WEIRD STUFF

Women are more chatty than men

Experts at the University of Arizona recorded speech from over 2,000 people in an attempt to discover the most talkative sex and were met with a smaller difference than presumed.

It was found that men spoke 11,950 words per day on average while females surpassed this with an average of 13,349 words.

Despite the results, the boffins claim that the assumption that women chat more than men is a "stereotype" that often carries negative connotations.

The scientists said in a paper published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: " Women are widely assumed to be more talkative than men.

"The ubiquity and often negative connotation of this stereotype makes evaluating its accuracy particularly important."

The new study gives a clearer insight into differences between speech and gender, but the researchers have recommended follow-up studies into sex-based spoken language contrasts.

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Children inherit poor maths skills from parents

Up to 30 per cent of people have severe 'maths anxiety', which can lead to sweaty palms and a racing heart at the sight of numbers, and parents who are afflicted with this are likely to pass it on to their kids.

Experts studied maths anxiety in 126 parents and tracked the arithmetic skills of their children - where it was found that youngsters were worse at maths between the ages of three and five if their parents were fearful of numbers.

Kids who found maths hard during their pre-school years were also found to have poorer skills in the subject at the age of eight.

The study authors have urged parents to try and encourage their children when it comes to mathematical learning.

Dr Kinga Morsanyi, senior author of the study at Loughborough University, said: "One simple yet powerful step parents can take is to speak more positively about maths and recognise that you do not need to be a special talent in maths to be able to learn it.

"Even if parents struggle with maths, showing interest, enthusiasm and encouragement can make a big difference for their children."

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Apes can 'read minds'

The ability to understand what someone else is thinking is a complex skill that humans only begin to use from the age of three, but convincing new evidence has emerged that bonobos also have the trait as they were able to acquire tasty treats by reading human minds.

Three bonobos - Kanzi, aged 43, Nyota, aged 25, and 13-year-old Teco - in Iowa, USA, worked with a researcher to get half a grape, a chunk of apple, a peanut and some Cheerios.

The food was hidden under one of three cups by a second person and the researcher didn't always know where the treat was because they had a large cardboard barrier in front of them.

The primates were able to tell when the researcher had not seen which cup the food was underneath and would eagerly point to its location.

Dr Chris Krupenye, senior author of the study at Johns Hopkins University, said: "The ability to sense gaps in one another's knowledge is at the heart of our most sophisticated social behaviours, central to the ways we cooperate, communicate and work together strategically.

"Because this so-called theory of mind supports many of the capacities that make humans unique, like teaching and language, many believe it is absent from animals.

"But this work demonstrates the rich mental foundations that humans and other apes share - and suggests that these abilities evolved millions of years ago in our common ancestors."