Liberals recall more of their dreams than conservatives do, according to a survey of nearly 3,000 demographically diverse Americans.
The participants were asked how often they remembered their dreams—including nightmares—and what they tended to dream about. Answers from self-described moderates and libertarians were ignored, leaving 802 liberals and 1,335 conservatives.
On every one of the questions, liberals reported stronger dream memories than conservatives. Among liberals, 73% reported remembering their dreams "often," compared with 64% of conservatives, and 65% of the liberals said their dreams seemed "just like waking life," while only 56.5% of conservatives agreed.
Also, 61% of liberals said they'd been chased in their dreams (perhaps by Glenn Beck?), compared with 47% of conservatives. The gap between liberal and conservative men was bigger than between the female groups, though both sexes showed the same general patterns.
"Dream Recall and Political Ideology: Results of a Demographic Survey," Kelly Bulkeley, Dreaming (March)
Gambling Risk at Age 3
A single 90-minute observation of 3-year-olds pointed toward their risk of becoming problem gamblers almost three decades later.
The study analyzed data from roughly 1,000 children born in 1972 or 1973, in Dunedin, New Zealand. At age 3, the children were observed and classified into five temperament groups: undercontrolled (more restless, willful and impulsive), inhibited, confident, reserved (i.e., shy) and well-adjusted.
At ages 21 and 32, study participants were contacted again and answered questions including some about gambling problems: For example, had they ever fought with family members over their own gambling? People in the "uncontrolled" group were more than twice as likely as the well-adjusted group to report unhealthy gambling habits. No other temperament group showed elevated risk.
"Undercontrolled Temperament at Age 3 Predicts Disordered Gambling at Age 32: A Longitudinal Study of a Complete Birth Cohort," Wendy S. Slutske and four other authors, Psychological Science (forthcoming)
Juicing Up Our Brains
The odds of an ordinary person solving the "nine-dot problem" are near zero. The brainteaser starts with three rows of three dots, forming what looks like a box. The assignment: to link those dots using only four straight lines, without lifting the pencil from the paper.
The crucial insight is to notice that there's no reason the lines can't extend beyond the square. (Think outside the box!) When researchers electrically heightened activity in the right hemispheres of the brains of 33 ordinary people, while damping activity in the left, 14 of them were suddenly able to solve the puzzle. None of the people who received a sham stimulation, a placebo, solved the problem.
The electrical stimulation let people see the problem more like a computer, the researchers suggested. Since such stimulation appears to be harmless, it might be useful for situations when it pays to think like a savant—say, in physics or cryptography.
"Brain Stimulation Enables the Solution of an Inherently Difficult Problem," Richard P. Chi and Allan W. Snyder, Neuroscience Letters (forthcoming)
On With the Wind
Two research scientists have created an animated map of wind patterns across the continental U.S. that changes with hourly forecasts.
The Web-based map (hint.fm/wind) taps into a National Weather Service database that provides wind forecasts for roughly every two square miles in the U.S. Against a black background that's free of state boundaries or geographic detail, delicate white lines representing wind move across the land—they swirl, collide, cascade, subside. Viewers checking out the map in its first week online could see ominous whorls in Texas; soon after that, tornadoes struck there. The creators of the map work for Google's Big Picture visualization-research group.