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Study participants typically did not enjoy spending 15 minutes by themselves

bostonglobe.com

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Re: Study participants typically did not enjoy spending 15 minutes by themselves

#41

Post by tgb »

Mithaldu wrote: post #28
jdiez17 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You didn't read the article. It says they shocked the participants before the study started so the curiosity factor was not present.

The article says they exposed people to the shocks and other stimuli to get a response to the 5$ question. It doesn't say they took the people and gave them 15 minutes to play around with the thing. Curiosity is still very much in the game, especially when there's nothing else to do. A much more meaningful way to do this experiment would've been to have people sit and receive regular shocks (not under their own contr…

The article does mention that they are going to investigate mediation later.

Re: Study participants typically did not enjoy spending 15 minutes by themselves

#42

Post by tormeh »

thatjoist wrote: post #19
coldtea wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"""I get the point that people may prefer external stimulation to internal thoughts. But I think the result of this study hinge on whether the electric shock was really all that unpleasant.""" All of these is beside the point. An electric shock, mild, even pleasant is a BS diversion. People prefered BS diversion (could be even clicking a button that did nothing at all) that spending a few minutes with their thoughts.…

People can think anywhere. It's not often they're sat in a room with a little electric shock doodad. Humanities natural curiosity takes over.

You shock yourself 189 times, and you're still curious, so you shock yourself yet again? Unlikely.

Re: Study participants typically did not enjoy spending 15 minutes by themselves

#43

Post by Estragon »

Aqueous wrote: post #32
Mithaldu wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article says they exposed people to the shocks and other stimuli to get a response to the 5$ question. It doesn't say they took the people and gave them 15 minutes to play around with the thing. Curiosity is still very much in the game, especially when there's nothing else to do. A much more meaningful way to do this experiment would've been to have people sit and receive regular shocks (not under their own contr…

One participant shocked themselves 190 times. I'd say I'd concede curiosity is the main factor the first one or two times.

Yes, but the mean number of times was less than 1.5, with maximum 4 if you exclude that outlier. The vast majority of cases are perfectly compatible with curiosity, a scenario the paper ignored completely, and which could have been at least partially addressed simply by asking participants why they pressed the button.

This is an OK study, sexed up in a very cynical and ignorant way.

Re: Study participants typically did not enjoy spending 15 minutes by themselves

#44

Post by metacorrector »

molbioguy wrote: post #5

I get the point that people may prefer external stimulation to internal thoughts. But I think the result of this study hinge on whether the electric shock was really all that unpleasant. For safety reasons, I'll assume the shock wasn't large enough to be harmful or create anything but a momentary sensation. People are curious, and it would seem a fairly safe environment. What's to stop them from simply experimenting…

the study hinges on whether the researchers who worked on it, designing it and completing many trials over time, writing it up and getting it published, on whether they thought of something that you just thought of? that the unpleasant shock had to be unpleasant?

REALLY? you really think they missed that?

Re: Study participants typically did not enjoy spending 15 minutes by themselves

#45

Post by marcosdumay »

coldtea wrote: post #15
molbioguy wrote: post #5

I get the point that people may prefer external stimulation to internal thoughts. But I think the result of this study hinge on whether the electric shock was really all that unpleasant. For safety reasons, I'll assume the shock wasn't large enough to be harmful or create anything but a momentary sensation. People are curious, and it would seem a fairly safe environment. What's to stop them from simply experimenting…

"""I get the point that people may prefer external stimulation to internal thoughts. But I think the result of this study hinge on whether the electric shock was really all that unpleasant.""" All of these is beside the point. An electric shock, mild, even pleasant is a BS diversion. People prefered BS diversion (could be even clicking a button that did nothing at all) that spending a few minutes with their thoughts.…

Their thoughts were certainly around "why did they put that button here?", and "will it really work like the first time again?"

Because well, they were placed in a room where they could shock themselves. Completely out of the ordinary does not describe the setup well enough.

Re: Study participants typically did not enjoy spending 15 minutes by themselves

#46

Post by alexvr »

I bet this is part of the reason most people are not independent & creative thinkers. And I would bet that it also has something to do with why creative people often end up with mental health issues down the road. It's definitely easier and more fun (and maybe even healthier) to whip out your smartphone and Google something you're wondering about, play a quick game, read what someone else thinks, etc. in otherwise idle moments, but doing so precludes having a bunch of potentially valuable thoughts.

Re: Study participants typically did not enjoy spending 15 minutes by themselves

#47

Post by JohnDotAwesome »

Sometimes, I felt like I was reading The Onion -

"... people basically found being alone with themselves not very fun and kind of boring."

"It seems that the average person doesn’t seem to be capable of generating a sufficiently interesting train of thought to prevent them from being miserable with themselves."

Re: Study participants typically did not enjoy spending 15 minutes by themselves

#49

Post by j2kun »

While I'm totally surprised people would shock themselves after only 15 minutes, now I'm more interested in the people who did not shock themselves. What are their ages and occupations? What could explain their ability to enjoy a bit of isolation?

Re: Study participants typically did not enjoy spending 15 minutes by themselves

#50

Post by sullyj3 »

Aqueous wrote: post #32
Mithaldu wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article says they exposed people to the shocks and other stimuli to get a response to the 5$ question. It doesn't say they took the people and gave them 15 minutes to play around with the thing. Curiosity is still very much in the game, especially when there's nothing else to do. A much more meaningful way to do this experiment would've been to have people sit and receive regular shocks (not under their own contr…

One participant shocked themselves 190 times. I'd say I'd concede curiosity is the main factor the first one or two times.

I'm really interested in what was going through that participant's mind.
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