Social Science posts
- October 8, 2012
- 05:38 AM
- 425 views
A tail with no end is a sorry tale indeed.
by Cobb & Hecht in Do You Believe In Dog?
Hey Julie,What a great topic to bring to the table: that what we, as people, like to see in our dogs, may not always be in the dogs' best interests. Indeed. Considering that got me thinking not just about the features we select for when breeding dogs, but also our track record in surgically altering the appearance of dogs through procedures like ear cropping and tail docking, for the purpose of owner satisfaction in how the dog looks.A postcard used in an RSPCA awar........ Read more »
BENNETT PC, & PERINI E. (2003) Tail docking in dogs: a review of the issues. Australian Veterinary Journal, 81(4), 218. DOI: 10.1111/j.1751-0813.2003.tb11473.x
NOONAN GJ, RAND JS, BLACKSHAW JK, & PRIEST J. (1996) Tail docking in dogs: A sample of attitudes of veterinarians and dog breeders in Queensland. Australian Veterinary Journal, 73(3), 88. DOI: 10.1111/j.1751-0813.1996.tb09982.x
WANSBROUGH ROBERT K. (1996) Cosmetic tail docking of dogs. Australian Veterinary Journal, 74(1), 63. DOI: 10.1111/j.1751-0813.1996.tb13737.x
Diesel G., Pfeiffer D., Crispin S., & Brodbelt D. (2010) Risk factors for tail injuries in dogs in Great Britain. Veterinary Record, 166(26), 817. DOI: 10.1136/vr.b4880
Leaver , & Reimchen . (2008) Behavioural responses of Canis familiaris to different tail lengths of a remotely-controlled life-size dog replica. Behaviour, 145(3), 390. DOI: 10.1163/156853908783402894
- October 7, 2012
- 10:21 PM
- 319 views
Bilingualism is good for your mental health
by Ingrid Piller in Language on the Move
October is Mental Health month here in New South Wales. The campaign runs under the slogan “Celebrate, connect, grow” and includes some fantastic tips how to look after your mental health. The key point is to build strong relationships and … Continue reading →... Read more »
Wen-Jui Han, & Chien-Chung Huang. (2010) The Forgotten Treasure: Bilingualism and Asian Children’s Emotional and Behavioral Health. American Journal of Public Health, 100(5), 831-839. DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2009.174219
- October 7, 2012
- 10:10 PM
- 165 views
misery of literary writers in the ancient Islamic world
by Douglas Galbi in purple motes
Intense literary status competition in the ancient Islamic world created considerable misery among literary writers.... Read more »
Bonebakker, Seeger A. (2001) The Misery of the Men of Letters: Some Quotations from their Poetry. Quaderni di Studi Arabi, 147-161. info:/
- October 7, 2012
- 10:05 PM
- 148 views
Better a John than a Jennifer
by Liza Lester in EcoTone
On the market for scientific jobs, male applicants enjoy a substantial advantage, say Yale University researchers.... Read more »
Moss-Racusin CA, Dovidio JF, Brescoll VL, Graham MJ, & Handelsman J. (2012) Science faculty's subtle gender biases favor male students. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. PMID: 22988126
- October 5, 2012
- 05:28 AM
- 282 views
Are Gay Men Happier?
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic
A neat little study from UCLA psychologists Francisco J. Sánchez and colleagues examines the mental health of homosexual men using a unique identical twin design.The paper kicks off with a remarkably lucid introduction:Men would rather drive around lost than stop and ask for directions. Although this is a gross stereotype, the notion that men should be self-sufficient and able to solve their own problems is a dominant ideal within traditional views of masculinity... men who rigidly adhere to su........ Read more »
Sánchez FJ, Bocklandt S, & Vilain E. (2012) The Relationship Between Help-Seeking Attitudes and Masculine Norms Among Monozygotic Male Twins Discordant for Sexual Orientation. Health Psychology. PMID: 23025300
- October 3, 2012
- 05:49 PM
- 259 views
Niche as a determinant of word fate in online groups (featuring @hanachronism and @richlitt)
by Wintz in A Replicated Typo 2.0
Last year Altmann, Pierrehumbert & Motter (henceforth, APM) released a great paper in PLoS One: Niche as a determinant of word fate in online groups. Having referenced the paper extensively in my non-bloggy academic world, I thought it was about time I mentioned it on a Replicated Typo. Below is the abstract: Patterns of word [...]... Read more »
Altmann EG, Pierrehumbert JB, & Motter AE. (2011) Niche as a determinant of word fate in online groups. PloS one, 6(5). PMID: 21589910
- October 3, 2012
- 02:00 PM
- 210 views
Niche as a determinant of word fate in online groups (featuring @hanachronism and @richlitt)
by Wintz in A Replicated Typo 2.0
Last year Altmann, Pierrehumbert & Motter (henceforth, APM) released a great paper in PLoS One: Niche as a determinant of word fate in online groups. Having referenced the paper extensively in my non-bloggy academic world, I thought it was about time I mentioned it on a Replicated Typo.... Read more »
Altmann EG, Pierrehumbert JB, & Motter AE. (2011) Niche as a determinant of word fate in online groups. PloS one, 6(5). PMID: 21589910
- October 3, 2012
- 12:02 PM
- 96 views
■ Planet of the cities
by Tim De Chant in Per Square Mile
Science fiction is littered with planet-wide cities. Star Wars had Coruscant, Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Series had Trantor, and even Star Trek, in an alternate timeline in First Contact, saw Earth paved over by the cybernetic Borg. City-planets are both a wonder and a terror—we stand in awe of our power to change the world, but [...]... Read more »
Seto K. C., Guneralp B., & Hutyra L. R. (2012) Global forecasts of urban expansion to 2030 and direct impacts on biodiversity and carbon pools. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(40), 16088. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1211658109
- October 3, 2012
- 11:44 AM
- 318 views
It Feels Good When You Sing a Song (In Fall)
by Miss Behavior in The Scorpion and the Frog
Most male songbirds will sing when they see a pretty female during the breeding season. But some male songbirds sing even when it’s not the breeding season. Why do so many birds sing in fall at all? Maybe singing feels good… But how do you ask a bird if it feels good to sing? European starlings are one of those bird species that sing both in spring (the breeding season) and in fall (not the breeding season). Lauren Riters, Cindi Kelm-Nelson, and Sharon Stevenson at the University of Wiscons........ Read more »
Riters LV, & Stevenson SA. (2012) Reward and vocal production: song-associated place preference in songbirds. Physiology , 106(2), 87-94. PMID: 22285212
Kelm-Nelson, C.A., Stevenson, S.A., & Riters, L.V. (2012) Context-dependent links between song production 1 and opioid-mediated analgesia in male European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris). PLOS One, 7(10). info:/
Riters LV, Schroeder MB, Auger CJ, Eens M, Pinxten R, & Ball GF. (2005) Evidence for opioid involvement in the regulation of song production in male European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris). Behavioral neuroscience, 119(1), 245-55. PMID: 15727529
Kelm CA, Forbes-Lorman RM, Auger CJ, & Riters LV. (2011) Mu-opioid receptor densities are depleted in regions implicated in agonistic and sexual behavior in male European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) defending nest sites and courting females. Behavioural brain research, 219(1), 15-22. PMID: 21147175
- October 2, 2012
- 07:45 PM
- 227 views
Aziz and Aziza in love with Daphnis and Chloe
by Douglas Galbi in purple motes
The story of Aziz and Aziza from the Arabian Nights outrageously re-arranges the romance of Daphnis and Chloe from an ancient Greek novel. ... Read more »
Grunebaum, Gustave E. von. (1942) Greek Form Elements in the Arabian Nights. Journal of the American Oriental Society, 62(4), 277-292. DOI: 10.2307/594031
- October 2, 2012
- 12:22 PM
- 238 views
Darwin on Religion
by Cris Campbell in Genealogy of Religion
In keeping with my back to (foundational) basics reading programme, I have naturally been digging around Darwin’s writing on religion. While doing so I came across “David Hume and Charles Darwin” (1972), an article in which John Greene suggests that Hume had a significant influence on Darwin. Given Darwin’s impressive reading habits, it is not [...]... Read more »
Huntley, William. (1972) David Hume and Charles Darwin. Journal of the History of Ideas, 33(3), 457-470. DOI: 10.2307/2709046
Day, Matthew. (2008) Godless Savages and Superstitious Dogs: Charles Darwin, Imperial Ethnography, and the Problem of Human Uniqueness. Journal of the History of Ideas, 69(1), 49-70. DOI: 10.1353/jhi.2008.0006
- October 1, 2012
- 04:16 PM
- 291 views
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, How Does Psych Reflect Us All?
by Melanie Tannenbaum in PsySociety
“Our environment, the world in which we live and work, is a mirror of our attitudes and expectations.” – Earl Nightingale, American motivational speaker In 1898, Norman Triplett stumbled upon an interesting observation as he watched a group of cyclists … Continue reading →... Read more »
Milgram, S. (1963) Behavioral Study of Obedience. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 67(4), 371-378. DOI: 10.1037/h0040525
Schachter, S., & Singer, J. (1962) Cognitive, social, and physiological determinants of emotional state. Psychological Review, 379-399. DOI: 10.1037/h0046234
Latane, B., Williams, K., & Harkins, S. (1979) Many Hands Make Light The Work: The Causes and Consequences of Social Loafing. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.37.6.822
- September 29, 2012
- 05:00 AM
- 333 views
The SAT Zombie Apocalypse
by nooffensebut in The Unsilenced Science
State SAT and ACT scores follow a North-South divide that somewhat fits the spread of racial diversity.... Read more »
Duckworth AL, Quinn PD, Lynam DR, Loeber R, & Stouthamer-Loeber M. (2011) Role of test motivation in intelligence testing. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 108(19), 7716-20. PMID: 21518867
- September 26, 2012
- 09:39 AM
- 170 views
Round 1: FIGHT
by neuroecology in Neuroecology
I don’t know about you, but when I was in High School, I was treated to a close-up of more than a few fights (none including me, of course). If you’d asked me, if those fights were totally random I probably would have said no: the two guys – and it was almost always guys [...]... Read more »
Daniels BC, Krakauer DC, & Flack JC. (2012) Sparse code of conflict in a primate society. PNAS. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1203021109
- September 25, 2012
- 03:41 PM
- 33 views
Is Leader Humility Desirable?
by Kandarp Mehta in Creatologue - Exploring Creativity
Recently a video of Nick Clegg, Deputy Primer Minister of UK and a Liberal Democrat Leader, has created some reasonable flutter over internet. It’s very rare that a political leader’s video would do rounds on internet, unless its some sting … Continue reading →... Read more »
Bradley P. Owens, & David R. Heckman. (2012) Modeling How to Grow: An inductive examination of humble leader behaviours, contingencies and outcomes. Academy of Management Journal, 55(4), 787-818. DOI: 10.5465/amj.2010.0441
- September 25, 2012
- 11:04 AM
- 319 views
Seeing psychology everywhere: The case of Gangnam Style
by Melanie Tannenbaum in PsySociety
This semester, I’m teaching Intro to Social Psychology — which I pretty much see as an excuse to share my joint obsessions with social psychology and pop culture with a group of one hundred 18-to-21-year-olds who essentially have to be … Continue reading →... Read more »
Lord, Charles G., Ross, Lee, & Lepper, Mark R. (1979) Biased assimilation and attitude polarization: The effects of prior theories on subsequently considered evidence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.37.11.2098
Cheng, Patricia W. (1997) From covariation to causation: A causal power theory. Psychological Review, 104(2), 367-405. info:/
Festinger, L. (1954) A theory of social comparison processes. Human Relations. DOI: 10.1177/001872675400700202
Mussweiler, T., & Rüter, K. (2003) What friends are for! The use of routine standards in social comparison. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.85.3.467
Aspinwall, L.G., & Taylor, S.E. (1993) Effects of social comparison direction, threat, and self-esteem on affect, self-evaluation, and expected success. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. DOI: 10.1037//0022-3514.64.5.708
Helgeson, V.S., & Mickelson, K.D. (1995) Motives for social comparison. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. DOI: 10.1177/01461672952111008
Crocker, J., & Park, L.E. (2004) The Costly Pursuit of Self-Esteem. Psychological Bulletin. DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.130.3.392
- September 24, 2012
- 11:14 PM
- 283 views
The Psychology of Inefficient Markets
by Eric Horowitz in peer-reviewed by my neurons
The irrationality of humans can be a thorn in the side of efficient markets, and the problem has been exacerbated by the fact that it’s now easier than ever for single person to move an entire market — for example, if an oil trader gets drunk, buys 7 million barrels of crude, and sends the [...]... Read more »
Schoenberg, E.J., & Haruvy, E. (2012) Relative performance information in asset markets: An experimental approach. Journal of Economic Psychology. DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2012.08.008
- September 24, 2012
- 06:44 PM
- 316 views
Language test masquerading as literacy and numeracy test
by Ingrid Piller in Language on the Move
Last week, the results of the 2012 National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) were published. As has been the case since NAPLAN was first introduced in Australia in 2008, the Northern Territory (NT) has, once again, underperformed dramatically. … Continue reading →... Read more »
Gillian Wigglesworth, Jane Simpson, & Deborah Loakes. (2011) NAPLAN LANGUAGE ASSESSMENTS FOR INDIGENOUS CHILDREN IN REMOTE COMMUNITIES: ISSUES AND PROBLEMS. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 34(3), 320-343. info:/
- September 24, 2012
- 02:38 PM
- 233 views
Science Utopia: Some Thoughts About Ethics and Publication Bias
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
Science Utopia, next exit
Psychology's integrity in the public eye has been rocked by recent high profile discoveries of data fabrication (here, here, and here) and several independent realizations that psychologists (this is not unique to our field) tend to engage in data analytic practices that allow researchers to find positive results (here, here, and here). While it can be argued that these are not really new realizations (here), the net effect has turned psychologists to the importa........ Read more »
John, L., Loewenstein, G., & Prelec, D. (2012) Measuring the prevalence of questionable research practices with incentives for truth telling. Psychological Science, 524-532. DOI: 10.1177/0956797611430953
Simmons JP, Nelson LD, & Simonsohn U. (2011) False-positive psychology: undisclosed flexibility in data collection and analysis allows presenting anything as significant. Psychological science, 22(11), 1359-66. PMID: 22006061
- September 24, 2012
- 11:36 AM
- 185 views
Individuals, groups, and decisions
by neuroecology in Neuroecology
Imagine buying something from a friend: do you think you’d give him a better or worse offer than you’d give a stranger? Would you buy something you might not normally want if pressured into it by a friend? The thing is, our preferences and decisions aren’t consistent from moment to moment, they’re always changing. One [...]... Read more »
G Charness, & M Sutter. (2012) Groups make better self-interested decisions. Journal of Economic Perspectives. DOI: 10.1257/jep.26.3.157
Rand DG, Greene JD, & Nowak MA. (2012) Spontaneous giving and calculated greed. Nature, 489(7416), 427-30. PMID: 22996558
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