May 31, 2005
Category: Memory
The allure of music has been a recurring question for psychologists. Why do we see the need for music? Is music like language, or is it something entirely different? The attempts to answer the latter question have generated mixed results....
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Posted by Dave Munger at 5:05 AM • 1 Comments •
May 26, 2005
Category: Perception
Heinz's green ketchup nothwithstanding, we generally like our foods to be predictable colors: milk, white; bananas, yellow; oranges—well, you get the idea. But when foods are the "right" color, do they actually taste any different? We all know that food...
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Posted by Dave Munger at 3:05 PM • 0 Comments •
May 25, 2005
Category: Memory
Take a look at the following maps of brain activity: The maps were made using ERP recordings of volunteers' brains as they were tested for memory of pictures. The ERP (event-related potential) records electrical potentials using a variety of electrodes...
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Posted by Dave Munger at 2:05 PM • 0 Comments •
May 20, 2005
Category: Social
Ivan Pavlov, the Russian psychologist and surgeon of legendary ability (his Nobel prize is for medicine), was perhaps most famous for his experiments with dogs. Performing a tricky procedure to implant a saliva-measuring device in dogs' necks, he then trained...
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Posted by Dave Munger at 2:05 PM • 3 Comments •
May 18, 2005
Category: Memory
Some people—even people who really know their stuff—just don't "test well." You can talk to them face to face, and they seem perfectly well informed and intelligent, but when the money's on the line, when they've sharpened their number 2...
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Posted by Dave Munger at 3:05 PM • 3 Comments •
May 17, 2005
Category: Memory
We know that video games can help us learn, but what exactly is it about the games that does it? Is it that fact that we're in control—for example, the way drivers in a car seem to learn the roads...
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Posted by Dave Munger at 2:05 PM • 2 Comments •
May 13, 2005
Category: Language
One of the oldest questions in the study of language involves how it influences our thought. One of the most controversial answers comes from Benjamin Whorf, the student of renowned anthropologist Edward Sapir: language not only influences thought; language determines...
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Posted by Dave Munger at 12:05 PM • 1 Comments •
May 10, 2005
Category: Development / Aging
Yesterday we discussed the difference between children's and adults' beliefs in magic. Today we will continue that discussion, with two more experiments from the same article by Eugene Subbotsky. Adults generally claim they don't believe in magic, but they seem...
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Posted by Dave Munger at 9:05 AM • 2 Comments •
May 9, 2005
Category: Development / Aging
Babies love to play peek-a-boo. This simple game can entertain them for hours, even if all you do is hide your face behind your hands. Part of the reason is that for babies, it is really something of a surprise...
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Posted by Dave Munger at 2:05 PM • 2 Comments •
May 5, 2005
Category: Memory
The Stroop effect is a well-documented phenomenon that shows how easily we can be distracted from a simple task. In the classic Stroop experiment, we are shown a word, such as GREEN, and asked to indicate the color it is...
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Posted by Dave Munger at 10:05 AM • 4 Comments •