The Signal Patterns scientific team is spread between Eugene (Oregon), Montréal (Canada), Cambridge (England), and Brooklyn (New York). Even though we work together every day, it’s a not often that we get everyone get together at our Pleasantville HQ the same time.

A couple of weeks ago we had the opportunity to meet together again for what we internally call a “research summit” - a few days of brainstorming about new research directions and syncing up on the different science tasks. It was great to put the ongoing stuff aside and for a couple of days go back to research-mode and focus on the things we will do beyond the horizon.

Here’s a “band” slide show of the team. From left to right: Dan Levitin, Jason Rentfrow, David Rosen, and the Lew Goldberg.

We do.

Tired of throwing sheep, hanging out with vampires and the like? Waiting for something to do on Facebook with your friends with some substance? If so, well, we think we have something you should check out.

We just released our Personality Patterns Facebook app; it’s based on our “Big Five” Personality test but completely integrated within Facebook. We’d gotten a lot of feedback from our SignalPatterns.com users asking for a way to post their own badge onto their Facebook profile. With the new app, we’ve created a cool new badge, highlighting your top traits so your friends can see your display and they can easily compare themselves to you.

If you’ve already taken the test on the site and have linked your Facebook account to your Signal Patterns account (if not, please do that first) simply add the app and you’re good to go. Your results will be there instantly and your badge will get posted automatically. If you’re new to Signal Patterns, you can take the test right within the app.

Within the app you can see all your Facebook friends, and how you compare to them by personality traits, how you’re most similar and where you’re most different. It could explain a lot!

However, one of the unique things is a way, we think, to really improve your use of Facebook. For most people, Facebook’s an online place to hang out with their friends but it’s not always so easy to discover new people, especially those with which you have something in common. With our new app, you can explore what we call ‘People Like You’ and discover people with a similar personality. And given you’re in Facebook, you can easily message them, friend them, or if you really want, throw a sheep at them!