Wednesday, July 08, 2009

A Truly Great Journal: "She Blinded Me with...An Inflatable Bra"

Dear Readers: I give you some highlights from the most excellent journal, "PERCEPTUAL AND MOTOR SKILLS." I am so glad that this journal exists. On the first two studies, I wondered, "Can men really be that stupid, and easy to manipulate?" Then I thought about it, and decided, "Yes, of course." On the third study: this can't be right. But it is certainly interesting. Presumably it was not replicated, in other studies, or we would have heard more. So what is the flaw in the research design?

Bust size and hitchhiking: A field study

Nicolas Guéguen: Perceptual and Motor Skills, December 2007, Pages 1294-1298

Abstract:
To test the effect of a woman's bust size on the rate of help offered, 1200 male and female French motorists were tested in a hitchhiking situation. A 20-yr.-old female confederate wore a bra which permitted variation in the size of cup to vary her breast size. She stood by the side of a road frequented by hitchhikers and held out her thumb to catch a ride. Increasing the bra-size of the female-hitchhiker was significantly associated with an increase in number of male drivers, but not female drivers, who stopped to offer a ride.

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Experimental pain thresholds influenced by sex of experimenter

K. Gijsbers & F. Nicholson, Perceptual and Motor Skills, December 2005, Pages 803-807

Abstract:
Thresholds for pressure pain were tested in 64 adult human subjects (age: M=22.0 yr., SD=7.5). The subjects were young adults drawn from a student population. They were divided into two groups of men and two groups of women, with 16 participants in each group. A female experimenter tested one group of men and a male experimenter tested the other group. The women were tested in a similar way by an experimenter of the same sex for one group and the opposite sex for the other group. The two experimenters were dressed in a manner that emphasised their gender roles. The men tested by a female experimenter showed a higher average pain threshold than the men tested by a male experimenter, but there was no difference in the average pain thresholds of the two groups of women.

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Testing for telepathy in connection with e-mails

Rupert Sheldrake & Pamela Smart, Perceptual and Motor Skills, December 2005, Pages 771-786

Abstract:
This study investigated possible telepathic communication in connection with e-mails. On each trial, there were four potential e-mailers, one of whom was elected at random by the experimenter. One minute before a prearranged time at which the e-mail was to be sent, the participant guessed who would send it. 50 participants (29 women and 21 men) were recruited through an employment web site. Of 552 trials, 235 (43%) guesses were hits, significantly above the chance expectation of 25%. Further tests with 5 participants (4 women, 1 man, ages 16 to 29) were videotaped continuously. On the filmed trials, the 64 hits of 137 (47%) were significantly above
chance.


(Major Nod to Kevin L)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It is very interesting for me to read this post. Thanks for it. I like such topics and anything connected to this matter. I definitely want to read a bit more on that blog soon.