Shawna Zielinski

Comment Threads

• spaet061 commented on The Power of Birth Order
  I am the younger of two siblings and I must say I see these effects in my own life, or at least I think I do (who can know, given the power of suggestion). I have noticed some diplomatic tendencies but I feel that probably relates more to the divorces and dramatic events that have gone on in the family. Mainly I am the risk-taker. I often find myself pushing the line on everything from project due-dates to social norms just for the sake of the thrill and to see what happens when you try something different....
• stone603 commented on The Power of Birth Order
  I can see how this would make sense for a lot of families, however of the three children, I am the middle child. My older sister is not that much of a risk taker, she will do things here or there but big adventures or throwing caution to the wind is not really her thing. My little brother is a little more willing to take risks, but of the three, I am most likely to stick my neck out there in order to try something new. I also am the most diplomatic, I think that comes from always being in...
• strom393 commented on The Power of Birth Order
  This blog post could sum up my childhood! I only have one sibling, a younger sister by three years. We are very different in the exact ways the study has laid out for us. I am the over-achiever, always aiming to do more child, where my sister is the risk taker more laid back type of person. We are completely at different ends of the spectrum and it leads to both of our very different childhoods and now as we get older adult hoods. I saw in a previous comment that the way your parents raise each child is different...
• wlas0006 commented on Self-Control - Nature or Nurture?
  Yes, drug addiction and mental illness are often found together and there is now substantial evidence that both are heritable conditions. This should not be surprising since variations in genetic makeup from person to person should explain part of the reason why some people become addicted to drugs and others in the same situations (like siblings) do not. Saying this, finding the specific sets of genes that are responsible remains elusive. We would like to think of human biology like a machine that can be fixed or tuned to perform in a certain way, but I am not sure that...
• wlas0006 commented on Liar, Liar... Why Aren't your Pants on Fire?
  Yes Darien, the polygraph is unreliable and you do a nice job of pointing that out. I also like Ekman's work very much and think he has done the best research to date that examines a measurable way to detect emotions and facial cues that might signal when someone is lying. You mention some other research that verbal cues are more reliable but do not describe what this is exactly. I am not aware of it and would be curious to know more. It seems to me that the verbal cues are what prevent us often from knowing when a...