Despite being littered (ahem) with causal inferences, this story on the relationship between cat populations and country-level happiness provides an excellent example of a correlational moderator. The NYPost covered the research, which originally appeared in the empirical journal, PLOSOne. The study found that countries with more cats had higher levels of happiness. But there was …
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Do cannabis gummies affect people’s driving?
The answer? Yep! In the study, participants consumed 10 gummies per session. The candies looked identical, but some contained 2mg of THC and others contained 0mg (placebo). The researchers manipulated the dosages by combining different numbers of THC gummies (either 0, 1, 5, or 10) and placebo gummies. Photo: The Image Party/Shutterstock A study published …
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The younger kids are when they start social media, the lower their grades are later on
We're in an era when countries like Australia and the U.K. are banning social media for kids under 16, most U.S. states are keeping phones out of schools "from bell to bell," and parents are figuring out just how much time online is good for kids. Here's a new study on how social media use …
Should we animate lecture slides for better learning?
Presenters and teachers can either animate their slides' elements or not. When they are animated, a presenter's slides come up a little bit at a time. When they're not, the text and images are presented all-at-once, in one big blob. You've definitely experienced both. Which way do you think is more effective for learning? Make …
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“Fertility Rates Declining Due to Smartphone Use, New Study Says”
Here’s a fun example of a quasi-experiment. A team of behavioral economists has analyzed U.S. data on fertility rates. Demographers have known for decades that fertility in most of the world’s most prosperous countries has been decreasing. The study showed that fewer kids were born in regions with earlier access to the iPhone, especially to …
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Humans veer to the left
Imagine you unleash 100 people onto a soccer (football) pitch and encourage them all to walk around and mingle however they wish. Now imagine you send a drone directly above this crowd to film them. What will you see? This photo of pedestrians was taken in Shibuya, Japan, at one of the busiest pedestrian crossings …
Testing psychedelics: What’s the control group?
Here's a joint post between Jess Hartnett (author of Psychological Statistics for Everyone and the Not Awful and Boring blog) and me! Once used only for recreational or spiritual reasons, psychedelics like ayahuasca and psilocybin are emerging as a treatment for people coping with prolonged grief, terminal illness, treatment-resistant depression, substance use disorder, PTSD, eating …
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“But it’s natural!”
As we shop for breakfast cereal, body cream, or baby carrots, we have choices. Some versions are billed as “natural” or “organic”. Others are not. When choosing between two similar items, are people more likely to choose the one labeled "natural?"Photo credit: BearFotos/ShutterstockAlt text: Couple chooses shampoo or shower gel and body washcloth in household …
This brain game can reduce risk of dementia in seniors. How do we know?
What if you read the dramatic claim that playing a certain video game could reduce your risk of dementia by 25%? I hope you'd be skeptical. You might think that it was a ploy to increase the video game's sales. Whenever you read a claim like this, you should ask to see the evidence. As …
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GLP-1 drugs and addiction
GLP-1 drugs have become widely prescribed and used; their original use was to help people, originally those with Type II diabetes, lose weight. People who take them often notice they experience less "food noise," or internal chatter. As the use of these drugs has become widespread, users have also noticed that they are less interested …