Social Science posts
- June 19, 2013
- 11:55 AM
- 1 view
What is Foreign Accent Syndrome?
by Lyndsey Nickels in United Academics
In the past few days, a great deal of media attention has been paid to Leanne Rowe, a Tasmanian woman who has lived eight years with a French accent she acquired after a car accident. This phenomenon is known as foreign accent syndrome, a rare disorder that usually arises after brain damage as a result of, for example, stroke or head injury.
Foreign accent syndrome has always been the source of much media interest and the stories often sound sensational. There has been, for example, an American who spoke with a British accent, a British Yorkshireman with an Irish accent and another British man with a Russian accent.... Read more »
David Stehling. (2009) Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS): The Speech Characteristics of Foreign Accent Syndrome. Grin. info:/
Dio, C., Schulz, J., & Gurd, J. (2006) Foreign Accent Syndrome: In the ear of the beholder?. Aphasiology, 20(9), 951-962. DOI: 10.1080/02687030600739356
- June 19, 2013
- 11:01 AM
- 3 views
Compost Program Could Bring Dangerous Fungus into NYC Homes
by Elizabeth Preston in Inkfish
If Mayor Bloomberg's wildest decay-related fantasies are realized, New Yorkers will soon be sparing their food scraps from the garbage. A new composting program would encourage (or possibly require) people in the city to collect their food waste in a separate container. Yet Bloomberg may want to consider whether a Manhattan apartment has the square footage to fit both its residents and their potentially harmful compost fungi.
The New York City recycling plan, as described in the New York Times this week, would start out on a voluntary basis. Participants would gather their food waste in "containers the size of picnic baskets in their homes," then dump the compost in curbside bins for regular collection. Instead of going into landfills, that waste might be turned into biogas for electricity. Eventually, the program could become mandatory.
Vidya De Gannes, a graduate student at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine campus, in Trinidad and Tobago, has been composting too. She made three kinds of compost, each based on one type of dried plant material (agricultural wastes from the processing of rice, sugar cane, or coffee) mixed with cow or sheep manure. De Gannes and William Hickey, a soil microbiologist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who's the senior author of the new study, say these composts are most similar to a homeowner's compost mix of grass and yard waste.
To study the biodiversity of species living in compost, De Gannes collected fungal DNA from her compost containers and sequenced it. In total, she found 120 different species of fungus. Each kind of compost had a unique mix of species living inside it.
She also turned up 15 fungus species that can cause disease in humans. These were present in every kind of compost and ranged from Aspergillus fumigatus, a common fungus that can cause lung infections in people with compromised immune systems, to other species that can infect the skin or eyes.
Although the composts De Gannes studied weren't quite what New Yorkers would be collecting in their kitchens—unless they're keeping pet sheep too—some of the potentially dangerous fungi she found have also turned up in studies of all-plant compost.
Keeping a compost bucket in an enclosed space is "potentially risky," Hickey and De Gannes wrote in an email. Fungal spores floating on the air can cause infections, especially in people with weakened immune systems. "Compost kept in an enclosed area like a small apartment would probably not have adequate ventilation."
To get some fresh air, composters might have to leave their apartments and go around the corner for an extra-extra-large soda.
Image: Waldo Jaquith (not, as far as I know, a dangerous fungus)
De Gannes, V., Eudoxie, G., & Hickey, W. (2013). Insights into fungal communities in composts revealed by 454-pyrosequencing: implications for human health and safety Frontiers in Microbiology, 4 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2013.00164
... Read more »
De Gannes, V., Eudoxie, G., & Hickey, W. (2013) Insights into fungal communities in composts revealed by 454-pyrosequencing: implications for human health and safety. Frontiers in Microbiology. DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2013.00164
- June 19, 2013
- 10:58 AM
- 3 views
Sons and daughters of same-sex couples grow up as good as in traditional families.
by Simone Munao in United Academics
Sons and daughters of same-sex couples grow up as good as in traditional families. That's what Australian research shows us.... Read more »
Crouch SR, Waters E, McNair R, Power J, & Davis E. (2012) ACHESS--The Australian study of child health in same-sex families: background research, design and methodology. BMC public health, 646. PMID: 22888859
- June 19, 2013
- 10:36 AM
- 3 views
Kids of Same-Sex Couples Are Just as Happy As Those In Traditional Families
by Simone Munao in United Academics
They live with two mums or two dads, and they are on the same level as their school friends regarding self-esteem, emotional behavior and time spent with their parents. But they seem to have the edge over the average regarding overall health and familiar cohesion. Kids that grow with homosexual couples grow up as good as in traditional families, and even better in some aspects. This seems to be confirmed by a study conducted by a group of researchers of the University of Melbourne on 500 minors living in Australia: member of same-sex families are closer to one another –the research suggests- since they have to face attacks that come from society, digest them and give them an explanation.... Read more »
Crouch SR, Waters E, McNair R, Power J, & Davis E. (2012) ACHESS--The Australian study of child health in same-sex families: background research, design and methodology. BMC public health, 646. PMID: 22888859
- June 19, 2013
- 08:10 AM
- 8 views
When your neighbour wins the lottery
by Jason Collins in Evolving Economics
I’m not sure if the format of the Dutch postcode lottery is common, but it certainly creates some interesting incentives. In this lottery, a random postcode is drawn from the 430,000 postcodes in the Netherlands, with each postcode having, on average, 19 households. Each person in that postcode who has purchased a ticket in the [...]The post When your neighbour wins the lottery appeared first on Evolving Economics.... Read more »
Kuhn, P., Kooreman, P., Soetevent, A., & Kapteyn, A. (2011) The Effects of Lottery Prizes on Winners and Their Neighbors: Evidence from the Dutch Postcode Lottery. American Economic Review, 101(5), 2226-2247. DOI: 10.1257/aer.101.5.2226
- June 19, 2013
- 06:45 AM
- 7 views
Rotten America - Big Prison, Arrest Quotas, and What Education Really Pays For
America is being eroded by greed. More schools are being closed, more prisons are being built, and money is changing hands in all the wrong places. From limiting the potential of the future generations, to arresting innocent people for personal gain, America has become rotten.
Like a rat in a Skinner box, when you give the right incentives, they're motivated to get the cheese. But unlike in the Skinner box, the cheese taken in America is at the expense of others.
This article explains it all, from incentives to education. ... Read more »
Lochner, L., & Moretti, E. (2004) The Effect of Education on Crime: Evidence from Prison Inmates, Arrests, and Self-Reports. American Economic Review, 94(1), 155-189. DOI: 10.1257/000282804322970751
- June 18, 2013
- 01:01 AM
- 43 views
The Hazards of Debating Race and Inequality
by Eric Horowitz in peer-reviewed by my neurons
Imagine there is a certain advantaged group of people that supports a policy that harms a disadvantaged group, and you believe there are hints of racial or ethnic bias underlying their position. Even if the advantaged group doesn’t literally believe that the disadvantaged group is less deserving, it’s impossible to view their insensitivity to the [...]... Read more »
Saguy, T., Chernyak-Hai, L., Andrighetto, L., & Bryson, J. (2013) When the powerful feels wronged: The legitimization effects of advantaged group members' sense of being accused for harboring racial or ethnic biases. European Journal of Social Psychology. DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.1948
Rasinski, H., Geers, A., & Czopp, A. (2013) "I Guess What He Said Wasn't That Bad": Dissonance in Nonconfronting Targets of Prejudice. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. DOI: 10.1177/0146167213484769
- June 17, 2013
- 03:05 AM
- 40 views
The diversity of the Other
by Ingrid Piller in Language on the Move
Diversity is today widely seen as a social good and is actively promoted in ‘diversity policies’ such as those of Australia, the EU or the UK. Additionally, many institutions have their own policies devoted to managing diversity. These usually extol … Continue reading →... Read more »
Anthias, F. (2013) Moving beyond the Janus face of integratio and diversity discourses: towards an intersectional framing. The Sociological Review, 61(2), 323-343. DOI: 10.1111/1467-954X.12001
- June 16, 2013
- 12:15 PM
- 51 views
People Think Secret Information Is Better Information
by Eric Horowitz in peer-reviewed by my neurons
The recent disclosures about the extent of the NSA’s domestic spying program add to a long history of incidents in which the American public has gained access to information that was once secret. And that’s great. People should have information about what their government is doing. But it’s worth considering whether people are able to [...]... Read more »
Travers, M., Van Boven, L., & Judd, C. (2013) The Secrecy Heuristic: Inferring Quality from Secrecy in Foreign Policy Contexts. Political Psychology. DOI: 10.1111/pops.12042
- June 15, 2013
- 02:30 PM
- 53 views
Cliodynamics: A Future for History?
by Forrest Barnum in Evolutionary Games Group
What is history? And what, if any, are its practical uses? These are the questions I’ve been pondering since being introduced to Cliodynamics – which claims to make history into “an analytical, predictive science.” To that end, I wish to address two questions: is it possible to make history into “an analytical, predictive science?” And is […]... Read more »
Turchin Peter. (2008) Arise 'cliodynamics'. Nature, 454(7200), 34-35. DOI: 10.1038/454034a
- June 15, 2013
- 08:00 AM
- 47 views
Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence 2013
by Andreas Wieland in Supply Chain Management Research
Every year, Emerald invites journal editors “to nominate what they believe has been that title’s Outstanding Paper and up to three Highly Commended Papers from the previous year”. These papers have now been announced as part of the Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence 2013. Papers by da Mota Pedrosa et al. on case study […]... Read more »
Pedrosa, A., Näslund, D., & Jasmand, C. (2012) Logistics case study based research: towards higher quality. International Journal of Physical Distribution , 42(3), 275-295. DOI: 10.1108/09600031211225963
- June 14, 2013
- 11:08 AM
- 92 views
Getting Science Right: Social Psychology Credibility
by Andrew Porterfield in United Academics
s social psychology in a crisis? Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman sparked an online (and laboratory) dustup last fall when he accused certain social psychologists of undermining the credibility of their field. At issue is whether certain experiments can be replicated. Kahneman says they should be. Other scientists have reported that certain popular results can’t. And that’s a problem.... Read more »
Elms, A. (1975) The crisis of confidence in social psychology. American Psychologist, 30(10), 967-976. DOI: 10.1037/0003-066X.30.10.967
Shanks DR, Newell BR, Lee EH, Balakrishnan D, Ekelund L, Cenac Z, Kavvadia F, & Moore C. (2013) Priming intelligent behavior: an elusive phenomenon. PloS one, 8(4). PMID: 23637732
- June 14, 2013
- 10:23 AM
- 93 views
5 Unusual Ways to Reduce Crime
by Anouk Vleugels in United Academics
For the past 70 years or so, crime has mainly been explained through socio-economic factors such as housing or level of education. Currently the focus has shifted more to neuroscience and biology – and the idea that a chemical imbalance might also cause someone to be more violent or prone to criminal behavior.... Read more »
Keizer, K., Lindenberg, S., & Steg, L. (2008) The Spreading of Disorder. Science, 322(5908), 1681-1685. DOI: 10.1126/science.1161405
- June 13, 2013
- 03:59 PM
- 77 views
Putting the Social back... and forth
by Aurametrix team in Health Technologies
In the year 2006 'google' was officially declared a verb in Oxford Dictionary and Merriam Webster. But startups have not given up on building search engines. That same year Facebook opened its doors to users over the age of 13, preparing for exponential growth spurt. The list of startups working on yet another social network and lining up to present their sites at Silicon Valley New Tech Meetup kept growing too. And so were the crowds attending the meetups - as everybody wanted to see the next Google or Facebook. Or get a free pizza.In 2009, it looked like both search and social bubbles were bursting. At least judging by the pitches and taglines. Favorite startup words now were mobile, twitter and monetization. 2009 was, indeed, the year of mobile, twitter... and ponzi schemes. It was the year when Waze Mobile launched internationally and Tumblr released their iPhone app. But the Social Digital era has only just begun. Web was still ripe for more social experience and new startups were fighting for the audience, and fighting against the audience fatigue. The question was whether they could build a business off that audience or whether that audience will be worth an acquisition by the likes of Google or Yahoo. From dancing in the 90s to clicking in the 2010sShifting focus of social networks, as judged by the SVNEWTech pitches The common uses of social networking are promotion (personal or business-related), learning and entertainment. Text was the starting point for broadcasting and marketing ourselves via the Internet. Technologies were evolving and, as shown in the graph below, so were audio- and visual features of social networks, until they merged into video and movie-sharing capabilities. GPS-enabled smartphones gave rise to location-based services and networks focused on local - places, rideshares and travel information. Networks could serve as a self-updating address book and their purpose was shifting from keeping in touch with old friends to finding new ones, increasingly focusing on finding business partners and opportunities. Startups were transitioning from virtual worlds to virtual goods, becoming less interested in just chatting and more interested in handling money - from social landing, to fundraising and "helping retailers to serve us better". What's next? Despite the challenging funding climate, Silicon Valley startups will keep trying new things, mixing and matching new needs and technologies. After all, the combinations provide endless choices, and the possibilities are endless. REFERENCESCantor M, & Whitehead H (2013). The interplay between social networks and culture: theoretically and among whales and dolphins. Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 368 (1618) PMID: 23569288Panek, Elliot T., Yioryos Nardis, and Sara Konrath. "Defining social networking sites and measuring their use: How narcissists differ in their use of Facebook and Twitter." Computers in Human Behavior 29.5 (2013): 2004-2012.Doreian, Patrick, and Frans Stokman, eds. Evolution of social networks. Vol. 1. Routledge, 2013.... Read more »
Cantor M, & Whitehead H. (2013) The interplay between social networks and culture: theoretically and among whales and dolphins. Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 368(1618), 20120340. PMID: 23569288
- June 12, 2013
- 08:36 AM
- 46 views
Gun-Use Research Gets Long-Overdue Boost
by Kate Blanchfield in United Academics
Too many days in the United States, a young man enters a public space, heavily armed. Shots are fired. Sometimes the killer takes his own life. Over the next few days, television news, newspapers and websites carry a photograph of the alleged gunman (they’re usually male), with a disturbing expression on his face and an accompanying that discusses his possible mental instability.... Read more »
Kiilakoski T, & Oksanen A. (2011) Cultural and peer influences on homicidal violence: a Finnish perspective. New directions for youth development, 2011(129), 31-42. PMID: 21491571
Bondü R, Cornell DG, & Scheithauer H. (2011) Student homicidal violence in schools: an international problem. New directions for youth development, 2011(129), 13-30. PMID: 21491570
- June 12, 2013
- 08:36 AM
- 31 views
Gun-Use Research Gets Long-Overdue Boost
by Kate Blanchfield in United Academics
Too many days in the United States, a young man enters a public space, heavily armed. Shots are fired. Sometimes the killer takes his own life. Over the next few days, television news, newspapers and websites carry a photograph of the alleged gunman (they’re usually male), with a disturbing expression on his face and an accompanying that discusses his possible mental instability.... Read more »
Kiilakoski T, & Oksanen A. (2011) Cultural and peer influences on homicidal violence: a Finnish perspective. New directions for youth development, 2011(129), 31-42. PMID: 21491571
Bondü R, Cornell DG, & Scheithauer H. (2011) Student homicidal violence in schools: an international problem. New directions for youth development, 2011(129), 13-30. PMID: 21491570
- June 12, 2013
- 06:16 AM
- 51 views
Social Media Use Linked to Narcissism
by Anouk Vleugels in United Academics
According to a new study published by researchers at the University of Michigan, social media might just be the perfect way to express our narcissistic tendencies. “Among young adult college students, we found that those who scored higher in certain types of narcissism posted more often on Twitter,” said Panek, leading author. ”But among middle-aged adults from the general population, narcissists posted more frequent status updates on Facebook.”
For the first experiment, 496 young college students (average age 19) were asked to answer some questions concerning their social media use. In addition, they took a personality assessment measuring different aspects of narcissism; exhibitionism, exploitativeness, superiority, authority and self-sufficiency.... Read more »
Panek, E., Nardis, Y., & Konrath, S. (2013) Mirror or Megaphone?: How relationships between narcissism and social networking site use differ on Facebook and Twitter. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(5), 2004-2012. DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2013.04.012
- June 11, 2013
- 06:45 PM
- 20 views
Alchemists Gone Bad: What You Should Know About Biological Warfare
by Rebecca Kreston in BODY HORRORS
Spears. Bows and arrows. Swords. Guns. Bombs. Drones. Microbes. The evolution of weapons and forms of warfare shadows our technological advancements, from the field of metallurgy to that of microbiology.... Read more »
Frischknecht, F. (2003) The history of biological warfare. EMBO Reports, 4(Supp1). DOI: 10.1038/sj.embor.embor849
- June 11, 2013
- 08:37 AM
- 54 views
Mysterious Underwater Structure Discovered in Israel
by Anouk Vleugels in United Academics
Researchers stumbled upon the cone-shaped monument, that weighs about 60,000 ton, while executing geophysical research in the southern Sea of Galilee.
Expected is that the structure was built 6000 years ago. According to Prof. Shmulik Marco, who took part in the research, this is an impressive accomplishment since the stones had to be carried more than a mile – and be arranged according to a specific plan.... Read more »
Paz, Y., Moshe, R., Zvi, B., Shmuel, M., Tibor, G., & Nadel, D. (2013) A Submerged Monumental Structure in the Sea of Galilee, Israel. International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, 42(1), 189-193. DOI: 10.1111/1095-9270.12005
- June 10, 2013
- 03:57 AM
- 286 views
The SAT-ACT Score Map
by nooffensebut in The Unsilenced Science
Using multiple regression, I animate state college entrance exam scores controlled for state participation levels and test preference. Then, I review a study on “noncognitive predictors” of college outcomes, which might eventually replace the SAT and ACT.... Read more »
Schmitt N, Keeney J, Oswald FL, Pleskac TJ, Billington AQ, Sinha R, & Zorzie M. (2009) Prediction of 4-year college student performance using cognitive and noncognitive predictors and the impact on demographic status of admitted students. The Journal of applied psychology, 94(6), 1479-97. PMID: 19916657
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