Is it the engagement? But, Langer is a Harvard research psychologist who has been working in this field a long time and who has taken the topic in important and interesting directions that are different from MBSR. With anecdotes and metaphors, Langer … In this thought-provoking book, her research has been "translated" for the lay listener. The first test of this was the counterclockwise study. They lived there for a week as if the past were right now. She spoke to us about the power of psychology, the problem with absolutes, and more. Langer: One that’s gotten an enormous amount of press is the counterclockwise study. Professor Ellen Langer once apologized when she bumped into a mannequin, the kind of automatic, mindless response she says robs us of the benefits of being mindfully engaged in day-to-day existence. Do you have a favorite experiment to illustrate for readers the work you’ve done? Most of the people I was seeing, myself included, were doing some strange things. It affects you in so many ways. 2005. It doesn’t just bring about engagement, it is the essence of engagement. Hers is a simple prescription to keep your mind open to possibility. Gazette: We hear a lot today about mindfulness meditation. There’s no study, no matter what the area — physics, psychology, biology, it doesn’t matter — that yields more than a probability. In addition to other honors, she has been a guest lecturer in Japan, Malaysia, Germany, and Argentina. Study found that each program showed unique patterns of brain activity, Those who learn its techniques often say they feel less stress, think clearer. The counterpart of mindless behavior activated by minimal structural cues is a mindful awareness of the semantic variability and diversity of social information. My students go crazy because every lab I come in with another 30 things and their plates are already full. Most people did not think that older people were going to have improved vision, improved hearing, and look younger. Department, has spent decades studying both mindless behavior and its opposite, making her the “mother of mindfulness” to many. Being in the present is a very easy thing that comes about by simply noticing new things. Ellen Langer is a psychologist from Harvard University who has spent much of her career researching the differences between mindfulness and mindlessness. Gazette: Over the years, you’ve done studies linking mindfulness to, among other things, improved vision, increased longevity, people looking, feeling, and behaving younger. Mindfulness (HBR Emotional Intelligence Series), Daniel Goleman, Ellen Langer, Harvard Business Review, Susan David, Christina Congleton, Harvard Business Review Press. But the beauty of this work is that, as far as I can tell, there are no negative side effects. Ellen J. Langer, Harvard professor of psychology, determines that the mindless following of routine and other automatic behaviors lead to much error, pain and a predetermined course of life. We have a massive amount of data showing when people are mindful they benefit physically, psychologically. It stems from a mind-body unity idea that I had, and many studies come from this formulation. Langer: Yes, and what the doctors may be doing mindlessly is using probabilistic information, data, as absolutes. If you notice new things, you come to see you didn’t know the thing you thought you knew as well as you thought you knew it. And I think we’re moving to the point — and this is what I’m trying to get the point to move to — where psychology is the most important aspect. So how to make the best of ‘senior spring’ in COVID times. Is MS risk influenced by friends and families’ unhealthy habits? I did some very early research on meditation. Langer: Yes. Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer. Dr. Ellen Langer is a professor in the Psychology Department at Harvard University. Please share how this access benefits you. “Ellen Langer has succeeded in writing a book that, in one bite, manages to be scientifically interesting, immensely practical, and dramatically absorbing. However, that’s where the similarity between me and what I see as many people would end. Dr. Ellen Langer, Ph.D., is a social psychologist and the first female professor to gain tenure in the Psychology Department at Harvard University. "Being in the present is a very easy thing that comes about by simply noticing new things," says Professor Ellen Langer. They then can decide to go forward or not with some more standard medical treatment; that’s up to them. Gazette: And is that a mindful approach, while a mindless approach would be to go in and say, “Doctor, this hurts, do your thing,” and then sort of tune out? 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