Comments on: Why do You Turn Down the Radio When You're Lost?

by: » Stress and Short Term Memory « Brain Fitness Revolution at SharpBrains

Tue, 05 Jun 2007 02:11:59 +0000

[...] Further Reading on Stress and Memory Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers by Robert M. Sapolsky, Ph.D. A Primer on Multitasking Simple Stress Test Quick Stress Buster Is there such thing as GOOD stress? Learn More about Brain Fitness Join our Message Boards Find the Right Program Tags: No Tags [...]

by: Nikolas

Tue, 30 Jan 2007 15:28:38 +0000

Sweet

by: Turn the radio down to play better cricket

Tue, 14 Nov 2006 23:12:24 +0000

[...] The Sharpbrains blog explains: [...]

by: Alvaro

Mon, 13 Nov 2006 19:58:30 +0000

"I thought that the adolescent had an interesting hypothesis that needed to be tested out." What a luxury for that adolescent to count on such an open-minded, empirical, ally. Thanks, Neal!

by: Caroline

Sat, 11 Nov 2006 23:35:49 +0000

What a great example! It makes me wonder if headphones playing white noise or something might help him when reading or studying? Classroom lectures will probably always be tough for him, although sitting near the front of the room would help limit visual and audial distractions.

It's also interesting to note how creative and insightful people are with their own conditions.

Thanks for the comment!

by: Neal Cohen

Sat, 11 Nov 2006 19:51:37 +0000

The other day I was working with an adolescent and his family (I am a clinical psychologist). The adolescent has an attention deficit associated with a relative weakness in working memory. Although very intelligent (Full Scale IQ in the Superior range), his academic performance is below average.

He believed that he would be less distractible if he could be blindfolded. The parents protested his “silliness.” I thought that the adolescent had an interesting hypothesis that needed to be tested out. I gave him a blindfold that I use when testing sensory-motor function.

Over the next 20 minutes the change in the adolescent’s behavior and the family’s interaction was astounding. In short, the whole family settled down. It was clear that the adolescent knew from his own experience that his attention (and behavior) would improve if the demands on his attention decreased.

“So, you’re not nuts to turn down the volume when you’re lost. By doing that, you are allowing more of your brain to focus on your mission - to find dinner!”

by: Why do You Turn Down the Radio When You’re Lost? « SharpBrains: Your Window into the Brain Fitness Revolution

Sat, 11 Nov 2006 14:06:09 +0000

[...] (Please remember we have moved to a new location. You can find this post in its new location at http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2006/11/11/why-do-you-turn-down-the-radio-when-youre-lost/) In talking about using a cell phone while driving, Steven Yantis, a professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Johns Hopkins University, had this to say: “Directing attention to listening effectively ‘turns down the volume’ on input to the visual parts of the brain. The evidence we have right now strongly suggests that attention is strictly limited - a zero-sum game. When attention is deployed to one modality - say, in this case, talking on a cell phone - it necessarily extracts a cost on another modality - in this case, the visual task of driving.” [...]