How Pretty Women Change Men’s Minds

According to a new scientific study, just talking to an attractive woman can temporarily change a man’s mind power.

The research shows men who spend even a few minutes in the company of an attractive woman perform less well in tests designed to measure brain function and mind power than those who chat to someone they do not find attractive.

Researchers who carried out the study, published in the Journal of Experimental and Social Psychology, think the reason may be that men use up so much of their brain function or cognitive resources trying to impress beautiful women, they have little left for other tasks.

The findings have implications for the mind power and subsequent mental performance of men who are trying to impress a woman in the workplace, or even exam results in mixed-sex schools.

Women, however, were not affected by chatting to a handsome man. This may be simply because men are programmed by evolution to think more about mating opportunities.

Psychologists at Radboud University in The Netherlands carried out the study after one of them was so struck on impressing an attractive woman he had never met before, that he could not remember his address when she asked him where he lived.

Researchers said it was as if he was so keen to impression a woman that he temporarily absorbed most of his cognitive resources.

To see if other men were affected in the same way, they recruited 40 male heterosexual students. Each one performed a standard memory test where they had to observe a stream of letters and say, as fast as possible, if each one was the same as the one before last. The volunteers then spent seven minutes chatting to male or female members of the research team before repeating the test.

The results showed men were slower and less accurate after trying to impress the women.

The more they fancied them, the worse their score. But when the task was repeated with a group of female volunteers, they did not get the same results. Memory scores stayed the same, whether they had chatted to a man or a woman.

In a report on their findings the researchers said: ‘We conclude men’s cognitive functioning may temporarily decline after an interaction with an attractive woman.’

Psychologist Dr George Fieldman, a member of the British Psychological Society, said the findings reflect the fact that men are programmed to think about ways to pass on their genes. “When a man meets a pretty woman, he is what we call ‘reproductively focused,” he explained. “But a woman also looks for signs of other attributes, such as wealth, youth and kindness. Just the look of the man would be unlikely to have the same effect.”

By Pat Hagan / Source: The Telegraph

The Best Predictor of Future Success

Wonder just what it is that best predicts your future success? Passion and perseverance are more important to success than talent or intelligence. But there’s something else that may be the best gauge of your future success.

In a series of studies at the University of Pennsylvania, researchers found that “gritty” people are more likely to achieve success in school, work and other pursuits—perhaps because their passion and commitment help them endure setbacks. In other words, it’s not just talent that matters but also character.

How Much Does Talent Count?
So… if effort is the bedrock of success, what roles do intelligence and talent play? Many large research projects suggest that intelligence accounts for about 25 percent of one’s success. While persistence, or pure grit, accounts for at least 50 percent, and creativity an additional 25 percent.

Neurobiologist Angela Duckworth and positive psychologist Dr. Martin Seligman, known for his groundbreaking work on optimism, interviewed high achievers in various fields to identify their common distinguishing characteristics.

There were a number of people in their study who were brilliant, ambitious and persevering, Duckworth reports. But there were also a lot who were not geniuses, but were really tenacious and could endure setbacks. The researchers began to refer to this tenacity as “grit”—the determination to accomplish an ambitious, long-term goal despite the inevitable obstacles.

And for those who may not be ranked as having a genius IQ, Duckworth and Seligman have an important finding: Grit has value for people at all levels of raw intelligence and ability.

In fact, their initial studies show that grit and intelligence are completely independent traits. Duckworth says regardless of your ability, it’s important to be focused and able to bounce back from setbacks.

The Power of Passion
There is strong evidence that passion fuels persistence. Although extremely persistent people are usually passionate about their work, that doesn’t mean that the passion always comes first.

Perseverance, notes Duckworth, can itself foster passion. Often the most fascinating aspects of an area of interest only become apparent after deep immersion, to a level where you understand it and are enlivened by it.

For others, persistence may grow from a desire to test their limits. Consider endurance athletes, for whom challenge isn’t merely an obstacle to accomplishing something but often the spur to action in the first place.

Also in the Mix
Passion may be the linchpin of grit, but it’s not the only element. Truly gritty people tend to set especially challenging long-term goals. Self-discipline is probably also important, and studies have shown that gritty people tend to be highly self-disciplined.

Then there’s optimism, a trait that Dean Keith Simonton of the University of California at Davis finds is extremely common among high achievers. They just really believe in the end that they’re going to win, and they just keep on pushing, he says.

Build Middle-Age Brain Power?

Are you a middle-age or older adult? Then you might want to spend more time searching the internet to build your brain power.

Scientists at UCLA have found that for middle-age and older adults, searching the Internet triggers key centers in the brain that control decision-making and complex reasoning. The findings demonstrate that Web search activity may help stimulate and  improve brain function and cognitive ability.

“The study results indicate that emerging computerized technologies may have physiological effects and potential (improve brain power) benefits for middle-aged and older adults,” said principal investigator Dr. Gary Small, a professor at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA. Small found that searching the internet engages complicated brain activity, and “may help exercise and improve brain function.”

As the brain ages, a number of structural and functional changes occur, including atrophy, reductions in cell activity, and increases in deposits of plaques and tangles – all of which impact cognitive function. Small noted that pursuing activities that keep the mind engaged helps preserve brain health and cognitive ability.

The UCLA team worked with 24 neurologically normal research volunteers between the ages of 55 and 76. Half of the study participants had experience searching the Internet, while the other half had no experience. Age, educational level and gender were similar between the two groups.

Study participants performed Web searches and book-reading tasks while undergoing brain scans that measured the level of cerebral blood flow during the cognitive tasks.

All study participants showed significant brain activity during the book-reading task, but internet searches revealed a major difference. While all participants demonstrated the same brain activity that was seen during the book-reading task, the Web-savvy group also registered activity in the frontal, temporal and cingulate areas of the brain controlling decision-making and complex reasoning.

“Our most striking finding was that Internet searching appears to engage a greater extent of neural circuitry that is not activated during reading — but only in those with prior Internet experience,” said Small, who is also the director of UCLA’s Memory and Aging Research Center. In fact, researchers found that during Web searching, volunteers with prior experience registered a twofold increase in brain activation when compared with those with little Internet experience.

Compared with simple reading, the Internet requires making decisions about what to click on in order to pursue more information — an activity that engages cognitive circuits in the brain.”Searching the Web appears to enhance brain circuitry in mid-age and older adults,” Small said.

Small added that the minimal brain activation in the less experienced Internet group may be due to participants not quite grasping the strategies needed to successfully engage in an Internet search.

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