Can you recall an experience where you were so in the zone doing something that time was flying by? That is a flow experience, which is the topic of today's episode. We discuss what a flow experience is, how to achieve it, and how it can help your life. References: Jackson, S. (1995). Factors influencing the occurrence of flow state in elite athletes. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 7, 138–166. Payne, B. R., Jackson, J. J., Noh, S. R., & Stine-Morrow, E. A. L. (2011). In...

How are you feeling right now? Today we discuss the benefits of naming the emotions we are currently experiencing. Spoiler alert: We talk about "Inside Out". References: Kircanski, K., Lieberman, M. D., & Craske, M. G. (2012). Feelings into words: Contributions of language to exposure therapy. Psychological science, 23(10), 1086-1091. Vlasenko, V. V., Rogers, E. G., & Waugh, C. E. (2021). Affect labelling increases the intensity of positive emotions. Cognition and Emotion,...

Family curses? Paris is the capital of France? Naps? Today we discuss how sleep affects declarative and motor memory. References: Walker, M. P., Brakefield, T., Morgan, A., Hobson, J. A., & Stickgold, R. (2002). Practice with sleep makes perfect: sleep-dependent motor skill learning. Neuron, 35(1), 205-211. Tucker, M. A., Hirota, Y., Wamsley, E. J., Lau, H., Chaklader, A., & Fishbein, W. (2006). A daytime nap containing solely non-REM sleep enhances declarative but not...

Do you ever feel like you're living your life on autopilot? Today we discuss savoring and how to enjoy life in a more mindful way.  References:  Jose, P. E., Lim, B. T., & Bryant, F. B. (2012). Does savoring increase happiness? A daily diary study. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 7(3), 176-187. Quoidbach, J., Berry, E. V., Hansenne, M., & Mikolajczak, M. (2010). Positive emotion regulation and well-being: Comparing the impact of eight savoring and dampening strategies....

The news often talks about how social media is destroying our lives, relationships, and mental health. But is that really the case? In today's episode, we talk about research that attempts to answer this question.  References:  Coyne, S. M., Rogers, A. A., Zurcher, J. D., Stockdale, L., & Booth, M. (2020). Does time spent using social media impact mental health?: An eight year longitudinal study. Computers in Human Behavior, 104, 106160. Orben, A., & Przybylski, A. K. (2019)....

Welcome to Season 2 of Noggin - The Simple Psychology Podcast! McKay and Ben have been hard at work (and also relaxing hard over break) creating new episodes to share with you all and we are finally back! Today we discuss research looking at what goes on inside your brain when you feel pain, when you see someone you love in pain, and what that means for you and your relationships.  References:  Singer, T., Seymour, B., O'doherty, J., Kaube, H., Dolan, R. J., & Frith, C. D. (2004)....

Have you ever been really excited to buy something, only to feel extremely underwhelmed by the satisfaction this thing gives you shortly after purchasing it? Have you ever experienced a negative change in your life that you thought would impact you more negatively than it did? Our body's natural tendency to "get used" to things involves something called hedonic adaptation. We've discussed this on the show before, but we thought it deserved its own episode. So, today we discuss what the...

Sit back, relax, and enjoy this breathing meditation.  --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/noggin-psychologypodcast/message

In honor of Thanksgiving, we discuss the benefits of being grateful according to the research. In that spirit of gratitude, thank you for listening to our podcast! We are honored that you spend time listening to us.  References:  The How of Happiness - Sonya Lyubomirsky Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: an experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of personality and social psychology, 84(2),...

In honor of everyone's sleep/wake schedule being disrupted because of daylight saving time ending, we thought it would be a good idea to talk about our body's rhythms and cycles. We discuss what is helpful and what is not helpful for our body's rhythms.  References: Fernandez, D. C., Fogerson, P. M., Ospri, L. L., Thomsen, M. B., Layne, R. M., Severin, D., ... & Hattar, S. (2018). Light affects mood and learning through distinct retina-brain pathways. Cell, 175(1), 71-84. Reppert, S....

Mindfulness is something that comes up a lot in the psychological world. But what is it? How is it practiced? What kind of benefits can it have? These are some of the questions we answer about mindfulness in today's episode.  References:  Steffen, P. R., & Larson, M. J. (2015). A brief mindfulness exercise reduces cardiovascular reactivity during a laboratory stressor paradigm. Mindfulness, 6(4), 803-811. Basso, J. C., McHale, A., Ende, V., Oberlin, D. J., & Suzuki, W. A. (2019)....

We are back with another full episode this week! We hope you have enjoyed our meditation bonus episodes. We will continue to upload those periodically. This week we discuss the difference between religiosity and spirituality, and what distinct benefits they offer according to the research.  --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/noggin-psychologypodcast/message

Hello friends! This week on Noggin we have another meditation for you. This exercise can be completed before you go to bed, or anytime throughout your day when you need a moment to relax. So sit back, press play, and get ready to relax.  --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/noggin-psychologypodcast/message

As promised in last week's episode on compassion and self-compassion, today's bonus episode is meant to help you practice compassion toward others and compassion toward yourself. This meditation can be something you listen to regularly as you develop your compassion muscles. We hope you enjoy this special bonus episode!  --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message:...

What is the difference between self-pity, self-indulgence, and self-compassion? What are the benefits of being compassionate towards others? Today we talk about Dr. Kristen Neff's research on compassion and self-compassion, and how it can benefit your life. We also discuss Dr. Neff's argument for self-compassion over self-esteem.  References:  Weng, H. Y., Lapate, R. C., Stodola, D. E., Rogers, G. M., & Davidson, R. J. (2018). Visual attention to suffering after compassion training is...

We love to think that we act rationally most of the time, especially when it comes to the choices we make with our money. However, behavioral economics tells us that humans are notoriously irrational when dealing with money. Today we dive into two basic behavioral economic principles and discuss things to be aware of when it comes to money.  References:  Worchel, S., Lee, J., & Adewole, A. (1975). Effects of supply and demand on ratings of object value. Journal of personality and...

What if we told you that the view from your hospital window could play a role in your recovery from surgery? Today we talk about the benefits of spending time in natural spaces.  References:  Ulrich, R. S. (1984). View through a window may influence recovery from surgery. science, 224(4647), 420-421. White, M. P., Alcock, I., Grellier, J., Wheeler, B. W., Hartig, T., Warber, S. L., ... & Fleming, L. E. (2019). Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good...

What is the difference between correlation and causation? How can researchers actually know when one thing CAUSES another? We received questions like these in response to our episode on reading fiction. So, today we discuss how researchers can establish causality as we revisit the research on reading fiction. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message:...

Prayer is a common spiritual practice in which many religions regularly engage. While it seems obvious that communicating with one's higher power can have spiritual benefits, today we will be exploring the less obvious physiological benefits of prayer.  References:  Cooper, D., Thayer, J., & Waldstein, S. (2014). Coping with racism: The impact of prayer on cardiovascular reactivity and post-stress recovery in African American women. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 47(2), 218-230....

How does someone who is blind avoid objects that are placed in front of them? Our brains are constantly taking in information, even outside our conscious awareness. Today we share research about something called blindsight and also fMRI studies that show that our brain reacts to things that are shown to us faster than we can perceive. Finally, we discuss how the information our brain takes in affects us, even if we don't notice it, and also how we can challenge the snap judgments our brains...

"If your friends were named Cliff would you jump off 'em?!" - Hugh Neutron Today we discuss how being in a group can influence our behavior and what we can do about it.  Look out for future episodes as we discuss topics such as compassion, the benefits of cleanliness, and how researchers decide when something causes something else.  References:  https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/bay-of-pigs Asch, S. E. (1956). Studies of independence and conformity: I A minority of one...

This week we had the opportunity to join our friend Monson on his podcast "Life Must Go On." On LMGO they seek to help those who are going through difficult things to find hope and the courage to keep moving forward. We discussed factors that help people deal with the difficulties that life throws at them. We also shared a story of a forest fire in Montana many years ago that has spurred research into how we make sense of ourselves and our situations when we experience something difficult or...

Think back to a memorable day in your life. How confident are you in the order of events and details of that day? If you were to talk about the details and events of that day with someone else who was there, do you think your stories would match up? Today we discuss the effects of priming and suggestion on our memory, and how accurate our memory actually is.  As always, if you have any feedback for us please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts, and feel free to reach out at...

Do you ever look back on your childhood and miss the days when you were encouraged to read whatever fun fantastical book you wanted? But did high school English class turn you away from literary fiction and leave a bad taste in your mouth? It almost goes without saying that reading non-fiction books such as self-help books can be helpful for the reader. But what about fiction? We might be tempted to think that in this fast-paced world where we are almost constantly pressured to grow and...