Dave Munger
dmunger
Posts by this author
February 21, 2007
Mind Hacks has an intriguing post suggesting that databases used for identification might also track personality differences.
Could, for instance, a retinal scan identify an alcoholic?
Yet another neuroscientist tackles consciousness.
Does a flock of birds have consciousness?
How smart are…
February 20, 2007
I've been accumulating "in other news" items all weekend and only just now had the time to post them all. Enjoy!
Scientific American covers the stereotype threat (discussed on CogDaily last week).
Is "reform" math responsible for declining math performance? This is more convincing than the last…
February 20, 2007
When Greta and I met with her surgeon a few years back in preparation for a minor surgery, he offered an unusual qualification for the job: he was an avid video game player. He believed that playing video games improved his ability to perform surgery. Many surgeries are now performed remotely, with…
February 19, 2007
Last week, we asked readers if they could tell which of these two photos, offering only 12 × 14 pixels of information apiece, represented a face:
Nearly three-quarters of respondents accurately identified the photo on the right as a face. But what face? It only took 6 guesses for readers to…
February 16, 2007
If you didn't participate in last week's Casual Friday study, you should definitely see what it's like to experience the flash-lag effect:
When the blue rectangle flashes, it's always precisely aligned with the gray bar, yet it appears to be behind the bar. Cool, isn't it? You can stop the movie…
February 16, 2007
Anyone who has tried to capture a fly or other insect can't help but marvel at their aeronautic prowess. Their reflexes are lightning-fast, and they seem to avoid obstacles before they are even perceptible. The brain of a fly or a honey bee is as little as a millionth the size of a human brain,…
February 15, 2007
The Washington Post on the neurological basis of love.
Chris Chatham shows why dopamine is more than just the neurotransmitter of love.
Can praising kids' intelligence backfire?
Can vasectomies backfire?
Do chimps pass down skills?
Not like humans do.
Finally, for P.Z.: I don't think squid are…
February 15, 2007
The setting was an integrated suburban middle school: nearly evenly divided between black and white students. As is the case in many schools, white students outperformed black students both in grades and test scores. But how much of this difference is attributable to real differences in ability?…
February 15, 2007
This photo of the World Trade Center burning on September 11 attracted a lot of attention for a curious pattern in the smoke. Was it the face of God? Satan?
Of course it was just a random pattern in the smoke that briefly seemed to look like a face, but many people were not convinced by appeals to…
February 14, 2007
For children younger than three, most of us agree that crying is acceptable, especially if they are in physical pain. But even for adults, crying is acceptable during periods of grief. Indeed, we often look askance at a person who does not to cry at a funeral or memorial service of a close friend,…
February 13, 2007
Take a look at this animation. One face will flash; then it will be followed by another face. Are the two faces the same or different? The change between faces could be a small one.
Did you notice a change? (You can repeat the movie once if you're not sure.) Let's make this one a poll:
Now try…
February 13, 2007
One of the worst jobs I ever had was in high school. I was a door-to-door salesman for our local newspaper. It seemed like a great job in 1983 -- just three hours a night, and I got paid $4.50 an hour plus $5 for every subscription I sold over 15 a week. We didn't even really have to sell…
February 12, 2007
Lots of "other news" today!
Sense of smell keeps on sniffing, even as we get older.
How the past, present, and future are reconstructed in our minds.
Composites of "hottest" and "nottest" faces...
...and an explanation of what's going on here.
A new (to me) carnival, "Brain Blogging" -- strives to…
February 12, 2007
Face-composite software is commonly used to generate images of crime suspects. But how accurate is it? We've reported here on a study suggesting that building face-composites may actually harm the memory of eyewitnesses. Now a new review article is suggesting that there are additional problems with…
February 9, 2007
Today's study will explore how sound is related to perception of motion and illusions. We'll be examining a couple of different, really cool phenomena that may or may not be related.
If you've been reading CogDaily regularly, you might be familiar with some of the stimuli, but you won't have seen…
February 9, 2007
This week's article on the "most random" number was the most popular post ever on Cognitive Daily. The stats aren't all in yet, but so far the post has been viewed at least 40,000 times. It wasn't long ago that 40,000 was a good month for Cognitive Daily! Since comments and questions about the…
February 8, 2007
Should iPods be banned from crosswalks? Bloggers respond, and so does Jake Young.
A model of how the brain processes time.
Do cigarette warning labels work? Yep.
One reason to believe that IQ can be improved.
Do you like experimental psychology? How about experimental Philosophy?
Encephalon will…
February 8, 2007
Recently I attended a concert featuring the premier of an up-and-coming composer's work. She gave a brief talk before her piece was played, during which she explained the complex symbology of her work. The musical notes weren't just noises; they were intended to convey a meaning above and beyond a…
February 8, 2007
"Brain fitness" is all the rage lately -- the idea that by "exercising" your brain, you can keep your mental ability at high levels even as you age. The good news is that there's more science to back up this fad than in other recent gimmicks such as the Mozart Effect. The bad news is that "training…
February 7, 2007
Mind Hacks has an excellent review of a case study that appears to contradict some "common knowledge" about the brain:
The hippocampus is thought to be essential for navigation. Surprisingly, a paper published last year reported that a London Taxi driver, who suffered hippocampus damage on both…
February 6, 2007
At a recent social psychology conference, one of the attendees kept an informal tally of how often presenters made negative statements about their own presentations. Out of 18 presenters, 11 made negative statements like
I've prepared a gosh-awful overhead
This is a gross oversimplification, or…
February 6, 2007
There's a fantastic discussion over at Text Savvy about the best way to teach multiplication, centered around this impressive video in support of traditional methods.
If you watch the video, make sure you also read Mr. Person's explanation of the problem. It really comes down to this: The…
February 5, 2007
On Saturday, I posted a poll asking readers to simply pick a number between 1 and 20. I promised I'd explain what this is all about, so here goes.
The poll was inspired by this post on Pharyngula, which in turn was inspired by this article on Cosmic Variance. The idea is that 17 will always be the…
February 5, 2007
Greta has been promoted to the rank of full professor! Congratulations, Greta, you've completed your ascent of the mountain of academe:
When I mentioned this news to a friend at our Sunday pick-up soccer game, he asked me "so... what does that mean?" Good question.
First of all, it means she…
February 3, 2007
There's a meme going around lately, suggesting some pattern to how we guess random numbers. A few bloggers are trying to "test" it by asking their readers to email them lists of random numbers, or conducting a "study" in their comments. Why not use a poll?
IMPORTANT: Don't use the graphic as an aid…
February 2, 2007
Two days before the Super Bowl, two interesting perspectives on the National Football League and how it treats its players. First, the New York Times has an article on the plight of former New England Patriots player Ted Johnson. Johnson claims he was ordered to participate in full-contact drills…
February 1, 2007
For air travelers, a carbon tax won't make them stay home. This is bad news. Can someone please invent a fuel-cell-powered jet?
A preview of the computer jet-setters won't be allowed to buy.
How hallucinogens work.
Plato thought writing would destroy memory. What will digital camcorders do?
February 1, 2007
Today I'm going to be working with some students in Greta's course "Psychology Goes to the Movies" to help them write CogDaily-style reports on scholarly research. With any luck, you'll see their reports here this summer! I thought CogDaily readers might be interested in some of the principles I'll…
January 31, 2007
As a lefty, how did I miss this one when it came out? Left-handers "think faster".
Why can't people tickle themselves?
Can a robot park New Yorkers' cars? It's an open question, especially since the cars aren't very good at parking themselves.
Even controlling our own limbs is a difficult problem…
January 31, 2007
When our dentist told us Jim and Nora needed braces, we just took them straight to the orthodontist and signed them up for treatments -- we didn't even think twice about it. On the other hand, their treatments haven't been especially dire -- neither child needed "headgear," for example. I know…