If attention were a muscle, most of us would swear ours had been skipping leg day. One minute you’re reading an email, the next you’re three tabs deep into a recipe for a croquembouche that looks like a “Kraken bush”—and you don’t remember how you got there. Psychologists call the ability to stay on task […]
Attention
One of the greatest (and, in my opinion, most overlooked) aspects of science is that it is a process inherently founded on and driven by community. Almost all ongoing research questions are derived from prior research, and the outputs of ongoing research will inevitably inspire new lines of work and discovery. Scientific discoveries are ultimately […]
At this point, we’ve probably all spent more time than we want to think about on Zoom calls. Whether that’s meeting with students or collaborators when we’re spread across countries (or the planet), or committee meetings, or even social events, if you’re reading this, you’re probably more familiar than you want to be with a […]
I’m embarrassed to admit this, but one thing that I’ve been struggling with lately is finding my glasses on my desk at work. I set them down and suddenly they’re nowhere to be found. I’ve even occasionally had to ask another person to come and help me find them. Why is this so challenging? Even […]
Every so often, I get random chest pain and immediately spiral – is this it? Am I having a heart attack? Then I remind myself that I’m 25, probably overcaffeinated, and maybe just a little stressed. This type of irrational leap (thankfully) isn’t unique to just me. In fact, doctors are trained to avoid jumping […]
Driving is often considered an important rite of passage. In the United States and Canada, many states and provinces, respectively, allow learners’ permits to be obtained between 15 and 16 years, with an official license possible by age 16. Compared to most other countries worldwide, the minimum requirement for a provisional license is 18 years. […]
There are some who might scoff at it, but I’m always a bit charmed to meet someone who puts their fingers and thumbs in the classic “L” and “reversed L” formations to differentiate between left and right. And although I usually don’t need to do this, it seems to be a relatable enough experience to at […]
Whether you are an air traffic controller, a transportation security officer, a gamer, a student studying for finals, a writer trying to meet a deadline, or a parent, the ability to maintain attention for extended periods without getting distracted can be crucial. However, as many humans have experienced, sustaining attention to a task, especially one […]
Search in the lab doesn’t look like search in the world (mostly) Visual search is something that we do all the time – in the morning, pre-coffee, you might stumble into the washroom and look for your toothbrush (hoping that your cat didn’t get rambunctious in the night and knock it into the sink), followed […]
Have you ever played one of those candy jar guessing games where the goal is to accurately estimate how many candies are inside to win them all? As a kid, I always tried my hardest to guess correctly because my mom rarely let me have candy. No matter how hard I tried, my guesses were […]