On the Nightstand

If you--ahem!--find the reading on people's nightstands much more interesting than what they have on their office bookshelves, then take a look at Discover Magazine's regular web feature On the Nightstand .

Example: Here's what Yale primate psychologist Laurie Santos has on her nightstand (which is actually a filing cabinet)--

• The Squad by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, a graduate student of Santos . . .  who “doubles as a teen-girl-fiction writer.” The book is about cheerleader CIA agents, Santos says. “It’s awesome. I think all cognitive scientists should read it.”
  
• The stuffed frog she sleeps with
  
• The Freedom Manifesto by Tom Hodgkinson, which Santos describes as a “wonderfully British, philosophical attempt at promoting idleness”
  
• A new iPhone to wake her up in the morning
  
• Watchmen, an apocalyptic graphic novel (“a fancy way of saying it’s a big comic book”) that is due out as a movie in March
  

That's funny . . . we have Watchmen on our nightstand, too. Nice to learn that the sciences and humanities share so much.

N-Effect . . . Another Argument for Small Class Size

Psychologists asked a question basic: "Modern life often seems like a rat-race. But does one's motivation to run the maze, to compete, depend on how many other 'rats' are in the race?"

Well . . . yes, apparently so.

The researchers found that people do better in smaller competitive situations than in large ones, which they call the N-Effect, "the discovery that increasing the number of competitors (N) can decrease competitive motivation." Their studies show "that average test scores (e.g., SAT scores) fall as the average number of test-takers at test-taking venues increases." That is, people do better on some tasks if they think they are competing against only 10 other other people instead of 100 people.

The psychologists suggest where further study is needed but note that their findings may shed light on debates about class size and student success:

. . . One such example concerns the debate on the role of class size in education (Mishel, & Rothstein, 2002), where some suggest class-size is rather insignificant (e.g., Hanushek, 2002) while others deem it important (e.g., Krueger, 2002). The N-Effect, however, sheds new light on this debate by revealing that as the mere N of students in the classroom increases, motivation to compete and exert academic effort are likely to decrease. In fact, perhaps the N-Effect could partly solve the mystery of the falling SAT scores in recent years (Finder, 2007), if one were to find that the average N test-takers reporting to testing venues is continually increasing.

Finally, we conclude by qualifying Zajonc’s (1965) recommendation in his seminal facilitation article, which stated: “If one were to draw one practical suggestion . . . he would advise his student . . . to arrange to take his examinations in the company of many other students, on stage, and in the presence of a large audience. The results of his examination would be beyond his wildest expectations…” (p. 274, Zajonc, 1965). Our social comparison account of the N-Effect would recommend having only a few others on stage; adding too many competitors may dampen, rather than enhance, the motivation to compete.

 (Picture of large psych class courtesy of Karma Moths )

The paper by Stephen M. Garcia and Avishalom Tor--The N-Effect: More Competitors, Less Competition -- is forthcoming from Psychological Science.

Reading on the Rise

According to a new survey from the National Endowment for the Arts, reading is on the rise in the United States, reversing a 26-year trend of decline.

The report concludes, "Whites, African Americans, and Hispanics have all shown significant growth in their reading rates, as have both adult men and women.  . . . Best of all, the most significant growth has been among young adults, the group that had shown the largest declines in earlier surveys."

The report lists 12 statistical findings, including the observation that "The U.S. adult population now breaks into two almost equally sized groups--readers and nonreaders":

The report doesn't include any statistical reason for the rise in reading, although the increase among a broad demographic suggests that no single age-based reading program can claim responsibility. Instead, the rise seems the result of numerous efforts throughout schools and communities.

The New York Times reports that Dana Gioia, chair of the NEA, attributes "the increase in literary reading to community-based programs like the 'Big Read,' Oprah Winfrey’s book club, the huge popularity of book series like 'Harry Potter' and Stephenie Meyer’s 'Twilight,' as well as the individual efforts of teachers, librarians, parents and civic leaders to create 'a buzz around literature that’s getting people to read more in whatever medium.'"

You can download the entire, readable report from NEA's website: Reading on the Rise: A New Chapter in American Literacy .

Software for Starving Students, Part Deux

 

We posted previously about Software for Starving Students , but--sadly--the main source of those valuable links at SoftwareFor.org has gone the way of the dodo.

So we're pleased to tell you about OpenDisc's education project, OpenEducationDisc , which provides high quality open source software for Windows. As OpenDisc explains,

The purpose of [the OpenEducationDisc] is to provide students with the software that they need to complete school work at home. Most students don’t have jobs and it is unfair to ask for them or a parent/guardian to buy expensive software to get the best out of their education.

We agree.

Holiday Misinformation Exposed!

In the most recent edition of the British Medical Journal, Rachel C. Vreeman and Aaron E. Carroll examine six common beliefs we hold about holiday health and--through a review of the research--expose them as mistakes.

Here's the straight scoop on our holiday misconceptions, with all quotations coming from the article :

Sugar causes hyperactivity in children

Regardless of what parents might believe, however, sugar is not to blame for out of control little ones. At least 12 double blind randomised controlled trials have examined how children react to diets containing different levels of sugar. None of these studies, not even studies looking specifically at children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, could detect any differences in behaviour between the children who had sugar and those who did not. . . . 

Scientists have even studied how parents react to the sugar myth. When parents think their children have been given a drink containing sugar (even if it is really sugar-free), they rate their children’s behaviour as more hyperactive. The differences in the children’s behaviour were all in the parents’ minds.

Suicides increase over the holidays

While the holidays might, indeed, be a difficult time for some, there is no good scientific evidence to suggest a holiday peak in suicides. . . . Further debunking myths about suicide, people are not more likely to commit suicide during the dark winter months. Around the world, suicides peak in warmer months and are actually lowest in the winter. . . . Studies from the US reflect this pattern, with lower rates in November and December than in typically warmer months.

Poinsettia toxicity

In an analysis of 849,575 plant exposures reported to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, none of the 22,793 cases involving poinsettia resulted in considerable poisoning. No one died from exposure to or ingestion of poinsettia, and most (96%) did not even require medical treatment. In 92 of the cases, children ingested substantial quantities of poinsettias, but none needed medical treatment, and toxicologists concluded that poinsettia exposures and ingestions can be treated without referral to a healthcare facility.

Excess heat loss in the hatless

A . . . recent study confirms that there is nothing special about the head and heat loss. Any uncovered part of the body loses heat and will reduce the core body temperature proportionally. So, if it is cold outside, you should protect your body. But whether you want to keep your head covered or not is up to you.

Nocturnal feasting makes you fat

. . . just because obesity and eating more meals at night are associated, it does not mean that one causes the other. People gain weight because they take in more calories overall than they burn up. . . . Other studies found no link at all between eating at night and weight gain. 

You can cure a hangover

No scientific evidence, however, supports any cure or effective prevention for alcohol hangovers. . . . A hangover is caused by excess alcohol consumption. Thus, the most effective way to avoid a hangover is to consume alcohol only in moderation or not at all.

For more fresh air from BMJ's Vreeman and Carroll, see Medical Myths from 2007 (1288-1289).

As We Move into Finals Week . . .

As we move into finals weeks here at Northwest College, we all could use a little pick-me-up. This video is just the ticket--thanks to Matthew Belinkie, who has cut together 40 speeches from classic movies into a two-minute inspirational montage:

It's a Wonderful Life . . . the Dark Side

A. O.  Scott, film critic and editor for The New York Times, has produced a little feature on the dark side of  Frank Capra's classic in Critics' Picks: 'It's a Wonderful Life.' 

By ennumerating everything that's wrong in the world of George Bailey, Scott demonstrates why it's such a comforting film for the holidays.

Happy Birthday, Milton!

Today is the Puritan poet's 400th birthday. To honor him, we recommend a trip to the Milton Reading Room at Dartmouth College . There, you'll find a beautifully annotated version of his masterwork, Paradise Lost.

The last lines of the poem describe Adam and Eve's expulsion from the Garden of Eden, which William Blake so beautifully illustrated: "They hand in hand with wandring steps and slow, / Through Eden took thir solitarie way."

Christmas in Williamsburg | Then & Now

A little Christmas bonus we created for an early American literature class:

RSS Feeds in Plain English

A good introduction to RSS feeds from Lee LeFever, April 23, 2007: