Ape Girl

Sex, evolution, and birth order.

by Catherine Salmon, Ph.D.

Responsibility And Consequences: Where Did We Go Wrong?

I feel like a total curmudgeon, writing about kids today, university students in particular. Oh, I've often complained along with some of my colleagues about the lack of responsibility kids seem to take for their university education. Too often they seem to want a good grade, but aren't much concerned with whether they're actually learning anything. Read More

So If There’s Parental Favoritism, What About Grandparental Favoritism?

There's been a lot of attention paid lately to parental favoritism and what factors might influence who of a set of siblings is the favorite (if there is one). Read More

Redirected Aggression: Retaliation and the TSA

How often are TSA “pat-downs” about redirected aggression and retaliation rather than air safety and will it cause more payback down the line? Read More

What is it about our pets and do they really look like us?

So I've been thinking a lot about pets lately, spurred partly by the advanced age of mine but also by some book chapters that I've read in the last couple weeks. Read More

What's Your "Real" Birth Order?

Most of the time, when people talk about birth order they are, they think it's self evident, at least if you're a first or lastborn. Middleborns can create a bit more confusion...are they the exact middle child (2 of 3 or 3 of 5) or anyone who isn't a first or last child? Read More

Birth Order and Parenting: Middleborns Differences and Rating Yourself Versus Your Spouse

I apologize for my long vacation from posting here. A shoulder fracture from a horseback riding accident (more on horses in a later post) sidelined me from any typing activities for the last month or so. But as the date approaches for the publication of "The Secret Power of Middle Children", I've been thinking again about the results of our recent study on birth order and parenting style. Read More

What Others Tell You About Evolutionary Psychology Is Usually Wrong

A recent blog post by Darcia Narvaez is an interesting example of how people can confuse what they want to be with what is. She paints a pretty picture of the way she would like the world to be and, as a result, humans must have been that way and it's only the modern western world that has corrupted us so...we just need to get back to our natural selves that lived in a peaceful garden of eden. Read More

What is porn for women?

I was directed toward an article in Salon the other day and the friend who sent it along was right, I did find it interesting. The article's title was "Why do we care so much about porn for women?" and the answer was mainly focused on how women have such different desires there can be no porn for women. Read More

Birth order and allergies: Evidence for the hygiene hypothesis?

A study that was presented a week ago at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology in San Francisco reported a greater prevalence of allergies in firstborn children than laterborns. Read More

What do baseball and pornography have in common?

At first glance you might think, baseball and pornography have little in common...other than that many men appear to be rather fond of both. But both baseball statistics and pornography have been used as data sources, unobtrusive behavioral measures, to test predictions and illuminate our understanding of human nature. Read More