Here's The Science Behind The Fidget Spinner Craze
Everyone fidgets...except maybe for those guards in front of Buckingham Palace. Whether it's touching your hair, biting your nails, playing with your clothing or spinning pens in your hands, you probably fidget many, many times a day. Herein lies the reason why the fidget spinner has become the latest toy craze among children.. and even adults.
It's called a fidget spinner because it can spin and allows you to do what you normally try not to do: fidget. The toy looks like a cross between a ceiling fan and the head of a triple headed electric shaver.
As you can see, the fidget spinner is not exactly the most complex of inventions, although it gives a whirring sound while it spins. And fidgeting certainly is not a new human behavior. Find someone who doesn't fidget at all and you've probably found someone who's gotten full-body Botox. Therefore, the fidget spinner's price premium ($15 on Amazon) over other common fidget objects such as pens, pencils, balls and coins probably isn't due to massive research and development costs. Nonetheless, some retailers have made claims that the fidget spinner has health benefits such as easing stress, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). How legitimate are these claims?
Reviewing the science behind the potential benefits of fidgeting may make you fidget, because there are theories but limited concrete scientific evidence. One thought is that fidgeting may occupy parts of your brain that otherwise would distract the rest of your brain with random thoughts. Imagine that your brain is a family that needs to make an important decision. If the young children in the family aren't occupied by toys, they may demand too much attention, interfering with decision making. Roland Rotz and Sarah D. Wright explain how fidgeting can prevent the distractions that come from boredom in their book Fidget To Focus: Outwit Your Boredom: Sensory Strategies For Living With ADHD. Fidgeting may prevent your mind from being occupied by obsessive and unhealthy thoughts such as what is the meaning of life, what do other people think of you, why aren't you more attractive, why do others seem more successful on Facebook than you, and why isn't Justin Beiber returning your phone call?
Another possibility is that body movements are actually part of the thinking and expression process. Try writing long email, giving a TED Talk, talking on a date or singing a song while remaining perfectly still. Besides appearing creepy, such motionlessness may feel "unnatural." For example, studies have shown that physical movement can in many ways assist with cognitive activities such as doodling with thinking and writing things down with remembering. Therefore, fidgeting could actually help you think and express yourself.
A third possibility is that fidgeting serves as a ritual. Rituals can offer comforting predictability, familiarity and structure that may be relatively absent in real life. Francesca Gino and Michael Norton described for Scientific American some of the benefits of rituals, including calming and focusing you. Repetitive motions such as squeezing a ball or tapping your pen can be comforting mini-rituals.
Article Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2017/05/19/heres-the-science-behind-the-fidget-spinner-craze/#6ee6cc7e3af0
Image Source: https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/679401354/960x0.jpg?fit=scale
VOCABULARY WORDS:
1. Fidget (v.) ~ make small movements, especially of the hands and feet, through nervousness or impatience
2. Interfere (v.) ~ prevent (a process or activity) from continuing or being carried out properly
3. Creepy (adj.) ~ causing an unpleasant feeling of fear or unease
4. Doodle (v.) ~ scribble absentmindedly
5. Deficit (n.) ~ the amount by which something, especially a sum of money, is too small
6. Calm (adj.) ~ (of a person, action, or manner) not showing or feeling nervousness, anger, or other emotions
7. Outwit (v.) ~ deceive or defeat by greater ingenuity
8. Concrete (adj.) ~ specific definite
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:
1. Have you heard of fidget spinner? What is it?
2. Are you guilty of fidgeting? What are your nervous habits?
3. According to the article, what could be the science behind fidget spinner?
4. Do you believe that fidget spinner can be helpful in stress management? Discuss your opinion.
