how you feel is irrelevant.

I'm going to disclaim this post with the following:

These are my opinions. They aren't based on research that has been published by people who are experts in understanding attitudes or beliefs, or how those things change. This is my blog, and sometimes it features scientifically based assertions. This time it doesn't.

For those of you who don't know, I no longer have a Michigan driver's license. I had to switch (temporarily, of course!) to an Illinois license while I live my grad school life. The change wasn't too painful, although it does involve being reminded of the rules of the road ;) ...thus -- over the last week I've been working diligently through the modules of a driver's safety reminder course.

heeehee, remember these dummies from driver's ed?? Lots of them in these videos. You'd think with all the amazing things today's animators can accomplish, this is still all they will invest in driver's safety videos...

Overall the course was a good refresher. I remembered some stuff about spacing, and what to do in case of emergencies, and blah blah, everything else I haven't thought about since I was taking the test as a 17year old high schooler. I was also made aware of new rules that are IL specific (like the specifics about driving and phone use). Its always good to be reminded about the importance of good driving habits, and the consequences of being distracted by phones, passengers, food, and pets (they're talking about you, Gracie).

The modules were generally clear and logical, with lots of advice and tools for managing distractions, fatigue, and non-driver related aspects of travel (like road rage, road blocks, and emergencies).

There was one module where they failed: the drinking and driving module.

I think we all know that drunk driving is bad. No sane person will ever tell you that drunk driving is good, or even OK. But the problem lies in the definition. What IS drunk driving? If you're reading this, take a minute to think about the last time you went to a bar, and then used your own car to get home. It's an extremely common scenario: your friends want to go to happy hour. Before you know it, you're two in and people are starting to leave to go home. Are you ok? Is that even a relevant question? How can you be sure...

The DUI module went pretty much like this: one page showed you what the medical community (and center for disease control) considers a drink. Another shows you how many drinks you can have in about an hour period before you are considered legally impaired.
The rest of the module was entirely comprised of videos covering the very tragic story of a young man who, under the influence, killed a recent high school graduate in a horrific car accident. These videos were obscenely graphic, and NOT REENACTED. They were real videos. Already this is offensive to me, but I'll lay out a less emotional argument for why this is a terrible way to teach anyone about drinking and driving.

In the first place, the man that caused this life altering tragedy certainly caused it under the influence of alcohol. But to be specific, he caused it under the influence of a lot of alcohol. And cocaine. Already this situation is much different than the average working person after happy hour. Why is this a problem? Well, these sort of videos are meant for shock value. But many will look at this particular driver and situation and think "well, I have one or two, but I don't take other drugs. I'm never as drunk as he was when I drive, so this doesn't apply to me". Already, you've lost part of your audience. Furthermore, you've got a subset of people who aren't going to be easily convinced to change their behavior by being scared and intimidated by graphic videos.
If you really want to scare people, make the perpetrator someone they can relate to. What if the story was "I had a few beers and was feeling fine, but the slower reaction time turned out to be a real problem when I ran a red light...". Those are real situations that happen under the influence of a small amount of alcohol.

The second problem with the module is that it is not empowering. The information is virtually impossible to use in a productive manner for the following reasons:

First of all, the CDC defines a "drink" as 12 ounces of 5% alcohol content (light beer), 8 ounces of malt liquor (about 7%), 5 ounces of wine (about 12%), and 1.5 ounces of liquor (40%).
Excuse me, but when was the last time you watched your bartender pour your rum and coke, let alone check to see how much they're putting in? I can tell you the gin and tonics in DC at the ethiopian restaurant where we were eating had more than a shot of gin. I worked at a bar -- these serving sizes are garbage. But wait! It gets more confusing.

Secondly, everyone metabolizes alcohol differently. Generally, males metabolize alcohol faster than females, and heavier people metabolize alcohol faster than lighter people. But if that's the case, why is the general "average" time to metabolize one "drink" estimated to be 1 hour?? If there are gender and weight differences, should the average metabolism time change based on those factors? This leads me to my second point. How does the CDC reach this average? You can have a range of values from 1-100 and the average could be 50. You could also have a range of values from 40-60 and the average could also be 50. If I'm a light, female woman, it might take me a little longer than an hour to metabolize one drink. But how much longer? 15 minutes? 30? There is no way to tell, because we have no idea how they reached the average.

Finally, we're told to use our best judgement. The limit is .08. What does .08 feel like to you? Oh ..nothing. There is no internal biological limit-reaching point where something registers in your mind. There's no little judgment timer that starts ringing when it's safe to get behind the wheel. It's stupid advice. And since when is how someone "feels" a tried and true indication of internal mental function? We don't study reading comprehension by asking people how they "feel" reading works, that rarely tells us anything relevant to the process. We look at uncontrollable behaviors that have nothing to do with an individual's personal opinions about the process. The whole beautiful mystery of psychology is that people exhibit thought patterns and behaviors they have no idea are going on under the surface of awareness. That goes for reduced reaction time under drug influence too.

So think back to the question I asked earlier, and consider this scenario... It takes 2 drinks for a woman of 130 pounds to surpass the legal limit (in one hour). So 30 minutes after a beer, a woman who may or may not take more than 1 hour to metabolize the 10 ounces she (her bartender) considers 1 drink of wine she thinks has 12% alcohol content (it's 16%), finishes the drink, and gets into her car over the course of another 30 minutes. By this logic, the beer is "gone", and she's at "1 drink", putting her below legally impaired. Having followed all the module's rules, she gets pulled over for having a taillight out. She receives jail time and pays 10,000 dollars. She felt fine.

There are many reasons not to drink and drive. You can cost a person their life or general wellbeing. You can hurt yourself. You can damage property. But we can cause all of these things while texting, eating, applying makeup, and being emotionally distraught or fatigued. We have tips and tools for avoiding those things.
The real reason we should fear drunk driving is that NONE of us have the tools to manage it. We are not empowered to live in a society that condones the necessity of driving home from a bar. Instead, we're encouraged to fear consequences many of us believe will never apply to us.

The only answer is coke at happy hour. Because Driving buzzed is driving drunk. And how you 'feel' is irrelevant.

Eastern Adventures

As the semester came to a close this year, Eric and I found ourselves with a week of vacation time to ourselves.

Since we're usually confined to a weekend of time together, an entire week is rare. Naturally there was much debate over what we would do with an entire week. But we ultimately settled on a road trip to the south-east coast.

Our first stop was Washington DC, where we got to visit my Mom (just in time for mother's day!)

Eric and I took a trip to DC a couple of years ago, where we made a point to see every monument and museum we could in a single day. 

But there is so much more to DC than monuments, and this time we would be exploring a little more of DC's lifestyle. 

And that started with the Dupont Circle farmer's market... 

The farmer's market provides the Dupont neighborhood with local meat, dairy, and produce. The picture above is choosing which artisanal goat cheese we wanted on crackers later (talk about fancy -- the most I've EVER spent on a cracker spread).

After the farmer's market, we went on a walk around the national mall (only about a mile from Mom's apartment). We took a little break on the lawn. That shadow those people are sitting in to the right was from the Washington Monument.

One of the best parts of DC are the many completely free things to do there. Eric and I rode the metro all day to take a tour of the Capitol building, visit the Woodley Park Zoo, and experience the National Holocaust Museum. 

  

The first panda I've ever seen! They were enjoying the air conditioning as opposed to the outdoor humidity and 80+ degrees.

Favorite statue in the capitol building -- three important women in the history of women's rights in the US. The artist left part of the statue unfinished, to represent unfinished business and progress yet to be made regarding gender equality.

Another great thing about DC living is the food.
We decided to explore Georgetown and found ourselves ordering cupcakes at Sprinkles. These served as appetizers to dinner at a local Ethiopian restaurant, where we sat outside under giant umbrellas while it absolutely poured as the sun went down. Sitting outside, protected from the rain and enjoying fancy cocktails and new dishes made for a gorgeous night in Georgetown.

We also had time to hit up the National Botanical Gardens, and take mom out to dinner before the second leg of our journey.
Look how well rested we looked at church Sunday! ...That was all about to change.

Early Wednesday morning we woke up and packed the car to get on the road to North Carolina. The plan was to spend the second half of the week on the outer banks in Kill Devil Hills (what kind of name for a town is that??) A more recognizable local town is Kitty Hawk. Sound familiar? This was where Wilbur and Orville Wright first took flight.

The outer banks area (and Kitty Hawk in particular) are famous for wind sports, due to the predictably steady winds coming off the Atlantic Ocean. Kite boarding, paragliding, parasailing, hang gliding, and even just plane flying are all common pastimes on the outer banks, and naturally we wanted to be in on the fun.

Those people climbing up those dunes with what look like little sunfish sailboats are gliders. After clipping a harness under the glider, the pilot runs down the hill and into the wind. After a few steps, the wind fills the sails, and the glider takes flight, gently soaring down the dune about 6-10 feet over the sand.

Here's Eric taking off. The pilot brings their legs up by crossing their ankles. Controlling the glider involves small adjustments to the bar in the front. A lot of people make the mistake of griping the bar too much, but the less you hold onto it, the more control you end up having. By the end of the lesson, Eric and I were ready for a 2,000 foot flight! I guess we'll need to wait for next time.

We were both stoked to be staying on such a beautiful beach for the remainder of the week. And that our hotel was great. If you were wondering, the definition of great is the following: 1. complementary waffles 2.  pool and hot tub, and 3. great location.
This was the view from the hotel, and we were relieved to arrive here to sit in the sand and run around in the waves after being in the car all day.

We even got to watch pelicans and dolphins just off shore on the evening of our arrival.
It was a gorgeous area to be staying in.

We also LOVE seafood. But, as lobsters and crabs are in short supply in the midwest, we hardly ever get to enjoy (safe for VERY special occasions).

Naturally, being next to the ocean was like being a kid in a candy store. And the kid has been saving money for a while...and the candy is about a third of the price it usually is. And the candy was so fresh that it was alive 5 minutes before you ate it. This metaphor is breaking down, but you get the idea.

We didn't stop at soft-shell crabs. I also had my first "raw bar" experience with oysters on the half shell. Despite the nasty surprise of the terrible texture, I learned to love them (provided a large supply of cocktail sauce and lemon).
We enjoyed two days of flying, swimming, and exploring before finding out nightly seafood restaurant and thoroughly enjoyed spoiling ourselves. In no time, we were back in the car for the 15 hour drive back to Michigan.

I think we literally collapsed on the front door at Eric's parent's house on Friday night.
The next day we did nothing but lay on the couch and watch movies all morning. That night however, we were feeling more creative, (and still really excited about flying). Eric's dad allowed us to use his tools and expertise to build our own model hang glider to fly out the window.

It flew remarkably well the first couple of times, and if you're curious, there are Facebook videos. I for one, was pretty proud of our working knowledge of geometry (despite not having used it in YEARS). This little glider meant a lot of fun all evening spent with one of my favorite families :)

I already miss the coast...but now that we're back to the daily grind, I have new memories and maybe even a new hobby. I already can't wait to take flight again, and will be looking for the next opportunity soon!

Grant Update + everything else

So, I've spent the last 4 months being so busy -- I haven't had time to blog. The good news is that I have SO MUCH TO SHARE now that life has slowed to a more reasonable pace.

First things first: I got the grant!!!

of course as soon as I got it, all the time I had turned into major crunch time.
So I really buckled down and took about 6 weeks to write my full thesis proposal.

Which brings me to my second piece of news: I proposed my thesis!!!!
(SUCCESSFULLY!)

...which basically means I did this for 15 minutes...(the "how you're doing it" was a little belabored, but I'm not an expert yet.)

also now I can do it in 3 :)

This semester has been a lot different form every other semester I've ever had so far. I wasn't teaching, I was managing the largest number of research projects thus far (and the largest number of independent study students), and was only taking one class. I tailored this semester to be supportive for my thesis development, so I was grateful for those things.

However, it was also the most difficult semester I've ever had. For the first month and a half of the semester, I was reading and slowly working away at a proposal draft, which took long hours that I didn't really feel very accomplished at the end of...

But at the end of March, I woke up and realized I had 60 pages (1-sided, double spaced, 12 pt font) of theoretical backing and design for a study I actually really cared about! And soon I was on my way to the proposal, and before I knew it, I was collecting data.

This semester was my first taste of what it would be like to be a real "career researcher". I can confidently say that it changed me in the following ways:

1. I am WAY more organized than I have ever been. EVER.
Everything has a folder or a binder, and I know where said folder and binder are. ALL of my computer documents have a folder. I can find lab meeting notes from months ago, it's incredible.

conveniently this has also spilled over into financial organization and home organization. I truly know where everything is (and what I can stand to get rid of).

2. I have better time management

mostly because my google calendar looks like this. I schedule everything. The reminders are obnoxious, but it works.

3. I control my thoughts.... (as much as possible)

I know how weird this sounds. But when you're working on your own thing, with your own deadlines, intrusive and non-productive thoughts tend to creep in and occupy your mind (and lets be honest...scary unproductive thoughts are WAY more interesting than the linguistics paper that's using a whole part of the english language I was completely unaware existed up to this point).

Thoughts like "you're wasting your time reading this paper" "this idea sucks" "you can't understand what this article is about" "you should be better at doing this" and so on, made it their goal to disrupt my goals and ruin my day.
But I imagine every entrepreneur, artist, scientist, or other creative person experiences this at some point. I'm adding "doubt" to my list of things you can always count on (it's right up there with death and taxes).

the only way to get over this, is to ignore them and keep doing whatever you're doing (whether it ends up being a productive part of the process or not). There were a few dark moments this semester.

But.....

And after faithfully "watering" this idea, I can see it starting to bloom.

But the best part is that I get to leave this all behind next week, to go on a road trip with this guy!

 Pictures to follow!

Milestone Moment - First Grant App.

I've been holding in a secret for a couple of months now.

I applied for my first research grant!

ok, so maybe it's not a secret. But with all the crazy that has been keeping me from updating regularly, I haven't had a chance to document the newest milestone moment.

Grant applications provide an opportunity for researchers to propose experiments and projects (some long term with specific end goals, others simple pilot experiments that lead to more ideas and extensions) in order to get funding to fuel the project.

For me, this grant application provided the additional experience of crafting an idea into a tangible proposal that forced me to think not only about how my proposed project would be carried out, but how it was going to impact the field (and the real world). Luckily the application was calling for experiments like mine! So even though I will have some serious competition, it's nice to know that people care and have an interest in what I want to conduct research on.

Because...

Wish me luck!

The Power of Cheese

Over the Christmas break my mother directed my attention toward an issue of the “Food Network Magazine” (to which my Grandma subscribes) and I got a chance to use all the heard earned science-y knowledge that I’ve gained over the past couple years of psychological research.

If anyone subscribes to this magazine, you’ll remember the “cheese issue” (an unforgettable issue for anyone like myself who finds themselves in a love affair with cheese). Now I can get on board with a magazine issue devoted to cheese. The culinary attributes of this delicious food are too numerous to detail here. Indeed it takes an entire magazine to document all the wonders of what cheese can do for your meals. In my personal opinion, cheese makes just about everything better.

But what about the attributes of cheese that aren’t related to flavor, texture, or richness?

Are there health attributes of cheese?

The following claims are made in the Food Network’s Cheese Issue:

1 It MAY stop cancer.

A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that vitamin K₂ found in Gouda might help fend off cancer.

2 It MAKES you smarter.

Those who consumed dairy products daily scored higher on tests of mental ability, according to new University of Maine research.

3It SUPPORTS your heart.

Research published in Nutrition, Metabolism, & Cardiovascular Diseases shows pecorino romano may lower levels of inflammation.

  

I It MIGHT prevent diabetes.

In an American Journal of Clinical Nutrition study, people who ate 55 grams of cheese a day (about two slices) were less likely to get type 2 diabetes.

These are direct quotes from page 16 of the “all cheese” issue of the Food Network’s Magazine.

Where to begin?

Perhaps a good place to start is a short lesson in causality and the use of tentative language in science.

In grad school (or really, any time you intend on publishing something), an important skill to develop is using tentative language – this is the appropriate language one uses to describe different types of relationships in science. It refers to avoiding claims that are too strong for what the data actually imply.

The Food Network article does this for a few claims up there. It MIGHT prevent diabetes. It MAY stop cancer!

As we know, a “causal” relationship and a “correlative” relationship are quite different. The words denote separate concepts. Things that are correlated to one another are sometimes also causally related to one another, but just because two things are linked does not mean one assumed component of the relationship causes the other.

Of course, I’m referring to the second claim in the magazine.

“It MAKES you smarter!”

Does it? Well, maybe. Lets look at the evidence. Of course, to validate this claim you need CAUSAL (experimental) evidence that cheese actually causes better performance on a cognitive test of some sort. That means you will need defined groups individuals randomly selected to receive cheese or not and then test them using the same test of “mental ability” (cognition). And preferably include a proposed mechanism as for why cheese would improve cognitive ability.

Spoiler alert; the magazine predictably includes neither.

Instead, the evidence for the claim that cheese makes you smarter is supported by some University of Maine research (what kind, the world may never know, since the journal isn’t cited…come to think of it, we can’t even be sure that peer review was involved at all, as the citation of a journal would indicate that the work had been published, and the lack of one seems telling…)

Furthermore, the research finds simply that people who consumed dairy products score higher on tests of mental ability. Compared to who? Questions abound.

This statements smacks of correlation at best, and terrible research interpretation at worst (but who knows, there aren’t enough details here).

But I’m not really writing this to talk about correlation vs. causation. Because this isn’t an undergraduate research methods class. And for most of you, I’m sure I’m preaching to the choir.

I’m writing this, because frankly – I’m annoyed.

The claims made by Food Network in this particular article generally use tentative language. At the very least, they cite research that has been peer reviewed. All except that which implies benefits of cheese from a cognitive perspective. Apparently, claims about cognitive benefits don’t require peer reviewed research, or appropriate scientific language.

And the deeper problem with this is that being lazy about the language surrounding cognitive science undermines its credibility. After all, if there was a definable way to determine what actually impacts cognitive ability positively, the author of this article would be under more pressure to use tentative language (the way it is for cancer and diabetes). But there isn’t.

Except that there IS. We DO know what improves cognitive ability. There’s a whole field of science that looks at what sort of interventions impact cognitive ability. None of them to my knowledge involve cheese.

I haven’t read this research from the University of Maine. Who knows, maybe someone who loves cheese as much as I do devised a study where they randomly assigned people to eat cheese and then perform some sort of problem solving or comprehension task. But somehow, I sort of doubt it.

Cheese is great.

If you want to be smarter, read a book.