Reflections of geography and gender, then and now

Women and Geography Study Group Publication on the anniversary of Geography and Gender. The Women and Geography Study Group's publication "Geography and Gender Reconsidered" (ISBN 0 -902447 - 26 - 2) can now be purchased in UK, USA and Canada. This self-publication on CD-Rom was produced to celebrate and reflect upon the 20 years since the groundbreaking "Geography and Gender" published by the WGSG in 1984, and to coincide with a session at the IGU conference in Glasgow in Aug 2004. The self-publication format allowed a more flexible approach to writing, in addition to minimising the price of the final produce while maximising return for the study group (to support student conference attendance, reading weekends and other activities).

Earworms ("stuck song syndrome"): towards a natural history of intrusive thoughts

Two studies examine the experience of “earworms”, unwanted catchy tunes that repeat. Survey data show that the experience is widespread but earworms are not generally considered problematic, although those who consider music to be important to them report earworms as longer, and harder to control, than those who consider music as less important. The tunes which produce these experiences vary considerably between individuals but are always familiar to those who experience them. A diary study confirms these findings and also indicates that, although earworm recurrence is relatively uncommon and unlikely to persist for longer than 24 hours, the length of both the earworm and the earworm experience frequently exceed standard estimates of auditory memory capacity. Active attempts to block or eliminate the earworm are less successful than passive acceptance, consistent with Wegner’s (1994) theory of ironic mental control.