A new cognitive psychology article nearly every day
Cognitive Daily reports nearly every day on fascinating peer-reviewed developments in cognition from the most respected scientists in the field.
Greta Munger is Professor of Psychology at Davidson College whose works include The History of Psychology: Fundamental Questions. Dave Munger is co-founder and president of ResearchBlogging.org and a writer whose works include Researching Online. And yes, he is married to Greta.
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May 31, 2005
Category: Language • Memory • Music • Research
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....
Posted by Dave Munger at 5:05 AM • 1 Comments
May 26, 2005
Category: Perception • Research • Taste
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...
Posted by Dave Munger at 3:05 PM • 0 Comments
May 25, 2005
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...
Posted by Dave Munger at 2:05 PM • 0 Comments
May 20, 2005
Category: Research • Social • Video Games / Technology
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...
Posted by Dave Munger at 2:05 PM • 2 Comments
May 18, 2005
Category: Learning and testing • Memory • Research
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...
Posted by Dave Munger at 3:05 PM • 3 Comments
May 17, 2005
Category: Memory • Research • Video Games / Technology
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...
Posted by Dave Munger at 2:05 PM • 2 Comments
May 13, 2005
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...
Posted by Dave Munger at 12:05 PM • 1 Comments
May 10, 2005
Category: Development / Aging • Research
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...
Posted by Dave Munger at 9:05 AM • 2 Comments
May 9, 2005
Category: Development / Aging • Research
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...
Posted by Dave Munger at 2:05 PM • 2 Comments
May 5, 2005
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...
Posted by Dave Munger at 10:05 AM • 4 Comments
May 3, 2005
Category: Perception • Research
When we were first married, Greta and I lived in New York City for five years. One of the biggest challenges of living in New York was navigating around the subway stations, complex warrens of underground tunnels that can extend...
Posted by Dave Munger at 10:05 AM • 0 Comments
