Positive Thinking

### Cold Open

"Talk about the power of positive thinking! How many of you hear a little voice inside your head telling you how to feel or make sense of the world? How many of you agree that that little voice can be your harshest critic? We've all heard about the power of positive thinking, but is there any truth to it? Research shows positive thinking is more than just a warm and fuzzy idea. It can actually change your life and tonight we're going to put the power of positive thinking to the test. "

## Games

### Game #1: Stay Focused

Stay focused on the dots and stare at the X when the image changes.

Result: Do you see the woman's face in color, even if it looks blurry?

Why: When you stare too long at an image, your brain shows the opposite color and producing an afterimage. The women in these images are similing. Studies show smiles trigger endorphins in your brain and seeing someone else smile may trigger you to smile and lower blood pressure. People who smile often are often happier in life and many other benefits. There's two types of people. The super happy person and the grumpy one.

So: Are they bad because they're mad? or the other way around? When your brain experiences stress, it leaves you susceptible to illness.

### Game #2: The Scenario

Are you about to hear good news or bad news depending on the scenarios?

Result: Ompitimist and Pessimists have different advantages.

Why: Because pessimists know what's coming for bad news, you can be prepared. Pay attention to your posture.

### Game #3: Feel Like a Winner

Murray has people strike a pose. Then decide whether they want to bet money or not. They get 50 bucks to bet. Will people bet it for double or nothing?

#### Brain Booster:

The structure that helps your body maintain balance is located in which body part?

A. Nose

B. Inner Ear.

C. Neck

The correct answer is B. Located in your inner ear, your vestibular system helps you maintain balance.

Result: People who struck a negative pose often choose to keep the money, while those who struck a positive pose bet it.

Why: Your body can play a big part in positive thinking. Confidence hormones can boost levels of testosterone and reduce stress with a big, nice pose.

So: The next time you have something big coming, try holding a power pose beforehand.

### Game #4: The Video

Come up with a story for each video clip.

Result: The clips are exactly the same, but your stories were different. One was happier and one was sadder. Why does the background music change it?

Why: Because notes in the Major key are similar to those in excited speech, and notes in Minor Key are similar to somber speech. Listening to Major Key music can improve positvity in short-term, and long-term can help positivity after listening for a long time.

### Game #5: The Basketball Baseline

Volunteers throw 10 free throws. Will positive reinforcement help someone who made 0 help? A woman's blindfoled to help improve her performance and make a blindfolded free throw. Even though she doesn't make the free throws, the crowd cheers anyway. Will the positive reinforcement work?

Result: With more positive reinforcement, she is able to make more free throws out of 10.

She made 4 out of 10. But what if someone was already good at basketball? Will the opposite scenario help? The crowd will give negative reinforcement thought the next round of free throws, and the blindfolded ones as well.

Result: After being thrown off his game, he only made 5 out of 10. Why are they making almost the same number of baskets?

Why: The neuroscience of self-confidence says that reinforcement given will change what happens in your brain. And she wasn't the only one that improved.

But the negative reinforcement affect everyone negatively. How were they able to block out the negative vibes?

Result: Having a background in college basketball, she's able to block out the negative vibes and think positively despite the negative feedback.

## List of Experts

* Sri Sarma