Wow - I guess I have never looked at these awards closely enough. I had
always put them in the same category as Proxmire's old "Golden Fleece" awards.
Although I enjoy the wordplay, I wonder if the title "Ig Noble" is a bad
choice of titles. After all, the word "ignoble" means "of low grade or
quality; inferior" (Dictionary.com). My apparently erroneous understanding
of these awards came from my correct understanding of the word "ignoble."
-- Jim
At 10:03 AM 10/13/2006, you wrote:
It's not at all deserving of ridicule. The Igs are
awarded to achievements that first make people laugh,
and then make them think. Whether the
research/invention/accomplishment is "good" or "bad"
doesn't enter into the equation.
Personally, I think the Silvers & Kriener piece is a
fun study, and particularly interesting when it's
shown that inappropriate highlighting affects
comprehension even when the readers are informed that
the highlighting is random, and they should ignore it.
The Oppenheimer study (this year's winner) is more
complex, and simply brilliant. Check it out if you
can.
--- Jim Dougan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> At 09:33 AM 10/13/2006, you wrote:
> >What seems to be even more surprising to me is that
> the prizes for
> >literature are going to psychologists!
> >
> >Annette
>
>
> Wow - I guess I just don't get why this is deserving
> of ridicule (even if
> it is friendly ridicule).
>
> All of us have probably had the experience of
> reading a used book someone
> else has underlined. Sometimes that earlier reader
> has underlined strange
> things that don't seem relevant. I don't know about
> the rest of you, but I
> find that pretty distracting.
>
> Just how distracting is it? I don't know - but it
> certainly seems worthy
> of study.
>
> -- Jim
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> >Quoting Robin Abrahams <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
> >
> >>As a former winner himself, David is not exactly
> >>unbiased!
> >>
> >>He and his student Vicki Silvers Geir won the
> >>literature prize in 2002:
> >>
> >>Vicki Silvers Gier and David S. Kreiner of Central
> >>Missouri State University, for their colorful
> report
> >>"The Effects of Pre-Existing Inappropriate
> >>Highlighting on Reading Comprehension." [
> PUBLISHED
> >>IN: Reading Research and Instruction, vol. 36, no.
> 3,
> >>1997, pp. 217-23.]
> >>
> >>I've always had a soft spot for the literature
> prizes,
> >>and this year's was an excellent one:
> >>
> >>LITERATURE: Daniel Oppenheimer of Princeton
> University
> >>for his report "Consequences of Erudite Vernacular
> >>Utilized Irrespective of Necessity: Problems with
> >>Using Long Words Needlessly."
> >>REFERENCE: "Consequences of Erudite Vernacular
> >>Utilized Irrespective of Necessity: Problems with
> >>Using Long Words Needlessly," Daniel M.
> Oppenheimer,
> >>Applied Cognitive Psychology, vol. 20, no. 2,
> March
> >>2006, pp. 139-56.
> >>
> >>--- David Kreiner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >>
> >>>And the inventor won the prestigious Ig Nobel
> Peace
> >>>Prize. From
> >>>www.improbable.com :
> >>>
> >>>PEACE: Howard Stapleton of Merthyr Tydfil, Wales,
> >>>for inventing an
> >>>electromechanical teenager repellant -- a device
> >>>that makes annoying
> >>>noise designed to be audible to teenagers but not
> to
> >>>adults; and for
> >>>later using that same technology to make
> telephone
> >>>ringtones that are
> >>>audible to teenagers but not to their teachers.
> >>>REFERENCE: http://www.compoundsecurity.co.uk
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>David Kreiner
> >>>Professor of Psychology and
> >>>Associate Dean of The Graduate School
> >>>University of Central Missouri
> >>>[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >>>
> >>> >>> "FRANTZ, SUE" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> 10/12/2006
> >>>10:02 PM >>>
> >>>
> >>>I'm sure some of you have already heard of this,
> but
> >>>it was news to
> >>>me.
> >>>
> >>>Today in class I was talking about hearing and
> >>>hearing loss in the
> >>>upper
> >>>frequencies. And a couple of my students said,
> "Oh,
> >>>like the mosquito
> >>>ringtone." They were passing comments, and I
> didn't
> >>>want to get into
> >>>it, so I left it until I got back to my office to
> >>>investigate.
> >>>
> >>>In short, a theater in England was having
> problems
> >>>with the large
> >>>number
> >>>of youth gathering in their square. Compound
> >>>Security
> >>>(http://www.compoundsecurity.co.uk/) supplied
> them
> >>>with a high-pitched
> >>>tone (18-20 kHz) to pipe into the square. It
> >>>worked. The kids
> >>>dispersed. And since it was too high for most
> >>>adults to hear, it
> >>>didn't
> >>>bother their patrons.
> >>>
> >>>For the BBC radio program that discusses it, go
> >>>here:
>
>>http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/content/articles/2006/04/04/mosquito_soun
> >>>
> >>>d_wave_feature.shtml
> >>>
> >>>In the radio program, they have a recording from
> the
> >>>square playing in
> >>>the background, but according to my evening
> >>>students, you can't hear
> >>>the
> >>>high-pitched tone. Apparently that MP3 cut off
> the
> >>>higher
> >>>frequencies.
> >>>But at the bottom of the page, there's an MP3 of
> >>>just the recording
> >>>from
> >>>the square where it can be heard -- if you're
> young
> >>>enough. I'm not.
> >>>All I hear is the hum of traffic and people in
> the
> >>>background. But my
> >>>younger evening students were plugging their
> ears,
> >>>and my older
> >>>students
> >>>were left looking at each other. (I think this
> MP3
> >>>peaks at about 17
> >>>kHz
> >>>if I was reading the classroom's audio software
> >>>correctly.) The
> >>>descriptions students gave were interesting --
> like
> >>>a cricket, like
> >>>dying birds. In the news program they say that
> >>>people over 25 can't
> >>>hear
> >>>it, but of course there's much variability. One
> of
> >>>my nearly-30
> >>>students said he could hear it.
> >>>
> >>>And now the kicker.
> >>>
> >>>It's available as a ringtone (in the US:
> >>>http://www.fork.com/, in the
> >>>UK: http://www.mozzyworld.com/). Reportedly,
> >>>students are now using it
> >>>to hear the arrival of text messages in class
> >>>because their older
> >>>teachers can't hear it.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>--
> >>>Sue Frantz Highline Community
> >>>College
> >>>Psychology Des Moines, WA
> >>>206.878.3710 x3404 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >>>http://flightline.highline.edu/sfrantz/
> >>>--
> >>>Office of Teaching Resources in Psychology
> >>>Assistant Director, Project Syllabus
> >>>http://www.lemoyne.edu/OTRP/projectsyllabus.html
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>---
> >>>To make changes to your subscription go to:
>
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english
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>!DSPAM:1452,452f01ff88571227018335!
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
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>
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> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >>Notices at the bottom of this e-mail do not
> reflect the opinions of
> >>the sender. I do not "yahoo" that I am aware of.
> >>
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> >>
> >
> >
> >
> >Annette Kujawski Taylor, Ph. D.
> >Professor of Psychology
> >University of San Diego
> >5998 Alcala Park
> >San Diego, CA 92110
> >619-260-4006
> >[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >
>
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