Earlier this morning I was watching a lecture on positive psychology by former Harvard professor Tal Ben-Sahar. During each day of the class Sahar allocated two or so minutes of complete silence. This is all done in the name of embracing stillness and introspection, a practice that Sahar finds extraordinarily important in improving one’s health and well-being.
Within the lecture he cites a study done by MIT Professors David Foster and Matthew Wilson, one which Sahar found rather convincing regarding the importance of reflection in our everyday lives and specifically its effects on our cognitive abilities.
In this study researchers looked inside the brains of rats. They paid particular attention to the hippocampus, a brain structure that has shown to be responsible for learning and memory in rodents, primates, and humans. They performed brain scans on rats as they went through a maze, and then also after the experience, during times of reflection.
- “What the results suggest is that while there certainly is some record of your experience as it is occurring (in other words when the rats were running the maze), the actual learning – when you try to figure out: ‘What was important? What should I keep and throw away?’ – that happens after the fact, during periods of quiet wakeful introspection.”
Rats who were given a chance to relax and reflect showed better signs of learning than rats who were not given a chance to relax and reflect. Scientists have implied that it could be that “replaying a sequence of behavioral events in our mind” is an important mechanism in effective learning and memory retention.
Further Implications
If we can reinforce learning by actively replaying memories then certainly there is good reason to practice wakeful introspection. Like Sahar, we should set aside a time and place for it. Even by reflecting on negative events, we can extract lessons from our old ways and thus learn to gain something positive from them. The implications of this study are more than just getting rats to run through mazes faster, it can also have a significant effect on building new habits and improving the quality of life.
On this site I often write about the importance of relaxation on our health and happiness. To know that these exercises can also improve our cognition and learning is just another good incentive to continue practicing these everyday.
Most of us have grown up in a culture surrounded by noise, clutter, and busy-ness. There is sometimes even a disdain for silence; we find it awkward, unproductive, or boring. But maybe we are just not very good at it? Perhaps this modern culture also explains how we have left society with so many children with ADHD and other learning disabilities.
Is it really so hard to find the time for a little peaceful reflection? Even just 5 or 10 minutes a day is enough to start seeing the difference. We could easily accomplish this during a lunch hour or after dinner. It is a good way to soak in everything that has happened to us throughout the day and at the same time relax all the tensions from family, relationships, and work. It gives us time to ask, “Am I staying on course? Am I doing the right things? Am I improving myself?” These are just some of the questions we can ask to better ourselves.
Information And Transformation
All knowledge is processed knowledge. We don’t know things in the form of their raw sensory experience, but the form in which we conceptualize them. We then integrate these concepts into our representation of the world, just like the rat does when it makes a mental map of a maze.
As Sahar describes in his lecture, information is the sensory data of what we experience and transformation is the map we create from that data. When we reflect we are re-initiating this process of transformation by deriving new meaning from our memories.
During transformation we decide what parts of the experience were most important and worth paying attention to. When our mental schema doesn’t work, we can always reflect back, re-focus, and adjust our understanding of that experience. Although this may seem like commonsense, very few people actively practice this technique.
Sahar believes that the road to improvement isn’t necessarily about getting more and more information, but transforming our understanding of the information we already have. This requires us to look inside at what we already know and to use that knowledge in a more effective manner. The educational tools and resources are all already there inside of us.
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Hi Steven,
What hit me the most is: “…isn’t necessarily about getting more and more information, but about transforming our understanding of this information…”
So true in our age where everyone is complaining about information overload.
I’ve noticed a definite improvement in my quality of life when I took the time to regularly ask myself questions to reflect upon.
And hey, gotta beat those rats through the maze.
I talk about the importance of reflection and it’s great to know that science is supporting this concept. I love that the rats learn from their choices by taking a few moments to reflect.
We have over 1,000 cognitive choices every day. It really is what we choose to keep or throw away that dictates a lot of our happiness. Even the situations that made us feel angry or sad have a lot of value. It’s just up to us to find it and figure out how to apply it.
Great article. I tweeted it out
Thanks for submitting this post to our blog carnival. We just published the 49th edition of Brain Blogging and your article was featured!
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Shaheen
Great post!
I often use quiet reflection to try to replay and categorize learning material. I think a decent nights sleep is also key to memory retention, almost like uber reflection – a quiet time where your brain can make sense of the day and commit all that information to memory. When I'm stressed or tired I have so much trouble remembering research material so I also use reflection time as a method of de-stressing.
Kx
This web page is enlightened me of something very important.
I can relate with this idea. After my busy day .I always find a way to reflect/to think/to have a space /to relax . It helps me to be better in what I am doing.
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@Daisy – I also reflect on the day when I get home. Another tactic I started using is to make sure I have 15 mins or so after each meeting. I use the time to reflect on the meeting. I often discover or learn while thinking about it after.
Great article – Thanks
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There are so many things we worry about. We get so overwhelmed with worries that we forget ourselves. We must eliminate these worries and focus on us even for a short period of time.I discovered that when my day gets so hectic and it seemed endless, I sit down, try to relax even for 5 minutes. You'll see results right away. The weight on your shoulders will drop quickly.
I agree that everyday we must have time for ourselves. Take time to have a break from all the issues of the day.And all the weight on your shoulders will drop quickly. Dont let problems overwhelm you. The best solution in dealing with problems is to have a clear mind.
I actually use 10-15 mins in the morning to reflect on the previous day. It lets me re-focus on where I left off the day before.
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Can't live a day without reflecting what has been done with the previous day, it's more like you have to trace back things you need to finish that you weren't able to.
"“Am I staying on course? Am I doing the right things? Am I improving myself?” These are just some of the questions we can ask to better ourselves"
yeah, I'm agree with this. questioning these things, in my opinion, is really important. It helps us to keep develop, not stuck in a certain point or level. Therefore, we could improve to be a better person day by day.
Being hungry for knowledge, this statement – when our mental schema doesn’t work, we can always reflect back, re-focus, and adjust our understanding of that experience – and the explanation that followed makes a lot of sense. It is indeed how we assimilate the data we gather. Sometimes, I have just have to stop and gather my thoughts, as there are many things that require careful study.
Your last line, "The educational tools and resources are are already inside of us." is very encouraging. Thank you for your informative article.
Garret McCard
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My husband was just telling me about research currently being done with people who suffer from migraines. They are being sent to a 10 day workshop on meditation. Taking some silent time seems helpful in more ways than one!
Rebecca
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I've not read any research but I think it makes sense in this hectic world we live in, we do not take time to be still and reflect on things, as a result we suffer from it whether we know it or not, it's got to take a toll on us somehow.
This reminds me of some of the articles I read about the physical benefits of prayer on health besides its spiritual benefits.
@Garret McCard
"Your last line, "The educational tools and resources are are already inside of us." is very encouraging. Thank you for your informative article. "
More than we realize, most of the time the solution we're looking for is within us, I cannot agree more…
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You mention in the article
"During transformation we decide what parts of the experience were most important and worth paying attention to. When our mental schema doesn’t work, we can always reflect back, re-focus, and adjust our understanding of that experience."
I try and use this technique in competitive sports situations. Say a shot does not go as planned. I'll reflect and pay most attention to the parts that "worked", such as strategy, plan, preparation, concentration, etc. I then "re-focus" on the part of the shot that did not work, but adjust it to fit my model of a more-perfect game so that I can see it as an overall success.
Amazing sometimes, even to myself, that I can actually be quiet and reflect in this way in the heat of battle.
There are so many negative consequences resulting from our stressful lives that I just keep wondering when people will realize that their bodies need to slow down. It is scary to think that generations of children are growing up with a constant bombardment of activity and stimuli and that they never take time to simply think and examine their lives. It almost seems as though many people today feel uncomfortable being alone –whipping out their cell phones to text when they are by themselves for even the shortest amount of time. I applaud this study for showing how important introspection is and how simple things, like having silence can improve learning (proving that more money and technology isn't necessarily the solution for better education).
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It is possible to reduce stress and improve brain health with 20 minutes of relaxation a day. Yoga, prayer and meditation may actually turn off the genes that are activated by stress, according to a study by researchers at the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind/Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. So, if we take enough time to relax, pretty sure we'll have a good learning on whatever we endeavor.
" The educational tools and resources are are already inside of us." that sounds pretty amazing.
In other words we just need to process our stored information in a different way.
The brain is truly the world most powerful and advanced computer!
Mathew, I liked your comment. Our brains really are amazing and remain largely untapped. Imagine what we could accomplish if everyone took 20 minutes or so out of their day to meditate and relax. The research suggest that knowledge might improve exponentially among the entire human race. No matter what type of meditation we choose, I think people as a whole will have improved lives if they just slow down and think.
This is nothing new. If we take the time to examine many eastern philosophies we can see that this looking inwards, or meditation has been a part of their culture for centuries. it has just taken us in the West a long time to catch on to the benefits.
Many research studies have shown that meditation can be linked to changes in brain activity, blood pressure and metabolism. In fact it is now recognised as a clinical method for reducing physical pain as well as stress.
We should all take a few minutes out of our day to just relax in total silence. if you do I think you will be plesently surprised by the positive effects.
This article was specifically about reflection on learning, but it's absolutely true that it has many other benefits too. Thanks for stopping by Paul.
Tal Ben-Sahar is a great lecturer! His analysis on dreams is super! I wish I also had chance to see his lecture on reflection.
The road to improvement isn’t necessarily about getting more and more information, but transforming our understanding of the information we already have. – Sahar
This is true! It is all about transforming our understanding of the information we already possess.
"Reflection Improves Learning"
I completely agree with this, since it takes time to "digest" the information and put the "theory" into a more pragmatic model. CEOs are known for their solitary walks or alone time.
Great article as always, Steven
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"All knowledge is processed knowledge. We don’t know things in the form of their raw sensory experience, but the form in which we conceptualize them."
As an "INTJ", I find that it takes me around 10 to 30 minutes of thinking to fully assimilate the information and conceptualize it by interlinking it with related concepts (if that makes sense). I find myself pacing around the room and thinking, which is kinda weird now that I think of it.
Apparently, Margaret Thatcher used a lot of these principles. In fact, she claimed to only need around three-five hours sleep a night as she was able to get into such an intense state of meditation that the short sleep was as refreshing to her as a eight hour sleep is for a regular person! I think that if new mums could master the art of peaceful meditation, the lack of sleep would be much easier to bear!
Most of us have grown up in a culture surrounded by noise, clutter, and busy-ness. There is sometimes even a disdain for silence; we find it awkward, unproductive, or boring. But maybe we are just not very good at it? Perhaps this modern culture also explains how we have left society with so many children with ADHD and other learning disabilities.
This is a very nice observation!
It's a good thing to reflect on things that we have done each day. Right before I close my eyes and sleep, I pray and reflect on what made my day happy and what made me frown. After it, it just makes me shiver with gladness.
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