Comments on: “Silliest” Psychology Research http://www.spring.org.uk/2007/10/silliest-psychology-research.php Understand your mind with the science of psychology - Mon, 04 May 2009 10:30:58 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: HANAN.B http://www.spring.org.uk/2007/10/silliest-psychology-research.php/comment-page-1#comment-20650 HANAN.B Sun, 28 Oct 2007 23:07:00 +0000 http://spring.org.uk/2007/10/silliest-psychology-research.php#comment-20650 I wish Inattentional Blindness was just funny! It actually is a matter of life and death- no less! I believe most car accidents are caused by the wrong belief of involved drivers that they can do more than just "stare at the road ahead". I saw drivers read documents or newspapers at full speed on the highway! Even talking on the speaker-mobilephone is distracting (not tomention holding the mobilephone to one's ear and thus limiting the field-of-view and head movement. Every driver (and pedestrian) should learn about this phenomenon!!<br />(In memoriam of my friend M.R. ) I wish Inattentional Blindness was just funny! It actually is a matter of life and death- no less! I believe most car accidents are caused by the wrong belief of involved drivers that they can do more than just "stare at the road ahead". I saw drivers read documents or newspapers at full speed on the highway! Even talking on the speaker-mobilephone is distracting (not tomention holding the mobilephone to one's ear and thus limiting the field-of-view and head movement. Every driver (and pedestrian) should learn about this phenomenon!!
(In memoriam of my friend M.R. )

]]> By: Jeremy (PsyBlog author) http://www.spring.org.uk/2007/10/silliest-psychology-research.php/comment-page-1#comment-20573 Jeremy (PsyBlog author) Thu, 11 Oct 2007 08:13:00 +0000 http://spring.org.uk/2007/10/silliest-psychology-research.php#comment-20573 Dr G., thanks for the heads-up about the video. I'll definitely be having a look at the Journal of Mundane Behaviour! Cool... Dr G., thanks for the heads-up about the video. I'll definitely be having a look at the Journal of Mundane Behaviour! Cool...

]]> By: Dr. Grumpus http://www.spring.org.uk/2007/10/silliest-psychology-research.php/comment-page-1#comment-20568 Dr. Grumpus Wed, 10 Oct 2007 16:09:00 +0000 http://spring.org.uk/2007/10/silliest-psychology-research.php#comment-20568 Bummer...the video has been yanked...<br /><br />Interestingly, the glee study supports the notion that 7-9 humans is the optimal number to maximize conformity, as found in the studies by Asch (if I recall correctly).<br /><br />There is an on-line journal out there (sadly, now defunct, or more precisely, on hiatus) that had some silliness (and yes, it was peer-reviewed):<br /><br />http://www.mundanebehavior.org/index2.htm<br /><br />Lots of fun (if you define fun as "mundane") stuff. I remember what got me hooked on this journal, from their first issue:<br /><br />"In and Out of Elevators in Japan"<br /><br />Cheers!<br /><br />Dr. Grumpus Bummer...the video has been yanked...

Interestingly, the glee study supports the notion that 7-9 humans is the optimal number to maximize conformity, as found in the studies by Asch (if I recall correctly).

There is an on-line journal out there (sadly, now defunct, or more precisely, on hiatus) that had some silliness (and yes, it was peer-reviewed):

http://www.mundanebehavior.org/index2.htm

Lots of fun (if you define fun as "mundane") stuff. I remember what got me hooked on this journal, from their first issue:

"In and Out of Elevators in Japan"

Cheers!

Dr. Grumpus

]]> By: Jeremy (PsyBlog author) http://www.spring.org.uk/2007/10/silliest-psychology-research.php/comment-page-1#comment-20554 Jeremy (PsyBlog author) Tue, 09 Oct 2007 08:01:00 +0000 http://spring.org.uk/2007/10/silliest-psychology-research.php#comment-20554 Hi Nigel, good point, thanks for the reference as well - I'll take a look... Hi Nigel, good point, thanks for the reference as well - I'll take a look...

]]> By: Nigel Thomas http://www.spring.org.uk/2007/10/silliest-psychology-research.php/comment-page-1#comment-20549 Nigel Thomas Mon, 08 Oct 2007 02:37:00 +0000 http://spring.org.uk/2007/10/silliest-psychology-research.php#comment-20549 There are some very different sorts of silliness involved here. It is not at all silly to research people's stories about alien abduction. What is silly (or worse) is to be drawn into the delusion onself. I voted for the art loving pigeons as silliest experiment because it seems such a pointless thing to study (although perhaps there is some point I just can't fathom). The Simons & Chabris "Gorillas in our Midst" is <i>funny</i>, but as science it is not silly at all. It is concerned with an important psychological issue, which it highlights in a memorable way. There is something else silly about it, however. Essentially the same experiment, with the same result (although, admittedly, without the funny gorilla - they used a woman with an umbrella instead) had already been published by Neisser and Becklen some 30 years earlier, but it seems hardly anyone thought the phenomenon was interesting back then.<br /><br />Neisser, U. & Becklen, R. (1975). Selective Looking: Attending to Visually Specified Events. <i>Cognitive Psychology, 7,</i> 480-494. There are some very different sorts of silliness involved here. It is not at all silly to research people's stories about alien abduction. What is silly (or worse) is to be drawn into the delusion onself. I voted for the art loving pigeons as silliest experiment because it seems such a pointless thing to study (although perhaps there is some point I just can't fathom). The Simons & Chabris "Gorillas in our Midst" is funny, but as science it is not silly at all. It is concerned with an important psychological issue, which it highlights in a memorable way. There is something else silly about it, however. Essentially the same experiment, with the same result (although, admittedly, without the funny gorilla - they used a woman with an umbrella instead) had already been published by Neisser and Becklen some 30 years earlier, but it seems hardly anyone thought the phenomenon was interesting back then.

Neisser, U. & Becklen, R. (1975). Selective Looking: Attending to Visually Specified Events. Cognitive Psychology, 7, 480-494.

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