This article, from Medical News Today, describes recent Purdue University research that compared studying methods. Specifically, the study compared Active Recall, in which students set aside the materials they were learning and sought to remember what they had read, to Concept Mapping, in which students created diagrams to try to build connections within their memory. The results were interesting, as described after the break.
Mindfulness and “Full Catastrophe Living”
At the suggestion of therapist and blogger Marguerite Mantao-Rau I have been reading Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Full Catastrophe Living. I will provide a review in greater depth in the near future, after I finish reading, but I can say this now: Kabat-Zinn (bio here) writes with intelligence, depth, and humanity. The book is a powerful, practical manual for becoming more mindful in one’s everyday activities.
I picked up this book after asking Marguerite for the best manual on Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). I had read her posts on Huffington Post, subscribed to her blog, and had enjoyed her Twitter Tweets (where she Tweets as @MindDeep). I noticed that she was an MBSR trainer, and I’d read substantial psychological research study findings on the program’s success, so I sought her advice about the best manual for conveying MBSR to my readers.
Her prompt, single response: Kabat-Zinn’s book.
She’s right. It’s terrific. Thanks, M!
Creating One’s Own Luck
Support continues to grow for the theory that those who envision and open themselves to positive outcomes enhance their chances of finding such outcomes. Here’s a nice little essay on the point from Daniel Tomasulo at the PsychCentral website. This is not The Secret, which has been roundly and justly criticized as pseudoscience at best. Instead, the principle is simply that we notice what we are looking for. If we look for opportunity, we will find things that we take as opportunity. If we don’t — or worse, if we look for ways in which the world stymies us — we will miss opportunities to achieve. I could get into the details, but it really is that simple.
Depression Triggers – And What to Do
This article, posted at the blog care2 [make a difference], lists common depression triggers and what to do about them. Most are obvious and stark — divorce, job loss, death of a loved one — but these more extreme situations can be closely analogized to less dramatic episodes in your life that likewise make you susceptible. Continue reading →
The Persuasive Power of Story
Anyone who doubts the power of story in persuasion should spend some time on the website Storynomics. Consider, for instance, Daniel Pink’s entry there, a video compilation of the answer to his question, “What’s Your Sentence?” In this short video, people capture in 15 seconds how they would like to be perceived by the world. Some of them are extraordinarily powerful.
If you can tell a story that dramatizes what you wish to convey, you will persuade. If you don’t, your audience may still get it, but they will have to struggle to do so. Continue reading →
