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Cognitive
Twitter May Be An ‘Excellent Way’ To Understand Human Behavior And Psychology
January 9, 2016
Even more research has found social media sites, like Twitter, can be used to advance scientific research. A new study published in PLOS ONE looks specifically at Twitter, and how it can be used to extract meaningful information from situations users experience in their daily lives. The study was conducted by David Serfass, a doctoral candidate at Florida Atlantic University, and Dr. Ryne Sherman, a psychology professor at FAU. Since recent studies have found status updates and tweets can be used...
January 9, 2016
Even more research has found social media sites, like Twitter, can be used to advance scientific research. A new study published in PLOS ONE looks specifically at Twitter, and how it can be used to extract meaningful information from situations users experience in their daily lives. The study was conducted by David Serfass, a doctoral candidate at Florida Atlantic University, and Dr. Ryne Sherman, a psychology professor at FAU. Since recent studies have found status updates and tweets can be used...
Redefining Attention (and Revamping the Legal Profession?) for the Digital Generation
December 18, 2015
While we cannot be certain what the future will hold for the legal profession, we can be sure that information and communication technologies (“ICTs”) (in some form or another) will be a part of it. Even if we could rid the world of ICTs for attention’s sake, most of us would opt not to—no more than we would abandon our cars or microwaves or ballpoint pens or any other invention once thought to be indicative of society’s general decay that is now a well-accepted part of everyday life. It is unrealistic...
December 18, 2015
While we cannot be certain what the future will hold for the legal profession, we can be sure that information and communication technologies (“ICTs”) (in some form or another) will be a part of it. Even if we could rid the world of ICTs for attention’s sake, most of us would opt not to—no more than we would abandon our cars or microwaves or ballpoint pens or any other invention once thought to be indicative of society’s general decay that is now a well-accepted part of everyday life. It is unrealistic...
Hiding the Elephant: How the Psychological Techniques of Magicians Can Be Used to Manipulate Witnesses at Trial
December 17, 2015
Law is not justice and a trial is not a scientific inquiry into truth. A trial is the resolution of a dispute.—Edison Haines The...
December 17, 2015
Law is not justice and a trial is not a scientific inquiry into truth. A trial is the resolution of a dispute.—Edison Haines The...
Feeling Like An Expert Can Make You Closed-Minded
December 16, 2015
What happens to us as we accrue knowledge and experience, as we become experts in a field? Competence follows. Effortlessness follows (pdf). But certain downsides can follow too. We reported recently on how experts are vulnerable to an overclaiming error – falsely feeling familiar with things that seem true of a domain but aren’t. Now a new paper in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology explores how feelings of expertise can lead us to be more dogmatic towards new ideas. * * * People’s...
December 16, 2015
What happens to us as we accrue knowledge and experience, as we become experts in a field? Competence follows. Effortlessness follows (pdf). But certain downsides can follow too. We reported recently on how experts are vulnerable to an overclaiming error – falsely feeling familiar with things that seem true of a domain but aren’t. Now a new paper in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology explores how feelings of expertise can lead us to be more dogmatic towards new ideas. * * * People’s...
Of Reptiles and Velcro: The Brain’s Negativity Bias and Persuasion
December 16, 2015
BAD IS STRONGER THAN GOOD Current thinking in cognitive psychology is that people (both adults and children) display what is called a “negativity bias.” One group of researchers concluded that “adults spend more time looking at negative than at positive stimuli, perceive negative stimuli to be more complex than positive ones, and form more complex cognitive representations of negative than of positive stimuli.” This section of the article first examines the evidence in social science...
December 16, 2015
BAD IS STRONGER THAN GOOD Current thinking in cognitive psychology is that people (both adults and children) display what is called a “negativity bias.” One group of researchers concluded that “adults spend more time looking at negative than at positive stimuli, perceive negative stimuli to be more complex than positive ones, and form more complex cognitive representations of negative than of positive stimuli.” This section of the article first examines the evidence in social science...
Kiser: The Emotionally Attentive Lawyer: Balancing the Rule of Law with the Realities of Human Behavior
December 15, 2015
This article explores the tension between the law and emotional intelligence and suggests that emotional intelligence is unjustifiably...
December 15, 2015
This article explores the tension between the law and emotional intelligence and suggests that emotional intelligence is unjustifiably...
Psychology and Lawyering: Coalescing the Field
December 14, 2015
There is some tendency, with the case method, for the study of law to be something like the study of chess or the analysis of a bridge hand. When analyzing the law in intricate detail, it may be hard to keep in mind the vital fact that the problems really relate to people . . . ." Erwin N. Griswold Although, historically, some may have thought of lawyers as walking talking brains, more recently we have seen increasing recognition that law is a people profession. After all, lawyers spend a substantial...
December 14, 2015
There is some tendency, with the case method, for the study of law to be something like the study of chess or the analysis of a bridge hand. When analyzing the law in intricate detail, it may be hard to keep in mind the vital fact that the problems really relate to people . . . ." Erwin N. Griswold Although, historically, some may have thought of lawyers as walking talking brains, more recently we have seen increasing recognition that law is a people profession. After all, lawyers spend a substantial...
Why is That Difficult Client So Difficult?
December 11, 2015
Maslow believed that people are motivated by unmet needs, starting at the bottom which have priority over the higher needs. Once the needs at one level are met, the person strives to satisfy the needs on the next level. When in mediation it’s important to understand how these needs are affected. The more fundamental the need the greater the response to that need. If you’re hungry enough you’ll do anything to eat. If you don’t feel safe you might work very hard, or steal, to afford a safe...
December 11, 2015
Maslow believed that people are motivated by unmet needs, starting at the bottom which have priority over the higher needs. Once the needs at one level are met, the person strives to satisfy the needs on the next level. When in mediation it’s important to understand how these needs are affected. The more fundamental the need the greater the response to that need. If you’re hungry enough you’ll do anything to eat. If you don’t feel safe you might work very hard, or steal, to afford a safe...
Straus Conference on Business, Conflict around Globe Receives Rave Reviews
December 9, 2015
"Probably the most uniformly excellent cast of speakers we have ever had." –Thomas Stipanowich, Academic Director of the Straus...
December 9, 2015
"Probably the most uniformly excellent cast of speakers we have ever had." –Thomas Stipanowich, Academic Director of the Straus...
Negotiating with the Dangerous and Highly Unstable
December 9, 2015
Last week Jackie Nolan-Haley told us of Fordham’s program on Negotiating with the Dangerous, which was headlined by our very own leader Andrea. And just yesterday an article of another sort of dangerous negotiation crossed my desk – negotiating with toddlers. And you best be careful. Why? The piece’s conclusion: having a toddler is like engaging in ongoing hostage negotiations with a highly unstable person. In my house, we’re ground zero for these kinds of negotiations with our toddler and our non-toddler...
December 9, 2015
Last week Jackie Nolan-Haley told us of Fordham’s program on Negotiating with the Dangerous, which was headlined by our very own leader Andrea. And just yesterday an article of another sort of dangerous negotiation crossed my desk – negotiating with toddlers. And you best be careful. Why? The piece’s conclusion: having a toddler is like engaging in ongoing hostage negotiations with a highly unstable person. In my house, we’re ground zero for these kinds of negotiations with our toddler and our non-toddler...
