Here are my Science Seeker Editor's Selections for the past week:
"Using data on tipping behaviour in 32 countries (collected from The International Guide to Tipping) and comparing this against the Corruption Perception Index, the researchers found that rates of corruption are higher in countries that tip more." What could explain this curious correlation? Christian Jarrett explains at BPS Research Digest.
"As someone who works on child language disorders, I have tried many times to read Chomsky in order to appreciate the insights that he is so often credited with. I regret to say that, over the years, I have come to the conclusion that, far from enhancing our understanding of language acquisition, his ideas have led to stagnation, as linguists have gone through increasingly uncomfortable contortions to relate facts about children’s language to his theories." At BishopBlog, Dorothy Bishop discusses some of the problems with taking a Chomskyan perspective of language learning.
Recently, Janet Stemwedel of Doing Good Science discovered that Wikipedia editors had diagnosed cartoon character Beavis according to the DSM. She writes, "I’m definitely uncomfortable that this fictional character has a psychiatric classification thrust upon him so easily — though at least, as a fictional character, he doesn’t have to deal with any actual stigma associated with such a psychiatric classification." Read more: Wikipedia, the DSM, and Beavis.
