One of my pet peeves as a psychologist is the misuse of correlational data. In spite of the best efforts of hoards of professionals in statistics and the behavioral sciences, we continue to see the misinterpretation of correlational data. A real doozy came across my desk this morning. Apparently, Derek Read more…
András Lörincz and István Szita at Eötvös University in Budapest, Hungary have developed a computer program that outplays the average human at the classic arcade game, Ms. Pac-Man [1]. Starting off with scenarios (“ghost nearby”) and possible actions (“move away”), the program “learned” to perform better. Should we feel inadequate Read more…
School starts soon, but I wanted to show you one more recipe before this blog returns to issues of neuroscience and psychology. This is a multi-generational family recipe that everyone in my family loves — and yours might just love it, too! Excuse the pun, but this midday meal is Read more…
“Everybody loves a winner,” or so we often hear, but it may not necessarily be true, especially at bowl time. According to Joseph Vandello and his colleagues at the University of South Florida (which incidentally boasts a pretty good football team), we like underdogs. Vandello et al. presented participants with Read more…
Given my outcome on the EQSQ scale, not to mention my addiction to Zelda on the Wii, I think I qualify as a bona fide geekette. Shopping for the geeks you love can be challenging, as of course, we buy every electronic gizmo at top price the minute it comes Read more…