tag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-235155 2012-01-25T12:13:43-06:00 Cerebral Table Talk TypePad tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef0162fffbdfe1970d 2012-01-25T12:13:43-06:00 2012-01-25T18:08:22-06:00

On Halloween Day last year some of us got into a conversation about ghosts, first on the blog and later via e-mail. One thing led to another and three A.B authors (Sujatha, Dean and I) ended up reading an anthology...

Ruchira tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef01630008b65a970d 2012-01-24T07:23:25-06:00 2012-01-24T04:20:48-06:00

What do Zeno's paradoxes have to do with test reliability? The issue is the nature of reality – at least as far as test theory is concerned. Thinking of abstractions as reality is a problem for psychological test theory. It is very hard not to imbue them with reality, especially when they are very useful and 'feel' so obvious and true.

Norman Costa tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef0162ffcbb87d970d 2012-01-18T12:40:21-06:00 2012-01-18T13:20:47-06:00

Instrument maker Keith Hill responded to Elatia's query related to Prasad's recent post on violin sounds. It failed to appear in the comments section (TypePad!). I am publishing Hill's opinion as an independent post. Elatia, This is the third time...

Ruchira tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef0168e5aa0f03970c 2012-01-17T01:16:06-06:00 2012-01-17T01:15:04-06:00

"Validity is successful use for an intended purpose. Reliability is the expectation of validity based upon history of repeated use. Reliability is dependent upon validity. You cannot have a test that is reliable without it, first, being valid. For 100 years, psychological science got it backwards."

Norman Costa tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef0162ffa261e2970d 2012-01-15T18:00:50-06:00 2012-01-15T18:00:50-06:00

If you enjoy a good debunking, this one's a doozy. A scientist and contemporary violin maker conducted blind comparisons, getting professional violinists to try and choose among three old Cremonese violins, including two by Stradivari, (total value 10M) and three...

prasad tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef0167605d4eb0970b 2012-01-11T15:13:40-06:00 2012-01-11T15:13:40-06:00

Travel to tribal portions of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands is fairly restricted, and access to particular local tribes is (in theory) hard to accomplish. Rationales for isolating these peoples are probably varied - lack of disease resistance, the desire...

prasad tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef0162ff41c3d2970d 2012-01-08T23:58:14-06:00 2012-01-10T09:01:26-06:00

The recognition of psychology as a proper science was a major goal of the pioneers in experimental psychology, and in the study of individual differences. However, recognition from the more successful sciences was not forthcoming.

Norman Costa tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef0162ff119c36970d 2012-01-05T12:26:35-06:00 2012-01-05T12:26:35-06:00

As usual, being familiar with the living conditions in much of the Third World, I say that this makes a lot of sense.

Ruchira tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef0162fed9b7cf970d 2012-01-03T01:14:00-06:00 2012-01-03T01:14:00-06:00

“agli wari beyraja peya tey chHaDna nahin...” (the next time anarchy occurs; don’t miss your chance...) The dream of a violent and destructive “revolution” that will “sweep away this sorry scheme of things entire and remake it nearer to heart’s...

omar tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef01675fdc607c970b 2012-01-02T13:44:26-06:00 2012-01-02T13:45:17-06:00

Los Angeles just got a little less interesting. The landmark bookstore on Melrose has closed. According to the story, it may or may not reopen as a bricks-and-mortar operation. God forbid it only tries to keep virtually afloat. I've never...

Dean Rowan tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef01675fa44bba970b 2011-12-30T19:46:00-06:00 2012-01-03T09:14:13-06:00

The history of psychology has been a quest for scientific respectability. Few things have been as important as the development of mathematical argument for the science of psychology. Nothing has been more important for mathematical argument in psychology, than the correlation coefficient.

Norman Costa tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef0168e495b4b1970c 2011-12-29T02:53:18-06:00 2011-12-29T02:53:04-06:00

Can you name the creator of each of these 15 designs?

Norman Costa tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef0162fe9df2e4970d 2011-12-29T00:00:00-06:00 2011-12-29T00:00:00-06:00

Please excuse the lack of postings of late. Who knows when one of us will find the time to write something worth your attention. In the meantime, please amuse yourself with this little art project. A very happy New Year...

Ruchira tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef0162fe5c40aa970d 2011-12-24T17:45:23-06:00 2011-12-24T17:45:11-06:00

The real news was not the agreement on escorts and crossing guards, but a large sign put up by Cardinal George, in front of the Church.

Norman Costa tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef015438c783cd970c 2011-12-23T14:30:31-06:00 2011-12-24T14:29:38-06:00

So much for the concept of Gross National Happiness, a concept developed and promoted as an index of well-being by the Royal Government of Bhutan in 2005. While efforts to quantify it were widely publicized and discussed, nobody seemed to...

Sujatha tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef01675efe9e37970b 2011-12-19T11:19:23-06:00 2011-12-19T11:18:51-06:00

Here is the announcement of this year's winners of the 3 QD Politics & Social Science Prize. All three are excellent posts worth reading. Accidental Blogger had the privilege of being among the nine finalists and that to me personally,...

Ruchira tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef01675ef18b6f970b 2011-12-18T10:27:46-06:00 2011-12-18T10:27:46-06:00

Vaclav Havel wove theater into revolution, leading the charge to peacefully bring down communism in a regime he ridiculed as "Absurdistan" and proving the power of the people to overcome totalitarian rule.

Norman Costa tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef0162fddff4b9970d 2011-12-16T01:07:13-06:00 2011-12-16T01:07:13-06:00

"British author, literary critic and journalist Christopher Hitchens has died, aged 62, according to Vanity Fair magazine."

Norman Costa tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef01543847afb2970c 2011-12-14T05:56:52-06:00 2011-12-14T10:26:45-06:00

Swedish author Henning Mankell (of 'Wallander' fame) posits in the New York Times that better than calling our species Homo sapiens would be to call us Homo narrans, or Man the Storyteller. "It struck me as I listened to those...

Sujatha tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef01675eaa3de2970b 2011-12-13T00:19:56-06:00 2011-12-13T00:19:24-06:00

I found the poem so alluring....Each time I read it, I enjoyed it that much more, but...I was less and less certain of what Stevens was trying to do, to say, to get across. I think it is a religious poem,...Christian..., but he seems unsure about what he believes. No matter. I still enjoyed...it.

Norman Costa tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef0162fdb7b6ac970d 2011-12-12T13:04:24-06:00 2011-12-12T15:00:43-06:00

The A.B. entry in 3 QD's 2011 Politics & Social Science competition has been selected as one of the nine finalists. The three eventual winners will be judged by Professor Stephen M. Walt. It is an honor and a delight...

Ruchira tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef0154382ba026970c 2011-12-11T15:55:55-06:00 2011-12-11T15:55:27-06:00

Here is yet another little known segment of India's 20th - 21st century colonial and post colonial history. The emigration of a tiny Indian community from Kerala that began more than two decades before the India-Pakistan divide has now acquired...

Ruchira tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef0162fda5e899970d 2011-12-10T15:15:42-06:00 2011-12-10T15:15:42-06:00

The reactions of several columnists from nearly ten years ago, when the MSM met the upstart Blog. Some were prescient, others dismissive. Note William Safire's grudging acceptance that the "minor" phenomenon would at least enter the lexicon. In an upbeat...

Ruchira tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef0154381719d2970c 2011-12-10T06:16:56-06:00 2011-12-10T06:33:47-06:00

The motto below the cat picture, "He who dislikes the cat, was in his former life, a rat." seems no longer apt. We have been seriously maligning rats, who apparently show empathetic behavior and even a degree of altruism that...

Sujatha tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef015437f3ba17970c 2011-12-08T16:25:19-06:00 2011-12-08T22:21:16-06:00

Why do we give to charities or causes from which we expect nothing more tangible than the usual warm fuzzy satisfaction? There are sociological and now evo-biological explanations for our altruisms. Most of us give for simple reasons - compassion,...

Ruchira tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef0162fd8a2f40970d 2011-12-08T12:00:32-06:00 2011-12-08T13:21:59-06:00

Without additional commentary on the nature of the GOP presidential candidates, here is just one "idea" proposed by the current front runner Newt Gingrich whom some are calling the Newtron Bomb. It's a fact, because he has told us so,...

Ruchira tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef015437e60d11970c 2011-12-05T18:40:50-06:00 2011-12-05T20:15:59-06:00

For the non-believer, should a hint of religion in a poem, or even an obvious reference, detract from the appreciation of the poetry?

Norman Costa tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef015393f689a2970b 2011-12-03T13:07:06-06:00 2011-12-03T16:02:02-06:00

Elatia explains: The Warburg Method teaches us that devotional art is not only not always beautiful, but rarely beautiful -- because it is deeply coded and the untutored eye doesn't always get it. Is not intended to get it. This...

Ruchira tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef0162fd435ed9970d 2011-12-02T19:56:02-06:00 2011-12-02T19:56:02-06:00

Believe it or not there is a blog devoted entirely to this unusual subject. The comments accompanying the images may be on the juvenile side but the paintings are real. More than a decade ago, my sister and I suffered...

Ruchira tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c575d53ef015393b8a5e7970b 2011-11-28T19:33:13-06:00 2011-11-28T19:33:13-06:00

A documentary film about life on the streets and slums of my hometown Delhi, India.

Ruchira