Changing Education Paradigms - Does the current educational system need to be updated?

Very interesting video about updating the education system.

Also absolutely amazing design and imagery!

Strangers influence our dating preferences

Like birds and fish, we let others influence our choice of mates

Many people like to think they have discriminating tastes when it comes to romantic interests. An Indiana University study, however, found that men and women are greatly influenced not only by what their friends think of their potential fling or relationship partner, but also by the opinions of complete strangers.

"Humans don't exist in a vacuum. From an evolutionary standpoint, it makes sense that we have evolved mechanisms that let us take advantage of the additional social information in our environment," said Skyler Place, a researcher in IU's Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and lead author of the study along with Peter M. Todd, professor in IU's Cognitive Science Program.

"We might think that searching for mates is a process best done individually, that we can best gather the appropriate information by ourselves," Place said. But humans, like many other animals, also pay attention to the preferences of others, to make for a more efficient search process. Who others like might also be a good choice for ourselves."

The concept of "mate choice copying", where an individual copies the mate selections of others, has been widely documented in other species, particularly birds and fish, and has recently been looked for in humans as well. Place's study, published online and in an upcoming issue of the journal Evolution and Human Behavior, is unique in that it exposed study participants to real mate choice scenarios via video of speed-dating couplings.

For the current study, 40 men and 40 women each watched video of eight speed-dating interactions. Speed dating involves sessions in which men and women have numerous "mini dates," each date lasting about three minutes. After every date, the men and women checked a box on a card noting whether they would like to see the other person again. Place and Todd describe such speed-dating events as a realistic microcosm of mate choice behavior.

The study participants were IU students and the speed-dating was conducted in Germany. The students were asked to predict whether they thought the dates were successful as part of the study. The researchers then looked at how the participants own desires to become romantically involved with the individuals going speed-dating changed based on what the participants thought happened on the speed-dates.

The men's interest in the women generally increased after watching the videos but it increased significantly more if their male peer in the video appeared to be interested in the women and if the men were considered as attractive or more so than the study participant.

With the female study participants, their interest in the men in the video increased if their peers in the video appeared interested; but unlike their male counterparts, their interest in the men decreased if the women in the video appeared uninterested. Place said interest shown by the men and women was no different when they were asked whether they were interested in a short affair or long-term relationship.

An intriguing finding involved the sway men had on each other. Place found that the interest of his male study participants in the women in the videos increased in relation to the good looks of the men in the video.

"For men, relative attractiveness of the people they're watching matters -- not just anyone can influence their behavior, just other men they think are at least as attractive as they are," Place said. "We have also seen signs of this influence for women in a larger study still being analyzed."

Place said the influence of strangers is also an important addition to mate choice research.

"Of course people care about what friends and family think of their potential romantic partners. Surprisingly, we showed that complete strangers also matter," he said. "If you walk into a party and don't know anyone, you might think, 'Why do I care what anyone here thinks?' In reality, we're paying close attention to what others in our social environment are thinking and doing."

Co-authors include Peter M. Todd, IU Cognitive Science Program; Lars Penke, Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology and the Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, U.K.; and Jens B. Asendorpf, Department of Psychology, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany.

Tracy James
812-855-0084
traljame@indiana.edu.

Stop or Speed Through a Yellow Light? That Is the Question

Engineering graduate student Zhixia Li was attracted to UC because of the real-world education and experience the university provides. In return, he’s headed a real-world project that every driver can relate to: the "yellow light dilemma." Are you, as a driver, more likely to stop or speed through a yellow light?

In return, he’s headed a real-world project that every driver can relate to. It’s a project on which he has presented and published nationally, and it looks at what he calls the “yellow light dilemma.” Are you, as a driver, more likely to stop or to speed through a yellow light?

Here’s what he found when conducting research, in cooperation with the Ohio Department of Transportation, at intersections in Akron, Cleves and Fairfield, Ohio: Certain factors make it more likely that you’ll opt to speed through an intersection rather than stop at the light.

The results of his research with his advisor Prof. Heng Wei, “Analysis of Drivers' Stopping Behaviors Associated with the Yellow Phase Dilemma Zone — An Empirical Study in Fairfield, OH,” will be presented at the 2010 American Society of Highway Engineers National Conference on June 9-13, 2010, in Cincinnati, at the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza.

So what are the factors that make us run the yellow? These include

• Lane position: Drivers in the right lane are 1.6 times more likely to speed through a yellow light as compared to drivers in the left lane.
• Type of vehicle: Drivers in heavy trucks are more likely to “pass through” a yellow light versus drivers of automobiles, SUVs, vans or pickup trucks.
• Travel speed and speed limit: The greater the traveling speed of a vehicle at the onset of a yellow light, the more likely that vehicle is to pass through a yellow light. Another finding: the higher the posted speed limit, the more likely vehicles are to pass through a yellow light.
• Timing of light: Yellow lights are typically set to persist between 3 to 5 seconds (Ohio law dictates 5 seconds). Drivers coming upon an intersection where the yellow light persists longer are more likely to pass through the yellow light. For each “additional” second a yellow light persists, drivers are more than three times as likely to pass through an intersection. So, for example, a driver is more than three times as likely to pass through a yellow light set to persist for 5 seconds versus a yellow light set to persist for 4 seconds. Ditto for a yellow light that persists for 4 seconds versus a yellow light that persists for 3 seconds.

Li's research has won many awards, including the 2009 Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Daniel B. Fambro Best Student Paper Award (one winner internationally); first place, 2009 ITE Great Lakes District Student Paper Competition (Great Lakes District includes Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and West Virginia); and the 2009 Ohio Transportation Consortium (OTC) Best Graduate Student Paper Award.

This UC research will help traffic engineers consider and test safety and traffic efficiency measures, including the positioning of sensors that time traffic lights.

And it just might help drivers consider their own actions when in the yellow light dilemma zone.

By: Wendy Beckman
Phone: (513) 556-1826

Video conferencing with family members enriches the lives of nursing home residents

Initiative could easily be replicated in other residential care settings

Nursing home residents who used videoconferencing to keep in touch with family members felt it enriched their lives, according to a study in the June issue of the Journal of Clinical Nursing.

Thirty-four residents from ten nursing homes took part in the study. The 18 women and 16 men had an average age of 75.

All of them said the experience enriched their lives, just under two-thirds said it was the second-best option to family visiting and a third said it gave them a true picture of family life.

"A trained research assistant helped the residents speak to their spouse, child or grandchild using SKYPE or MSN" explains co-author Professor Yun-Fang Tsai, Chair of the School of Nursing at Chang Gung University in Taiwan. "At the end of the three-month study period, all the participants took part in in-depth interviews."

The average videoconferencing session lasted just under 12 minutes. Twelve per cent took place daily, 47 per cent weekly, 23 per cent monthly and 18 per cent occasionally.

The residents were very positive about the experience. They said it gave them a chance to be part of family life, see relatives who had moved abroad and allay anxieties if relatives were unable to visit. Comments included:

• "It is a fun and helpful activity. Although it took me a little time to interact with my family I feel fabulous every time after talking with my son. Sometimes he plays a song I like on the violin, which he would never bring here. He also shared some photos with me, the pets in the house and so on."
• "My daughter-in-law owns a pet store. She always shows me what's new in her store, such as a new pet. It's really interesting."
• "If my family could come to visit me in person, that would be the best way since I can see them more clearly…But they are very busy and have no time to visit every day. This may sometimes replace their in-person visits."
• "My son lives in America and has his own business. He only has time to visit me once or twice a year. Via videoconference, I have the chance to see my son, grandson and so on."
• "I feel less anxiety. If my son does not visit some week I would not be anxious, worrying about the status of his family and clamouring to go home. This is better than the telephone for I can see the real thing. I wouldn't think my son is lying to me that everyone in the family is OK. I can see their rosy faces, which are very believable and real."
• "Since my son emigrated to America my grandson seldom comes back to Taiwan due to his school life. Via the videoconference programme I can see how tall he has become."

Some of the residents felt slightly anxious or self-conscious about using the equipment as they were unfamiliar with computers and found it strange to see their family on a screen rather than in person. Comments included:

• "When I first used the setup, it felt very strange to talk with a computer even though my son was on the other side."
• "Sometimes I have no idea what to say, but it is fine since I can see my children. That part is good."
• "I hope I can deal with my teeth. It would help me to say more. Otherwise my dental problems would interfere with my family understanding what I am saying."

"We were very pleased with the positive reactions this initiative received" says Professor Tsai. "In fact, the researchers often arrived to find the residents had been waiting for them for half an hour, keen to ensure they didn't miss their slot!

"It proved a simple way to enrich the lives of people in nursing homes and enable them to be part of family life. We would also be keen to see this expanded so that families could also become part of their relative's nursing home life.

"Residents needed some time to get used to the programme, and had to have help to use the equipment, but the benefits were considerable and could easily be replicated in a wide range of residential care settings."

Contact: Annette Whibley
wizard.media@virgin.net
Wiley-Blackwell

Direction and ideas for the blog

So now the site is back up and running in some form I would love to here some comments about design, types of posts etc.

Feel free to email me at info (at) scicornwall (dot) com - Remove the spaces and words etc and put the correct characters in there!

I am still looking for a new layout - something with a bit of class so that I can integrate fantastic imagery with a more professional look.

So yeh for those few that do hit the website comments are very welcome.

Virginity rates among students by major

Cool chart that shows the virginity rates among students at Wellesley College according to the student's major. I found some things particularly interesting:

1. 0% of students with 'studio arts' major are virgins

2. Virginity rates for Anthropology majors (20%) is much lower than virginity rates for Spanish, English and French majors (43%, 50% and 50% respectively)

3. This shows that the geekier subjects such as Mathamatics (83% virginity rates) dont get laid as much. To be fair this isnt much of a surprise but still makes me think life could have been alot worse if I made different choices at school!

Source: Counterpoint magazine at Wellesley College

Shyness negatively affects marital quality

Los Angeles, CA (May 18, 2010) Shyness can influence the quality of an ongoing relationship – even one as important as marriage – according to a study in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (published by SAGE).

A key question in psychology, and everyday life is the extent to which a person's personality determines the shape and quality of his or her social relationships. In two studies, the research explored the specific impact of shyness on marital quality.

In one of the studies, researchers Levi Baker and James K. McNulty found that shyness was linked both to more severe marital problems among newlyweds and to overall lower marital quality. Shyer people reported more problems with issues like trust, jealousy, money, and household management. In the second study, the researchers explicitly showed that it was prior shyness that was linked to marital difficulties later—even declines in marital satisfaction—and not early marital difficulties that were linked to later shyness.

The authors suggest that shyness makes it more difficult for people to enter into social relationships and, because shy people feel more social anxiety, they are less confident in dealing with the inevitable problems that marriage entails.

"There is hope even though shyness itself might be resistant to change," write the authors. "People can be taught to have more efficacy in how to resolve the specific marital problems they face. As a consequence, any marital difficulties prompted by personality can be prevented by explicit training on dealing with marital problems."

Contact: Jim Gilden
media.inquiries@sagepub.com
SAGE Publications