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According to this study I should be spending a lot less time on this website when I take "a break". :)
I don't know about that. When I hit the wall, I've just got to take a break before I try to move on again. I have issues with saying it's all about willpower.
Yeah, the opening couple of paragraphs here are bad reporting. I've read this paper, and I'm currently working on a study in the same area.
You can't extrapolate the findings they made (which were interesting and appear valid, though further research is needed) to big things like study. They're talking about simple executive function tasks. A lot more goes into study/writing/work than what they have looked at.
A better analogy would be x-ray technician at an air-port, or a sniper watching a taget. I job that required focused, uninterrupted attention on a single task that isn't necessarily cognitively demanding. Even then, that's an analogy that's stretching it a bit too, but it's closer than the one provided.
I agree Rift. It just seems like they got some intriguing data that they got too excited over. I think there's potential there for a really interesting result, but this isn't it.
Somewhat. I don't think the researchers got over excited. The journo did.
"he ability to resist temptation and stay focused on a demanding task" - this sounds a lot more like "attention" or "attention-allocation" to me than "willpower"
There is an issue with reporters trying to capture the attention of the general public to sell their papers (or get hits) and embellishing the results so much that it is no longer an accurate representation of what the researchers found. This is a really interesting talking point, and why more scientists need to become science journalist to help prevent this from happening.
They were ego-depletion tasks designed to reduced one's ability to inhibit via executive function. (From memory, I'll have to double check)
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