Study of mind and behaviour? Sounds interesting in itself, doesn’t it? Matthew Smith from Biomedical Engineering and Byron Yu along with former PhD student Ben Cowley recently researched on ‘How brain’s internal states affect decision making?’. Internal state is a term used in neuroscience and psychology, but it is known and familiar to everyone. Some of the internal states that an individual experiences are impulsivity, hunger, anxiety, fatigue etc.
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The study findings show how waxing and waning of the mental state of the human mind has an influence on the individual or on his/her decision-making over a period of time. The experiment was done using a simple visual task, simultaneously, the prefrontal cortex, an area which is associated with decision making and another area of the brain associated with visual perception were being monitored and measured.
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The main aim was to observe any activity taking place in the ‘decision circuit’ due to the repetition of the task over a period of a few hours. The study shows that there was ‘slow neural drift’ in brain activity which was observed during the experiment. Every type of internal state, any change in the internal state has an effect on the decision-making of human beings.
There are new studies conducted and new experiments performed all over the world so that people can be more aware of themselves. The researches help in gaining an understanding of the self. It is a way of self-introspection where one can understand psychology and various concepts and try to process oneself in various situations or challenges one goes through.
It helps in having a positive approach towards self which is very essential for self-esteem, self-confidence and motivation for any task that needs to be done with motivation. If one has the knowledge about ways to uplift their confidence that can bring about changes in the person which adds up to personality development. Converting negative attitudes and behaviours into positive ones is not a simple task or journey to follow, but the study of psychology helps in giving a direction towards achieving set goals.
Psychology is defined as the science which studies the human mind and behaviour. It is a subject that throws light on the various aspects of human beings such as the way of react to stimuli. Why is someone portraying a particular type of behaviour? What can be the effects of a stimulus/situation on the human mind? Why does a person behave in the way he behaves? All these questions can go on adding up, and studying and understanding Psychology is the way of untangling these questions.
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There are a number of research and studies done in this field which increases the curiosity to learn even more about how an individual works, and how he thinks, what kind of thoughts are generated, what are parts of the brain activated while expressing or feeling emotions. Even today many people in society do not perceive psychology in a positive way. Why is that? There is negative prejudice with regard to psychology. It all comes down to people who are psychologically unfit, which is not true.
There is psychology present in every situation one is experiencing. Brain functioning, hormones, emotions, and cognitive strengths all these play a great role in the day-to-day functioning of an individual. Psychology is the field that elaborates on the various aspects of the internal functioning of the human brain and body. A lot of questions related to it have been answered through the studies conducted in the field of psychology.
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Another interesting study was performed on ‘Internal States And Behavioural Decision Making: Toward An Integration Of Emotions And Cognition’ by Ann Kennedy et al in 2015. In this study, animals were used for the experiment. It suggested how emotional states have an influence on cognitive behavioural decisions.
Understanding emotions and their effects on human brain functioning is an interesting topic to be researched on. The studies open up so many new questions during the process which makes it intriguing to dig in deeper to find out new things happening inside of a living organism. Awareness about Psychology has been boosted in recent years and people have started understanding and listening to others and trying to process them with a positive attitude.
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Psychology teaches about the aspects of mental health and how it is important to keep a check on mental health to lead a stress-free and well-regulated life. Cognitive clarity and emotional regulation are two major areas of concern that need to be looked upon for having a free flow of thoughts and emotions. Different areas of Psychology have been studied over the decades just to have clarity about each aspect.
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Areas of Psychology include Cognitive Psychology, Industrial Psychology, Human Resources Psychology, Organisational Psychology, Statistics in Psychology, Testing etc. These studies have given insight into concepts in psychology that were never known before. The exposure to the new upcoming ideas, concepts and knowledge sheds a light on the expansion of the field as well as the human race.
