Can't say I'm too impressed with the quiz. The Liberty Science Center in New Jersey has a, perhaps more scientifically based, similar test. The link below does as well. Both of those have more seemingly useful questions than the New Scientist one. A good friend from the UK used to get that magazine while he was living in the US, and I used to really enjoy it. It lost a bit of its credibility in my eyes as soon as it published an article related to memory (my specialty) and I saw how poorly they covered it. I can only assume they give similar attention to the other fields.
http://www.beeson.org/livingto100/ Patrick ********************** Patrick O. Dolan, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of Psychology Drew University Madison, NJ 07940 973-408-3558 [EMAIL PROTECTED] ********************** ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stephen Black" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2002 9:39 AM Subject: Dishonest _New Scientist_ > The journal _New Scientist_ has an on-line promotion of something or > other. Win prizes, yada, yada. It caught my attention with what looks > like a cute on-line quiz to determine how long you have to live. > > I took the quiz under two conditions: first, truthfully, then > maximizing everything that I thought would shorten my life. Under the > happier condition, it told me I have 19 years to go; under the worst > case scenario, only 9 (and I'm wasting part of it by writing this > note). > > Cute, as I said, and since it was _New Scientist_ I expected that it > had some modest scientific validity. But then I noticed the > disclaimer, deviously hidden in small print and a colour that made it > blend into the background: > > "This quiz is intended for fun only.No scientific research has been > used to estimate the effects of the above factors on health and > results have no bearing on actual life expectancy". > > In other words, forget it. If anyone is still interested (could be > useful for a class exercise perhaps, with appropriate warning), it's > at: http://www.newscientist.com/competition/quiz.jsp > > But it's the small print that gets me. > > -Stephen > ______________________________________________________________ > Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. tel: (819) 822-9600 ext 2470 > Department of Psychology fax: (819) 822-9661 > Bishop's University e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Lennoxville, QC J1M 1Z7 > Canada > > Dept web page at http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy > TIPS discussion list for psychology teachers at > http://www.frostburg.edu/dept/psyc/southerly/tips > _________________________________________________________ > --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
