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Need a study break to refresh? Maybe not, say Stanford researchers

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Re: Need a study break to refresh? Maybe not, say Stanford researchers

#2

Post by Jach »

I'd like to see more research into this, but perhaps they can try it out on young children who haven't yet formed solid beliefs about the nature of willpower (or even contemplated it for that matter). You can even teach groups of them one theory or another as separate variables to agnosticism. I still believe willpower is a limited resource but I'd bet people's beliefs about it can lead to underestimating the limit. (Self-fulfilling prophecies play in too.)

Re: Need a study break to refresh? Maybe not, say Stanford researchers

#3

Post by sliverstorm »

What can I say, sometimes by 6AM my edge is considerably dulled, and a bit of a break can help fight off total exhaustion.

There's also writer's block-ish occasions where you keep staring at one problem and it's like beating your head on a brick wall, but if you step away and have a cup of tea and come back, that tough problem unravels itself in front of you.

I've also used the "I need a break" when I know that I'm simply out of juice for the day, and not going to make any more progress (particularly when I have something else heavy on my mind). It's not a break, I don't come back to it for at least a day, but it lets me walk away without feeling like a failure.

Re: Need a study break to refresh? Maybe not, say Stanford researchers

#5

Post by gjm11 »

It looks to me as if what the study shows is not that willpower is not, after all, a limited resource but thinking of your willpower as a limited resource makes you have less of it. That's quite interesting (though not, I'd have thought, a big surprise) but not nearly as interesting as it would be if they'd actually shown that it's only thinking of willpower as limited that limits it.

Re: Need a study break to refresh? Maybe not, say Stanford researchers

#6

Post by dools »

Funnily enough, I actually take a nap sometimes when I can't figure out the solution to a problem or I'm going around in circles.

Perhaps it's not realy sleep, but more often than not I wake up with the solution, or at least more ready to tackle the solution.

I've also found almost ubiquitously that whatever had me completely confounded the night before is a hell of a lot easier to work out in the morning.

Perhaps it's just me but I find that sleep for me is a natural reaction to mental stress, and I always feel better afterwards.

Re: Need a study break to refresh? Maybe not, say Stanford researchers

#7

Post by kirvyteo »

dools wrote: post #6

Funnily enough, I actually take a nap sometimes when I can't figure out the solution to a problem or I'm going around in circles. Perhaps it's not realy sleep, but more often than not I wake up with the solution, or at least more ready to tackle the solution. I've also found almost ubiquitously that whatever had me completely confounded the night before is a hell of a lot easier to work out in the morning. Perhaps it…

Hey me too! It happen on more than one occasion so I know it can't be coincidental. Very often, I will get stuck in debugging a programming problem and after spending hours on it, I give up and take a nap. When I wake up either the next day or hours later, the solution presents itself after working on it for a couple of minutes. It is like a nap reboots our brains (there are lots of articles about sleep and synapses).

Re: Need a study break to refresh? Maybe not, say Stanford researchers

#8

Post by akjetma »

sliverstorm wrote: post #3

What can I say, sometimes by 6AM my edge is considerably dulled, and a bit of a break can help fight off total exhaustion. There's also writer's block-ish occasions where you keep staring at one problem and it's like beating your head on a brick wall, but if you step away and have a cup of tea and come back, that tough problem unravels itself in front of you. I've also used the "I need a break" when I know that I'm s…

I've spent hours looking at simple statics problems that I know I should be able to solve in fifteen minutes, but just can't for whatever reason. It's like I've gotten on the wrong mental track early on and can only move further along that track or backwards. I'll give up for the moment to go eat or see some friends or just make contact with the outside world for an hour or so and during that time, the answer presents itself without much effort. I can then come back and redo the problem within 20 minutes.

I wonder, though, if these epiphanies could have happened without the hour long struggle preceding it. Leaving a problem, it feels as if my mind is untangling itself and organizing this mess of thoughts.

What I would really like to see some research on is the mental barrier between myself and starting the work in the first place. I'm looking at it right now... :|

Re: Need a study break to refresh? Maybe not, say Stanford researchers

#9

Post by mironathetin »

dools wrote: post #6

Funnily enough, I actually take a nap sometimes when I can't figure out the solution to a problem or I'm going around in circles. Perhaps it's not realy sleep, but more often than not I wake up with the solution, or at least more ready to tackle the solution. I've also found almost ubiquitously that whatever had me completely confounded the night before is a hell of a lot easier to work out in the morning. Perhaps it…

It think these are two different things.

Our brains can go on working on the problem even if we take a rest. If we rest with a the problem in our head, we are actually still focused. Probably, relaxing and letting the brain do its job without forcing it into one direction, often results in a good solution. Same with me, btw.

The study, as I have understood it, is more about giving up with a problem. You give up faster, if you think your resources are limited. It is more the contrast between either you relax in order to solve a problem, or have some beers with your friends talking about soccer and thus escape.

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