Lab Coats: Not just for warmth any more

With our lab's annual safety inspection coming up, the importance of lab coats naturally comes to mind. Last week we learned of a new fashionable use for lab coats, but now we have discovered yet another reason to sport the new spring look.

Traditionally, I have only worn my lab coat while emptying my bleach bucket (after learning that lesson the hard way in a brand new dress...) and to protect myself from the "ocean breezes" (which, according to facilities, are supposedly responsible for the frigid temperatures we experience year-round in our lab). It turns out, according to a recent study, that the clothes really do make the man. Scientist discovered that students made half as many errors while wearing white lab coats as they did when they were not wearing lab coats in a test for selective attention.

However, it turns out that not all white coats are created equal. When told it was a doctor's white coat, wearing the coat improved student's performance on the test. When students were told it was a painter's white coat, the students wearing the coat did not do as well. It remains unclear where a scientist's coat ranks on a scale from painter's coat to doctor's coat...

The obvious conclusion from this study is that we would all be doing better science (and be safer!) if we would just wear our lab coats. Since reading about this study last week I have been wearing my lab coat continuously, instead of only wearing it when the "ocean breezes" get to me. All of my experiments continue to fail... but at least I'm warm?

We at NRS would be interested to know if our loyal readers see an improvement in their own science while rocking a lab coat. Please feel free to comment below.

Despite this interesting and potentially useful information, perhaps the most exciting part of the article is the discovery that not_not_pwang is not the only scientist with an affinity for pimp wear. The lead scientist on this study, Dr. Galinsky, also enjoys dressing as a pimp for Halloween:

He described his own experience from last Halloween (or maybe it should be called National Enclothed Cognition Day).

He had decided to dress as a pimp, with a fedora, long coat and cane. “When I entered the room, I glided in,” he said. “I felt a very different presence.” But what happens, he mused, if you wear pimp clothes every day? [...] More studies are needed, he said.

Sadly, not_not_pwang's pimp cane has been lost in the bowels of the P-town inn, so NRS will not be able to do any future studies on this topic. We must hope that Dr. Galinsky will undertake this important, albeit daunting, research question for us.