Psychology

I recently decided to set up a small mind game for myself. I have 4 pens - blue, red, green, and orange. I decided to replace the colors of the pens for their opposite, ie. blue for orange; red for green. As I know nothing about psychology, I want to ask you guys if this would accomplish anything to help my brain function. I did this to try to speed up my response and processing time, but does it really help at all?

EDIT:
I use these pens a lot for my schoolwork, making this a long-term thing.

IMO: I would think that in a way, yes it would definitely improve your brain analysing and processing speed, however once your brain becomes accustomed to the pen's ink being switched around, your brain will automatically adapt to the new change. So then your would have to change it around again and so on. But your question was that if it will help your brain, yes I do think it will. It also helps colour coordination and improves the "my eyes are playing tricks on me" problem. See if it helps, from what I know (correct me if i'm wrong) the average brain takes about 24-27 consecutive days of doing something for it to become a habit. You should be able to see some type of change in your brain functionality by then. Best of luck.

What are you exactly trying to accomplish?

I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was. Just kidding. I want to train my brain; is that too much to ask?

I agree with most of what diesx11 says. The problem with this excersice, but also what you're looking for, is the more more you do this, the quicker your brain will become accustomed to the test itself. Which is a succesful result but maybe too quickly earned. Which means it likely won't be a challenge for your brain for very long. Benefitial effects outside of this test won't be very notable. But it seems like a good excercise.

I mean, if you willing to constantly change the colour of your pens then sure go for it. However if your just willing to challenge or 'train' your brain, then there are many other things you can do. I would suggest doing soduko puzzles, playing chess or shogi and those crossword puzzles at the back of newspapers definitely rack your brain. If you are willing to pay money then lumosity provides brain training plus it works (reviews of the program). Oh and brain teasers are extremely helpful. If you want my advice I would say that sleeping between 6-8 hrs a night, exercising on a regular basis and eat healthy portions keep your brain in a high performance level. One thing that I am currently doing is learning a new language, and this is another thing I would advise. Learning a new language forces your brain to switch between languages to gain understandings, therefore keeping it active. Cheers

If you really want to train your brain, then interchange the ink color of your pens once every week or so. I can't really say if it's effective or not because it depends on how your brain reacts to this test and also your brain capacity.

Psychology and brain training are two different things. Do some Sudoku.

The DS has a good handful of Brain training games available. I also find playing games in general is, in its own way, a form of brain training.

So does the Google Play store and the Apple App store. There are also countless puzzle games for the PC (and Mac if you have one). I also can say that being active, eating healthy and sleeping regularly help as well. Learning a new language is good, as is learning a complex series of muscular contractions (learning a sport or learning to dance).

If you're endeavoring to improve your response time to visual cues my suggestions are as follows:
1.) Play search and find games
2.) Speed test yourself with randomized flashcards (recognize the picture) at a fast pace.
3.) Conduct your pen experiment having a third party changing the ink at random intervals.

If you want to improve your articulation and broaden your expressiveness I suggest any of the following:
1.) Learn a new language
2.) Study etymology (and think critically as to the why of language)
3.) Endeavor to rethink whatever you would happen to want to say and rephrase everything without changing the meaning.

If you want to improve your gross muscular coordination:
1.) Perform reaction drills
2.) Get a reflex ball and play with it on an uneven surface
3.) Learn a new sport
4.) Learn to dance

If you want to improve your fine motor coordination:
1.) Play video games on the PC with the sensitivity turned up.
2.) Learn to play the piano/guitar
3.) Build models

If you want to develop your mathematical skills:
1.) Preform speed/reaction drills with an increasing difficulty curve
2.) Write problems rather than solve them
3.) Apply mathematics to science

If you want to learn to sift sensory information (such as distinguishing sight from sound, taste from smell etc.)
1.) Read a book whilst listening to a different book on audiobook
2.) Identify different spices by taste while smelling another
3.) Play an instrument while listening to another song

There's a lot of options available and far more than I can easily list. Experiment, have fun. Let me know your results

the more you practice, the more you'll memorize the pattern. until no more 'processing' is involved.
Just the pattern