September 4, 2012

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ScienceSeeker Editor's Selections: Tipping, Chomsky, and Cartoon Psychiatry

By Jason G. Goldman

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This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American

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.

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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.

Jason G. Goldman is a science journalist based in Los Angeles. He has written about animal behavior, wildlife biology, conservation, and ecology for Scientific American, Los Angeles magazine, the Washington Post, the Guardian, the BBC, Conservation magazine, and elsewhere. He contributes to Scientific American's "60-Second Science" podcast, and is co-editor of Science Blogging: The Essential Guide (Yale University Press). He enjoys sharing his wildlife knowledge on television and on the radio, and often speaks to the public about wildlife and science communication.

More by Jason G. Goldman

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