Cycling UK Forum

From this weeks New Scientist:

"Having a friend at your side can turn a mountain into a molehill.

Simone Schnall at the University of Plymouth, UK, and her colleagues asked students to estimate the steepness of a hill by tilting a board to match it's slope.

Students with a friend nearby assessed the hill at 10 to 15 per cent less steep compared with those who were alone during the tests. The longer the friends had known each other and the warmer their relationship, the less steep the hill appeared.

Schnall's team also found that just thinking about a close friend or family member -as opposed to a neutral person, or someone you dislike- made the hill appear up to 20 per cent gentler. (Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, DOI:10.1016/j.jesp.2008.04.011)."

Very interesting. Perhaps the stress of my job and unpleasant management is what's making my hill climbing slow at the moment. Perhaps I should think of my wife.....no, that might make things worse

I'm wondering if Axel Knutt is any relation to Hazel Knutt

a a

Has this anything to do with how "easy" I found Rosedale Chimney?

I heard you all willing me up, and also TC and Mrs TC helped too with their personal attention.

Many hands make light work ......

up up up up up up .......

a a

Wildduck

It was only meant to be in the spirit of the event - and your writing up of it -I'm sorry if I offended you -it was not intended.

Thank you. But really, my wife is sometimes that bad!

axel_knutt wrote:Students with a friend nearby assessed the hill at 10 to 15 per cent less steep compared with those who were alone during the tests.

Tandempower explained?

Lawrie9 wrote:I'm wondering if Axel Knutt is any relation to Hazel Knutt

Yes, my aunty is Hazel.

It would be interesting to know whether the same applies to heart rate, or whether it's just perceptions. My guess is that it will....

I'm absolutely convinced that there is something in this. I take Mrs L out, and she gets up hills with me beside her that she wouldn't be able to manage on her own.

(and no, there is no hand on bottom stuff....)

(however much the idea appeals)

Is this not just more widely know as encouragement?

I have been known to wait at the top of a hill for my wife waving a chocolate bar! Mrs.Wildduck was not impressed...

lol i think thats a more patronising form of encouragement!

chris.batts wrote:Is this not just more widely know as encouragement?

No, little to do with encouragement, I think (New Scientist make no reference to any of the friends speaking). The NS report doesn't mention which groups perception of the gradient is accurate, but my guess is that it's the "loners".

This experiment is about mood not encouragement, and other research has shown quite counterintuitive results. Popular opinion assumes that depressive people are just pessimistic, but in fact it's quite the other way round. When psychologists construct experiments designed to test how accurately people estimate the chance of succeeding at a task, it turns out that the depressives judgement is accurate and realistic, whilst non-depressives are inaccurate and over optimistic.

There's bags of research into over optimism too. For example, it turns out that "courage" is usually not a propensity to stick ones neck out, but just an underestimation of risk, and a symptom of blindness to probability and randomness.