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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November 30, 2006
Category: Attention • Research • Social
The recent controversial shooting of an unarmed black man in New York has generated terrible grief and perhaps justifiable anger. But if officers honestly believed the man was armed and intended to harm them, weren't they justified in shooting? Perhaps,...
Posted by Dave Munger at 1:15 PM • 17 Comments
Category: News
An article in ScienceDaily proclaims Success A Family Affair? Willingness To Take Risks And Trust Others Are Inherited, Study Suggests. Actually, the study suggests the opposite: C only that children have similar risk profiles to their parents. This indicates that...
Posted by Dave Munger at 8:16 AM • 11 Comments
November 29, 2006
Category: Music • Perception • Research
One of the unanswered questions in Krista Hyde and Isabelle Peretz's research on amusia ("tone-deafness") is why amusics frequently say they are unable to clap to the rhythm of a song, or to dance well. In Hyde and Peretz's study,...
Posted by Dave Munger at 10:48 AM • 5 Comments
Category: News
Is it really possible for child in a destitute situation to rise above it and become not only a productive member of society, but to excel? Jonah Lehrer discusses an important New York Times article that I had skipped over...
Posted by Dave Munger at 8:01 AM • 8 Comments
November 28, 2006
Category: News
Uber-geek David Pogue has completed a Casual-Friday-worthy study of the human perceptual system. He wanted to test the "megapixel myth" -- the idea that buying a higher megapixel camera doesn't necessarily mean that you will take better pictures. He made...
Posted by Dave Munger at 8:35 AM • 1 Comments
November 27, 2006
Category: News
New research shows that Asian Americans have a very different understanding of consequences than European Americans: While European Americans say that a single pool shot has a bigger influence on the next shot, when asked about its influence several shots...
Posted by Dave Munger at 8:15 AM • 3 Comments
November 22, 2006
Category: Face perception • Memory • Research
Do you recognize the person depicted in this video? How about this one? The first video is actually a "chimera," formed by fusing half-images of two well-known faces together, then animated using 3D projection software. The second video shows us...
Posted by Dave Munger at 8:55 AM • 11 Comments
November 21, 2006
Category: News
Watch this video and describe what you see (it's a Windows Media file, so if you've got a Mac, you'll need Flip4Mac):...
Posted by Dave Munger at 7:32 AM • 9 Comments
November 20, 2006
Category: News
The flash-lag effect is difficult to explain, but amazingly cool to see. Over at Mixing Memory, Chris has a great post where he links to two examples of the phenomenon and discusses what might be causing it. Cool, isn't it?...
Posted by Dave Munger at 9:55 AM • 5 Comments
November 18, 2006
Category: Opinion
Larry Moran thinks I have the wrong idea about teaching evaluations and "thin slicing": Unfortunately, Dave Munger seems to draw the wrong conclusions from this study as he explains in an earlier posting [The six-second teacher evaluation]. In that article...
Posted by Dave Munger at 1:00 PM • 7 Comments
November 17, 2006
Category: Casual Fridays
There's been an abundance of PowerPoint advice in the science blogosphere lately. Based on my personal experience, I'd say Chad and Amy give some good advice -- and it's advice that probably serves them well in their own presentations. But...
Posted by Dave Munger at 3:11 PM • 12 Comments
Category: Opinion
In 1981, the economist Lester C. Thurow wrote an article for the New York Times entitled "Why women are paid less than men." If you have a subscription, you can still read it on the Times web site. My copy...
Posted by Dave Munger at 8:35 AM • 5 Comments
November 16, 2006
Category: News
The APA has an important rule that all authors of APA-sponsored journal articles must agree to before publication: After research results are published, psychologists do not withhold the data on which their conclusions are based from other competent professionals who...
Posted by Dave Munger at 7:42 AM • 7 Comments
November 15, 2006
Category: Learning and testing • Music • Research
There was some doubt as to whether the "tone-deafness" test I linked to Monday really tests for amusia. The defining trait of amusia is the inability to discern the difference between different musical pitches. So here's a test that might...
Posted by Dave Munger at 3:48 PM • 7 Comments
Category: News
I'm actually doing better than usual: I'm just a day behind on the latest entertainment news. Last night, CBS premiered a TV show called 3 Lbs., which focuses on the tensions in a world-class neurosurgery unit of a major hospital....
Posted by Dave Munger at 7:48 AM • 5 Comments
November 14, 2006
Category: Development / Aging • Emotion • Research • Social
If a Brahman child from Nepal is asked what she would do if another child spilled a drink on her homework, her response is different from that of a Tamang child from the same country. The Brahman would become...
Posted by Dave Munger at 1:27 PM • 5 Comments
