The brain looks at the bright side of things

Maddi Sunshine
Dr. Boyd
Biology 1-2 Honors
The brain looks at the bright side of things
Summary:
No matter how many different situations studies have shown that people tend to look at the bright side of many situations. They showed that the human brain will latch on to good news and disregard the bad. In the experiment that was conducted, each person guessed his or her risk oh experiencing different negative events. Then, they have the participants their actually risk and with the new information in mind they reassessed their own risks. They were allowed to change their minds. If the new information brought bad news they changed their initial guess just a little but if it brought good news she changed her estimate by a lot.
Critique:
I think that the experiment was well done but I think that not many would understand what they were testing. I think that the experiment was hard to understand what the results were.
Impact:
Unrealistic optimism can sometimes prove harmful. People may not act upon things because they think they have a low risk. However ignoring bad news may be a good thing.
Reference:
http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/2011/10/the-brain-looks-at-the-bright-side-of-things/