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Should You Finish That Project Early, Late, or On Time?

Andrew Badham - 2024-11-12 14:32:34

Should you be Mr Early, Mr On-Time, or Mr Late? Should you rush to get a project in ahead of time, stick closely to the deadline, or miss it if it means making your project that little bit better? These are the questions a paper published in November 2024 wanted to answer. Specifically, they wanted to know how the person receiving your work changes their perception of your work depending on when you hand it in. To do this, they used 8 lab and field experiments and 10 supplemental studies to m... Read more

Does having a growth mindset actually help you learn more?

Andrew Badham - 2024-11-06 08:13:33

Does having a growth mindset actually help you learn more? That was the exact question a paper published in May 2024 sought to answer. If you’re unfamiliar with the growth mindset, it’s an idea popularised by psychologist Carol Dweck which describes whether people believe they can improve, become smarter, and overcome challenges through effort. This study looked at over 200,000 students in grades 4 through 7 and monitored their progress over a year. The students had all completed... Read more

What Causes Our Minds to Wander | Negative Emotions & Major Depressive Disorder

Andrew Badham - 2024-10-30 11:53:39

Does your mind wander? Well, mine does too, and apparently, that’s not that weird. A study of undergraduates found that on average between 30-50% of our waking hours are spent thinking about something other than the task we were on. While there can be a multitude of factors that might affect how much your mind wanders, a new study wanted to look at how something like Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) might affect mind wandering. They found that people with MDD experienced mind wandering... Read more

Catching Cheaters: How Catching Unethical Behaviour Makes us Feel Good and Boosts Performance

Andrew Badham - 2024-10-25 13:49:02

How would you respond if a fellow student was caught cheating? Or if a coworker was caught doing something unethical? Would it make you feel good? And how would it impact your work? Well, from the results of this article published in October 2024, it seems it might boost your performance. The researchers ran two separate studies: one with business students in which someone cheated on a test using a cell phone; and another in which a salesperson lied about the benefits of a medication. In both... Read more

Is Mindfulness Effective for Anxiety? It May Be As Effective As Medication

Andrew Badham - 2024-10-17 16:16:24

Is mindfulness just as good as medication for treating anxiety? Well, this study published in October 2024 seems to think so. At least, that is for a specific medication, Escitalopram, which is a commonly used SSRI. The randomised trial split participants into two groups: one that was prescribed the medication and the other which received weekly classes of theory and practice in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction. The study found no significant difference in patient outcomes by the end of th... Read more