The study found that people who use their smartphone on the toilet are more likely to have hemorrhoids. How strong is their evidence? Photo: Svitlana Hulko/Shutterstock Is there any relationship between using your smartphone on the toilet and your hemorrhoid risk? Let's get into it. A study on this topic did find an association. …
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Most humans have only vestigal muscles that could help them prick up their ears like this cute pooch. Photo: Mary Swift/Shutterstock The adorable dog in the photo is paying attention. "Lifting the ears up straight is, in almost every species, a clue that the animal is putting some work into it. They're paying close attention, …
Continue reading Prick up your ears! (Oh, I forgot…you can’t!)
How does the design of the study make it possible to test if bonobos have theory of mind? Photo: Sergey Uryadnikov/Shutterstock Typically-developing human children point. Pointing can mean that I want to make sure (for example) that you notice the baby rabbit outside, or I want to tell you that you dropped your fluffy scarf …
But how big will the next burrito bowl be? Generic burrito bowl photo: B Young/Shutterstock An important concept in both statistics and methods is variability. And this analysis conducted by Wells Fargo consultants does a nice job illustrating the concept of variability. They'd been seeing social media complaints about a popular restaurant chain wasn't always …
Exercise is good for us. Brain-based mediators help explain why. Photo: muse studio/Shutterstock This summary of exercise research, written by a journalist for the New York Times, is a good opportunity to practice diagramming mediators: How exercise strengthens your brain. Here is one passage from the article: Exercise offers short-term boosts in cognition. Studies show …
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Does the study support the causal claim the journalist attached to it? Photo: Dusan Petkovic/Shutterstock Guest post by Carli Fine, University of Delaware A recent news article for the general public was headlined, “Cutting Out Meat Might Help PreventSnoring: Study”. The journalistic source was Health Day: News for Healthier Living, which makes recommendations for the …
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A friendly reminder that when all the variables are measured, causal claims aren't supportable. Photo credit: Sleeping: MicrostockAsia/Deposit Photos CNN's headline was "sleep this way to add 5 years to your life." This headline should immediately kick in your "correlation is not causation" spidey-sense. a) What makes this headline causal? b) What are the two …
Continue reading Really? “Sleep this way to add 5 years to your life”
Photo credit: marcoscastillo/Deposit photos Here's another article from the content farm website, StudyFinds. This one's on the personality correlates of liking spicy foods, and it includes a combination of frequency and association claims. The same poll was also covered by the NYPost and by Yahoo! News (with a video) Below I will post a series of …
Continue reading Personality correlates of liking spicy foods
The study found that both exercise and diet are important. Is the effect additive or interactive? Photo credit:Dragana Gordic/Shutterstock You might have heard someone claim that because they exercise regularly, they can eat whatever they want and still be healthy. When people say this, they seem to mean that either exercise OR diet can be …
The study found an interaction effect: Gender of participant interacted with the smell condition they were in. Credit: HayDmitriy/Deposit Photos If you’ve ever smelled a baby’s head (I know....it can be irresistible!), you probably inhaled a variety of chemicals, including one called HEX. A group of researchers recently published a study in which they exposed …