Dave Munger
dmunger
Posts by this author
October 3, 2007
A study doesn't have to be brand-new to be interesting. Consider the situation in 1992: It was known that adults are much better at distinguishing between sounds used in their own language compared to other languages. Take the R and L sounds in English. In Japanese, both of these sounds belong in…
October 3, 2007
Challenging the conclusions drawn from Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment
A great idea, from BPS Research Digest's ongoing series of the best experiments that will never be conducted
Imaginative, Yet Literal? Fewer False Memories Among Children Than Adults
Misleading Reporting of Alzheimer'…
October 3, 2007
Like many who follow the technology scene, I was excited about the prospect of a "$100 laptop" (now called the XO), one that could be used by kids in developing countries as a substitute for textbooks, school supplies, and perhaps even teachers.
If the software was all open-source, then the only…
October 2, 2007
Uriel Klieger has begun work revising the BPR3 icon. He's got a couple different versions up at BPR3.org:
This is the large version of the icon that will replace our icon for posts in the Research category -- those that discuss peer-reviewed research. But now all bloggers will be able to use the…
October 2, 2007
The name sounds so benign: what could be better than friendship? Why, friendship with benefits, of course!
But when a friendship moves from platonic to sexual, even if both partners claim they're not "romantic," doesn't the dynamic of that relationship necessarily change? It's a puzzle that's often…
October 1, 2007
If you're a parent, you're probably familiar with the notes (or emails) home from school asking for help leading a field trip, or classroom supplies, or donations to the PTA. But if you're reading this blog, it's likely your kids are in a school that's already getting plenty of help from parents.…
October 1, 2007
To me, few things are more annoying than someone who nitpicks about grammar. Grammar is important, to be sure, but how much does it really matter if your sentences are grammatically "correct," as long as your message is communicated clearly?
Michael Bach recently emailed me lamenting that often…
September 28, 2007
The U.S. Department of Immigration unveiled its new U.S. citizenship test today. Whenever these tests come out, news organizations inevitably send reporters out to find out if actual U.S. citizens know the answers we expect immigrants to know. The results, as you might expect, are generally not…
September 28, 2007
You've seen this illusion before, right?
The "grid" defining the light gray squares on the left side of this figure seems to get lighter where the lines intersect. The graph on the right shows that the actual reflectance (or brightness when depicted on a computer screen) of the figure does not…
September 27, 2007
Yesterday, we discussed sex differences at the highest levels of achievement and found that there are some significant differences between males and females. But despite these observations, it's still unclear why the disparity exists, and what can or should be done about it.
Sex differences in…
September 27, 2007
A New York Times article makes the claim that men are now happier than women:
Since the 1960s, men have gradually cut back on activities they find unpleasant. They now work less and relax more.
Over the same span, women have replaced housework with paid work -- and, as a result, are spending almost…
September 26, 2007
In yesterday's post, we discussed sex differences in achievement and ability. Few were identified. For the most part, however, this research discussed average differences. The problem with only discussing averages is that people engaged in science and math careers are far from "average" when it…
September 25, 2007
When Lawrence Summers suggested that the reason there aren't more women in the top academic positions in math and science is that they don't have the aptitude for it, a firestorm was created that may have cost him his job as president of Harvard University. Sometimes lost in the hullabaloo…
September 25, 2007
The robots in H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds may have been terrifying, but they also had a feature notably lacking in a lot of today's robots: the inherent stability of a tripod. But film realizations of the tripod robots have always suggested they moved in a sort of inefficient shuffle: if you were…
September 24, 2007
Pain is an extremely difficult subject to study, because individuals experience pain differently -- some people have a much greater tolerance for pain than others, and some people just seem to complain more. Doctors typically handle the problem with assessing pain by asking patients to rate the…
September 22, 2007
There's a short interview with me at the Scranton Times-Tribune -- it's their Saturday "Five Questions" feature so it's supposed to be funny rather than serious.
September 22, 2007
Just a quick reminder: The voting on the BPR3 icon contest closes on Monday, September 24. If you haven't voted yet, head on over to BPR3 or this CogDaily post and make sure your voice is heard.
September 21, 2007
You might have thought we'd have a new study for you to participate in this week. You're half right. If you've read CogDaily, Terra Sigillata, Uncertain Principles, or Chaotic Utopia in the past two weeks, you've actually been participating in today's non-scientific study.
ScienceBloggers have a…
September 21, 2007
I play a pick-up game of soccer for two hours once a week. This game is notorious for causing injuries: one time I twisted my foot and was out of commission for a year. The game has resulted in multiple surgeries for some of the players involved. So why do we play? Mostly because it's a lot of fun…
September 20, 2007
Here's a task that four-year-olds can do but three-year-olds have some trouble with. Imagine Sally in the picture below is playing with a ball. She puts the ball in the box and goes to the kitchen to get a drink. While she's gone, Bill takes the ball out of the box and puts it in the bucket. When…
September 20, 2007
Here's a creative way to present a report on sleep disorders:
Not bad!
September 20, 2007
Synesthesia is a fascinating phenomenon: It almost seems impossible that some people can see colors associated with sounds, emotions, or letters and numbers. Yet many do -- as many as one percent of people experience some synesthesia.
V.S. Ramachandran and others have suggested that synesthesia is…
September 19, 2007
The headline on Science Daily reads "One-third Of Spam Is 'Health'-related," but the real news comes from the highly readable PLoS Medicine source article, "Will Spam Overwhelm Our Defenses? Evaluating Offerings for Drugs and Natural Health Products."
Peter Gernburd and Alejandro R. Jadad analyzed…
September 18, 2007
We have one of these little dragons in our living room.
Here's the page with instructions on how to make your own. Hint: Use stiff paper!
September 18, 2007
Take a look at this video (QuickTime required). The screen will turn white for 1/2 second. Then a word will appear for about 1.5 seconds. Pay attention to the particular shade of gray the word is printed in. Next, a strip of five different grey squares will appear. Which square matches the color of…
September 18, 2007
When we were in Vienna this past summer, we were surprised to learn that in Mozart's time, symphonic concerts were often mish-mashes: single movements and "greatest hits" arias instead of complete works. Audiences applauded after each movement. We saw a reenactment of such a concert, in 18th-…
September 17, 2007
David Amodio and his colleagues have taken a lot of heat across the internet for their recent brief report on brain and behavior correlation with political views (see here for one of the more strident pundit reactions). The Neurocritic was able to track down Amodio himself and get his responses to…
September 17, 2007
Over at BPR3, we've picked the top three icons from the BPR3 icon contest. Here are the top three entries in the contest to design a universal icon that everyone can use on their blog posts whenever the post is a serious commentary about a paper published in a peer-reviewed journal:
Kevin Z:
Uriel…
September 14, 2007
Last week's Casual Friday study had a secret: We weren't just interested in whether you like light desserts; we also wanted to know if the weight and/or gender of the dessert chef influenced your opinion of a dessert.
Each survey participant saw two different versions of a dessert recipe:
Each…
September 14, 2007
Do you ever watch the TV show Survivorman? The show's host, Les Stroud, is voluntarily "stranded" in a wide array of dangerous situations in the wild, without even a film crew, and videotapes himself figuring out how to build a shelter, find food, and get out alive.
One thing I find particularly…