NOISE IN NEUROSCIENCE
Promoting accurate and responsible communication of research on sex/gender and the brain
ABOUT THIS PROJECT
Overstated and misleading claims about the scientific evidence for sex/gender differences in the brain are too common: in popular books, the media, business training courses, and in the scientific literature itself.
This can serve to maintain and develop gender stereotypes, which limit people’s potential and cause lifelong harm.
We have developed good practice guidelines for responsible communication of sex difference research to help put a decisive stop to this avoidable problem.
Good practice guidelines
MAGIC: five factors that authors need to consider to ensure accurate and responsible communication of research on sex/gender and the brain
The Munker-White illusion
The brains in the image above and in the video below are all the same colour. The only change is to overlay different coloured horizontal lines. In an effect known as the Munker-White illusion, these lines distort our perception.
Overstated and misleading language about research findings on sex/gender and the brain can have a similarly distorting effect on how people interpret the underlying evidence.
Image based on an original by Professor David Novick, University of Texas, El Paso.
