PT Blogs: News You Can Use!

Experiments are cool—but they don't always take the leap into real-world improvements. We asked PT's bloggers (blogs.psychologytoday.com) if they've changed their own behaviors based on research findings.

Discomfort Zone

I've been hugely influenced by research showing that novelty and challenge contribute to happiness. I love routine and mastery, so I figured that this finding wouldn't apply to me, but I decided to test it, anyway: I started to blog. And to my astonishment, blogging turned into an enormous engine of happiness for me. —Gretchen Rubin (The Happiness Project)

Double Take

I remember as a freshman learning that you forget about 80 percent of textbook material just two or three days later. However, if you reread it after a delay, you remember about 50 percent. This "Eureka!" experience gave me a simple strategy for doing well in college. —William Ickes (Everyday Mind Reading)

Touch and Go

Monkeys go nuts and die if they aren't touched. Touch is crucial for survival and well-being, so we carried our little monkey everywhere and learned that humans have a latent ability to do anything one-handed. Our son, now a teenager, continues to be what Californians call "centered" and normal people call "well-adjusted." —Tad Waddington (Smarts)

Seize the Day

When I was in my 30s, I read research finding that young people tend to regret things they did, but old people tend to regret things they did not do. Soon after I decided to learn to play the saxophone. —Art Markman (Ulterior Motives)

Change of Scenery

I have always loved bourbon, and as a graduate student, I loved it regularly. But I also value a life free from nagging temptation. Research by Wendy Wood and her colleagues showed that habits often do not survive the move to a new setting. Before leaving for vacation one year, I removed the bourbon from the cabinet. When I returned, it was more than an arm's length away. —J.D. Trout (The Greater Good)

Reach Out

There is a difference between extroversion (which is inborn) and social connectedness (which one cultivates). Social connections are the biggest single predictor of human happiness, so I overcome my natural introversion by making a concerted effort to build my network. —Ilana Simons (The Literary Mind)

Bedtime Stories

Children who are encouraged to share conversations about the past produce more sophisticated autobiographical narratives later in development. With both kids, we play a bedtime game called "What We Did Today," which involves talking about the events of the day, recapping the funny bits, and discussing our emotions and those of others. I have no idea if it will produce any lasting benefit, but it makes for a sharing moment not to be missed. —Charles Fernyhough (Dad the Observer)

To Help Or Not

The bioethicist Peter Singer raised an ethical dilemma on his blog, The Life You Can Save. See if you agree with the logic.

• First premise: Suffering and death from lack of food, shelter, and medical care are bad.
• Second premise: If it is in your power to prevent something bad from happening, without sacrificing anything nearly as important, it is wrong not to do so.
• Third premise: By donating to aid agencies, you can prevent suffering and death from lack of food, shelter, and medical care, without sacrificing anything nearly as important.
• Conclusion: Therefore if you do not donate to aid agencies, you are doing something wrong.