Seven Myths from Medicine

In a recent article, Vreeman and Carroll expose seven medical myths:

• You should drink eight glasses of water a day.
• You only use 10% of your brain.
• Your hair and fingernails grow on after you die.
• Shaving your hair causes it to grow back darker and coarser.
• If you read in dim light, you will ruin your eyes.
• Eating turkey makes you sleepy.
• Using a mobile phone in a hospital can affect other equipment

They go on to debunk each of the myths above. Interestingly, these myths persist despite evidence to the contrary. I wonder if similar myths exist in psychology.

SAD?

As we approach the Winter Solstice here in the northern hemisphere, it's a good time to talk about Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD.

SAD is a real condition caused by increased levels of melatonin. That increase is apparently caused by the longer periods of dark in the winter. Decreased levels of serototin also contribute to SAD. Winter's longer dark periods cause a drop in serotonin production. Light, delivered in high intensities and at the right time of the day, can reverse the rise in melatonin production and the decrease in serotonin, thus, combating SAD. An article in today's New York Times discusses how light, and other therapies, can alleviate SAD.

Another way to fight SAD is to eat complex carbohydrates. Those, in turn, are metabolized into serotonin. Unfortunately, they also add body weight and overeating them is not good therapy for SAD. Sorry.

So, if you are feeling a little blue and hungrier right about now and don't know why, you may have Seasonal Affective Disorder.

Here is a link to some self-assessments for diagnosing SAD, circadian rhythm, and depression. Click on their link "Self-assessments" on the top of that page.

Girls and Science

I was pleased to see the news report of how three teen-aged girls recently won the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology. (click here to see article) Science should not be the exclusive domain of one gender.

As the father of a ten-year-old girl I was especially heartened. Last year she announced how she hated science. But, this year she has changed her mind and now considers science as worthy of her attention.

Mostly, she likes zoology. While driving home from a visit to her grandparents one night recently, she started talking about the insects she saw clustering around the streetlights. Some streetlights hosted swarms of insects while others seemed to have none. As we talked, I gently led her into discussing why that might be. Eventually, we planned a putative science project. My main contribution being the use of a digital camera to photograph the clouds of insects so that we could get a rough count later.

I went to PsycINFO later and found one old article that seemed spot-on:

Porter, L. C. (1941). What kinds of light attract night-flying insects?, General Electric Review, 44, 310-314. I have not secured a copy yet, but will soon.

Some Spring night, she and I will go out and conduct a pilot study, select an independent variable or two, and collect some data, hopefully for the FUN of it.

Science as Entertainment?

Here's a new trend, scientists appearing at bars, taverns, and clubs to a paying audience. Wow.

We professors often grouse about having to entertain our students in class. Now, it turns out, there are people who want to hear scientists talk about their findings in a non-academic setting. Hmmm...I wonder what kinds of topics I could discuss in such a setting?

A few classic studies come to mind: bystander interference, mental rotation, and the decay of memory. I can see it now: One Night Only--Come Learn the Mysteries of the Mind and Behavior. Get you tickets before they sell out. Somehow, I don't think Hanna Montana will worry about me cutting into her ticket sales.

As you might imagine, the venues for such talks are mostly in large cities in the United States. Here's a New York Times article about this new phenomenon.

Instrumentation and Psychology

All science depends on instrumentation to some degree. As we note in chapter 1, Galileo used his telescope to discover data which he later incorporated into his theorizing. Another early pioneer was Robert Hooke. Like Galileo, he refined an instrument and then used it to discover new things. In Hooke's case the instrument was the microscope.

In 1665, Hooke published Micrographia, a book devoted to displaying many of the images he saw using his microscope. Hooke discovered and named cells and looked at ordinary, small objects under magnification for the first time. A recent article in TheScientist.com describes Hooke's research further and links to a display of 17th century microscopes.

In psychology too, instrumentation plays a big role, both historically and currently. The Web page, Brass Instrument Psychology, from the University of Toronto displays many instruments from early psychology in several categories: optical, auditory, and timing.

Another excellent source of historical instruments in psychology is The Archives of American Psychology at the University of Akron. The page displays a long list of categories that are linked to descriptions and pictures of the instruments.

Today, many of the devices used to measure behavior are computerized. Also, the Internet itself along with other networked devices (cell phones and pagers) are being used. Look up "psychological instruments" on Google and you will find mostly links to paper-and-paper "instruments" used to collect data.

Psychologists are well-embedded in one of science's oldest traditions, the use of instruments to reveal truths about the world.

Student Engagement and Undergraduate Research

Student engagement is an elusive concept. From a faculty member's point of view, student engagement might be that all-to-rare student who asks such incisive questions. From a student's point of view, engagement might be working on a big project, doing research, or studying overseas.

Doing those things, what Nessie calls the "high-impact" activities of which big student projects, studying overseas, and conducting research are examples, now have empirical support. (Other high-impact activities include living in learning communities or writing for the school newspaper.) "Nessie" or the National Survey of Student Engagement is an 8-year old survey administered by over 1000 colleges and universities to over 300,000 freshman and seniors. The entire 2007 Annual Report can be downloaded as a PDF file here.

In the latest Nessie, undergraduate research with faculty was an important factor in improving student engagement. More specifically, conducting an undergraduate thesis (based upon empirical data collection) improved critical thinking. Field research and placements were even more valuable. When students have to work in real situations, interact with others outside of the university, and for longer periods the beneficial effects of such close faculty-student interactions become greater.

Another group deeply involved in student engagement is the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AACU). They fund programs related to improving college education, broadly defined.

Obviously, we are big fans of undergraduate research with faculty. So, one way to improve your time in college is to seek out a sympathetic faculty member and work together on a research project.

Washoe Dies

Washoe, the chimp famous for communicating in sign language, died today. She was 42.

Washoe was the first ape to learn to communicate with a human using the American Sign Language. That research re-invigorated research in animal cognition.

Here is a New York Times story with more details.