Interesting Articles: Feb 7th-13th 2006

Psychology, Science, Education, and Ethics: (all of these articles contain at least three of these four items!)
* Looking for the Lie (New York Times). A brief summary of lie detector technology followed by a (long) thoughtful exploration on the ethics and social implications of lying, the devices themselves, and what the world would be like if they worked.
* When Death Is on the Docket, the Moral Compass Wavers (New York Times). An exploration on how situational factors can change moral judgments.
* And for Perfect Attendance, Johnny Gets... a Car (New York Times). On giving rewards for various success metrics in school. Personally, I think these are likely to be bad ideas given the psychology research that expected rewards decrease intrinsic motivation. But I may be wrong, and small scale experimenting doesn't hurt much.
* Little Professor: Ants rank as first true animal teachers (Science News). A short study that explores not only animal learning but the definition of teaching and learning in general.

Misc:
* Low-Fat Diet Does Not Cut Health Risks, Study Finds (New York Times). hmmmm...
* Computer Analysis Suggests Paintings Are Not Pollocks (New York Times). Artificial Intelligence / computer graphics meets art history. Neat. Do you trust the analysis?