The fidget spinner IV was manipulated as independent groups in the first study and as within groups in the second. Photo: Marcel Jancovic/Shutterstock Fidget spinners were extremely popular a couple of years ago. When people promoted them, they often suggested that the toys could help people with ADHD focus and learn more. At the time, …
Continue reading Fidget spinners seem to cause worse memory and attention
Should you be suspicious of a study conducted by a company that produces probiotics products? Photo: Science History Images / Alamy Stock Photo Guest post by Dr. Dina Gohar, University of Michigan Hippocrates, considered to be the Father of Medicine, reportedly said, “all disease begins in the gut. ” It took doctors centuries …
When people knew they could look up facts online, they didn't remember them as well. Here's an article on how intelligence might be changing over time, from Australia's Sydney Morning Herald. It's a great opportunity to practice classifying claims and identifying studies. One point the article makes is that humans have been getting more intelligent …
How might advertisers operationalize the concept of "reliability" in ways favorable to their own brand? Credit: BNFWork/Shutterstock You may have seen these ads on TV: Real people stand in a warehouse and are asked which cars are "most reliable." A Honda driver might predict, "Hondas are the most reliable." But then the cover is whisked …
The science on sleep suggests that most of us need more of it! Photo: Carlos Caetano/Shutterstock A Washington Post article recently proposed that lack of sleep might be a "public health crisis." The journalist's story covered several types of empirical studies and made a series of frequency, association, and causal claims. Here are a series …
Which version of Tetris helped the most? Photo: incamerastock / Alamy Stock Photo NPR's journalists covered a study that tested whether different forms of Tetris would help people feel less anxious. The journalist writes that ...research suggests that Tetris can ease us through periods of anxiety by getting us to a blissfully engrossed mental …
College graduates were more likely than those who'd not been to college to report they are "smarter than average." Is their perception overconfident, or not? Photo: PeopleImages/Getty Images It seems to be conventional wisdom that people are overconfident in their own abilities. People tend to think they are nicer, smarter, and better looking than most …
Under what conditions did Southerners find this dish especially tasty? Credit: Andre Baranowski/Getty Images I was skeptical at first of the causal claim in the headline, From Collards To Maple Syrup, How Your Identity Impacts The Food You Like. After all, in order to support a causal claim, you need to manipulate a variable, and …
Continue reading Claim: Cultural identity impacts the food you like
I have a standing desk in my office. Am I getting smarter as a result? An editorial summarizes some of the evidence. I'm standing at my desk as I compose this post....could that make my writing go better? Yes, according to an editorial entitled, "Standing up at your desk could make you smarter." The editorial …
Continue reading Claim: Standing up at your desk could make you smarter
The study found an estimated 12% higher rate of fatal accidents after 4:20pm on April 20. Credit: Lars Hagberg/AFP/Getty Images REPLICATION UPDATE (posted Feb 25, 2019) Another set of researchers wondered why the study below compared April 20 to April 13 and April 27, rather than comparing April 20 to every other day in April …
Continue reading Does smoking marijuana cause car fatalities?