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I'm not ignoring you; I'm thinking

Gazing into the middle distance improves your concentration.

Teachers everywhere can be heard shouting "look at me when I'm talking to you". But research presented today at the British Association's Festival of Science in Norwich, UK, suggests that they should be doing exactly the opposite.

Read the story here.

Posted by Nicola Jones on September 6, 2006 12:58 PM |

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Comments

I can concurr that this is true at least from a subjective viewpoint. I recognized this early on in my childhood as a means of efficient recall. It enables one to focus or concentrate but does have the impact of causing one to appear somewhat oblivious. But if you arrive of the correct answer who cares.

Posted by: Dr. David Deal | September 6, 2006 08:56 PM

If the paper is "in press" shouldn`t the researchers be distributing pre-prints instead of holding back the details of these studies?

Posted by: Alexandre B A Villares | September 7, 2006 04:55 AM

The test was carried out on both adults and children, however the test required more of the left brain to process such logical question. How about carrying out the test on more personal issues, such as Family crisis between wife and husband?

Since male and females' brain function differently, the results should also be based on the sex and age of the person

Posted by: Looi Yuanhui | September 7, 2006 09:13 AM

Which direction is 'away'? Up, down, to the left, to the right?

Are the researchers saying that any direction apart from looking at the interviewer will get the results? I'm just concerned that they may have missed an important distinction.

Posted by: Andy Smith | September 7, 2006 09:34 AM

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