Other posts
- April 24, 2012
- 04:00 AM
- 696 views
Embarrassing Conditions – “The Joking Disease”
by United Academics in United Academics
In the series of embarrassing medical conditions, Witzelsucht is definitely a “funny one”. Apparently, some people don’t tell terrible jokes because they want to, but instead suffer from a brain disorder that actually causes a poor sense of humor.... Read more »
Chen YC, Tseng CY, & Pai MC. (2005) Witzelsucht after right putaminal hemorrhage: a case report. Acta neurologica Taiwanica, 14(4), 195-200. PMID: 16425547
Mendez MF. (2005) Moria and Witzelsucht from frontotemporal dementia. The Journal of neuropsychiatry and clinical neurosciences, 17(3), 429-30. PMID: 16179673
- April 21, 2012
- 01:00 PM
- 515 views
2 Years Since the Spill, BP and Crisis Communication
by United Academics in United Academics
Two years since the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the worst oil spill in history, there is still ongoing litigation and investigation regarding its impact across multiple aspects of life. It was a disaster which occurred in the current era of modern communication,which as we well know is characterized by decentralized platforms such as twitter, Facebook, blogs and more. This makes the classic issue of communicating a crisis much more interesting and up for discussion. Crisis communication, technology, and the BP oil spill are the three main topics researchers from several US states sought to address in a recent article entitled “Damage Control: Rhetoric and New Media Technologies in the Aftermath of the BP Oil Spill.”... Read more »
Z. Hall, Brent Kice, & Jinbong Choi. (2012) Damage Control: Rhetoric and New Media Technologies in the Aftermath of the BP Oil Spill. Poroi , 8(1). info:/
- April 20, 2012
- 07:45 AM
- 572 views
Internet Not Egalitarian
by United Academics in United Academics
Those who start discussions do not necessarily bring new content to the net, research shows ... Read more »
Himelboim, I., Gleave, E., & Smith, M. (2009) Discussion catalysts in online political discussions: Content importers and conversation starters. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 14(4), 771-789. DOI: 10.1111/j.1083-6101.2009.01470.x
- April 20, 2012
- 07:24 AM
- 590 views
The Injectable Solution for Cocaine Overdose
by United Academics in United Academics
After all the criticism on the study which discovered that rats on cocaine love Miles Davis, new research shows that “drug-addicted rodents” can be used for more valueble scientific purposes. Researchers have come up with an injectable solution that has been shown to reverse the effects of cocaine overdose in mice.... Read more »
Treweek, J., & Janda, K. (2012) An Antidote for Acute Cocaine Toxicity. Molecular Pharmaceutics, 9(4), 969-978. DOI: 10.1021/mp200588v
- April 20, 2012
- 05:57 AM
- 611 views
High Sense of Achievement Increases Self-indulgence
by United Academics in United Academics
ride can promote a sense of achievement as well as a sense of self-awareness. While self-awareness stimulates self-control, pride in an achievement stimulates pampering.
... Read more »
Wilcox, K., Kramer, T., & Sen, S. (2011) Indulgence or Self-Control: A Dual Process Model of the Effect of Incidental Pride on Indulgent Choice. Journal of Consumer Research, 38(1), 151-163. DOI: 10.1086/657606
- April 19, 2012
- 07:49 PM
- 452 views
The fertile 'philosophy' of homeopathy
by Lee Turnpenny in The Mawk Moth Profligacies
On the marketing of homeopathy and its claimed effectiveness as treatment for infertility... Read more »
Brien, S., Lachance, L., Prescott, P., McDermott, C., & Lewith, G. (2010) Homeopathy has clinical benefits in rheumatoid arthritis patients that are attributable to the consultation process but not the homeopathic remedy: a randomized controlled clinical trial. Rheumatology, 50(6), 1070-1082. DOI: 10.1093/rheumatology/keq234
- April 19, 2012
- 07:04 AM
- 760 views
‘Cocktail Party Effect’ Deciphered
by United Academics in United Academics
When at a noisy party or simply in a crowded bar, it’s sometimes hard to focus on a single voice and pay attention to what the person is saying, but still we manage somehow to hear it among all the noise. This phenomenon is known as the “cocktail party effect”. Now two researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, have identified for the first time how it works in the brain.... Read more »
Smith, K. (2012) Brain discards voices to cope with cocktail party. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature.2012.10466
- April 17, 2012
- 11:23 PM
- 666 views
Why I type in Dvorak and you should too
by TheCellularScale in The Cellular Scale
The Dvorak keyboard is an alternative to the traditional Qwerty layout. Proponents (like me) claim that it is faster and easier to use. Dvorak himself claimed in a 1943 National Business Education Quarterly paper "There is a better typewriter keyboard" that experts could type 35% faster in the Dvorak layout than in the Qwerty layout. (value cited in this paper, I could not locate original)I started using Dvorak during my freshman year of college because some guy told me it was cool. I converted my computer's keyboard format to Dvorak and re-arranged all the keys of my 1st generation iMac.I feel old.I was not much of a 'typer' before attempting Dvorak. I was a step above 'hunt and peck' (I used multiple fingers), but I couldn't type without looking at the keyboard. It wasn't long before I became much faster typing in Dvorak than in Qwerty, and could touch-type for the first time in my life. I now change all computers I use to Dvorak, but do not change the physical keys on the keyboard. This has resulted in some lovely events such as my work-study boss in college thinking her computer was 'haunted' because I forgot to change the format back before leaving the office. It has also resulted in some embarrassing moments for me when I am forced to return to a Qwerty layout. During a presentation on some new neuro-software, I volunteered to test it out. This was a bad idea, because of course the presenter's computer was set to Qwerty. I not only typed super-slowly, but I couldn't put in a familiar password at one point. I knew the password by touch, and without the letters showing up as feedback, I literally could not type it correctly. Despite the occasional problem, I love typing in Dvorak. I find it much easier and more natural than typing in Qwerty. However, since I have been typing in Dvorak since iMacs were cool, my favoritism is probably due to familiarty more than some inherent 'betterness'. I can hardly be objective here. For some real objective analysis we need some peer-reviewed studies. Luckily the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society cares about this sort of thing.In a 2009 paper Anderson et al. investigated just how steep the learning curve was for a variety of alternative keyboards. Anderson et al., 2009 Figure 1: chord, contoured split Qwerty, Dvorak, and angle split QwertyIn this study, participants typed a familiar passage (having practiced it 10 times with the normal Qwerty keyboard) 5 times on an 'alternative' keyboard. The researchers then plotted the time it took to type the passage. Anderson et al., 2009 Figure 3The split keyboards are Qwerty layout keyboards, just angled differently for ergonomic purposes, so it is not too surprising that they resulted in fast typing times. The Dvorak and chord keyboards were more difficult for the participants, but both showed strong learning curves. This study says nothing about how 'experts' type on any of these keyboards, so I decided to test myself. Online, you can test your typing speed by typing in random words or passages for 1 minute. I tried these tests 3 times each in Dvorak and Qwerty (alternating). Not surprisingly, I was much better in Dvorak. open symbols= random words test, filled symbols=passages testThe random words test is much easier than the passages test which includes punctuation, but in both tests I was faster in Dvorak. But of course I don't type in Qwerty regularly, so this isn't exactly the right comparison. To rectify this, I got help from a Qwerty user who was so kind as to try the passages test 3 times for me. My Dvorak passages test were slightly better than the Qwerty-user's passages tests (filled red circles compared to blue squares). One person per group is hardly proof and couldn't even count for preliminary data, so don't quote this figure as proof that Dvorak is faster or anything. It could just as easily be proof that people with brown eyes (me) are better typers that people with blue eyes (Qwerty-user). This was just some good old fashioned dorky fun-with-data. If you want to add data points to my table, go ahead and take the typing tests yourself:Random wordsPassagesBoth sites are annoyingly stuffed with ads, but you can take the test without clicking on any of them.Then let me know if you are Dvorak or Qwerty user, what test you took, and how many words per minute you typed. © TheCellularScaleAnderson AM, Mirka GA, Joines SM, & Kaber DB (2009). Analysis of alternative keyboards using learning curves. Human factors, 51 (1), 35-45 PMID: 19634307... Read more »
Anderson AM, Mirka GA, Joines SM, & Kaber DB. (2009) Analysis of alternative keyboards using learning curves. Human factors, 51(1), 35-45. PMID: 19634307
- April 13, 2012
- 07:13 AM
- 488 views
Why You Should Drink at Work
by United Academics in United Academics
Do like Don Draper, and have that Mad Men martini lunch before entering a brainstorming session. New research shows that alcohol benefits your creativity.... Read more »
Jarosz, A., Colflesh, G., & Wiley, J. (2012) Uncorking the muse: Alcohol intoxication facilitates creative problem solving. Consciousness and Cognition, 21(1), 487-493. DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2012.01.002
- April 13, 2012
- 04:21 AM
- 527 views
Interview Dr. Marc Lewis - Memoirs of an Addicted Brain
by United Academics in United Academics
For 15 years, Dr. Marc Lewis was addicted to drugs. Against all the odds, however, he tackled his addictions and managed to become a developmental psychologist and neuroscientist. Lewis wrote his gripping life story down in the book Memoirs of an Addicted Brain - a book in which he blends his own experiences with drugs and addiction with scientific explanations of the neural activity that guided his behavior.... Read more »
Lewis, M. (2011) Dopamine and the Neural "Now": Essay and Review of Addiction: A Disorder of Choice. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6(2), 150-155. DOI: 10.1177/1745691611400235
Lewis, M., Lamm, C., Segalowitz, S., Stieben, J., & Zelazo, P. (2006) Neurophysiological Correlates of Emotion Regulation in Children and Adolescents. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 18(3), 430-443. DOI: 10.1162/089892906775990633
Lewis, M. (2005) Bridging emotion theory and neurobiology through dynamic systems modeling. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 28(02). DOI: 10.1017/S0140525X0500004X
- April 12, 2012
- 11:28 PM
- 83 views
Time for an “Occupy Science” in India?
by Kausik Datta in In Scientio Veritas
Yes. Yes!! Oh, yes! — This was my reaction while reading a commentary in April 12’s Nature. In a policy commentary article titled Bold strategies for Indian Science (Nature 484, 159-160;12 April 2012), Gautam Desiraju, a professor of Chemistry in the prestigious Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and the current president of the International Union of Crystallography, held forth forcefully on what he thought were the bottlenecks that seem to be holding back the progress of Indian science. I found much... Read more... Read more »
Gautam R. Desiraju. (2012) Policy: Bold strategies for Indian science. Nature, 159-160. DOI: 10.1038/484159a
- April 12, 2012
- 07:11 AM
- 558 views
There Might Be Evolved Dinosaurs in Other Planets: Research
by United Academics in United Academics
The study by American chemist Ronald Breslow, at Columbia University, is actually about the conditions that made life possible on earth. But its conclusions are stunning.... Read more »
Breslow R. (2012) Evidence for the Likely Origin of Homochirality in Amino Acids, Sugars, and Nucleosides on Prebiotic Earth. Journal of the American Chemical Society. PMID: 22444622
- April 12, 2012
- 04:21 AM
- 664 views
Homophobes Are Closeted Gays
by United Academics in United Academics
People who really hate gay men and women - also known as homophobes - are often attracted to members of the same sex, say scientists. Their new research, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, suggests that homophobes develop such anti-gay attitudes after repressing their own homosexual desires.... Read more »
Weinstein, N., Ryan, W., DeHaan, C., Przybylski, A., Legate, N., & Ryan, R. (2012) Parental autonomy support and discrepancies between implicit and explicit sexual identities: Dynamics of self-acceptance and defense. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102(4), 815-832. DOI: 10.1037/a0026854
- April 11, 2012
- 09:31 PM
- 438 views
Racial Amplitudes of Scholastic Aptitude
by nooffensebut in The Unsilenced Science
A complete review of the SAT racial data reveals the relative stagnation of African Americans and Hispanic Americans, the rapid progress of Asian Americans, and a possible decline of whites.... Read more »
Buchmann, C., Condron, D., & Roscigno, V. (2010) Shadow Education, American Style: Test Preparation, the SAT and College Enrollment. Social Forces, 89(2), 435-461. DOI: 10.1353/sof.2010.0105
Eidelman S, Crandall CS, Goodman JA, & Blanchar JC. (2012) Low-Effort Thought Promotes Political Conservatism. Personality . PMID: 22427384
Frey, M., & Detterman, D. (2005) Regression Basics: Rejoinder to Bridgeman. Psychological Science, 16(9), 747-747. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2005.01607.x
Frey, M., & Detterman, D. (2004) Scholastic Assessment or g?: The Relationship Between the Scholastic Assessment Test and General Cognitive Ability . Psychological Science, 15(6), 373-378. DOI: 10.1111/j.0956-7976.2004.00687.x
Hodson G, & Busseri MA. (2012) Bright minds and dark attitudes: lower cognitive ability predicts greater prejudice through right-wing ideology and low intergroup contact. Psychological Science, 23(2), 187-95. PMID: 22222219
Hunley K, & Healy M. (2011) The impact of founder effects, gene flow, and European admixture on native American genetic diversity. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 146(4), 530-8. PMID: 21913174
Kanazawa, S. (2010) Why Liberals and Atheists Are More Intelligent. Social Psychology Quarterly, 73(1), 33-57. DOI: 10.1177/0190272510361602
Price AL, Patterson N, Yu F, Cox DR, Waliszewska A, McDonald GJ, Tandon A, Schirmer C, Neubauer J, Bedoya G.... (2007) A Genomewide Admixture Map for Latino Populations. American Journal of Human Genetics, 80(6), 1024-36. PMID: 17503322
Sandia National Laboratories. (1993) Perspectives on Education in America: College and University Data. The Journal of Educational Research, 86(5), 273-288. DOI: 10.1080/00220671.1993.9941211
Stedman, L. (1994) The Sandia Report and U.S. Achievement: An Assessment. The Journal of Educational Research, 87(3), 133-146. DOI: 10.1080/00220671.1994.9941235
Zakharia F, Basu A, Absher D, Assimes TL, Go AS, Hlatky MA, Iribarren C, Knowles JW, Li J, Narasimhan B.... (2009) Characterizing the admixed African ancestry of African Americans. Genome Biology, 10(12). PMID: 20025784
- April 11, 2012
- 07:04 AM
- 600 views
Niceness Is Linked to Genes: Research
by United Academics in United Academics
There are many things that make a person nicer, and genes might be one of them, according to new research at the University of California and the University at Buffalo. The study, based on surveys and DNA samples from 711 people, measured how genetic receptors for two hormones, oxytocin and vasopressin, affect human behaviour.... Read more »
Poulin, M., Holman, E., & Buffone, A. (2012) The Neurogenetics of Nice: Receptor Genes for Oxytocin and Vasopressin Interact With Threat to Predict Prosocial Behavior. Psychological Science. DOI: 10.1177/0956797611428471
- April 10, 2012
- 07:34 PM
- 289 views
Five easy ways to have more sex
by eHarmony Labs in eHarmony Labs Blog
Read on to learn easy things you can do to improve your chances in the dating world.... Read more »
Guéguen, N. (2007) Courtship compliance: The effect of touch on women's behavior. Social Influence, 2(2), 81-97. DOI: 10.1080/15534510701316177
Stirrat M, & Perrett DI. (2010) Valid facial cues to cooperation and trust: male facial width and trustworthiness. Psychological science, 21(3), 349-54. PMID: 20424067
- April 10, 2012
- 04:58 AM
- 582 views
Enclothed Cognition: Wearing a Lab Coat Makes You Perform Better
by United Academics in United Academics
Dressing smart does the job... Read more »
Adam, Hajo and Adam J. Galinsky. (2012) Enclothed cognition. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology . DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2012.02.008
- April 6, 2012
- 07:09 AM
- 428 views
Tetris-like Videogame to Treat Lazy Eye May Replace Eye Patches
by United Academics in United Academics
Eye patches on kids with amblyopia, better known as lazy eye, are still a common sight, but this may change in the future. Experts at the Glasgow Caledonian University are testing new gaming goggles with a Tetris-style game that seem to be effective against the disorder.... Read more »
Knox, P., Simmers, A., Gray, L., & Cleary, M. (2011) An Exploratory Study: Prolonged Periods of Binocular Stimulation Can Provide an Effective Treatment for Childhood Amblyopia. Investigative Ophthalmology , 53(2), 817-824. DOI: 10.1167/iovs.11-8219
- April 5, 2012
- 07:32 AM
- 675 views
Can Usain Bolt Run Faster?
by United Academics in United Academics
With the London Olympics coming up, the excitement is on the rise for sprinter Usain Bolt, who holds the current 100m world record, at 9.58s. Will he be able to cover 100 metres even quicker than his world record? Yes, says Cambridge Professor of Mathematical Sciences John B. Barrow; and he doesn't even have to improve his sprinting ability to do it.... Read more »
Barrow, J.D. (2012) How Usain Bolt can run faster – effortlessly. Significance, 9-12. info:/DOI: 10.1111/j.1740-9713.2012.00552.x
- April 4, 2012
- 11:20 AM
- 604 views
UA Podcast - Dolphin Alliances and Social Networks
by United Academics in United Academics
New discoveries about how bottle-nosed dolphins socialize have revealed that they develop complex social networks. A revelation that shows that beyond being intelligent, as we have long known, dolphins have open social networks that change over the course of their lives, with individuals sometimes leaving and returning over time.
To better explain Dolphin alliances and social networks, we’re joined by Richard Connor of the University of Massachussets Dartmouth, co-author of the article ‘A novel mammalian social structure in Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops sp.): complex male alliances in an open social network’.... Read more »
Randic, S., Connor, R., Sherwin, W., & Krutzen, M. (2012) A novel mammalian social structure in Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops sp.): complex male alliances in an open social network. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2012.0264
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