Dave Munger
dmunger
Posts by this author
June 25, 2009
There's an interesting article in the Washington Post today exploring one line of reasoning suggesting that the Iranian election is fraudulent. Basically, it comes down to this: the results aren't random enough. In a fair election, you'd expect that each digit, from 0 to 9, would be the final digit…
June 24, 2009
Take a look at the following pictures of U.S. dimes. As you can see, they are slightly different from one another -- the date is in the incorrect spot on one of them. Can you tell which one is "wrong"?
Let's make this a poll:
Which dime has the date in the correct spot?(polls)
Is there anything…
June 23, 2009
I've always been amazed by people who are truly bilingual. While I've studied languages in school, I've never been able to seamlessly switch between languages, and even my best non-English language, French, is choppy at best. Compare this to the people I see in restaurants or on the subway, who can…
June 18, 2009
[Originally posted January, 2007]
Nearly all video games that offer a first-person perspective -- where the view on-screen simulates what a real person would see as she navigates through the virtual environment -- also include a virtual map to help in navigation. Even my favorite golf game has one…
June 17, 2009
[Originally posted in April 2007]
One "trick" dieters often use is to put their food on a smaller plate. The idea is to fool yourself into thinking you're eating more food than you really are. But doesn't our stomach tell us how full we are?
Actually, it doesn't. Brian Wansink has devoted his…
June 15, 2009
[Originally posted in February, 2007]
When you look out the window and then look away, how do you remember what you saw? Do you hold a picture of the window in your head, frame and all? What about a photo? Do you remember the physical photo, or do you imagine the real scene it represents? If you…
June 11, 2009
There's lots of research suggesting that we may have something like a "number line" in our head: The SNARC effect says that if you normally read numbers from left to right, you're faster to react to small numbers with your left hand, and big numbers with your right hand. Similar research has also…
June 10, 2009
When Nora was born, Jim was just 19 months old, and still unable to communicate other than with the most basic words (ba-ba, da-da, na-na). But we could tell right away that while he liked his new sister, he was a little jealous when our attention was focused on her needs, instead of his, as they…
June 8, 2009
Here at Encephalon's temporary North Carolina headquarters, we were miffed to learn that our long-scheduled Keynote address has been upstaged by some upstart computer company's manufactured "event" in California.
Not to be outdone, we're giving Encephalon an upgrade of our own. Encephalon is now…
June 5, 2009
We'll be hosting Encephalon here at CogDaily on Monday -- it's a bimonthly festival of the best cognitive / neuroscience blog posts on the web. If you've got a post you'd like to see included, send an email to encephalon -- . -- host -- @ -- gmail -- . -- com (remove dashes).
In other site news,…
June 4, 2009
It's pretty obvious to most people that the two shoes in this picture are the same size:
But if you actually took a ruler to your computer display it would show that the image of my right shoe is nearly twice as wide as the image of my left shoe. Young children will mistakenly say that the real…
June 1, 2009
The second edition of Cognitive Monthly is now available. "Duke Nukem Comes to Dinner: Do Violent Games Make Violent Kids?" synthesizes and expands on our coverage of the impact of violent video games.
Whenever kids are involved in a violent crime, speculation about their upbringing inevitably…
May 29, 2009
Last week we asked readers to rate a set of statements they might see on Twitter. The premise of our study was that sometimes it's difficult to decide whether someone is insulting you or complimenting you. But we were actually examining a slightly different question: what effect does an emoticon…
May 28, 2009
Take a look at this video. Your job: decide which person speaks first:
Click to view Video 1 (QuickTime required)
Let's make this a poll:
Which person in Video 1 speaks first?(web poll)
Now, try another one. Once again, decide which person speaks first:
Click to view Video 2 (QuickTime required)…
May 27, 2009
A common defense in murder cases is "focal retrograde amnesia": the defendant claims to have simply forgotten what occurred around the time of the crime (perhaps due having consumed too much alcohol or other drugs). In fact, "amnesia" is claimed in as many as 45 percent of murders. Psychologists…
May 25, 2009
Encephalon, the biweekly collection of the best psychology and neuroscience posts on the web, is now available at Neuroanthropology.
In addition to great science, there's a collection of clips from a classic movie about Italian food, "Big Night." Here's my favorite:
May 25, 2009
[This article was originally posted in December, 2006]
I'm not bitter about this, honest I'm not, but it does often seem that people who know you very well end up buying really lousy gifts. What I really want to find out is this: why do they do that? It turns out, market researchers want to know,…
May 22, 2009
It's never been easy to communicate clearly online (or in person, for that matter). Often a statement meant as a compliment can be taken the wrong way. Or someone can mistake a statement made in jest for a serious statement. Now with tools like Twitter and texting limiting the total number of…
May 21, 2009
Last night in the U.S. many televisions were tuned to one of the biggest spectacles of the year: the American Idol finale, where America would learn which singer had been chosen as "America's favorite" (or, more cynically, who inspired the most teenagers to repeatedly dial toll-free numbers until…
May 20, 2009
When I was in elementary school, we had two recesses every day: 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the afternoon. Plus, we had a 30-minute lunch period, and as soon as we finished eating we were free to go outside and play until the bell rang.
So I was a little surprised when our kids…
May 19, 2009
For nine months, you've been able to read posts on ResearchBlogging.org in German and English. Soon, the site will be launching support for Spanish. Evaristo Rojas-Mayoral has created a blog to collect the names and URLs of interested blogs. If you blog in Spanish, or you know someone who does,…
May 18, 2009
If, like me, you grew up in the U.S. in the 1970s and 80s, you probably remember the game show Name That Tune, where contestants heard brief snippets from popular songs and had to name them as quickly as possible. Even though I didn't know most of the music, which was primarily American Standards…
May 15, 2009
Last week, we asked our readers whether certain characters or "stories" were sexist. I said that the survey was inspired by the story I had told the previous day:
Joe and Michelle are having dinner at a romantic restaurant. It's their first anniversary, and everything is perfect -- until an…
May 13, 2009
A few weeks ago, a new study made headlines in major newspapers across the country: Study Finds Some Youths 'Addicted' to Video Games, proclaimed the Washington Post. The Post article cited a figure of 8.5 percent of gamers age 8-18 nationwide showing signs of a behavioral addiction. Since the…
May 11, 2009
I'll never forget the one and only time my mom made quiche for dinner. I was in fourth grade, and she had proudly followed the recipe in "Joy of Cooking" to create an exciting gourmet treat. Naturally, my sister and I absolutely hated it, but mom made us clean our plates. Choking down that quiche (…
May 8, 2009
Yesterday, some commenters complained that the story I used to introduce the study I was discussing was sexist. They might be right. So let's see what our readers think -- what is sexist, and what's not?
In this study, you'll see eleven different scenarios, and you'll be asked to evaluate how…
May 7, 2009
Joe and Michelle are having dinner at a romantic restaurant. It's their first anniversary, and everything is perfect -- until an attractive woman walks past the table. Michelle notices that Joe casts a quick glance at the woman. Michelle flashes an annoyed glare at Joe, who knows he's in trouble. "…
May 4, 2009
The SNARC effect is a fascinating phenomenon (and no, it has nothing to do with cheeky one-off blog posts). When asked to recognize numbers, people react faster with their left hand for low numbers, and faster with their right hand for high numbers. Take a look at this graph:
This shows the…
May 1, 2009
Listen to the following music clip.
Last week on Casual Friday, we asked our readers to explain what it's about, in concrete terms. Did you get it right?
Chances are, you did not. It's a selection from Claude Debussy's La Mer, from the movement intended to represent the wind and the sea. Only 36…
April 30, 2009
Today we're introducing a new feature on Cognitive Daily. Every month, in addition to our regular blog posts, we're going to create a downloadable mini-book (or maxi-article, take your pick) about an issue related to cognitive psychology. Surprise, surprise, it's called Cognitive Monthly.
Although…