Mind Matters: More gleanings from psychological research

Posted by Dr. Kayta Gajdos on June 6, 2013

Sometimes common sense is quite inaccurate and sometimes it’s spot on. What I enjoy about rigorous research is that while it can sometimes support common sense perceptions, it often does not. For eons, remember the common sense view was that sunrises and sunsets proved that the earth was the center of the universe and the sun revolved around it. When this “obvious” notion was displaced by the proof that the sun was the center of our solar system and the earth was its satellite, humans had a rude awakening. We were no longer the center of the universe. So it goes when we learn that there are larger truths than the fabrications we live by.

So check out the following research briefs and see if you think your common sense views are being challenged or not.

• What about those one-sided cell phone calls? A University of San Diego study notes that research subjects were far more distracted when they overheard only one side of a phone conversation as opposed to a conversation between two people in a room with them. In addition to being more distracting, the single-sided cell phone conversation was remembered and recalled better.

• And sound in sleep? At the University of Tübinger in Germany, researchers found that certain sounds can enhance memory. Light rhythmic noise during sleep that was in sync with the brain’s electrical readings appeared to boost retention of what was learned the previous night.

• And what about sounds babies hear in their sleep? According to a University of Oregon study, infants may be adversely affected by high conflict home environments even while asleep. Researchers observed the fMRI scans of sleeping infants while a male spoke “gibberish” with various emotional tones. The babies from high conflict homes had a higher response to the angry voice in the stress/emotional regulation brain areas than did babies from low conflict homes.

• Is there prejudice against those who are obese? What about physicians? And their patients? In a study at Johns Hopkins University, it was found that patients questioned the credibility of the advice of an obese physician. Meanwhile, another Johns Hopkins study reported findings that physicians were prejudiced against obese patients as well. While physicians may have asked the same questions and given similar medical advice to both normal weight and obese patients, they were not likely to be as empathetic or understanding with the obese patients as they were with normal weight patients.

So where did the research converge with common sense for you? For more research stories you can go to www.apa.org/monitor/digital/in-brief-june-2013.aspx. See also APA Monitor, June 2013, In Brief by Amy Novotney.

* Kayta Curzie Gajdos holds a doctorate in counseling psychology and is in private practice in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. She welcomes comments at MindMatters@DrGajdos.com or (610)388-2888. Past columns are posted to www.drgajdos.com.

About Kayta Gajdos

Dr. Kathleen Curzie Gajdos ("Kayta") is a licensed psychologist (Pennsylvania and Delaware) who has worked with individuals, couples, and families with a spectrum of problems. She has experience and training in the fields of alcohol and drug addictions, hypnosis, family therapy, Jungian theory, Gestalt therapy, EMDR, and bereavement. Dr. Gajdos developed a private practice in the Pittsburgh area, and was affiliated with the Family Therapy Institute of Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, having written numerous articles for the Family Therapy Newsletter there. She has published in the American Psychological Association Bulletin, the Family Psychologist, and in the Swedenborgian publications, Chrysalis and The Messenger. Dr. Gajdos has taught at the college level, most recently for West Chester University and Wilmington College, and has served as field faculty for Vermont College of Norwich University the Union Institute's Center for Distance Learning, Cincinnati, Ohio. She has also served as consulting psychologist to the Irene Stacy Community MH/MR Center in Western Pennsylvania where she supervised psychologists in training. Currently active in disaster relief, Dr. Gajdos serves with the American Red Cross and participated in Hurricane Katrina relief efforts as a member of teams from the Department of Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.Now living in Chadds Ford, in the Brandywine Valley of eastern Pennsylvania, Dr. Gajdos combines her private practice working with individuals, couples and families, with leading workshops on such topics as grief and healing, the impact of multigenerational grief and trauma shame, the shadow and self, Women Who Run with the Wolves, motherless daughters, and mediation and relaxation. Each year at Temenos Retreat Center in West Chester, PA she leads a griefs of birthing ritual for those who have suffered losses of procreation (abortions, miscarriages, infertility, etc.); she also holds yearly A Day of Re-Collection at Temenos.Dr. Gajdos holds Master's degrees in both philosophy and clinical psychology and received her Ph.D. in counseling at the University of Pittsburgh. Among her professional affiliations, she includes having been a founding member and board member of the C.G. Jung Educational Center of Pittsburgh, as well as being listed in Who's Who of American Women. Currently, she is a member of the American Psychological Association, The Pennsylvania Psychological Association, the Delaware Psychological Association, the American Family Therapy Academy, The Association for Death Education and Counseling, and the Delaware County Mental Health and Mental Retardation Board. Woven into her professional career are Dr. Gajdos' pursuits of dancing, singing, and writing poetry.