Posts Tagged ‘attention’
Brain directs traffic to stay on task
UC DAVIS (US) — Just like a road sign alerts us to merging traffic ahead, the brain can change its connections to minimize distraction and take advantage of what we know of the situation at hand. Continue…
Friday, February 3, 2012 14:03 - 0 Comments
Top Stories - Jan 27, 2012 12:16 - 2 Comments
Social skills suffer when tweens multitask
STANFORD (US) — Tween girls who spend endless hours multitasking on digital devices tend to be less successful with social and emotional development, say researchers. (more…)
Society & Culture - Dec 30, 2011 10:57 - 3 Comments
Are videogames good or bad … or both?
IOWA STATE (US) —Videogames are powerful learning tools but the lessons—positive or negative—depend on the game, according to a new study. (more…)
Health & Medicine - Jul 28, 2011 15:31 - 0 Comments
Thinking before eating pays off
CALTECH (US) — Deciding between broccoli or super-sized fries gives the brain a workout, forcing it to weigh choices based on taste, healthiness, size, and even packaging, all more-or-less instantaneously. (more…)
Science & Technology - Jul 18, 2011 14:41 - 0 Comments
Bilingual kids tune into right stuff
CORNELL (US) — Young children who learn a second language have a heightened ability to pay attention to what’s important and to ignore what’s not. (more…)
Top Stories - Mar 22, 2011 10:59 - 1 Comment
Touched by a robot. Creepy or cool?
GEORGIA TECH (US) — If a robot touched your arm, would you like it or would you feel a little uncomfortable? New research suggests your reaction depends on how you perceive the robot’s intentions. (more…)
Top Stories - Jan 6, 2011 13:12 - 3 Comments
‘Daydream’ switch stays on in ADHD
U. NOTTINGHAM (UK) — New evidence suggests children with ADHD have trouble switching off the “daydreaming” regions in the brain that often interfere with concentration, particularly on tedious tasks. (more…)
Science & Technology - Nov 16, 2010 17:11 - 3 Comments
What color is your rainbow? It depends
VANDERBILT (US) — A brain area known to play a critical role in vision is divided into compartments that respond separately to different colors and orientations. (more…)
Society & Culture - Jul 9, 2010 10:58 - 3 Comments
Summertime—and the driving’s not easy
U. MINNESOTA (US)—Snowy roads might make for dicey travel, but in reality, summer is the deadliest season to be on the road. (more…)
Society & Culture - May 27, 2010 12:30 - 4 Comments
Why our intuitions are often wrong
U. ILLINOIS (US)—We may think we’re a good judge of character, observant, and perceptive, but research by two psychologist suggests we’re almost certainly not as good at those skills as we think we are. (more…)
Society & Culture - Apr 2, 2010 8:25 - 0 Comments
For babies, talk beats tones
NORTHWESTERN (US)—Before infants begin to speak, words—even when they are made up—play an important role in their cognition, going beyond the influence of other kinds of sounds, including musical tones. (more…)
Science & Technology - Mar 11, 2010 17:23 - 0 Comments
Why surprises temporarily blind us
VANDERBILT (US)—Right now you’re reading this story, but if a fire alarm sounded, your attention would be involuntarily snatched away. For the first time researchers have shown how our brains coordinate these two types of attention, and why we may be temporarily blinded by surprises. (more…)
Science & Technology - Jan 20, 2010 10:02 - 8 Comments
Driving completely wrecks conversation
U. ILLINOIS—Adding to the body of research on distracted driving is a new report showing that driving impairs our ability to comprehend and produce language. (more…)
Society & Culture - Dec 4, 2009 17:22 - 2 Comments
Pedestrians: Ditch the phone, keep the iPod
U. ILLINOIS (US)—How apropos that a research team led by two native New Yorkers would take a fresh look at the dangers of trying to cross a busy street while talking on a cell phone or listening to music on an iPod. (more…)
Health & Medicine - Nov 13, 2009 12:09 - 2 Comments
Kids with dyslexia struggle to tune in
NORTHWESTERN (US)—Children with developmental dyslexia could benefit from the use of simple strategies, such as sitting in front of the teacher or using wireless technologies to enhance the sound of a teacher’s voice. (more…)
Science & Technology - Nov 5, 2009 13:21 - 0 Comments
Getting inside Carl’s head to study the brain
UC IRVINE (US)—A robot powered by recorded rodent brain impulses may help researchers understand how people recognize and adapt to change. Findings from the work could advance robotic design as well as knowledge of human behavior. (more…)
Society & Culture - Oct 21, 2009 9:40 - 0 Comments
Baby and puppy miss the cue . . . again
U. IOWA (US)—New findings challenge the conclusions of two recent studies on how babies and dogs respond to certain social cues, suggesting they may not be so clever after all. (more…)
Society & Culture - Aug 31, 2009 13:12 - 1 Comment
Pay attention, multitaskers!
“When [multitaskers are] in situations where there are multiple sources of information coming from the external world or emerging out of memory, they’re not able to filter out what’s not relevant to their current goal,” says psychologist Anthony Wagner. “That failure to filter means they’re slowed down by that irrelevant information.”
Health & Medicine - Aug 21, 2009 12:18 - 0 Comments
Nose keeps smells separated
When the participants received a different smell in each nostril at the same time, they were actually experiencing an “olfactory illusion,” says study coauthor Denise Chen. “Although both smells are equally present, the brain attends to predominantly one of them at a time.” (Courtesy: Rice University)
