Dave Munger
dmunger
Posts by this author
August 21, 2007
One cool thing about running a lab is that there aren't really many restrictions about decor. As long as the immediate area around the equipment is clear of visual distractions, anything goes. That's why we're inviting readers to send us examples of crazy lab art. Here's a great example of what can…
August 20, 2007
I go for a run nearly every day. I wouldn't consider myself a fitness buff; mainly I run so that I don't gain weight. But according to an article in the New York Times, running might have another benefit -- improving my brain's health:
Scott Small at Columbia, for instance , likes nothing better…
August 17, 2007
Take a look at the following two circles. At the center, they're both the identical bright white. But which one seems brighter?
Let's make this a poll:
I'm not sure if this illusion will work when respondents know the objects are the same brightness, but naive viewers will reliably rate the…
August 16, 2007
Discover's got a very nice article about 10 unsolved mysteries of the brain. They're actually careful not to call these the "top 10" -- after all, who's to say that these are the 10 most important? Nonetheless, it's an impressive list:
1. How is information coded in neural activity?
2. How are…
August 15, 2007
If you haven't checked out the BPR3 initative (Bloggers for Peer-Reviewed Research Reporting), now's your chance to see everything that's going on with BPR3 in one place: The new web site has just gone live.
Set your bookmarks to researchblogging.org for the latest news on our efforts to identify…
August 15, 2007
On our recent trip to Europe, we had a hard time getting the kids to smile for pictures. Most of our pictures of Nora ended up looking something like this (actually this one's a self portrait, but you get the idea):
Here her expression is basically neutral, and if it wasn't such a dramatic shot…
August 15, 2007
When Jim was a baby (back when we called him "Jimmy"), he was clearly a bright child, but he didn't have a lot of words. This didn't stop him from getting his point across. After his doctor recommended that we cut back on the bottle to encourage him eating solid foods, he'd repeatedly say one of…
August 14, 2007
There's a problem with most of the highway signs currently being used in the U.S.: Overglow. The signs are fairly legible in the daytime, but at night, when they're illuminated solely by the reflected light from car headlights, reading becomes trickier. A New York Times article and accompanying…
August 13, 2007
Last week's post on a Peer-Reviewed Research icon has generated a tremendous amount of interest, including many very thoughtful comments and an incisive post over on Cabi Blogs. I'll get to Philip's comments in a moment, because they are at the core of what "peer reviewed" means, but first let me…
August 9, 2007
When you have a conversation with someone, you're doing a lot more than just interpreting the meaning of the words they say. You're also trying to figure out what they intend to say and integrating that in to your understanding. You're working together with them to decide whose turn it is to speak…
August 8, 2007
Most CogDaily readers are familiar with the little icon we developed to indicate when we were reporting on peer reviewed research. We created it when we began to offer links to news and blog posts, as a way of distinguishing those less "serious" posts from when we were talking about peer-reviewed…
August 7, 2007
One of the amazing things the visual system does is to compensate for the motion of our bodies. Consider, for example, the difference between the apparently smooth view of the world you get when you're talking a walk, and the shaky image you see if you record the same walk while holding a camcorder…
August 6, 2007
It would be difficult to come up with a more frequently confused concept in psychology than reinforcement and punishment. In fact, "reinforcement" and "punishment" aren't difficult to understand on their own: Reinforcement simply means any means of increasing or encouraging the designated behavior…
August 3, 2007
Like most parents, Greta and I were very excited about having our first baby (Greta, I imagine, might be somewhat less enthusiastic about me putting this vintage photo of her online...). We weren't naive, though -- we had heard from friends and family about the sleepless nights, the juggling of…
August 2, 2007
A new study of brain responses to music has found a striking difference in brain activity when a symphonic movement ends and the next one begins, compared to other parts of the musical work. A team led by Vinod Menon (and including This Is Your Brain on Music author Daniel Levitin) played excerpts…
August 1, 2007
Eric Schwitzgebel has been doing a lot of thinking about the relationship between thinking about ethical behavior and actually behaving ethically. In his most recent post, he takes on a meta-analysis claiming that religious belief correlates negatively with criminal activity:
I found a 2001 "meta-…
July 31, 2007
Take a look at this movie (QuickTime Required):
The moving object is exactly the same in each picture, but the background is different. If you're like most people, you'll see one object as an ice skater, and the other as a spinning top.
This puts the objects in two different classes -- animate (…
July 31, 2007
Here's an interesting question:
If we shipwrecked a boatload of babies on the Galapagos Islands--assuming they had all the food, water, and shelter they needed to survive--would they produce language in any form when they grew up?
It comes from Christine Kenneally, who posed the question to a group…
July 30, 2007
You might think the best way to make a robot seem more "human" is to reproduce human features as precisely as possible, like in this YouTube video:
But most people are creeped out by robots this "real." We're actually more comfortable interacting with less realistic robots that exhibit some human…
July 27, 2007
CBS News has a pretty good video describing the prevalence of alcohol and drug abuse in the workplace. Perhaps most shocking is the statistic depicted in this info-graphic:
Our friend Suzanne Greenlee is the benefits director for the food service company Sodhexo USA, and CBS interviewed her for…
July 27, 2007
When I was in college, Ronald Reagan was president, and his wife Nancy Reagan gained a lot of media attention with her project to end drug abuse. Here campaign followed the mantra "just say no," suggesting that kids should be able to resist pressure to use drugs simply by refusing to give in to…
July 26, 2007
Fox News has a very detailed review of the so-called $100 laptop, officially called the XO. The technology sounds quite impressive:
Even though bright sunshine is beating down upon the laptop screen, you're having no trouble reading the display.
But the sunlight is OK, since it's powering your…
July 25, 2007
Imagine you're taking a test--just for fun--to see how fast you can add numbers and alphabetize letters. Would it help you complete the test faster if you had a warning before each item indicating whether you'd be adding or alphabetizing?
Now imagine you're taking the same test--only this time the…
July 24, 2007
Greta and I have been back from Europe for about 36 hours now, and we're slowly adapting to life back in the US. Sure, the olive oil's not as good, and wine costs a fortune, but amazingly we're finding that we're able to accommodate to these problems, as well as the 7-hour time shift from Athens to…
July 21, 2007
I'm sitting in an Athens hotel with a cup of coffee pondering my last few hours in Europe. We've had a fabulous vacation, the longest I've ever taken in my life. At the same time, I'm looking forward to getting home.
I've tried to keep you abreast of the psychology-related events that occurred…
July 19, 2007
[originally posted January 26, 2006]
Kids in America grow up in a society that overwhelmingly believes in life after death. At the same time, these same kids grow up learning more and more about the nature of living organisms, and what makes something living or dead. At some point, these two belief…
July 17, 2007
Let's suppose you're the proprietor of a European tourist attraction. We're not talking about a Louvre or Uffizi here, or even a Leaning Tower of Pisa. No, you're in charge of a hidden gem: the scenic Church of the Saint No One Has Ever Heard Of, or the lovely little Museum of the Famous Artist…
July 10, 2007
We've been away from the internet for a while now, but finally have a slow connection here in rainy Prague. While in Pisa, however, we were able to avail ourselves of a unique opportunity. The favorite trick of the amateur photographers here is to create the "illusion" of their friend/family member…
July 5, 2007
A continuation of our "greatest hits" from past Cognitive Daily postings:
[originally posted on May 9, 2006]
The Stroop Effect is one of the most-studied phenomena in psychology. The test is easy to administer, and works in a variety of contexts. The simplest way to see how it works is just to look…
June 27, 2007
Here in Tuscany, the Munger family has rented a vacation house for a couple of weeks. Typically the day's biggest event is preparing dinner. Otherwise we generally just lounge around the house, admire the view, read, or converse over a glass of wine.
Today we thought we needed a project, so Nora…