Today's 60 Second Science Podcast is brought to you by The Three Tenors:
Errors Make Up Part of Expertise
Full transcript after the jump...
Continue reading 'Errors Make Up Part of Expertise [podcast]' >
Results tagged “behavior” from 60 Second Science
Errors Make Up Part of Expertise [podcast]
Babies can tell Gallant from Goofus [podcast]
Today's 60 Second Science podcast is brought to you by Highlights for Children:
Babies can tell Gallant from Goofus [podcast]
Full transcript after the jump...
Continue reading 'Babies can tell Gallant from Goofus [podcast]' >
When the virtual you changes the real you [podcast]
Today's 60 Second Psych podcast is brought to you by The Wachowski Brothers:
When the virtual you changes the real you
Full transcript after the jump...
Continue reading 'When the virtual you changes the real you [podcast]' >
Does your name define you?
Psychologists have famously found that people subconsciously gravitate towards places and jobs that resemble their names: more "Kens" live in Kentucky and more "Lauras" become lawyers, for example, than what would be predicted by chance alone. But this secret love we harbor for our names can hurt us, according to a new study published in the journal Psychological Science. If your name is associated with something bad, you might gravitate towards the bad, too.
Troublemaking children not doomed to failure (unless they pursue blogging careers)
Were you the kid at the back of the room who made jokes aloud about teacher's harelip? Did you set Hammy the class hamster on fire? Did your lucrative business drawing boobies in pen and ink end in the Great Boy's Bathroom Raid of Ought Six? Well, despair no longer, because all those hours of detention and marks on "your permanent record" don't mean squat: Jackass kids with bad behavior often perform as well in academics as their goody-two-shoes peers.
Toddlers choose robots over traditional toys; Pentagon announces prenatal Mechwarrior program
It may be no surprise to anyone but Michael Bay, but a recent study shows young children have a preference for interactive robots over traditional toys. Now, if you'll allow me one second to put myself into the mind of a toddler, which I do regularly anyway: "Hmmm, let's see....dolly looks pretty in pink and freaking just sits there, while QRIO dances, giggles and comes with an optional land-to-air missile mount. I think I'm going to go with the robot. Mwaaaah! I want a cookie!"
During the first 27 sessions, the robot was responsive to the children, giggling when its head was touched. The children enjoyed interacting with the robot during this period, the team reports.
The researchers then restricted QRIO's behavior to a more predictable, nonresponsive dance routine for 15 sessions, and children's interest declined. At the end of the study, the team reinstated its full repertoire for three sessions, and interest picked up. Programming the robot to respond to the children was key to engaging them, the team reports online 5 November in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Soft on Fat or Soft on Data?
The AP today looks at a new campaign by the Advertising Council aimed at fighting obesity. It cites critics who complain that the ads are "namby pamby" and "wimpy." But is "soft" always bad?
What the story fails to mention is that while the shocking and attention-getting advertisements it cites with approval
have a long history in anti-drug campaigns, they also have a long history of not only failure, but backfiring.
The Ad Council knows this well-- years ago, it found that while shocking pictures of car crashes and interviews with people who lost loved ones to drunk drivers won advertising awards, they didn't deter drunk drivers. What worked? Ads that gave partners humorous ways of getting the car keys away from drunks.
The Council is probably basing its new campaign on these findings-- while toughness may sound better, "wimpy" ads may work better at changing behavior. And isn't that what we want them to do?
