The Question
How do goals reconfigure our brains?
About This Conversation
Welcome to 2022! For the start of this hopefully amazing year, Dr. David Melnikoff joins us to describe how goals reshape our brains. Whenever you begin a New Year's resolution or another goal, your mind changes its operation in order to align itself best for that new task. Dr. Melnikoff also defines the psychological theory of "flow," a cited creativity and productivity booster, and explains his work to create a computational model of it.
Here are a few questions Dr. Melnikoff discusses-
How do goals reconfigure our brains?
Do goals that we don't often enjoy doing (like exercising) still shape our minds?
How do our motives affect our interpretation of events and stimuli?
What is "flow?"
How will your computational model of flow help us in the future?
Dr. David Melnikoff is a social psychologist studying how goals shape the human mind. He earned his PhD in 2019 from Yale University where he worked with John Bargh. Currently, Dr. Melnikoff is a postdoctoral researcher at Northeastern University working with Lisa Feldman Barrett.
Recurring Questions
Recurring Question
"What books have had an impact on you?"
For Young Listeners
"What advice do you have for teenagers?"
Resources Mentioned
- John Bargh: aimingforthemoon.com
Guest Bio
Social Psychologist
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