Researchers at the University of Rochester found that as gamers improved on their favourite game, they also performed better at a variety of lab tests. Apparently, all those hours spent playing games enhance ‘mental rotation skills, visual and spatial memory, and tasks requiring divided attention.’

Good for increasing your reaction time in every day life, and – so say the researchers – useful for slowing down some of the cognitive affects of aging too.

Image – Blakespot

It might be raining and you are in a foul mood, but at least you are thinking more clearly.

That’s the findings of a group of Australian researchers who tested consumer memory in good and bad weather. As reported by the British Psychological Society, 73 shoppers were put in a newsagents and asked to recall ten objects. Half went in on good weather days and half when the weather was bad.

Not surprisingly, the bad weather test subjects were in a worse mood than their good weather counterparts. However, the ones who went in when it was raining could identify 3x as many objects. Rainy day shoppers were also less likely to have “false memories.”

Apparently what this study proves is that a bad mood (which you have when the weather is bad), “triggers a more sceptical, careful mode of processing, in contrast to the less vigilant, conceptual thinking style that characterises a good mood.”

The researchers say that these findings could be applied in legal and forensic situations.

It’s obviously got a lot of relevance for marketers as well and shows that there is some sense (supposing your product isn’t seasonal) to weighting a lot of spend towards the summer….or even to incorporate a weather forecast into your media plans. And if you’ve got a technical or specialised message you want to get out (say for a financial product), the rain might even be best.

Image – Akakumo