Sunday, July 13, 2008

diet tip

this morning i read a good article in the ny times about advertising and getting people in third world countries to use soap. one paragraph jumped out as worth sharing with my peer group. (you readers are my peer group, right?)

“Habits are formed when the memory associates specific actions with specific places or moods,” said Dr. Wood, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke. “If you regularly eat chips while sitting on the couch, after a while, seeing the couch will automatically prompt you to reach for the Doritos. These associations are sometimes so strong that you have to replace the couch with a wooden chair for a diet to succeed.”

2 comments:

Betty Grace said...

I heard this is true with driving too and contributes to road rage. People become aggrivated just by getting in the car because they are so conditioned to it.

plainoldsarah said...

i can totally see that happening! i wonder what i've been conditioned to do??? i think when i teach a certain class - as it enters the door can put me on edge if i'm used to losing my temper with them.