Divided attention and the amazing relevance of unrelated things
Now, if that's that not the raddest title to a cognitive science book or paper that I've ever seen, then I don't know what is...
No seriously, here's my question:
WHY IS IT that people often find it comforting or even necessary to "fumble" with inanimate objects when performing cognitive tasks? In my last quarter at UCSD, I knew a guy in one of my project groups who found it helpful and insight-giving to kick around a little soccer ball in the lab while trying to think about critical parts of our project. In fact, it was almost debilitating for him not to have a ball to kick against the wall if there was a pressing issue amongst the team. I mean, he was a smart guy, so he was doing something right. It just always struck me as odd and a little irritating to be honest.
But, I realized that we all do this stuff! Myself, I find pleasure in clicking on and off the caps of dry erase markers when I am trying to think brilliant thoughts. It REALLY does help. You might argue that this is just the effect similar to the placebo, whereby the actual belief that it helps me leads to the justification when I perform it....But why is this so prevalent? And why can't we just imagine fumbling with things? Why is the physical action itself so beneficial? Its all over the place:
So here's the issue: When people find that they need to rely on their most concentrated wits for a difficult issue, whether it be an emotional one or a cognitive one, you would think that they would employ every psychological resource they could towards working on this problem. But they don't! In fact, quite the opposite; they take on other tasks that engage the body in irrelevant actions and perceptions...And it works!
I spoke to my uncle about this once, and as soon as he got the gist of what I was pondering, he interrupted me and left the room, returning with a little foam-brain toy that is slightly smaller than one's palm. He explained to me that he keeps these and other little meaningless objects in the center of board room tables, because he finds that people always gravitate towards fumbling with them during difficult conversations, and he believes that it helps lead them towards more creative ideas.
I have to say that I believe this to an extent as well. But I want to understand why it is that this happens. Why should fumbling result in more brilliant thoughts than quiet stillness?
Some possible (albeit far from complete) explanations:
No seriously, here's my question:
WHY IS IT that people often find it comforting or even necessary to "fumble" with inanimate objects when performing cognitive tasks? In my last quarter at UCSD, I knew a guy in one of my project groups who found it helpful and insight-giving to kick around a little soccer ball in the lab while trying to think about critical parts of our project. In fact, it was almost debilitating for him not to have a ball to kick against the wall if there was a pressing issue amongst the team. I mean, he was a smart guy, so he was doing something right. It just always struck me as odd and a little irritating to be honest.
But, I realized that we all do this stuff! Myself, I find pleasure in clicking on and off the caps of dry erase markers when I am trying to think brilliant thoughts. It REALLY does help. You might argue that this is just the effect similar to the placebo, whereby the actual belief that it helps me leads to the justification when I perform it....But why is this so prevalent? And why can't we just imagine fumbling with things? Why is the physical action itself so beneficial? Its all over the place:
- people often pace back and forth when concentrating
- they may tap on things
- they may pick their nails (I admit, I pick at my lips when concentrating sometimes)
- they might twirl a pencil
- many people keep toys and thing-a-majigs on their office desks
- straying from physical fumblings, people often listen to music, which becomes a source of competition with the senses!
So here's the issue: When people find that they need to rely on their most concentrated wits for a difficult issue, whether it be an emotional one or a cognitive one, you would think that they would employ every psychological resource they could towards working on this problem. But they don't! In fact, quite the opposite; they take on other tasks that engage the body in irrelevant actions and perceptions...And it works!
I spoke to my uncle about this once, and as soon as he got the gist of what I was pondering, he interrupted me and left the room, returning with a little foam-brain toy that is slightly smaller than one's palm. He explained to me that he keeps these and other little meaningless objects in the center of board room tables, because he finds that people always gravitate towards fumbling with them during difficult conversations, and he believes that it helps lead them towards more creative ideas.
I have to say that I believe this to an extent as well. But I want to understand why it is that this happens. Why should fumbling result in more brilliant thoughts than quiet stillness?
Some possible (albeit far from complete) explanations:
- engaging in simple tasks that require minimal conscious effort can inhibit centers in the brain that block highly abstract thought
- physical activity releases endorphins making it more enjoyable to move and fumble with things. If an activity if more enjoyable and a person acquires a more positive attitude, cognition can often improve
- If attention is too focused, there is too much neural activity flooding through the same circuits, so it may become harder to result in unique and intelligent thoughts
- (MY CURRENT FAVORITE) How did we learn things when we were little children? How did we develop our perceptions of the world and even ourselves? We played with toys! We learned cultural customs, physical mechanics, and new ways to interact! Additionally, in a time where many of us were so much more imaginative, we used our imagination to create story lines and reinforce consolidated memories from other stories we had seen on television and read in books. Toy-playing was a very important activity for our cognitive development. Perhaps this gives us much insight into why it is often so comforting to do similar toy-playing in our adulthood.
I am just testing to see if I actually respond to this...woud you respond back?
Also, I am buying more time here because I just took a zrytec and I can't fight the sleep any longer.
Posted by
Tiffany |
2:10 PM
hmmm, it seems that I would. One of my favorite metaphors is time = money. If you plan on buying much more time, you should consider buying in bulk...just a suggestion.
Posted by
codyfrew |
2:17 PM