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Interesting. His quotes (as reported in this and other articles) make it seem like he's just referencing the existing ideas in popular culture about the metapho
by mahipal 16y ago
Interesting. His quotes (as reported in this and other articles) make it seem like he's just referencing the existing ideas in popular culture about the metaphor of hand-washing.
Regardless of his personal beliefs though, I'd assume that the study had standard double-blind procedures and only reported the result because it's statistically significant (especially considering that it's being published in Science).
- frossie 16y agoTheir control sample seems to have done something else entirely (like evaluated bottle designs or something). The correct control would have been something involving water but without the psychosocial overtones of hand washing - for example asking people to pull marbles out of a bowl of water. The reality is that "water play" is very soothing. Put an angry toddler in front of a sink full of warm sudsy water, and I don't think they are happy because they are channeling Lady Macbeth.