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March 15 2012
NCBI ROFL: Want to forge a signature in Arabic? Better ask a woman.
The influence of gender on ability to simulate handwritten signatures: a study of Arabic writers.
“This study investigates whether a writer’s gender can be determined from an inspection of simulated signatures written in the Arabic alphabet or Arabic abjad. It is generally believed that the penmanship of female writers is superior to male writers. There is also reason to expect that superiority in writing skill might contribute to success in simulating the signatures of other writers. Simulated signatures produced by a large population of male (414) and female (312) Arabic writers were graded, and the results were statistically analyzed. Women were found to have a marginal advantage simulating all elements of the signatures, but there was no statistically significant difference between the genders on any of the elements examined.”
Related content:
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: Consequences of erudite vernacular utilized irrespective of necessity: problems with using long words needlessly.
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: How to improve your human random number generator.
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: Gross gods and icky atheism: Disgust responses to rejected religious beliefs.
WTF is NCBI ROFL? Read our FAQ!
February 23 2012
NCBI ROFL: Triple feature: Do the mystical healing powers of pyramids apply to rats?
Effect of housing rats within a pyramid on stress parameters.
“The Giza pyramids of Egypt have been the subject of much research. Pyramid models with the same base to height ratio as of the Great Pyramid of Giza, when aligned on a true north-south axis, are believed to generate, transform and transmit energy. Research done with such pyramid models has shown that they induced greater relaxation in human subjects, promoted better wound healing in rats and afforded protection against stress-induced neurodegnerative changes in mice. The present study was done to assess the effects of housing Wistar rats within the pyramid on the status of oxidative damage and antioxidant defense in their erythrocytes and cortisol levels in their plasma. Rats were housed in cages under standard laboratory conditions. Cages were left in the open (normal control), under a wooden pyramid model (experimental rats) or in a cubical box of comparable dimensions (6 hr/day for 14 days). Erythrocyte malondialdehyde and plasma cortisol levels were significantly decreased in rats kept within the pyramid as compared to the normal control and those within the square box. Erythrocyte reduced glutathione levels, erythrocyte glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase activities were significantly ...
February 18 2012
NCBI ROFL: Sexualization of the female foot as a response to sexually transmitted epidemics: a preliminary study.
“The authors reviewed historical literature and hypothesized a relationship between epidemics of sexually transmitted diseases and foot fetishism. They tested this hypothesis by quantifying foot-fetish depictions in the mass-circulation pornographic literature during a 30-yr. interval. An exponential increase was noted during the period of the current AIDS epidemic. The authors offer reasons for this possible relationship.”
Bonus excerpts from the main text:
Introduction
“During the current millenium, there have been four major epidemics of sexually transmitted disease as noted by contemporaries. In the Western World there was an apparent gonorrhea epidemic in the Thirteenth Century, syphilis epidemics in the Sixteenth and Nineteenth Centuries, and AIDS in the current century (Moodle, 1923; Long, 1929; Bayon, 1990). During each of those periods there seemed to emerge a sexual focus on the female foot. This focus apparently coincided with each of the first three epidemics and disappeared with the epidemic’s subsidence, usually after 30-60 years (Mc- Kmney, 1965; Windle, 1992). This focus on feet was unique to each of these epidemic periods. During all other periods, eroticism was attached to breasts, buttocks, and thighs. Biblical, Egyptian, and Classical art and literature focused on these ...
February 10 2012
NCBI ROFL: Suicide and homicide and fluoride.
Age-adjusted rates of suicide and homicide and fluoride.
“Using state data from 1992 and 2000 instead of 1975, the author both confirmed and extended Lester’s 1987 study. Like Lester’s study, the present replication showed for 1992 (but not 2000) that the more people drinking fluoridated water, the lower the rates of crude and age-adjusted suicide (partial rs: -.25 and -.25, respectively). Crude and age-adjusted rates of homicide in 1992 and 2000 did not change with the fluoridation of public water. Effective interpretation requires more study.”
Photo: flickr/rockmixer
Related content:
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: National anthems and suicide rates.
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: What’s in a name? Part I: U.G.H. you’re going to D.I.E.
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: CEOs with wider faces have wider profit margins.
NCBI ROFL. Real Articles. Funny Subjects.
Read our FAQ!
November 18 2011
NCBI ROFL: Nintendo Wii video-gaming ability predicts laparoscopic skill.
“BACKGROUND: Studies using conventional consoles have suggested a possible link between video-gaming and laparoscopic skill. The authors hypothesized that the Nintendo Wii, with its motion-sensing interface, would provide a better model for laparoscopic tasks. This study investigated the relationship between Nintendo Wii skill, prior gaming experience, and laparoscopic skill. METHODS: In this study, 20 participants who had minimal experience with either laparoscopic surgery or Nintendo Wii performed three tasks on a Webcam-based laparoscopic simulator and were assessed on three games on the Wii. The participants completed a questionnaire assessing prior gaming experience. RESULTS: The score for each of the three Wii games correlated positively with the laparoscopic score (r = 0.78, 0.63, 0.77; P < 0.001), as did the combined Wii score (r = 0.82; P < 0.001). The participants in the top tertile of Wii performance scored 60.3% higher on the laparoscopic tasks than those in the bottom tertile (P < 0.01). Partial correlation analysis with control for the effect of prior gaming experience showed a significant positive correlation between the Wii score and the laparoscopic score (r = 0.713; P < 0.001). Prior gaming experience also correlated positively with the laparoscopic score ...
November 17 2011
NCBI ROFL: CEOs with wider faces have wider profit margins.
A Face Only an Investor Could Love: CEOs’ Facial Structure Predicts Their Firms’ Financial Performance.
“Researchers have theorized that innate personal traits are related to leadership success. Although links between psychological characteristics and leadership success have been well established, research has yet to identify any objective physical traits of leaders that predict organizational performance. In the research reported here, we identified leaders’ facial structure as a specific physical trait that correlates with organizational performance. Specifically, we found that firms whose male CEOs have wider faces (relative to facial height) achieve superior financial performance. Decision-making dynamics within a firm’s leadership team moderate this effect, such that the relationship between a given CEO’s facial measurements and his firm’s financial performance is stronger in firms with cognitively simple leadership teams.”
Photo: Flickr/Walmart Stores
Related content:
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: The teddy-bear effect: does having a baby face benefit black chief executive officers?
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: The politically incorrect nose job.
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: Social perceptions of individuals missing upper front teeth.
WTF is NCBI ROFL? Read our FAQ!
October 31 2011
NCBI ROFL: Are skinny people more afraid of ghosts?
Paranormal belief, schizotypy, and Body Mass Index.
“There are indications that subjects with schizotypal personality have a lower Body Mass Index. Also schizotypal personality is linked to a higher incidence of paranormal belief. In this study we examined whether low Body Mass Index is also linked to paranormal belief. In a pilot study 48 students of psychology (85.4% women) between the ages of 20 and 27 years were administered a questionnaire assessing weight, height, and paranormal belief. Analysis suggested an association between belief in paranormal phenomena and low Body Mass Index. In a follow-up study with 300 subjects and equal sex distribution, the relationship was examined under control of schizotypy. The results for Body Mass Index could not be confirmed; however, paranormal belief was heavily associated with the cognitive-perceptual component of schizotypy.”
Photo: Flickr/`David
Related content:
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: The case of the haunted scrotum.
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: This paper is ghastly.
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: Exorcism-resistant ghost possession treated with clopenthixol.
WTF is NCBI ROFL? Read our FAQ!
October 26 2011
NCBI ROFL: How to make pooping babies more appealing.
When Pooping Babies Become More Appealing: The Effects of Nonconscious Goal Pursuit on Experienced Emotions.
“In this report, we argue that the intensity of the emotions people experience is partly determined by the goals they nonconsciously pursue, and that this effect is functional in nature: Emotions are modulated in ways that may increase the probability of goal achievement. To test this hypothesis, we primed female participants with a motherhood goal and then measured their level of disgust in response to mildly disgusting pictures. Priming led to a reduction of disgust in response to goal-relevant stimuli (e.g., pictures of babies with runny noses) but not goal-irrelevant stimuli. This effect was moderated by the women’s probability of conception, a proxy of their ability to pursue the motherhood goal.”
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Photo: Flickr/nateOne
Related content:
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: Get this baby out of me!
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: When life gives babies lemons, they make cute faces.
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: Finally, science brings you…the baby poop predictor (with alarm)!
WTF is NCBI ROFL? Read our FAQ!
October 14 2011
NCBI ROFL: Smells like safe sex: olfactory pathogen primes increase intentions to use condoms.
“Introduction: When ecological cues for pathogen threat are salient, cognitive and motivational systems appear to encourage myriad pathogen-avoidance behaviors (Ackerman et al., 2009; Faulkner, Schaller, Park, & Duncan, 2004; Mortensen, Becker, Ackerman, Neuberg, & Kenrick, 2010). Operating from the presumption that fundamental motivations to avoid pathogens can influence prophylactic behaviors, we aimed to test a novel hypothesis related to condom use: that ecological cues for the presence of pathogens would increase intentions to use condoms…
Method: At the beginning of the experimental session, an experimenter informed participants that pipes in the building were sporadically emitting unpleasant odors because of plumbing issues. Participants were then asked to leave the study room to drink at a nearby water fountain in preparation for providing a saliva sample. After returning, they completed a series of questionnaires on a laptop. … In the pathogen-prime condition, while participants were out of the room, the experimenter sprayed the wall of the room with a single pump of “Liquid ASS,” a novelty odor liquid that smells strongly of common bacterial threats (e.g., feces). In the control condition, the experimenter did not administer the spray. After returning from getting water, participants reported their intentions to purchase and use condoms over the next 6 months. Participants were asked to use a scale from 1 (not at all likely) to 7 (extremely likely) to rate the likelihood of their buying condoms, carrying condoms, discussing condoms with a sex partner, and using condoms during every event of sexual intercourse….
Results: An independent-samples t test demonstrated that participants in the pathogen-prime condition reported greater intentions to use condoms (M = 4.48, SD = 1.70) than did participants in the control condition (M = 3.74, SD = 1.85), t(97) = 2.06, p < .05, d = 0.42. The effect was identical across individuals who had and had not had sexual intercourse in the past year, F(1, 95) = 0.13, p = .72, and persisted after controlling for gender, SOI-R, and baseline condom attitudes, norms, and self-efficacy, t(92) = 2.03, p < .05, semipartial r = .17 (see Table 1).”
Photo: flickr/gotosira
Related content:
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: Disgusting smells cause decreased liking of gay men.
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: Smelly Week: The science of “the stinkface”.
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: I’m a lumberjack, and I’m OK, I smell like pine and get chicks all day!
WTF is NCBI ROFL? Read our FAQ!
October 07 2011
NCBI ROFL: Kin affiliation across the ovulatory cycle: females avoid fathers when fertile.
“A commonplace observation in humans is that close genetic relatives tend to avoid one another as sexual partners. Despite the growing psychological research on how antierotic attitudes develop toward relatives, few studies have focused on actual behavior. One prediction, stemming from parental investment theory, is that women should be more vigilant of reproduction-compromising behaviors, such as inbreeding, during times of peak fertility than during times of low fertility. Indeed, females of other species avoid interactions with male kin when fertile-but the corollary behavior in humans has yet to be explored. Here we fill this gap. Using duration and frequency of cell-phone calls, an objective behavioral measure that reflects motivations to interact socially, we show that women selectively avoid interactions with their fathers during peak fertility. Avoidance specifically targeted fathers, which rules out alternative explanations. These data suggest that psychological mechanisms underlying mating psychology regulate sexual avoidance behaviors, and in women they fluctuate according to fertility status.”
Photo: flickr/access.denied
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Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: Women’s gaydar improves during ovulation.
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: Uh, no. Aunt Flo means no ho, bro!
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: Ovulatory cycle effects on tip earnings by lap dancers: economic evidence for human estrus?
WTF is NCBI ROFL? Read our FAQ!
October 03 2011
NCBI ROFL: Dirty liberals! Reminders of physical cleanliness influence moral and political attitudes.
“Many moral codes place a special emphasis on bodily purity, and manipulations that directly target bodily purity have been shown to influence a variety of moral judgments. Across two studies, we demonstrated that reminders of physical purity influence specific moral judgments regarding behaviors in the sexual domain as well as broad political attitudes. In Study 1, individuals in a public setting who were given a reminder of physical cleansing reported being more politically conservative than did individuals who were not given such a reminder. In Study 2, individuals reminded of physical cleansing in the laboratory demonstrated harsher moral judgments toward violations of sexual purity and were more likely to report being politically conservative than control participants. Together, these experiments provide further evidence of a deep link between physical purity and moral judgment, and they offer preliminary evidence that manipulations of physical purity can influence general (and putatively stable) political attitudes.”
Photo: flickr/lucyfrench123
Related content:
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: How dark is Obama’s skin? Depends on whether you voted for him.
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: A solution to the debt deadlock?
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: Election week flashback: Democrats and Republicans can be differentiated from their faces.
WTF is NCBI ROFL? Read our FAQ!
September 26 2011
NCBI ROFL: Science discovers ideal mortician phone number is 1-800-CORPSES.
I 5683 you: dialing phone numbers on cell phones activates key-concordant concepts.
“When people perform actions, effects associated with the actions are activated mentally, even if those effects are not apparent. This study tested whether sequences of simulations of virtual action effects can be integrated into a meaning of their own. Cell phones were used to test this hypothesis because pressing a key on a phone is habitually associated with both digits (dialing numbers) and letters (typing text messages). In Experiment 1, dialing digit sequences induced the meaning of words that share the same key sequence (e.g., 5683, LOVE). This occurred even though the letters were not labeled on the keypad, and participants were not aware of the digit-letter correspondences. In Experiment 2, subjects preferred dialing numbers implying positive words (e.g., 37326, DREAM) over dialing numbers implying negative words (e.g., 75463, SLIME). In Experiment 3, subjects preferred companies with phone numbers implying a company-related word (e.g., LOVE for a dating agency, CORPSE for a mortician) compared with companies with phone numbers implying a company-unrelated word.”
Photo: flickr/msciba
Related content:
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: f u cn read dis it means ur gud @ sp.
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: OMG uv got chlamydia, srsly.
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: OMG! ur cell phone is mkng u impotent.
WTF is NCBI ROFL? Read our FAQ!
September 01 2011
NCBI ROFL: Canine analogs of human personality factors.
“Analysis of the behavioral traits of 56 breeds of dog produced three factors with some similarities to the popular five-factor model of human personality: (a) reactivity–surgency, (b) aggression–disagreeableness, and (c) trainability–openness. Canine and human personality similarities are argued to have their origin in biogenetic factors stemming from common evolutionary sources and from canine breeding for human compatibility and assistance with human tasks. Each of the three canine factors was shown to have a highly visible morphological indicator between breeds of dog. Reactivity–surgency was related to overall size, aggression–disagreeableness was related to having pointed ears, and trainability–openness was related to the ponderal index [Ed. note: this is similar to body-mass index].”
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Photo: flickr/matt512
Related content:
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: How the hell does one end up as a doggy breath odor judge?
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: Human left-sided cradling preferences for dogs.
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: Behavioural responses of dogs to asymmetrical tail wagging of a robotic dog replica.
WTF is NCBI ROFL? Read our FAQ!
August 22 2011
NCBI ROFL: Unhappy yearbook photos herald crappier lives.
Expressions of positive emotion in women’s college yearbook pictures and their relationship to personality and life outcomes across adulthood.
“To test hypotheses about positive emotion, the authors examined the relationship of positive emotional expression in women’s college pictures to personality, observer ratings, and life outcomes. Consistent with the notion that positive emotions help build personal resources, positive emotional expression correlated with the self-reported personality traits of affiliation, competence, and low negative emotionality across adulthood and predicted changes in competence and negative emotionality. Observers rated women displaying more positive emotion more favorably on several personality dimensions and expected interactions with them to be more rewarding; thus, demonstrating the beneficial social consequences of positive emotions. Finally, positive emotional expression predicted favorable outcomes in marriage and personal well-being up to 30 years later. Controlling for physical attractiveness and social desirability had little impact on these findings.”
Photo: Awkward School Pictures
Related content:
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: Italian supermodels are hot. Romans with big noses are not.
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: Get angry. Get noticed.
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: Smile intensity of baseball players in photographs ...
August 10 2011
NCBI ROFL: The Big, the Bad, and the Boozed-Up.
It’s booze week on NCBI ROFL! All this week we’ll be featuring articles about ethanol, ethyl alcohol, and even CH3CH2OH. Enjoy!
The Big, the Bad, and the Boozed-Up: Weight Moderates the Effect of Alcohol on Aggression.
“Most people avoid the “big, drunk guy” in bars because they don’t want to get assaulted. Is this stereotype supported by empirical evidence? Unfortunately, no scientific work has investigated this topic. Based on the recalibrational theory of anger and embodied cognition theory, we predicted that heavier men would behave the most aggressively when intoxicated. In two independent experiments (Ns= 553 and 327, respectively), participants consumed either alcohol or placebo beverages and then completed an aggression task in which they could administer painful electric shocks to a fictitious opponent. Both experiments showed that weight interacted with alcohol and gender to predict the highest amount of aggression among intoxicated heavy men. The results suggest that an embodied cognition approach is useful in understanding intoxicated aggression. Apparently there is a kernel of truth in the stereotype of the “big, drunk, aggressive guy.”"
Photo: flickr/ peretzp
Related content:
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: Surprise! ...
July 22 2011
NCBI ROFL: When it comes to penis length and economic growth, size does matter.
Male organ and economic growth: does size matter?
“This paper explores the link between economic development and penile length between 1960 and 1985. It estimates an augmented Solow model utilizing the Mankiw-Romer-Weil 121 country dataset. The size of male organ is found to have an inverse U-shaped relationship with the level of GDP in 1985. It can alone explain over 15% of the variation in GDP. The GDP maximizing size is around 13.5 centimetres, and a collapse in economic development is identified as the size of male organ exceeds 16 centimetres. Economic growth between 1960 and 1985 is negatively associated with the size of male organ, and it alone explains 20% of the variation in GDP growth. With due reservations it is also found to be more important determinant of GDP growth than country’s political regime type. Controlling for male organ slows convergence and mitigates the negative effect of population growth on economic development slightly. Although all evidence is suggestive at this stage, the `male organ hypothesis’ put forward here is robust to exhaustive set of controls and rests on surprisingly strong correlation”
Bonus quotes from the main text:
“Only stylized explanations ...
June 29 2011
NCBI ROFL: What does a generic Mormon look like? The answer probably won’t surprise you…
On the perception of religious group membership from faces.
“BACKROUND:
The study of social categorization has largely been confined to examining groups distinguished by perceptually obvious cues. Yet many ecologically important group distinctions are less clear, permitting insights into the general processes involved in person perception. Although religious group membership is thought to be perceptually ambiguous, folk beliefs suggest that Mormons and non-Mormons can be categorized from their appearance. We tested whether Mormons could be distinguished from non-Mormons and investigated the basis for this effect to gain insight to how subtle perceptual cues can support complex social categorizations.
METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:
Participants categorized Mormons’ and non-Mormons’ faces or facial features according to their group membership. Individuals could distinguish between the two groups significantly better than chance guessing from their full faces and faces without hair, with eyes and mouth covered, without outer face shape, and inverted 180°; but not from isolated features (i.e., eyes, nose, or mouth). Perceivers’ estimations of their accuracy did not match their actual accuracy. Exploration of the remaining features showed that Mormons and non-Mormons significantly differed in perceived health and that these perceptions were related to perceptions ...
June 28 2011
NCBI ROFL: What your lips reveal about your orgasms.
Vaginal orgasm is more prevalent among women with a prominent tubercle of the upper lip.
“Introduction. Recent studies have uncovered multiple markers of vaginal orgasm history (unblocked pelvic movement during walking, less use of immature psychological defense mechanisms, greater urethrovaginal space). Other markers (perhaps of prenatal origin) even without obvious mechanistic roles in vaginal orgasm might exist, and a clinical observation led to the novel hypothesis that a prominent tubercle of the upper lip is such a marker. Aims. To examine the hypothesis that a prominent tubercle of the upper lip is associated specifically with greater likelihood of experiencing vaginal orgasm (orgasm elicited by penile-vaginal intercourse [PVI] without concurrent masturbation). Methods. Women (N = 258, predominantly Scottish) completed an online survey reporting their frequencies of various sexual activities and corresponding orgasms, age, and the prominence of the tubercle of their upper lip. Social desirability response bias was also assessed. Main Outcome Measures. Multivariate associations of lip tubercle prominence with vaginal orgasm (ever and past month consistency) and with orgasm by other means. Results. A prominent and sharply raised lip tubercle was associated with greater odds (odds ratio = 12.3) of ever having a vaginal orgasm, ...
June 20 2011
NCBI ROFL: What can 2,914 Australian twins tell us about the evolution of the female orgasm?
Female Orgasm Rates are Largely Independent of Other Traits: Implications for “Female Orgasmic Disorder” and Evolutionary Theories of Orgasm.
“Introduction. The criteria for “female orgasmic disorder” (FOD) assume that low rates of orgasm are dysfunctional, implying that high rates are functional. Evolutionary theories about the function of female orgasm predict correlations of orgasm rates with sexual attitudes and behavior and other fitness-related traits. Aim. To test hypothesized evolutionary functions of the female orgasm. Methods. We examined such correlations in a community sample of 2,914 adult female Australian twins who reported their orgasm rates during masturbation, intercourse, and other sexual activities, and who completed demographic, personality, and sexuality questionnaires. Main Outcome Measures. Orgasm rates during intercourse, other sex, and masturbation. Results. Although orgasm rates showed high variance across women and substantial heritability, they were largely phenotypically and genetically independent of other important traits. We found zero to weak phenotypic correlations between all three orgasm rates and all other 19 traits examined, including occupational status, social class, educational attainment, extraversion, neuroticism, psychoticism, impulsiveness, childhood illness, maternal pregnancy stress, marital status, political liberalism, restrictive attitudes toward sex, libido, lifetime number ...
June 09 2011
NCBI ROFL: Amusing titles in scientific journals and article citation.
“The present study examines whether the use of humor in scientific article titles is associated with the number of citations an article receives. Four judges rated the degree of amusement and pleasantness of titles of articles published over 10 years (from 1985 to 1994) in two of the most prestigious journals in psychology, Psychological Bulletin and Psychological Review. We then examined the association between the levels of amusement and pleasantness and the article’s monthly citation average.
The results show that, while the pleasantness rating was weakly associated with the number of citations, articles with highly amusing titles (2 standard deviations above average) received fewer citations. The negative association between amusing titles and subsequent citations cannot be attributed to differences in the title length and pleasantness, number of authors, year of publication, and article type (regular article vs comment). These findings are discussed in the context of the importance of titles for signalling an article’s content.”
Bonus excerpt from the full text:
“Examples of Top Amusing titles that were also in the Top Pleasant titles group include: ‘Beware of a half-tailed test’, and ‘The unicorn, the normal curve, and other improbable creatures’. An example of ...
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