[tips] What is this thing called love?
Answer according to a recent but apparently still unpublished study: Differences in major histocompatibility complex genes for the immune system. I can't wait for the song writers to get to work on that. http://tinyurl.com/oeyqy2 (Apparently a presentation today at the European Society of Human Genetics by Prof. Maria da Graça Bicalho of the University of Parana, Brazil). Stephen - Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology, Emeritus Bishop's University e-mail: sbl...@ubishops.ca 2600 College St. Sherbrooke QC J1M 1Z7 Canada Subscribe to discussion list (TIPS) for the teaching of psychology at http://flightline.highline.edu/sfrantz/tips/ --- --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
[tips] Panicology
Has anyone read the book "Panicology"? The full title is: Panicology: Two Statisticians Explain What's Worth Worrying About (and What's Not) in the 21st Century by Hugh Aldersey-Williams and Simon Briscoe I ask because there have been several articles recently either reviewing or summarizing it. For example, the NY Times personal health columnist Jane Brody provided a brief overview last week; see: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/19/health/19brod.html?ref=science This article served as the basis for a blog entry by Andrew Sullivan at the Atlantic website: see: http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/05/obsessing-about-risk-and-crashes.html or http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451c45669e201157098a69c970b The book was also reviewed on the other side of the pond along with another volume (Dan Gardner's "Risk: The Science and Politics of Fear"); see: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/mar/09/society I haven't read the book yet but it seems like its focus is consistent with some views expressed on TiPS in recent months. On the basis of these articles, it seems that if "ordinary people" people are given the following choices: (1) irrational panic and fear about low probability events (2) being comforted by how much safer we are today relative to historical standards People will choose (1) unless they critically analyze the information that they are presented by the media and others (can this be the operation of the recognition heuristic in short-circuiting critical thinking?). Folks may also want to read the following article on people's over reaction to rare but dreaded risks: http://www.wired.com/politics/security/commentary/securitymatters/2007/05/securitymatters_0517 And here's a question to for class: Which results in more emergency room visits? (a) unintentional gunshots (b) accidental suffocation (c) household pets (d) who can afford to go to the emergency room now? For the answer, see: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/19/health/19stat.html?bl&ex=1243396800&en=7d373a985532733a&ei=5087%0A and/or http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5811a1.htm -Mike Palij New York University m...@nyu.edu --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
re: [tips] What is this thing called love?
On Mon, 25 May 2009 06:06:54 -0700, Stephen Black wrote: >Answer according to a recent but apparently still unpublished study: > >Differences in major histocompatibility complex genes for the immune >system. I can't wait for the song writers to get to work on that. > >http://tinyurl.com/oeyqy2 > >(Apparently a presentation today at the European Society of Human >Genetics by Prof. Maria da Graça Bicalho of the University of Parana, >Brazil). Question: since the comparison was between married couples and "152 couples chosen at random from the population and who were neither married nor having sexual relations with one another", how do we know that it isn't something about being married that altered the genes of married people? According to some people, marriage changes everything. :-) A prospective experimental study should be done. And if scents or pheromes are the basis for the "attraction", then people should base "desirability as a mate" judgments solely on appropriately presented scent samples that are either genetically similar or different to the participant. I can see it now: Experimenter: here, sniff this cloth. Participant: okay *sniff, sniff* Experimenter: On a scale from 1 to 10 where 1 means "I would never want to meet this person" and "10 means I would like to spend the rest of my life with this person", how would you rate the person this smell came from? Participant: You're kidding me, right? Anybody know someone who needs a thesis topic? -Mike Palij New York University m...@nyu.edu --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
Re: [tips] Panicology
Mike Palij wrote: Has anyone read the book "Panicology"? The full title is: Panicology: Two Statisticians Explain What's Worth Worrying About (and What's Not) in the 21st Century by Hugh Aldersey-Williams and Simon Briscoe I have not. But I think I will. The book was also reviewed on the other side of the pond along with another volume (Dan Gardner's "Risk: The Science and Politics of Fear"); see: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/mar/09/society I have just finished this book (though with a different subtitle). Gardner is an Ottawa-based journalist, though the book seems to have been the outcome of a number of discussion he had with psychologists Paul Slovic. I thoroughly recommend the book, though do not expect it to satisfy your most elevated scientific sensibilities. Gardner simplifies much, and converts a lot of Tversky-&-Kahneman technical vocabulary into terms that are more easily digestible by non-scientists (a rather crude but serviceable dichotomy between "head" and "gut" runs throughout the book). Still, for the general public (or even undergraduates), what they can learn from this book might just undo some of the junk panic promoted by everyone from gov't to advertisers to activists, etc. The chapter near the end on "terrorism" is a pretty thorough debunking of most everything that has gone on in the name of "security" in the past eight years. Chris -- Christopher D. Green Department of Psychology York University Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 chri...@yorku.ca http://www.yorku.ca/christo Office: 416-736-2100 ext. 66164 Fax: 416-736-5814 = --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
re: [tips] What is this thing called love?
Hi Mike's hypothetical study is not too far from prior research on attractiveness of odors collected at different points in the menstrual cycle (and of faces as noted in the article). Just need to add the genetic component to the equation. http://www.livescience.com/health/060118_armpit_odor.html Take care Jim James M. Clark Professor of Psychology 204-786-9757 204-774-4134 Fax j.cl...@uwinnipeg.ca Department of Psychology University of Winnipeg Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2E9 CANADA >>> "Mike Palij" 25-May-09 8:41 AM >>> On Mon, 25 May 2009 06:06:54 -0700, Stephen Black wrote: >Answer according to a recent but apparently still unpublished study: > >Differences in major histocompatibility complex genes for the immune >system. I can't wait for the song writers to get to work on that. > >http://tinyurl.com/oeyqy2 > >(Apparently a presentation today at the European Society of Human >Genetics by Prof. Maria da Graša Bicalho of the University of Parana, >Brazil). Question: since the comparison was between married couples and "152 couples chosen at random from the population and who were neither married nor having sexual relations with one another", how do we know that it isn't something about being married that altered the genes of married people? According to some people, marriage changes everything. :-) A prospective experimental study should be done. And if scents or pheromes are the basis for the "attraction", then people should base "desirability as a mate" judgments solely on appropriately presented scent samples that are either genetically similar or different to the participant. I can see it now: Experimenter: here, sniff this cloth. Participant: okay *sniff, sniff* Experimenter: On a scale from 1 to 10 where 1 means "I would never want to meet this person" and "10 means I would like to spend the rest of my life with this person", how would you rate the person this smell came from? Participant: You're kidding me, right? Anybody know someone who needs a thesis topic? -Mike Palij New York University m...@nyu.edu --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
re: [tips] What is this thing called love?
On Mon, 25 May 2009 08:31:36 -0700, Jim Clark wrote: >Hi > >Mike's hypothetical study is not too far from prior research on >attractiveness of odors collected at different points in the menstrual >cycle (and of faces as noted in the article). Just need to add the >genetic component to the equation. > > http://www.livescience.com/health/060118_armpit_odor.html On the same website above, there is an article that reports a study very similar to what I had suggested. Quoting from it: |Stinky T-shirts | |In 1996, Claus Wedekind, a zoologist at Bern University in Switzerland, |conducted what's become known as the stinky T-shirt study. |Wedekind had 44 men each wear a t-shirt for two nights straight, |then tested how women reacted to the smelly shirts. | |Like mice, women preferred the scent of men whose immune systems |were unlike their own. If a man's immune system was similar, a woman |tended to describe his T-shirt as smelling like her father or brother. | |Since then, companies have developed pheremone-based perfumes |and cologns, with promises of increased sexual attraction. Researchers |don't agree on their effectiveness. | |More research is needed to figure out how and to what extent a woman's |nose leads her to sex, and how adept she is at picking a healthy partner. | |"We cannot rule out that other parts of the human nose are able to detect |the peptides," Frank Zufall said. "We can now ask whether these peptides |are present in human secretions such as sweat and saliva, whether they |can be detected by the human nose, and if so, whether they have any |influence on our own social behavior." http://www.livescience.com/health/041104_sex_and_smell.html How freaky would it be to be out on a date and being told: "Funny, you smell like my father." -Mike Palij New York University m...@nyu.edu --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
[tips] the science news cycle
science news and where it goes :-) http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2009/05/22/the-science-news-cycle/ Sally Walters Capilano University --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
[tips] Archives of Psychology
If you go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/ahap65/3253503185/ you'll find thosands of pictures from the Archives of the History of American Psychology Fascinating! Jim Jim Matiya Florida Gulf Coast University jmat...@fgcu.edu Contributor, for Karen Huffman's Psychology in Action, Video Guest Lecturettes John Wiley and Sons. Using David Myers' texts for AP Psychology? Go to http://bcs.worthpublishers.com/cppsych/ High School Psychology and Advanced Psychology Graphic Organizers, Pacing Guides, and Daily Lesson Plans archived at www.Teaching-Point.net --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
Re: [tips] Archives of Psychology
Jim Matiya wrote: > > If you go to > http://www.flickr.com/photos/ahap65/3253503185/ > you'll find thosands of pictures from the Archives of the History of > American Psychology > Fascinating! There is also an AHAP channel on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/AHAP65 Chris -- Christopher D. Green Department of Psychology York University Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 Canada 416-736-2100 ex. 66164 chri...@yorku.ca http://www.yorku.ca/christo/ == --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
[tips] Texting May Be Taking a Toll on Teenagers - NYTimes.com
Generally speaking, I am skeptical of the popular computers-are-killing-our-children genre of news report. However, "American teenagers sent and received an average of *2, 272 text messages per month* in the fourth quarter of 2008"!! http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/26/health/26teen.html?hpw Chris -- Christopher D. Green Department of Psychology York University Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 Canada 416-736-2100 ex. 66164 chri...@yorku.ca http://www.yorku.ca/christo/ == --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
