Tag: cognition

Many People Look at Many Other Looks at Other People Who May Have Been Drinking Coffee and Thinking

Marc Abrahams

The mystery of whether drinking coffee affects people’s minds is still mysterious, thanks to the results of a new, complex academic study of many old, complex academic studies: “Habitual coffee consumption and cognitive function: a Mendelian randomization meta-analysis in up to 415,530 participants,” Ang Zhou, Amy E. Taylor, Ville Karhunen, et al., Scientific Reports, epub […]

Science: Controlling Our Bladders Makes Us Better Liars

Mason Porter

According to a recent scientific study, we’re better at lying when we are also controlling our bladders. Investigators Elise Fenn, Iris Blandón-Gitlin, Jennifer Coons, Catherine Pineda, and Reinalyn Echon from Claremont Graduate University were studying the Inhibitory Spillover Effect (ISE), which “occurs when performance in one self-control task facilitates performance in another (simultaneously conducted) self-control task.” Deception […]

Musical taste and cognitive style, together at last

Marc Abrahams

Here’s a theory that’s complicated, so it must be true, maybe: “Musical Preferences are Linked to Cognitive Styles,” David M. Greenberg, Simon Baron-Cohen [pictured here],  David J. Stillwell, Michal Kosinski, Peter J. Rentfrow, PLoS ONE 10(7): e0131151. (Thanks to Neil Martin for bringing this to our attention.) The authors explain: “Why do we like the […]

Studies: “Interacting with Women Can Impair Men’s Cognitive Functioning”

Marc Abrahams

As discussed in this week’s podcast, some scholars believe that “Interacting with Women Can Impair Men’s Cognitive Functioning.” That is the title and theme of a Dutch study published in 2009. The study is: “Interacting with Women Can Impair Men’s Cognitive Functioning,” Johan C. Karremans, Thijs Verwijmeren, Tila M. Pronk, and Meyke Reitsma, Journal of […]