What are teenagers actually paying attention to when they do other things, and watch TV? A study used ecological momentary assessment (EMA)- a method that asks questions in the moment- to find out. “Hm? What?” You just asked someone a question, but they were watching TV—and they’re also checking Facebook and texting somebody. Breaking in […]
Everyone gives in to snack food cravings. What influences when we give into them? Researchers used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to find this out. Specifically, researchers the University of Illinois at Chicago wanted to find out about snacking habits in a socioeconomically diverse sample of African American women in the windy city. Each of the
Ever want to know more about the voice inside your head? We’ll teach you one way, using a psychologist’s research method, called descriptive experience sampling. Cassandra Willyard is a writer for Discover Magazine. She was curious about her inner voice, and wrote an article about it. Along the way, she interviewed a few psychologists that
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Does mind wandering really make you unhappy? There seems to be quite a bit of research suggesting this is so. Some of the important research on the topic used experience sampling methodology (ESM). However, some more ESM research suggests that the relationship might not be exactly how we thought. Some researchers from the University of
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Have you been to a farmer’s market this year? If so, you might enjoy the mobile intervention that researchers from the University of Western Ontario, Michigan State University, Brescia University College, and Wilfrid Laurier University, used to help people increase healthy eating habits- including eating local food. The researchers developed the Smart APPitite smartphone app to
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Fibromyalgia is a disorder in which a person generally has chronic musculoskeletal pain. Stress is thought to be a cause of fibromyalgia symptoms. However, music has been shown to alleviate both stress and pain. Does listening to music in everyday life help alleviate fibromyalgia symptoms? A study using ecological momentary assessment investigated the relationship. Researchers