2009年9月2日星期三

The Essential Reading (5)

Source: Talking about art can alter our appreciation of it

Various studies show that attempting to verbalise our feelings can distort our later choices. Coincidently it is also mentioned in Malcom Gladwell's best selling book 《Blink》 which I just read a few days before.

Source: A cognitive metamorphosis

Do you like the Kafkaesque literature or other existentialist writing? Have you ever thought about how these seemingly nonsense connected to our cognitive need?

Recent studies suggest that Kafkaesque threats on life’s meaning might actually prime our need for (and perception of) order and pattern in the world. A disorienting literary experience appears to have sharpened the volunteers’ yearning for meaning on a fundamental cognitive level. As irrepressible meaning makers, the need for order and predictability may be fundamental to the human condition.

Source: Placebo Effect

A series of articles discussed the effect of placebo. Though I knew it for a while, the following distinction is new for me:

The term 'placebo effect' is used to refer to two things in the medical literature. The first is a statistical concept and it refers to the improvement in patients given an inactive treatment in a drug trial in comparison to those given the actual drug. The second is a psychological concept and it refers to improvement due to expectancy and belief.

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