A new study found we prefer faces that look like our own, for those of the same sex as us, but not for the opposite sex (presumably this applies only to heterosexuals - or maybe not - interesting question). Previous research has indicated we tend to put more trust in those who look like us, too.

Synaesthesia is an interesting condition; in the most common form, numbers, letters andwords are perceived as having distinct colors. Previous research has estimated 1 in 2000 people have the condition; new research suggests the possibility that the possibility for synaesthesia exists in all of us.

The New York Times have an article on the deja vu experience, following the release of a new book on the subject.

And on a completely different subject, a new study suggests a person's perceived attractiveness is affected by the sound of their name - specifically, men labeled with names including “front vowels,” such as the “aaa” sound in Matt, were rated as more attractive than photos labeled with “back vowel” names, such as the “aw” sound in Paul. The opposite was true for women’s names.

Isn't the human mind a wonderful thing?

An interesting article in the Boston Globe about the cult of personality tests in the U.S. I think it puts the case quite well - there is value in some of these tests, but clearly they are used far beyond their limits - in situations where they're not meant to be applied, and most particularly, with a blind faith their inventors never intended. (Personally, I always treated them rather like "What does you star sign say about you" descriptions - with amusement, putting credence only in the bits I already believed).

Another interesting article in the Chronicle of Higher Education about the persistent myths of gender differences - not that I think anyone would deny that there ARE gender differences! (actually, I was convinced practically from the moment my son was born) but this whole "men are from Earth, women are from Venus" thing has probably been considerably overplayed - no doubt because it plays into our existing prejudices (hey, we all think the other sex is another species).

A recent study suggests TV viewing in very young children contributes to attention problems later in life, and blames the rise of TV programs specifically aimed at children on the concomitant rise in children diagnosed with ADHD. Actually, I think there's a whole raft of reasons for the rise (regular readers will be noticing a theme here: I seem to think most everything has multiple causes; but I'm afraid, much as we'd all like there to be simple answers, this is rarely true), but the idea that the rapid bombardment of images and sounds in these formative years may skew the development of the brain in a particular direction seems ... actually, rather obvious, when you think about it. One of the researchers, Jane Healy, wrote a book about this some time ago (Endangered Minds: Why our children don't think), and although it was written in 1990, it is in many ways even more frighteningly true today ( and reading it made me appreciate the many ways in which New Zealand education has advanced, even if I think it's far from perfect).