Here is a great article to use in a methods course on research flaws. > >Now what's wrong with this study? >Women can spot a cad 'with one glance' >The Times of London >September 7 2000 >BY ALEXANDRA FREAN, SOCIAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT >HUMAN beings have an innate and highly reliable ability to recognise people >with irresponsible and risk-taking personalities just by glancing at their >faces, scientists have discovered. Researchers at the Universities of >Ulster and Nottingham Trent believe that this little-known faculty is >particularly useful for women because it enables them, in a fraction of a >second, to identify whether strangers are likely to make good fathers. The >dilemma for women in search of the ideal mate, however, is that the facial >differences between the "natural dad" and the "natural cad" are so subtle, >that they can be recognised only subconsciously. Anyone hoping for a handy >pocket guide to acceptable male faces will have to wait for further >research. Mark Shevlin of Magee College at the University of Ulster, said >his experiments had shown that people could identify a narrow, but highly >significant, range of personality traits from facial clues alone. Dr >Shevlin asked 60 volunteers to look at photographs of 36 strangers and rate >them from one to ten for each of the three main personality types - >extrovert, neurotic and psychotic. Presenting his findings at the British >Psychological Society's social psychology conference in Nottingham >yesterday, Dr Shevlin said: "We found that there was a strong association >between the ratings for psychoticism." There was no such correlation for >extroversion or neuroticism because the personality traits associated with >these types were less crucial in the process of natural selection, the >researchers concluded. Dr Shevlin and his colleagues believe that the >ability to recognise psychotic personality traits had probably become >"hardwired" or programmed into our brains as a strategy for avoiding >unsuitable mates. "The behavioural correlates of psychotism are criminal >activity, delinquency and drug taking. Someone who is high in "P" >(psychotism) is unlikely to make a substantial parental investment and >therefore less likely to be selected as a mate," he said. He speculated >that the ability to recognise psychoticism in the human face is most >developed in women in the phase of the menstrual cycle when they are most >likely to conceive. The puzzle remains, however, as to precisely what >facial features indicate a psychotic personality. The physical differences >between those with and without psychotic personality traits were so subtle, >according to Dr Shevlin, that it was impossible to spot them with the naked >eye. The researchers are planning further study. _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com.
