Rio de Janeiro this week is paying homage to Carmen Miranda, the 1940s Hollywood entertainer who, more than anybody, gave Brazil a worldwide reputation for dancing -- and fruit hats. Scores of events are taking place in the city, including exhibits of Miranda's costumes, films, debates, concerts and even the unveiling of life-sized statue in honor of "The Brazilian Bombshell ...

More than 50 years after she last wore a pile of fruit on her head, Carmen Miranda inspired a psychological test. Emily Balcetis, of Ohio University, and David Dunning, of Cornell University, published a study, in the journal Psychological Science, called Cognitive Dissonance and the Perception of Natural Environments. Balcetis and Dunning describe an experiment in which the test subjects ...