MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'attention span'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 03:33:01 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3924944&cid=t_240817_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F09%2F01%2Fsocial-memory-are-2-heads-better-than-one%2F Are two heads better than one? Maybe. Perhaps this doesn’t come as a surprise, because we all know on some level that even one “head” can be better than others in terms of memory. New research into “group memory,” or “social memory” sheds some light on how remembering together can be more or less effective. In part, it depends on the group’s “executive functioning”. Memory research has come a long ways since the early research many of us learned in psychology classes. There is the famous Bell Laboratories research into short-term memory which resulted in the famous axiom of “7 plus or minus two” – which refers to how many “slots” we can utilize “in our head” in real-time, keeping it there to “process,” sequence, manipulate. This is essentia... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3924944 Wed, 01 Sep 2010 11:46:03 +0100 3924944 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3813032&cid=t_240817_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F08%2F02%2Ftired-on-mondays-sleep-more-on-weekends%2F If you’re feeling especially tired today — and it’s Monday — it may be because you didn’t get your normal recharge of sleep this past weekend. So says a new study published in the journal Sleep by David Dinges and his colleagues. Researchers came to this conclusion after analyzing the results of a sleep deprivation study on 159 healthy, middle-aged adults. A group of 142 participants were sleep-deprived by allowing them only four hours of sleep for 5 consecutive nights. But before the sleep deprivation, these subjects were first given two nights of 10-hour sleep periods, to ensure all participants started at similar sleep levels. They were then allowed randomized doses of recovery sleep ranging from zero hours to 10 hours for per night. The other 17 partici... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3813032 Mon, 02 Aug 2010 20:18:23 +0100 3813032 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3794747&cid=t_240817_87_f&fid=36050&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblisstree.com%2Flive%2Fbrain-training-flex-your-focus-muscle%2F Poor attention span isn’t just the trouble of an ADD-diagnosed teen; in the modern age of computers, smartphones, twitter, and television, we’ve all slowly lost our ability to focus, and there are plenty of studies to show it. We want our focus back, and there’s a whole industry of tools, apps, programs, and headphones to help us, acting like digital blinders to shield us from distraction. But Clay Johnson, the founder of Blue State Digital (the technology company behind Barack Obama’s web site) and blogger at infovegan.com, says that we’re looking in the wrong place: “It is as much Twitter’s fault that you have a short attention span as it is your closet’s fault it doesn’t have any running shoes in it. If you want the ability to focus ... Breastfeeding 1-2-3 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3794747 Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:47:44 +0100 3794747 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3359049&cid=t_240817_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F03%2F12%2Fmaintain-your-memory-as-you-age%2F You can’t stop it — the natural aging process that ages not only our bodies, but our brains too. Normal aging doesn’t significantly impact our thinking, however. Most people do not suffer from significant memory problems, deficits in problem-solving, or issues with thinking through activities that require analysis and reasoning. Still, things that may have come to us quickly when we were younger may take a little bit more time as we get older. And these slow-downs come not only in memory, but in something that psychologists call executive function, too. According to information provided by The Harvard Health Letter, “Executive function is an umbrella term for the complex thinking required to make choices, plan, initiate action, and inhibit impulses. Executive funct... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3359049 Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:55:15 +0100 3359049 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2688731&cid=t_240817_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F08%2F10%2Fback-to-college-5-survival-tips%2F It’s the start of a new semester and time to go back to university or college. Sometimes it’s hard to get back into the campus groove, into the routine of studying, going to the library, going to classes, paying attention for an hour or two at a time, etc. Who can blame you? You’re young, your life is full of nearly limitless opportunity and excitement, and going to class can be really trying to your attention span. Yet attend classes you must (well, if you want to graduate some day), as well as the joy of studying for exams and turning in papers. You probably know the survival tips I’m about to cover, but they bear repeating anyways. 1. Take at least some classes seriously. Look, it’s college. I understand that. But you’ll benefit by discovering your i... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2688731 Mon, 10 Aug 2009 20:23:05 +0100 2688731 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2602046&cid=t_240817_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F07%2F14%2Fbremners-false-claims-about-postpartum-depression%2F Psychiatrist J. Douglas Bremner has weighed in on the Melanie Blocker Stokes MOTHERS Act, an effort to provide voluntary screenings to pregnant women to help identify postpartum depression before it becomes overwhelming. I’ll let Bremner speak for himself: The problem with this is the attitude that being a mother is a risk factor for a psychiatric disorder. First of all, there is no evidence that women without a prior history of anxiety and depression have any increased risk of getting post partum depression. So to screen all moms as if giving birth is a risk factor for depression is ridiculous. My BS alert goes off whenever someone tries to change the argument from a reasonable effort to help increase education and information about a stigmatized mental health issue, to hyperbole,... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2602046 Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:10:42 +0100 2602046 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2408558&cid=t_240817_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2Fb8ZS_LjRIko%2F Despite television, cell phones, and Web “twitter,” traditional reading is still an important skill. Whether it is school textbooks, tech manuals at work, or regular books, people still read, though not as much as they used to. One reason that many people don't read much is that they don't read well. For them, it is slow, hard work and they don't remember as much as they should. Students, for example,may have to read something several times before they understand and remember what they read. Why? You would think that schools teach kids how to read well. Schools do try. I work with middle-school teachers (see http://peer.tamu.edu) and they tell me that many students are 2-3 years behind grade level in reading proficiency. No doubt, television, cell phones, and the Web are major contribu... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2408558 Fri, 15 May 2009 03:04:28 +0100 2408558