Last fall, some social scientists published a study using data from one of my favorite national surveys--the American Time Use Survey. (I'm a nosy psychologist who is fascinated by how people spend their days.). They concluded that doing almost any daily activity is more enjoyable when we do it with friends. Here's how the research …
Continue reading Doing almost anything is better with friends
Would babies benefit if their families received extra cash every month? Photo: Cavan Images/Alamy Stock Photo When psychologists and sociologists take a big-picture view of early childhood development, they almost always notice a correlation between income and child behavior. Specifically, children being raised in poverty tend to perform worse than higher-income children on language development, …
Continue reading Does extra cash help low-income babies’ development?
This is a joint blog post by two W.W. Norton & Co. authors (and pals): Beth Morling and Jess Hartnett. We first “met” through our blogs and social media years ago (Beth's blog on teaching RM, which you are reading now, and Jess's blog on teaching stats, notawfulandboring, here). Our friendship love language is DMing each …
Continue reading Repairing past research injustices (a joint post with Jess Hartnett!)
How could you test the hypothesis that the most successful pro athletes are more creative than average? Photo: Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images The Eagles are the most local team to my university (the University of Delaware is less than one hour from Philly), so we were excited when they won the Super …
Continue reading Some sports psychology behind the Eagles’ Super Bowl win
Given the study's results, predict which of these chimps is most likely to pee after another one does. Photo: Dirk M. de Boer/Shutterstock The radio program Short Wave (on NPR) highlights 3 science-related news stories every week. In this episode, one story is about a study showing that peeing is contagious in chimpanzees. The study …
How did the researchers manipulate the IV in this study? Photo credit: mansong suttakarn/Shutterstock Cannabis is considered a performance-enhancing drug in the Olympic Games and other competitions, but it's also (stereotypically) associated with being too chill to work out. In the past, psychologists could not easily test the relationship of marijuana and exercise because the …
In one study, the more time kids spent outdoors, the less likely they were to develop myopia. Photo: Evgeny Atamanenko/Shutterstock It's summertime--when kids head outdoors for beach time, pool parties, and picnics. Time spent outdoors is not only fun; it's also associated with lower rates of near-sightedness (myopia). A journalist from NPR covered this topic …
Should we trust a study that tested only 8 people? Photo: sirtravelalot/Shutterstock Yahoo news picked up a story from the Washington Post , which, in turn, had covered an empirical journal article about high heels and walking (did you follow that?). The Yahoo headline read, "Can wearing high heels actually improve your walking?" In this …
Continue reading Really? Wearing high heels can improve your walking
Students imagined asking a question in class, and getting one of three responses from the professor. Photo credit: Ground Picture/Shutterstock This example gives you practice extending a simple experiment (Chapter 10) into a factorial design (Chapter 12). Think back to the last time you asked a question in your research methods class--or any other class. …
Continue reading It matters how professors talk to students….
The study investigated two types of behaviors and two types of liking. Photo credit: Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock Can psychological science make you more popular? That's what a journalist from Forbes claims in an article, "A science-backed way to up your popularity and friendship." Let's see what the journalist is claiming and see if we buy the evidence. …
Continue reading What behaviors make you popular? What behaviors make you likable?