Today in the News of No Shit

Watching steamy sex scenes with your parents is not fun, so say researchers.

Reading Between the Lines

We are not so good at it -- at least the ability doesn't seem to improve with time or intimacy. There is a new study where people read lines that could have multiple interpretations ("What have you been up to?" could mean "Why are you late?" or "I'd like to know how you are," or a lot of other things.) The participants read the lines to their long-time spouses or to a couple they didn't know. The spouse and the strangers guessed what the meaning was behind the line. The strangers and the spouse guessed correctly at the same rate.

Now, there are lots of issues with a single study -- the scenarios were contrived blah blah blah -- but another piece of the puzzle is that the spouses thought they were more accurate than the strangers. They definitely weren't.

So, say what you mean, folks!

Careful, he might sit on you.

The New York Times reports on a recent article in Pediatrics, which suggests that obese and overweight children are more likely to be bullied compared to other children. This finding is consistent with what most people would expect. It is not, however, consistent with existing research. Although some studies have shown that fat kids are at increased risk for bullying, a lot of studies have failed to show any difference. What researchers typically find is that when heavy kids are teased, they are teased about their weight. The much more consistent finding regarding weight is that undersized children--particularly boys--are more likely to be the targets of bullying. If you look at the Pediatrics article in the context of the broader research literature, it starts to look like a Type 1 error--a fluke.