DESCENT OF THE DOLDRUMS

“Boredom has been linked with undesirable mental and physical conditions. But what exactly is this puzzling condition?”

By: James Danckert

Published: Scientific American Mind; July – August 2013 issue;http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=chronic-boredom-may-be-sign-poor-health
Alternatively, access a free copy by copy pasting the following: http://www.readcube.com/articles/10.1038/scientificamericanmind0713-54

Level of Difficulty:****

BEFORE YOU READ

·         What is your state of mind like when you are bored out of your mind?

·         How do you imagine boredom influences the individual?

·         What are the causes of boredom? Some people are almost never bored, others are always complaining about it.

·         Can one learn to cope with boredom? How?

QUESTIONS

1.       Read the first three paragraphs of the text. From these paragraphs it can be concluded that:

·         The capacity for boredom and intelligence are positively correlated.

·         The capacity for boredom seems not to be linked to intelligence

·         The capacity for boredom is a universal phenomenon

·         All of the above

·         None of the above

·         Other: please specify

2.       What health implication makes understanding the nature of boredom important?

3.       The greater the……………………………..the greater the possibility of…………………………….

4.       Read the paragraph beginning “Today”. What conclusion can we draw from it?

5.       Goldberg and the author conducted research partly for the purpose of understanding how…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

6.       Both the writer’s and Theobold’s research indicate that………………………………………………….

7.       Read the information concerning the 2011 study carefully. The capacity for boredom and depression seems to be greater in…………………………………………………………………………………….

8.       Read Malkowsky’s research to the end and decide whether the following statements are true or false.

·         Couch patatoes do not suffer much distress

·         The couch patao makes an effort to alter his circumstances

·         Agitated boredom may be accompanied by physical signs of restlessness

·         Both categories of people mentioned in the experiment are externally motivated.

·         Neither category relies much on internal stimuli

9.       What does “this” refer to in the phrase “this might be the case”?

10.   What was the most important longterm problem the writer’s brother faced after his accident?

11.   In the research the writer conducted with TPI patients, the previously established link between depression, boredom and the need for external stmuli was confirmed / disproved

12.   The observation that TPI patients are more reckless in their lives may indicate that……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

13.   What is the purpose of the cognitive bias test?

14.   What does “This” refer to in the phrase “This hints at an intriquing possibility”?

15.   Read the information concerning the role of the orbitofrontal cortex. How is the information provided pertinent for TBI patients?

16.   When Lady Dedlock said she was “bored to death”, she was unwittingly hinting at an important fact. It is:

17.   The experiment conducted by Colleen Merrifield  proved that…………………………………………….

18.   Read the last paragraph of the text and select the best answer:

·         The writer suffers from agiteted boredom

·         Boredom is the most important component of depression

·         We might learn to control boredom one day

·         All of the above

·         None of the above

·         Other: please specify

DESCENT OF THE DOLDRUMS KEY AND TEACHER’S NOTES

This text concerns one of the most widely shared problems individuals suffer from: boredom and as such, is facinating. As it is a serious scientific text, it leads itself to some wonderful questions as well. The discussion of the material should progress paralel to the questions and students should be encouraged to share their views and experiences.

1.       2 and 3

2.       The fact that excessive amounts of it can harm our health

3.       Leisure time / boredom

4.       There is a growing body of research showing the negative effects of boredom

5.       Boredom for one person may only losely resemble another’s ennui

6.       Boredom and depression involve distinct mechanisms

7.       Externally stimulated people

8.       T, F,T,F, T

9.       Lack of immersion in the world outside our head could lead us to evaluate our experiences as meaningless

10.   Finding something that was stimulating

11.   Confirmed

12.   Their threshold for stisfaction has been raised

13.   To see how well people can recognize the similarities and differences between objects and whether they prefer novel versus familiar objects

14.   People who are more prone to agitated boredom also tended to have a harder time recognizing an object’s newness; life becomes dull when we can’t distinguish what is fresh and therefore interesting from what is old and familiar

15.   They may experience a recurring mismatch between their expectations for an event and its actual pay off. The use of for in this sentence is grammatically incorrect incidentally.

16.   People who reported more ennui are more likely to die younger and to experience cardiac arrest

17.   Boredom is not good for your health

18.   None of the above