Can Exercise Increase Your Executive Brain Power NOW?
Transcript of Can Exercise Increase Your Executive Brain Power NOW?
EGO RESTORATION A QUEST TO LINK PHSYIOLOGY TO SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
SOCI 229 FINAL PRESENTATION
NOV. 20th, 2013 TARA VISWANATHAN
MUCH OF IT RELATING TO THE BRAIN & COGNITIVE FUNCTION
NATIONAL SLEEP FOUNDATION
EVEN MILD PHYSICAL ACTIVITY KEEPS THE BRAIN FIT
& ACTIVE
A 20-30 MIN NAP PROVIDES SIGNIFICANT BENEFIT FOR IMPROVED ALERTNESS & PERFORMANCE.
LAUGHTER CAN IMPROVE ATLERTNESS, CREATIVITY, & MEMORY.
JOHN RATY HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL PSYCHIATRIST
SONDRA KOMBLATT, A BETTER BRAIN AT ANY AGE
NOT SURPRISINGLY, 2 OUT OF THE 3 ARE PROVEN TACTICS TO RESTORE THE EGO POST DEPLETION.
HAHAHA LOL ZZZZZZZZZZ GET YOLKED, BRO
NOT YET PROVEN VIA SCIENTIFIC METHOD.
TAKING A STEP BACK: REMEMBER DUAL PROCESS THEORY? • SYSTEM 1 VS SYSTEM 2 PROCESSING (REMEMBER THIS?!) • UNCONSCIOUS VS. CONSCIOUS MIND
• SYSTEM 1: FAST, UNCONTROLLED, AUTOMATIC, UNCONSCIOUS
• SYSTEM 2: CONTROLLED, EFFORTFUL, DELIBERATE, INTENTIONAL, SLOWER, CONSCIOUS
• LIMITED BY WORKING MEMORY CAPACITY • ELEPHANT & THE RIDER • AUTOMATICITY • EXPERIMENTS: SCRAMBLED SENTENCE TASK, DIJKSTERHUIS
APARTMENT
CONCLUSIONS
• UNCONSCIOUS THOUGHT MAY BE BETTER IN SOME CASES – WE CAN PROCESS MORE INFORMATION MORE RAPIDLY THAN WE CAN WITH CONSCIOUS THOUGHT
• WE OVERESTIMATE THE DEGREE OF CONSCIOUS AWARENESS & CONTROL
• HOW IN CONTROL ARE WE REALLY?
“THINGS DONE WITH OUR CONSCIOUS ARE DISPROPORTIONATLY IMPORTANT TO LONG TERM HEALTH, HAPPINESS, AND SUCCESS OF THE INDIVIDUAL.”
WE CANNOT AFFORD TO IGNORE THIS.
• CRUCIAL FUNCTIONS OF THE SELF INVOLVE VOLITION (MAKING CHOICES & DECISIONS CONSCIOUSLY – SYSTEM 2)
• OUR UNCONSCIOUS DOES A LOT. BUT ARGUABLY MORE IMPORTANT THINGS ARE DONE WITH OUR CONSCIOUS
• THE RELATIVELY FEW ACTIVE, CONTROLLING CHOICES BY THE SELF GREATLY INCREASE THE SELF’S CHANCES OF ACHIEVING ITS GOALS
YOU’RE IN CHARGE… BUT ARE YOU REALLY IN CHARGE? CAN YOU BE MORE IN CHARGE?
WE <3 EGO
BUT WHAT’S EGO DEPLETION, AGAIN? THE EGO • THE CONTROLLING ASPECT OF THE SELF • THE SELF’S EXECUTIVE FUNCTION • SYSTEM 2 REGULATING & OVERRIDING SYSTEM 1 • HAS SOME SORT OF STRENGTH DIMENSION
THE DEPLETION • TEMPORARY REDUCTION IN THE SELF’S CAPACITY OR
WILLINGNESS TO ENGAGE IN VOLITIONAL ACTION • THE SELF’S ACTS OF VOLITION DRAW ON SOME LIMITED
RESOURCE (SIMILAR TO STRENGTH/ENERGY) • ONE CONTROLLING CHOICE WILL TAKE AWAY FROM
SUBSEQUENT CHOICES • DO TWO VERY DIFFERENT ACTS OF SELF-CONTROL DRAW ON
THE SAME LIMITED RESOURCE? • CHOCOLATE/RADISH & UNSOLVABLE PUZZLE • YES!
• RESTORATION: SLEEP. (I’M SO MOTIVATED IN THE MORNINGS!)
NOT SURPRISINGLY, 2 OUT OF THE 3 ARE PROVEN TACTICS TO RESTORE THE EGO POST DEPLETION.
HAHAHA LOL ZZZZZZZZZZ GET YOLKED, BRO
NOT YET PROVEN VIA SCIENTIFIC METHOD.
RESTORING THE SELF: POSITIVE AFFECT HELPS SELF-REGULATION FOLLOWING EGO DEPLETION - Tice, Baumeister (remember this guy?!), Shmueli, Muraven, 2005
• INITIAL ACT OF SELF-REGULATION (IV) • NASTY DRINKS • CROSS OUT 3 (FORM HABIT & BREAK IT) • WHITE BEAR
• PARTICIPANTS WATCHED COMEDY VIDEO OR RECEIVED SURPRISE GIFT (IV)
• THEN MEASURED TASK PERSISTENCE (DV) • RESULTS:
• DEPLEATED DID JUST AS WELL AS NON-DEPLETED & SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER THAN PARTICIPANTS WHO EXPERIENCED SAD MOOD INDUCTION, NEUTRAL MOOD INDUCTION, OR BRIEF REST PERIOD
NOT SURPRISINGLY, 2 OUT OF THE 3 ARE PROVEN TACTICS TO RESTORE THE EGO POST DEPLETION.
HAHAHA LOL ZZZZZZZZZZ GET YOLKED, BRO
NOT YET PROVEN VIA SCIENTIFIC METHOD.
CAN BETTER HEALTH LEAD TO BETTER SOCIAL INTERACTIONS, MORE HUMAN AGENCY, INCREASED SELF-CONTROL, RESPONSIBLE DECISION MAKING, & ACTIVE CHOICE, VIA EGO RESTORATION?
CAN WE USE EGO DEPLETION THEORY TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS OF BETTER HEALTH?
• 50 PARTICIPANTS, COLLEGE PSYCHOLOGY STUDENTS • RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO:
• 40 INITIALLY DEPLETE EGO (CROSSING OUT E TASK) • 10 DO NOT (CONTROL)
• 40 WITH DEPLETED EGOS RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO 1 OF 4 CONDITIONS (RESTORATION IV)
• 20 MINS OF EXERCISE • 20 MINS OF POSITIVE AFFECT • 20 MINS OF REST • 20 MINS OF NOTHING (CONTROL)
• 10 WITHOUT DEPLETED EGOS GO STRAIGHT TO DV EGO DEPLETION 2
• THEN MEASURE TASK PERSISTENCE (DV) FOR ALL 50 PARTICIPANTS
AN EXERCISE IN EGO
[RANDOM ASSIGNMENT INTO CONDITIONS]
A. 10 STUDENTS
B.
10 STUDENTS
50 PRE-VETTED UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT PARTICIPANTS
C.
10 STUDENTS
D. 10 STUDENTS
E. 10 STUDENTS
INITIAL EGO DEPLETION – CROSSING OUT E TASK
A. SLEEP
B. POSITIVE AFFECT
C. EXERCISE
ALL 50 UNDERGO EGO DEPLETION – TASK PERSISTENCE (DV) ON UNSOLVABLE TRACING TASK
NO INITIAL EGO
DEPLETION OR
SUBSEQUENT RECOVERY
D. NO
RECOVERY
AN EXERCISE IN EGO
CONDITIONS:
A. 10 STUDENTS
B.
10 STUDENTS
C.
10 STUDENTS
D. 10 STUDENTS
E. 10 STUDENTS
1. INITIAL EGO DEPLETION
2. SLEEP RECOVERY
3. FINAL EGO DEPLETION
1. INITIAL EGO DEPLETION
2. POSITIVE AFFECT RECOVERY
3. FINAL EGO DEPLETION
1. INITIAL EGO DEPLETION
2. EXERCISE RECOVERY
3. FINAL EGO DEPLETION
1. INITIAL EGO DEPLETION
2. FINAL EGO DEPLETION
1. FINAL EGO DEPLETION
AN EXERCISE IN EGO
HYPOTHESIS: 20 MINS OF EXERCISE HAS AT LEAST AS MUCH OF AN EGO RESTORATION EFFECT AS 20 MINS OF POSITIVE AFFECT OR 20 MINS OF REST (SLEEP) IF CORRECT: A, B, C, E WOULD SHOW SIMILAR MINUTES OF PERSISTENCE, WHILE CONDITION D SHOULD BE SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER
• PARTICIPANT SELECTION • NUMBER • FROM WHERE • DEMOGRAPHIC
• MANIPULATION CHECKS & EXPERIMENTOR EFFECT • COVER STORY • TYPE OF EGO-DEPLETION? • CONTROLLING EXTRANEOUS FACTORS • POST-EXPERIMENT QUESTIONAIRE & DEBRIEFING PROBE FOR
SUSPICION
OF COURSE, AS WITH MOST LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS, THERE IS REASON FOR CONCERN IN FINDING EXTERNAL VALIDITY.
CAN WE EXTRAPOLATE?
CAN BETTER HEALTH LEAD TO BETTER SOCIAL INTERACTIONS, MORE HUMAN AGENCY, INCREASED SELF-CONTROL, RESPONSIBLE DECISION MAKING, & ACTIVE CHOICE, VIA EGO RESTORATION?
CAN WE USE EGO DEPLETION THEORY TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS OF BETTER HEALTH?
HOW MIGHT THIS AFFECT OUR EVERY DAY LIFE?
• SLEEP ON IT? RUN ON IT? • TRUTH TO “CLEARNING YOUR MIND”. • IMPORTANT SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT – EXERCISE BEFOREHAND? • MAXIMIZE SLEEP, EXERCISE, AND PLEASURE • SPREAD OUT SLEEP, EXERCISE, AND PLEASURE • INTERESTING THAT THE MOST STRESSFUL TIMES ARE WHEN WE
MOST READILY GIVE UP OUR HEALTH • HAVE WE FOUND REASON TO CHANGE THIS MINDSET?
IDEAS FOR FOLLOW UP RESEARCH.
• ONE DEPLETABLE RESOURCE, BUT CAN WE STRATEGICALLY RECOVER OUR EGO?
• EFFECT OF EXERCISE ON HEALTH DECISIONS VS. UNRELATED DECISIONS