When distraction is a good thing

When distraction is a good thingWhen distraction is a good thingIs distraction a curse or a blessing? Not giving full attention to what we should be doing makes us miss deadlines, fail classes, and crash into other drivers. Distraction certainly has a price. Nonetheless, we love ur distractions Social media, spectator sports, movies, books, TV shows, the news, video games - what would we do without them?Clearly, there are benefits to distractions as evidenced by the fact that nearly everyone on earth seeks them out. But why? Although they seem to pull us away from more important things, what purpose do they serve? And, when at times we seem to give in to distractions, how do we ensure they serve us well?Distractions can ease painOur brains have alimited ability to focus. We cant pay attention to everything around us all at once so we must choose what to focus on. For example, we may choose to focus on work while struggling to resist more interesting distractions.However, in some sit uations, we can leverage this biological limitation to ur advantage. In her book,SuperBetter The Power of Living Gamefully, Dr. Jane McGonigal, describes how distractions can be a powerful tool for reducing the impact of painful or negative experiences.For example, children are notoriously anxious before surgery. Their levels of preoperative anxiety are known to reduce the effectiveness of anesthesia and increase recovery times. Physicians need alternatives to sedative medications to keep them calm. A study, cited by McGonigal, used distractions to effectively reduce their stress.In the study, one group of children welches given anti-anxiety medication before surgery, another group played handheld video games, while a third control group was given no medication and no video games before surgery. The kids in the video game group were the only ones to show a decrease in anxiety before surgery. They also required less anesthesia during the procedure and suffered from fewer medication s ide effects after surgery than children in the other two groups.The video games proved effective, researchers believe, because they distracted the children from the pain and uncertainty of the surgery. The engaging nature of the video game helped children direct their attention away from their fear and towards the challenge of the game.This study isnt alone in demonstrating the power of distractions to lessen negative experiences. Burn patients are typically given large doses of medications to help them through the excruciating pain of cleaning their wounds. A new virtual reality game designed by scientists at the University of Washington Seattle demonstrated the extraordinary power of distractions in fighting pain. The researchersfoundthat patients who played the game during wound cleaningfelt up to 50 percent less pain. In fact, playing the virtual reality game was more effective at reducing pain than using medication. The researchers concluded that the more immersive and engaging the game was, the more it helped direct attention away from the pain of the procedure.Distractions can make us betterThe ability to shift ur attention away from negative experiences is also helpful outside of a hospital setting. Distractions can help us cope with the pains of everyday life. Research on how distractions can be used to control our urges and impulses show that certain games, like Tetris for example, can help reduce cravings forfatty foodsand even addictivedrugs. Researchers suspect the cognitive demands of these games redirect our attention away from craving triggers, reducing the painful urge to indulge. Playing matching puzzle games like Candy Crush, Puzzle Blocks, or Interlockedmight actually help us distract ourselves away from digging into that pint of ice cream in the fridge.Distractions can also help us stay fit. Researchsuggeststaking our minds off the pain of physical exercise, with music or television, can improve performance and endurance.Digital distractio ns and personal technology can help us be stronger in the moment, but McGonigal thinks they can also help us develop our ability to take on challenges in the future. Certain personal technologies can help us build up our courage, McGonigal says, and games are a particularly good way to boost our self-efficacy - our confidence in our ability to overcome problems.Evidence to back McGonigals claim comes from a notableexperimentabout how a video game helped adolescent krebs patients fight their disease, literally. The study tested whether playing a cancer-themed video game called Re-mission would help patients stick to their treatment plan and take their medication regularly. In this example, the game didnt fight pain directly but built up patients capabilities. Patients who played the game were more likely to take their medications, increase their sense of self-efficacy, and show more knowledge regarding how to fight their cancer.From McGonigals standpoint, digital games are powerful tools to build strength and confidence because constantly escalating challenge requires a willingness from patients to keep trying, even when they fail. It instills a belief that if they keep practicing and learning, if they put in the hard work, they will eventually be able to achieve more difficult goals. By attempting and overcoming challenges within a game, the cancer patients strengthened their perseverance to keep fighting.Other digital games have been used to help patients withasthma,diabetes,anxiety, andADHD all showing increases in self-efficacy and self-care behavior after playing. More evidence that games can heal is emerging from new digital health platforms which use game-based elements to increase patient participation.For example, taking prescribed medications and adopting a healthy lifestyle can greatly improve patient outcomes but only if people actually change their behavior. TheEmpower digital health platformhelps patients manage their chronic diseases through pla yful design elements traditionally used in games, like levels, point systems, unlocking content, variable rewards, and competition. Combining the engaging nature of games with the accessibility of personal technology creates a healthy distraction that can build patient confidence to combat disease.When are distractions destructive?Clearly, distractions can help us verstndigung im strafverfahren with pain and build our courage to tackle future challenges. However, dont distractions pull us away from our priorities? What about the many products and services, like video games and social media sites, designed to be so good we want to use them all the time? Sometimes we have trouble limiting their use and find ourselves sucked into distractions.Whether personal technology distractions are a force for good, McGonigal explains, depends onwhy and howwe use them. Do you play to escape your real life, or do you play to make your real life better?McGonigal describes two modes for how we engage with distracting activities self-suppression and self-expansion.Self-suppression is using distractions to avoid negative experiences while self-expansion is using distractions to promote positive ones. Sounds simple enough, but McGonigal warns that at times, it is hard to tell the difference between the two. The same activity could be expansive for one person and suppressive for another. It all depends onwhythe person is engaging in the distraction and for how long.How can you tell if a distraction is good or bad for you? McGonigal suggests first asking yourself, Why am I doing this? If your response is to avoid a negative feeling such as Because work is boring, or I dont want to deal with anything right now, the distraction may be self-suppressive.Of course in some instances, such as burn victims or children about to go into surgery, distractions can be an effective coping strategy. However, these are justified in that the distractions are used as a temporary solution. Once the pa tient is healed physically, they no longer require the escape from pain.However, problems can arise when distractions become a permanent escape from an uncomfortable reality. McGonigal warns of solutions that dont build our ability to deal with pain in the future. Temporary distractions used for too long may backfire because over time self-suppression actually diminishes our sense of self-efficacy We no longer see ourselves as people who can effectively solve our own problems. When we rely on pain-relieving distractions, be it personal technology, drugs, or other escapes, we may never build our capacity to deal with a painful situation, either physical or psychological.In contrast, self-expansive distractions involve achieving goals, building skills, or attaining new knowledge that can be used over the long-term. These distractions help us improve ourselves and can build self-efficacy.For example, answers to the question Why am I doing this? that sound like, I want to learn a new l anguage, I want to build a bigger career network, I want to know more about my health, or I want to improve my well-being, are the kind of answers that a self-expansive technology can help with. Using distractions with an expansive mindset builds strength, while using them with a suppressive one simply shields us from the pain we are avoiding.Identifyingwhy and howyou engage with personal technology may be the difference between healthy and destructive behavior. Take a look at your favorite digital distractions - social media, video games, puzzles, television shows, podcasts, news, and spectator sports - and ask yourself whether you are using them as tools to build strength, skills, knowledge, and self-efficacy for the future or for a temporary escape from an uncomfortable reality. If its the latter, you may want to reconsider the role these distractions play in your life. If the pain youre escaping is permanent, no distraction will ever heal it. You must either learn new coping s trategies or fundamentally fix what is broken.When we think about personal technology distractions, we must ensure they continue to serve us. Whether it is helping us get through a difficult time in our lives, or helping us build strength and perseverance for the long-term, continually asking why am I doing this? can help make sure were getting the most out of our distractions.Heres the gistDistractions arent always bad, sometimes they are useful tools.Personal technology distractions like video games and puzzles can give us the strength to endure negative experiences.Some distractions can strengthen our ability to tackle new challenges.Personal technology is a healthy distraction for most people, but it can go bad when it becomes an escape from an uncomfortable reality. It all depends onwhy and how longwe use it.Using distractions for self-expansion builds strength, while using them for self-suppression simply shields us from the pain were avoiding.To determine if a distraction is self-expansive or self-suppressing, get to the bottom of why you are really using it.Self-suppression is acceptable for coping with negative experiences in the short term, but can backfire when used as a long-term solution.This column, co-authored by Nir Eyal - the author ofHooked How to Build Habit-Forming Products- and Chelsea Robertson, first appeared at Nir and Far, where Eyal blogs aboutthe psychology of products. For more insights on using psychology to change customer behavior, join his free newsletter and receive a free workbook atwww.nirandfar.com.

8 Animal Nutrition Internships

8 Animal Nutrition Internships8 Animal Nutrition InternshipsThere are many internship options available for those seeking to gain experience in the field of animal nutrition. Whatever your particular interests are, one of the following opportunities should appeal to you. The Animal Nutrition Center at Disneys Animal Kingdom theme park offers animal nutrition internships that allow students to prepare diets for a variety of exotic species. They can also assist with research involving nutrient analysis, utilize specialized laboratory equipment, and log data related to the animals in into the centers collection. To qualify for an internship, applicants must be college juniors, seniors, or recent graduates from an animal science-related program. Candidates must also have completed at least one semester of a nutrition course. Direct contact with animals is not a part of this internship experience. Alltech, a leading animal health, and nutrition company, offers a variety of internships in the areas of marketing and research. The research internship program is offered at Alltechs Center for Animal Nutrigenomics in Kentucky. A wide variety of research options are available and can be tailored to the students specific interests in the field. Candidates must have completed two years of college and have at least a 3.0 grade point average. Kentucky Equine Research offers both summer internships and year-long internships at their fully-equipped research facility in Versailles, Kentucky. KER publishes a variety of research studies relating to nutrition and exercise physiology. The summer internship program runs from May to August and accepts students that have completed at least two years of an animal science-related program. The year-long internship program can be extended to 18 months if the candidates schedule allows for it. The National Zoological Park, a part of the Smithsonian Institution, offers animal nutrition internships to students in Washington D.C. Undergraduat e applicants must have completed at least two years of study in an area related to animal science or nutrition. While one recent internship opportunity focused on studying the nutritional needs of desert tortoises, opportunities vary from one season to the next and another internship in clinical nutrition focused on the nutrient analysis of feeds and forages. This position carried a stipend of $300 per week (or $3600 for the 12-week session). Nestle Purina, a leading pet food manufacturer, offers a variety of student internships in areas such as sales, marketing, product management, supply chain management, and business management. The Sales Internship Veterinary Channel is just one of several opportunities. This internship provides extensive nutritional training regarding Purina products as well as hands-on experience via field calls with a mentor. This 10-week summer program is a paid opportunity, with mileage reimbursement and housing assistance provided. Junior and senior stud ents can apply and do not need to have a specific major. ADM Alliance Nutrition (located in Illinois) offers several nutrition-related internship opportunities including options such as show feed sales, field sales, plant management, and research/livestock specialist. Candidates must be at least juniors in college and have a minimum 2.8 grade point average. The Monterey Bay Aquarium (located in California) offers an animal food technician internship program that allows students to prepare fresh, frozen, and live dietary rations for the aquariums collection. In addition to basic food preparation duties, students can assist with feedings, maintaining USDA sanitary standards, and other staff duties. The Audubon Nature Institute (located in Louisiana) offers a zoologischer garten commissary internship. This internship requires at least a 12-week commitment, with interns required to work at least four mornings a week. Interns are allowed to prepare diets, manage product inventory, provid e quality control, and learn about the nutritional requirements of a variety of exotic species. It is important to remember that many internship opportunities are not be advertised so its wise to check with your local college, agricultural extension agent, zoo, and animal nutrition manufacturers to see what internship programs are available in your area. Additional animal nutrition-related internship possibilities can be found through an online keyword search or by viewing some of the other animal-related internship pages on this site includingwildlife rehabilitation internships, animal behavior internships, zoo internships, avian internships, equine internships, or pre-veterinary internships.

Read a child 5 books a day theyll hear 1.4 million words by kindergarten

Read a child 5 books a day theyll hear 1.4 million words by kindergartenRead a child 5 books a day theyll hear 1.4 million words by kindergartenHeres another argument to take screens away from babies and toddlers reading five books a day to your kid in the years before they enter kindergarten means theyll have heard 1.4 million more words than kids that were never read to. Mic drop.Thats according to a new study published in the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics.Lead author and assistant professor of educational studies at Ohio State University Jessica Logan calls it the million-word gap, and says it could explain discrepancies in vocabulary and reading advancement.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreThe results of the study, which used data from 60 popular childrens books in order to estimate the number of words that children are exposed to when theyre read to, c oncluded that parents who read one picture book with their children every day exposed them to about 78,000 words a year. Over the 5 years, before they entered kindergarten, researchers estimated that kids from highly literate households (meaning they were read five books a day) heard a cumulative 1.4 million more words from being read to than children who were never read to.These books arent Ivanhoe think simple board books through their 3rd birthday and picture books after that.Kids who hear more vocabulary words are going to be better prepared to see those words in print when they enter school, said Logan, in a release. They are likely to pick up reading skills more quickly and easily.Logans research was inspired by her earlier work, which found that 25% of children in a national sample were never read to, and another 25% were read to only once or twice a week.Heres how many words kids will have heard by their 5th birthday based on how much they were read toNever read to 4,662Rea d to 1-2 times per week 63,570Read to 3-5 times per week 169,520Read to daily 296,660Read to daily (5 books a day) 1,483,300According to the results of this study, parents who only speak to their children instead of adding reading are doing them a disservice when it comes to literacy. Being read to is different and more important than simply overhearing speech, Logan says.This isnt about everyday communication, she says. The words kids hear in books are going to be much more complex, difficult words than they heard just talking to their parents and others in the home.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people