| Passage 8 Excitement, fatigue, and anxiety can all be detected from someone's blinks, according to psychologist John Stern {{U}}(1) {{/U}} Washington University in St. Louis. Stern specialized in the study on these tiny twitches, using them as sensitive {{U}}(2) {{/U}} of how the brain works. "I use blinks as a psychological measure to make {{U}}(3) {{/U}} about thinking because I have very little {{U}}(4) {{/U}} in what you tell me about what you ,are thinking." He says. "If I ask you the question, 'what does the phrase a rolling stone gathers no moss mean?' you can't tell me {{U}}(5) {{/U}} you've started looking for the answer. But I can, by watching your eyes." Blinks also tell Stem when you have understood his question--often long before he's finished asking it--and when you've found an answer or part of {{U}}(6) {{/U}}. "We blink at times {{U}}(7) {{/U}} are psychologically important." He says. "You have listened to a question, you understand it, {{U}}(8) {{/U}} you can take time out for a blink. Blinks are {{U}}(9) {{/U}} marks. Their timing is tied to what is going on in your {{U}}(10) {{/U}}." Stem has found that {{U}}(11) {{/U}} suppress blinks when they are absorbing or anticipating {{U}}(12) {{/U}} but not when they're reciting it. People blink later, for example, {{U}}(13) {{/U}} they have to memorize six numbers instead of two. "You don't blink," he says, "until you have {{U}}(14) {{/U}} the information to some short-term memory store." And if subjects are cued {{U}}(15) {{/U}} the set of numbers is coming, say, five seconds, they'll curb their blinks until the task is {{U}}(16) {{/U}} Similarly, the more important the information that people are taking in, the more likely they are to put their blinks on hold for {{U}}(17) {{/U}}. Pilots blink less when they're {{U}}(18) {{/U}} for flying a plane than when they {{U}}(19) {{/U}} their eyes from the road to the rearview mirror. But if they see the flashing lights of a state trooper behind them, their {{U}}(20) {{/U}} will move fast unmoistened to the speedometer and back to the mirror. |