissists have an inflated sense of superiority.

Dr Zlatan Krizan, the study's lead author, said:
"They really buy into their own fantasy.

If you think you're the greatest, it makes sense that you wouldn't envy others because everybody is beneath you, so there's nothing to envy.

It's really the vulnerability that predicts envy and it predicts it very, very strongly."
The conclusion comes from a survey of over 350 people asked about their feelings of envy, self-esteem, anxiety and depression.

Comment: Jordan Peterson has some insightful comments on the Columbine shooters.

Jordan Peterson on the nihilism that can create a school shooter


Alarm Clock

The epidemic of loneliness: Individuals lacking social connections are at risk for premature mortality

loneliness
© Richmond Times-DispatchAn epidemic of loneliness
Loneliness can reliably be linked to a significant increase in the risk of early mortality, according to a study at Brigham Young University. Head author, Julianne Holt-Lunstad, notes that "substantial evidence now indicates that individuals lacking social connections (both objective and subjective social isolation) are at risk for premature mortality."

Holt-Lunstad believes the risks associated with loneliness are already greater than such established dangers as obesity:
Several decades ago scientists who observed widespread dietary and behavior changes raised warnings about obesity and related health problems. The present obesity epidemic had been predicted. Obesity now receives constant coverage in the media and in public health policy. The current status of research on the risks of loneliness and social isolation is similar to that of research on obesity 3 decades ago... Current evidence indicates that heightened risk for mortality from a lack of social relationships is greater than that from obesity.
Furthermore, she warns that "researchers have predicted that loneliness will reach epidemic proportions by 2030 unless action is taken."

Comment: Loneliness: The deadly truth


Umbrella

Changing across the lifespan - our dreams have many purposes

Dreams
© National Geographic
Although radically different in terms of their content and feel, the range of dream states are just as complex as waking states. If we look across an individual's lifetime, we find that children's dreams are very different from adults' dreams. Children tend to dream of emotional interactions with family members, friends and scary animals, while adults dream of other adults. Dreams of young adults are filled with social interactions between the dreamer and current friends and significant others. Men's dreams differ substantially from women's dreams, with women dreaming equally often of men and women, and men dreaming more often about other men. Older adults tend to dream more about creative works, legacies and enduring concerns, while the dreams of dying people are filled with numbers of supernatural agents, other-worldly settings and images of reunions with a loved one who has died. Dreams that transport the child into the social world of his caretakers during early life gently escort the dreamer into the arms of his loved ones when life is nearing an end. Dreams accompany us literally from the cradle to the grave.

Comment: More fascinating research on dreams:


Health

Brain abnormalities: Huge mood swings caused by borderline personality disorder

personality disorder


The disorder affects between 1 and 6% of the population.


People with Borderline Personality Disorder experience very stormy emotions, commit self-destructive acts and are sometimes aggressive.

Often considered the most severe personality disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder is linked to a long history of instability in personal relationships.

The personality disorder causes very strong mood swings as a result of brain abnormalities in two key regions, according to a host of neuroscience studies.

Comment: See also: