I came across this research article the other day and thought it was very interesting in terms of how fast food has affected our ability to be patient, which seems to be a major theme for me right now in working with couples:
April 15, 2010 — Despite saving us time, fast food may make us impatient and more likely to seek instant gratification, new research finds.
University of Toronto researchers Chen-Bo Zhong, PhD, and Sanford E. DeVoe, PhD, conducted a trio of experiments before coming to that conclusion in a report published in Psychological Science.
The first experiment found that exposure to fast-food symbols increases reading speed even when there’s no pressure to read fast. In the experiment, they randomly assigned 57 college students to look at the center of a computer screen but ignore the corners. Those in the fast-food group were exposed to fast-food logos, flashed in the corners too quickly for the conscious mind to register the images. Those in the comparison group looked at blank squares in the corners. Next, when they all read a passage, those exposed to the logos had a faster reading speed.
You can read the whole article here.
