Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Can someone please give me some reliable sites on effect of positive thought on health, matter,... Ect?

Hi,

Are you planning to do a science project on the effects of thoughts on physical matter? If so, I would not recommend this because there is not scientific evidence for this effect. A good science project starts with research on a topic, and then designing an experiment based on the research results of others. You want to do a carefully controlled experiment designed to answer a specific question, with results that can be measured. Thoughts can't be measured, so it's not possible to do an experiment on the subject.

Why don't you check out the project guide on the science buddies website that has lots of ideas that can be developed into excellent science projects? I'm sure you can find a subject that would be interesting for your experiment.

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... deas.shtml

I hope this helps.

Donna Hardy

Hi,

I trust the Mayo clinic information:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/positi ... ng/SR00009

Another site:

http://www.articlesbase.com/self-help-a ... 87762.html

http://www.the-benefits-of-positive-thi ... nking.html

You probably should look into sports psychology:

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bing/ove ... psych.html

http://www.bukisa.com/videos/9215_how-t ... g-in-sport

Donna said there is not good evidence for this effect to be tue, but many athletes almost swear by the idea, and there is some medical evidence that it helps sick people recover better as well. Godd luck on whatever you decide to do.

Have fun and follow your instincts!

Best regards,

Barrett L. Tomlinson

Hi,

I partially agree both of the previous experts. Donna is right in that positive thoughts can't really be measured, except by self-report (which you can do, but it's a little messier in terms of conclusions that you can draw from your results). However, you can try variations on this to turn it into a workable topic. For example, you could do a two-part study. The first would focus on the more objective side, so something similar to measuring the extent of the placebo effect across different fields (sports, health medicine, etc). The second would implement self-reporting about the amount of positive thought to see if that correlates with the placebo effect (and therefore with improved health). In this way, you can couple the self-reporting (which is less valid on its own) to something that is much more scientifically validated (placebo effect).

Hope this helps!
Aaron Lin