Fake Coffee
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Looking at images of coffee results in a physiological response.
You are what… you look at?
In a sense, yes. A recent study published in the journal Consciousness and Cognition looked into whether an effect called priming can influence our thoughts and behaviour.
Priming 101
In psychology, priming refers to a stimulus or subtle cues that result in changed behaviour.
Caffeine priming
In this study, coffee-related cues were studied and psychological arousal was measured. Specifically, they looked at how areas of the brain get activated into a state of being alert, awake, and attentive.
What they found
Participants exposed to the coffee cues perceived time as shorter and thought in more concrete, precise terms.
What this means
Thinking more clearly has positive implications for how people process information and make judgments and decisions.
And what this means for me?
If you want a caffeine hit without a wallet hit, this is good news as merely seeing a photo of coffee could increase your concentration and focus.
Hot (actually, temperature-neutral) tip: replace your cat’s photo on your phone’s lock screen for a photo of coffee to get a psychological boost every time you check your phone. For most of us, that’ll be a verrrry strong fake caffeine buzz.
FOR THE NERDY: How do you take your coffee? [source: Neurosciencenews.com]