He is concentrating so much that he might not notice the coffee smell.... Photo: baranq/Shutterstock At times, we've all been so engrossed in a task that we've lost awareness of our surroundings. Maybe you didn't hear someone calling your name when you were finishing your paper, or maybe you missed the oven timer when you …
Category: Is this causal claim justified?
Do kids do better in private schools?
What evidence would it take to convince us that it's the schools, not other factors, that are responsible for the outcomes of private school students? Photo: Image Source / Alamy Stock Photo A large study has compared the outcomes of children who've attended private schools to those who've attended public schools. A journalist summarized the …
Social media effect sizes
Is social media use responsible for depressed mood? Photo: Ian Allenden/Alamy stock Do smartphones harm teenagers? If so, how much? In this blog, I've written before about the quasi-experimental and correlational designs used in research on screen time and well-being in teenagers. In that post you can practice identifying the different designs we can use to …
Claim: Cultural identity impacts the food you like
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 …
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Claim: Standing up at your desk could make you smarter
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 …
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What’s the Batman Effect?
It's the cutest thing--when kids think about themselves as Batman, according to headlines, they can persist longer at difficult tasks and show more self-control. Many writers--even the original researchers--refer to this as "The Batman Effect". Journalists have written headlines like "Pretending to be Batman helps kids stay on task" or even "Need your child to …
Economics of sleep
The sun sets in Amarillo, TX an hour later than it does in Huntsville, AL though they are on the same time zone. Amarillo residents get less sleep and earn more money: Is there a causal connection? Photo: Creativeedits/Wikimedia Common Sleep is an essential human function and getting more sleep is associated with improved mood, …
Who benefits from putting the phone away?
Should she have put her phone away in the next room? That depends. Photo: Suwat Sirivutcharungchit/Shutterstock Students, if you're not familiar with the study tips on The Learning Scientists website, you should be. This page in particular sums up six evidence-based things you should be doing while you study (spoiler alert: The list does not …
Does believing conspiracy theories make people feel special?
One conspiracy theory holds that the government spreads dangerous chemicals in the exhaust from airplanes (the "chemtrails" theory). According to the studies, who is more likely to believe this theory? Credit: Jason Batterham/Shutterstock There's a causal claim in this journalist's story about research on people who believe conspiracy theories. First, here's the causal headline: …
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Claim: Giving kids sips of beer turns them into teenage drunks
Does giving a child a sip change his or her long-term drinking habits? Photo: Tang Ming Tung/Getty Images It's a strong causal claim: Giving kids sips of beer turns them into teenage drunks. Did the journalist get it right? Here are some quotes from the story, posted in the food website Munchies: Those innocent …
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