The Scientific Method - Reflectd - bringing psychology studies to life

Self-Forgetfulness and Psychological Well-Being: Evidence From My 2026 Study

Simon Moesgaard — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 11:33:44 +0000

Self-Forgetfulness: A Necessary Perspective on Mental Health Many people who struggle mentally describe the same quiet problem. It’s not obvious from the outside, but it’s exhausting and distressful on the inside. “I can’t stop thinking. My thoughts spin around all the time. My worries are out of control. I think about myself in relation to […]

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Is Stress Itself Harmful? A Closer Look at the TED Talk by Kelly McGonigal “How to Make Stress Your Friend”

Simon Moesgaard — Tue, 02 Dec 2025 20:30:32 +0000

When Kelly McGonigal’s TED Talk went viral back in 2013, many walked away with a striking message: “Stress only harms you if you believe it does.” It’s a compelling idea — the notion that the mind can reshape the body’s stress response. A decade later, the talk has surpassed 50 million views across platforms. With […]

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Good News About Our Attention – It’s Getting Better – Meta-Analysis Shows

Simon Moesgaard — Fri, 14 Nov 2025 11:29:17 +0000

A major new meta-analysis (287 independent experiments, more than 21,000 participants, spanning 1990–2021) shows that adults today perform better on concentration tasks than previous generations. Key findings: Adults score significantly higher on concentration performance (CP) in the d2 Test across 31 years. Our attention capacity hasn’t declined — it has strengthened. There is no evidence […]

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If You Struggle With Controlling Your Attention, Goal Reminders Can Help You, Experiment Shows

Simon Moesgaard — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 12:50:34 +0000

A new experiment (using a so-called Stroop test) finds that goal reminders help people solve a task that requires both working memory capacity and attentional control. Goal reminders simply help people keep a goal present in their minds while performing a task. The study finds that goal reminders provide long-lasting and cumulative benefits for people […]

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Think Less to Overcome Depression, New Treatment Paradigm Suggests (Why You Should Know About Metacognitive Therapy)

Simon Moesgaard — Wed, 29 Jul 2020 02:00:00 +0000

A new study by psychologist Pia Callesen, published in the reputable journal Scientific Reports in Nature (2020), shows that Metacognitive Therapy is way more effective in treating depression than usual treatment. The study is interesting as the treatment represents a whole new way of understanding and treating depression, which is why I refer to it […]

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The Placebo Effect: How Expectations Produce Real Effects

Simon Moesgaard — Wed, 14 Aug 2013 18:37:00 +0000

According to Gibbs (2010), placebos are interventions that do not have a true treatment effect on the symptom or disease for which they are used. An important aspect is that people think they receive a true treatment. Even though people receive no treatment, they may show a placebo effect. In short, a placebo effect is […]

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4 Assumptions About the Mean Value in Statistics

Simon Moesgaard — Sat, 10 Aug 2013 19:22:00 +0000

Speelman & McGann (2013) emphasize that over-reliance on means may contribute to misleading, and possibly erroneous, findings. The mean value represents the average performance of a group, as it is representative of the group’s data. In other words, the mean value represents a central tendency of the group, and a central tendency makes summarizing results easier. […]

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The Psychometric Quality of a Psychological Test

Simon Moesgaard — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 18:59:00 +0000

1. Test reliability and validity When you consider a test’s psychometric quality, then you have to consider the reliability and the validity of the test. The random measure errors is reflected in a test’s reliability. For example, will the person get the same score independently of the time of testing, or are the person’s scoring […]

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