Daily Mental Calisthenics at blogSci.com

Welcome to the Daily Mental Calisthenics at blogSci.com. These daily mental exercises will help you wake up, keep your mind primed and ready for quick thinking every day, and of course, are a great fun. The Calisthenics are actually a triathlon of Words of the Day, a Stroop Effect puzzle, and a game of Sudoku.

Feedback and comments welcome!

Words of the Day


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  • innuendo
    • DEFINITION: (noun) An indirect (and usually malicious) implication.
      SYNONYMS: insinuation.
      USAGE: There was no mistaking his innuendo, and Saxon felt her cheeks flaming.
      Discuss
  • penitence
    • DEFINITION: (noun) Remorse for your past conduct.
      SYNONYMS: penance, repentance.
      USAGE: She hung her head in mock penitence.
  • panic-stricken
    • DEFINITION: (adjective) Thrown into a state of intense fear or desperation.
      SYNONYMS: panicky, terrified, frightened.
      USAGE: Thousands of panic-stricken refugees fled the city.

Stroop Effect

The Stroop Effect is seen when the brain receives two interfering inputs. In this example, you are supposed to say the color the words are written in, not the actual word. So for example. for:

Brown in blue

You are supposed to say 'blue', not brown. The interfering inputs in this case are the color of the words (blue) and the word itself, brown, which is another color.

Now try to say the color the following words are written in as fast as possible:

Stroop effect - Image 1Stroop effect - Image 2Stroop effect - Image 3

Stroop effect - Image 4Stroop effect - Image 5Stroop effect - Image 6

Stroop effect - Image 7Stroop effect - Image 8Stroop effect - Image 9

Daily Sudoku

And now finish off with a quick game of Sudoku!


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