Who knew! researchers found that people wearing lab coats were better at paying attention and perfor
49 replies, posted
[release]
Schoolchildren grappling with a tough assignment are encouraged to “put your thinking cap on.” But parents and teachers offering this advice may be focusing on the wrong garment.
Perhaps students should instead slip into their thinking jackets.
That’s the implication of a [URL="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022103112000200"]newly published study[/URL], which found wearing a white lab coat — a piece of clothing associated with care and attentiveness — improved performance on tests requiring close and sustained attention. Importantly, the effect was not found when the garment in question was identified as a visual artist’s coat.
“The clothes we wear have power not only over others, but also over ourselves,” Northwestern University scholars [URL="http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/faculty/directory/adam_hajo.aspx"]Hajo Adam[/URL] and [URL="http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/faculty/bio/galinsky.htm"]Adam Galinsky[/URL] write in the [I]Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.[/I] While much research has looked at how our wardrobe influences the way we’re perceived, their study examines its impact on our own thinking and behavior.
Adam and Galinsky call this internal dynamic “enclothed cognition.” That’s a play off the term “[URL="http://www.miller-mccune.com/tag/embodied-cognition/"]embodied cognition[/URL],” a line of research that examines the ways bodily sensations influence our thoughts and emotions.For instance, a [URL="http://www.miller-mccune.com/culture-society/power-poses-really-work-25322/"]2010 study[/URL] found assuming a body position connoting power leads people to feel and act more confident, even raising testosterone levels.
Could wearing items of clothing that have specific symbolic meaning have a similar effect? To test their thesis, the researchers chose a lab coat, since it is “the prototypical attire of scientists and doctors. Wearing a lab coat thus signifies a scientific focus (and conveys) the importance of paying attention to the task at hand and not making errors.”
The first of their series of three experiments featured 58 undergraduates, half of whom wore a disposable white lab coat. (Participants were told their predecessors had worn these jackets during an earlier round of the study to protect their clothing from construction-related dust. They were asked to put on the garments so that everyone took the test under identical conditions.)
Selective attention was measured by a [URL="http://www.snre.umich.edu/eplab/demos/st0/stroopdesc.html"]Stroop task[/URL], the classic test in which participants are instructed to name the color of a word flashed on a computer screen, while ignoring the word itself.
Twenty of the 50 words were presented in incongruent colors, such as the word “red” spelled out in green letters. On those confusing items, people wearing the lab coats made around half as many errors as their peers.
But a white coat can mean different things to different people. To address that issue, the researchers conducted an experiment featuring 99 students. One-third were asked to wear what was identified as a medical doctor’s coat, while another third wore an identical jacket that was described as the sort of attire worn by a visual artist while he or she is painting.
The others wore their normal clothing, but a coat described as the sort M.D.s wear was displayed on a desk in front of them. As the experiment began, they were asked to write a short essay about the specific, personal meaning such a coat has for them.
All were then asked to complete four visual-search tests that featured two nearly identical pictures placed side by side. There were four minor differences between the two images; participants were instructed to find the discrepancies and write them down as quickly as possible.
Those told they were wearing a doctor’s coat found more differences than those told they were wearing a painter’s coat. Since they all took about the same amount of time to finish the test, the researchers attributed their higher scores to “heightened attention” rather than simple persistence.
So wearing the simple garment focused their minds, but only when it was associated with medicine rather than artistic expression. Those who had looked at and thought about the doctor’s coat, but didn’t actually wear one, scored in between the other two groups.
“The main conclusion that we can draw from the studies is that the influence of wearing a piece of clothing depends on [I]both[/I] its symbolic meaning and the physical experience of wearing the clothes,” Adam and Galinsky write. “There seems to be something special about the physical experience of wearing a piece of clothing.”
These results open up all sorts of interesting possibilities, as the researchers note. “Does wearing the robe of a priest or judge make people more ethical?” they ask. “Does putting on the uniform of a firefighter make people act more courageously? And perhaps even more interestingly, do the effects of physically wearing a particular form of clothing wear off over time, as people become habituated to it?”
We can add another question to that list. The researchers note that wearing a “painter’s coat” led to relatively low scores on these tests. But could that particular fashion statement enhance creativity? It’s certainly worth studying.
It all brings to mind the end of [I][URL="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032138/"]The Wizard of Oz[/URL], [/I]in which symbolic possessions (the Cowardly Lion’s medal, the Scarecrow’s diploma) allow the characters to access previously hidden parts of their personalities[I]. [/I]Perhaps that dynamic works in our world as well.
It’s an idea worth trying on to see if it fits.[/release]
[URL]http://www.miller-mccune.com/science/the-brain-focusing-power-of-the-lab-coat-40108/[/URL]
And the sale of lab coats rocketed.
placebo effect.
...
I may consider getting a lab coat.
gotta start wearing a lab coat every day
The reason is because people who don't pay attention won't be wearing one anyway.
I think it makes sense. Makes people feel like they have to pay attention, because not everybody gets to wear a fancy lab coat.
We get to wear labcoats in chemistry. I'd feel badass if I wasn't aware of the fact that there's a 90% possibility of a gigantic dick being scrawled on the back of it.
Lab Coat
+2 perception, +2 intellect, -1 agility
[QUOTE=Awesomecaek;35095552]Lab Coat
+2 perception, +2 intellect, -1 agility[/QUOTE]
I always have wondered what if items in real life would have stats on them.
My mind went straight to Steins;Gate.
Anyways, as previously stated it is probably due to some form of mental conditioning as we are predisposed to smart people/scientists wearing long, white lab coats as opposed to casual attire.
[QUOTE=trotskygrad;35095255]placebo effect.[/QUOTE]
Damnit you ruined it for everyone who read that
It doesn't work if you know it is a placebo
[QUOTE=trotskygrad;35095255]placebo effect.[/QUOTE]
This is not what placebo effect means.
Placebo effect is expecting something and then mentally pushing yourself to experiencing the effect.
Nobody really expects lab coats to make them smarter, it's more of that putting on the lab coat makes you subconsciously realize "lets do this shit, I am doing science now". You realize that you are supposed to be serious at the moment, and that you are working.
It's a thing of morale and psychology, but I believe it undoubtedly can have true effect.
[QUOTE=Combine 177;35095578]I always have wondered what if items in real life would have stats on them.[/QUOTE]They kinda do. Charisma for example. Or clothing that increases your mood, though I guess that's not a stat.
Then why did the resonance cascade happen?
[QUOTE=Garik;35095771]Then why did the resonance cascade happen?[/QUOTE]
Gordon himself wasn't wearing a lab coat, and it was all his fault. He pushed the cart wrong, the calculations the scientists made were right.
[QUOTE=uitham;35095691]Damnit you ruined it for everyone who read that
It doesn't work if you know it is a placebo[/QUOTE]
Oddly enough, sugar pills will work even if the user knows it's just a placebo beforehand
Maybe it'll be the same with lab coats
[QUOTE=Maximo13;35095804]Gordon himself wasn't wearing a lab coat, and it was all his fault. He pushed the cart wrong, the calculations the scientists made were right.[/QUOTE]All that could've been avoided if he wore a labcoat and not HEV
Well looks like it's time to start wearing a lab coat in math class.
What about crowbars?
[QUOTE=Awesomecaek;35095751]This is not what placebo effect means.
Placebo effect is expecting something and then mentally pushing yourself to experiencing the effect.
Nobody really expects lab coats to make them smarter, it's more of that putting on the lab coat makes you subconsciously realize "lets do this shit, I am doing science now". You realize that you are supposed to be serious at the moment, and that you are working.
It's a thing of morale and psychology, but I believe it undoubtedly can have true effect.[/QUOTE]
This. It isn't a Placebo unless you are being told that it will make you smarter/more astute and then you believe it. What this research shows is that you become more astute on a subconscious level as opposed to conscious, which WOULD be the Placebo effect. So the proper term is Mentally Conditioned.
I think wearing a cool futuristic jumpsuit is awesome.
Labs coats are sexy as fuck.
This is good news, since I look pretty damn good in a labcoat.
[QUOTE=AceOfDivine;35095894]All that could've been avoided if he wore a labcoat and not HEV[/QUOTE]
This just in: Lab coats are safer than safety suits.
Ah, science.
My avatar fits.
I need to get a lab coat.
Why not just wear sexy garment?
[QUOTE=Fish_poke;35095965]This. It isn't a Placebo unless you are being told that it will make you smarter/more astute and then you believe it. What this research shows is that you become more astute on a subconscious level as opposed to conscious, which WOULD be the Placebo effect. So the proper term is Mentally Conditioned.[/QUOTE]
Incorrect, it is in fact the placebo effect, because people who wear lab coats are portrayed as intelligent, therefore the pre-existing generalization is there, present in your subconscious, influencing the way you behave.
Not everyone goes into a lab thinking, "I WONT LET THIS COAT INFLUENCE MY BEHAVIOR!"
And you don't go into a lab thinking the opposite either.
I have a theory that I could get into any area with a lab coat and a clipboard and possibly a hard hat.
[QUOTE=Combine 177;35095578]I always have wondered what if items in real life would have stats on them.[/QUOTE]
Sagging pants
-10 perception -20 intellect -20 agility -40 speech
