{"id":3536,"date":"2012-09-07T11:55:12","date_gmt":"2012-09-07T16:55:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/citings\/?p=3536"},"modified":"2012-09-07T11:55:12","modified_gmt":"2012-09-07T16:55:12","slug":"tvs-restorative-powers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/2012\/09\/07\/tvs-restorative-powers\/","title":{"rendered":"TV’s Restorative Powers"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>
Hope she’s seen this one before! Photo by Melissa Gutierrez via flickr.com.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you love to curl up on the couch and watch a re-run of your favorite TV show (who doesn’t?!), you’re in luck. \u00a0Research by Jaye Derrick has shown that watching re-runs might actually provide a mental boost.<\/p>\n

Derrick, a researcher at the University at Buffalo\u2019s Research Institute on Addictions, conducted two related studies that were covered in Science Blog.<\/a> \u00a0In the first, half of the participants were asked to perform a structured task, while the other half were asked to do a less structured task.\u00a0 Then, half of the participants were asked to write about their favorite TV show, while the others listed items in their room.\u00a0 Finally, participants were asked to complete a difficult puzzle.<\/p>\n

Overall, those who wrote about their favorite TV show wrote for longer if they had completed the structured task (rather than the unstructured task). \u00a0According to Derrick, this indicates that they were seeking out their favorite TV shows and wanted to spend more time thinking about them. \u00a0In addition, those who wrote about their favorite TV shows performed better on the difficult puzzle.<\/p>\n

Similarly, in the second study, participants were asked to complete a daily diary; and those that reported effortful tasks were more likely to seek out a rerun of their favorite show. \u00a0Derrick explained,<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you watch a favorite re-run, you typically don\u2019t have to use any effort to control what you are thinking, saying or doing. You are not exerting the mental energy required for self-control or willpower,\u201d Derrick explains. \u201cAt the same time, you are enjoying your \u2018interaction,\u2019 with the TV show\u2019s characters, and this activity restores your energy.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But, this effect is specific to re-watching favorite TV shows; just watching television does not provide the same benefit. So, if you\u2019re going to veg out, make sure you\u2019re watching a re-run!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you love to curl up on the couch and watch a re-run of your favorite TV show (who doesn’t?!), you’re in luck. \u00a0Research by Jaye Derrick has shown that watching re-runs might actually provide a mental boost. Derrick, a researcher at the University at Buffalo\u2019s Research Institute on Addictions, conducted two related studies that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":337,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39074],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sightings"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/337"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3536"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3536\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3540,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3536\/revisions\/3540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}