10. August 2009 by John Schinnerer.

Science Daily - “Based on a study of 84 students divided into four separate experiments, University of Oregon researchers found that students with high memory storage capacity were clearly better able to ignore distractions and stay focused on their assigned tasks.

Principal investigator Edward K. Vogel, a UO professor of psychology, compares working memory to a computer’s random-access memory (RAM) rather than the hard drive’s size — the higher the RAM, the better processing abilities. With more RAM, he said, students were better able to ignore distractions. This notion surfaced in a 2005 paper in Nature by Vogel and colleagues in the Oregon Visual Working Memory & Attention Lab.

Vogel is quick to say that the findings don’t necessarily signify problems for an easily distracted person, although people who hold their focus more intensely tend to have higher fluid intelligence; they score higher on achievement tests, do better in math and learn second languages easier than peers who are captured by interruptions. Vogel currently is working with other UO researchers to explore if the easily distracted indeed have a positive side, such as in artistic creativity and imagination.

The IPS, Vogel said, acts as a pointer system that seeks out goal-related cues, and it possibly is the gateway for memory circuitry in the brain.

“Our attention is the continual interplay between what our goals are and what the environment is trying to dictate to us,” Vogel said. “Often, to be able to complete complex and important goal-directed behavior, we need to be able to ignore salient but irrelevant things, such as advertisements flashing around an article you are trying to read on a computer screen. We found that some people are really good at overriding attention capture, and other people have a difficult time unhooking from it and are really susceptible to irrelevant stimuli.”

Vogel theorizes that people who are good at staying on focus have a good gatekeeper, much like a bouncer or ticket-taker hired to allow only approved people into a nightclub or concert. Understanding how to improve the gatekeeper component, he said, could lead to therapies that help easily distracted people better process what information is allowed in initially, rather than attempting to teach people how to force more information into their memory banks.”

Original story here http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090806141712.htm

 Always something to think about!

 Wonderfully yours,

John Schinnerer, Ph.D.

Posted in ADHD, Danville CA, Managing Anxiety, Guide To Self Beginners Guide To Managing Emotion, Creativity, Nervousness, Dr. John Schinnerer | Print | No Comments »

10. August 2009 by John Schinnerer.

The human brain comes preconfigured for music, specifically the pentatonic scale. Music has a powerful sway over our momentary emotions, our longer-lasting moods and the thoughts that spring forth in unison with them.

This wiring for music appears to exist throughout the world despite the facts that some musical scales vary by culture.

Enjoy!

John Schinnerer, Ph.D.
Music and psychology

Posted in Danville CA, Music psychology, Emotional mind, Guide to Self, Dr. John Schinnerer | Print | No Comments »

10. August 2009 by John Schinnerer.

Here is a great abstract from the Emotional Intelligence Consortium on how EI and emotions influence emotional labor strategies at work. Interestingly, the emotional labor strategies are divided up into

surface acting (e.g., an emotional mask),

the expression of emotion in the moment (e.g., whatever I feel is being expressed right now) and

deep acting (e.g., when the emotions on the mask match those within the body - or authentic emotions).

Deep acting was found to be related to more positive work outcomes.

The authors investigated how affectivity, as measured by the Positive and Negative Affectivity Scales (PANAS) and EI, as measured by the Wong and Law EI Scale, influence the use of emotional labor strategies at work among 486 Chinese employees. Emotional labor strategies were measured by the Emotional Labor Scale which consists of seven items that measure surface acting (e.g., “I put on an act in order to deal with customers in an appropriate way,” “I fake a good mood when interacting with customers”), four items on deep acting (e.g., “I try to actually experience the emotion that must be shown to customers,” “I work hard to feel the emotion that I need to show to customers”), and three items on the expression of naturally felt emotion (e.g., “The emotion that I express to customers is genuine”). The results revealed that Regulation of Emotion was a particularly important EI dimension in influencing the use of deep acting. The use of deep acting is preferred as it is often found to relate to positive job outcomes. According to the authors, organizations should implement strategies, including personnel selection or training, to ensure that employees possess this core emotional competency.

Cheung, F.Y., & Tang, C.S. (2009). The influence of emotional intelligence and affectivity on emotional labor strategies at work. Journal of Individual Differences, 30(2), 75-86.

All the best,
John Schinnerer, PhD

Posted in Emotion & learning, Emotion & productivity, Emotional management, Emotional mind, Guide To Self Beginners Guide To Managing Emotion, Emotional IQ | Print | No Comments »

10. August 2009 by John Schinnerer.

By Psych Central News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on August 3, 2009

A new study has found that antidepressant drug use in the United States has gone up 75 percent, from 5.84 percent of the population to 10.12 percent.

The new study, published in the August issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, looked at drug prescriptions from 1996 to 2005 in the U.S. Antidepressant use increased significantly across all age, gender and racial groups, except African Americans.

The data also shows a more than 10 percent decline in the use of psychotherapy amongst people treated with antidepressants, while at the same time showing a significant increase in the use of antipsychotic medications as a co-treatment to antidepressant therapy.

For the whole article, click here

http://psychcentral.com/news/2009/08/03/antidepressant-use-up-75-percent/7514.html

Wow, that’s a big increase in antidepressants with a simultaneous decrease in therapy! A sign of the times, I suppose. We are the quick fix people. In my opinion, the best solution to most severe cases of stress, anxiety and depression is a combination of medication and therapy.

Have a fantastic day!

John Schinnerer, Ph.D.

Guide To Self, Inc.

Posted in Anger Management, Managing Anxiety, Managing Sadness, Assertiveness, Danville CA, Emotional management, Depression, Dr. John Schinnerer, Managing stress, Life coach, Anxiety, Social anxiety disorder, Counseling | Print | No Comments »

10. August 2009 by John Schinnerer.

Here is a classic clip from Ren & Stimpy cartoon reminding us to be happy and joyful (to the absurd!)…

Great for a smile!

http://en.sevenload.com/videos/RpBZD9o-Ren-And-Stimpy-Happy-Happy-Joy-Joy

Thanks to @joshuafry on Twitter for the reminder!

Best,
John Schinnerer

Posted in Psychology humor, Positive mood music | Print | No Comments »