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Cognitive
Just Two Questions Predict How Well a Pilot Will Handle An Emergency
August 11, 2015
Human error is now the leading cause of plane crashes, and one of the principal factors that provokes pilots to make mistakes is stress. Some pilots cope heroically in the face of stress, such as Chesley Sullenberger who steered his plane and passengers to safety, landing on the Hudson river after a double engine failure. Others fare less well, with sometimes fatal results. Knowing in advance how pilots will respond to stressful situations is therefore of paramount of importance to flight safety...
August 11, 2015
Human error is now the leading cause of plane crashes, and one of the principal factors that provokes pilots to make mistakes is stress. Some pilots cope heroically in the face of stress, such as Chesley Sullenberger who steered his plane and passengers to safety, landing on the Hudson river after a double engine failure. Others fare less well, with sometimes fatal results. Knowing in advance how pilots will respond to stressful situations is therefore of paramount of importance to flight safety...
In Greece Crisis Negotiation, Tough Conditions May Have Affected the Deal
August 7, 2015
During a crisis negotiation, all that may seem to matter is reaching a deal as quickly as possible. The desire to head off a disaster may lead crisis negotiators to forego the usual comforts of life, such as sleep, in their single-minded pursuit of their goal. Those appear to have been the conditions under which the government of Greece and its European creditors negotiated a definitive new bailout package for the financially troubled nation. After Greek voters rejected the deal on the table in a referendum,...
August 7, 2015
During a crisis negotiation, all that may seem to matter is reaching a deal as quickly as possible. The desire to head off a disaster may lead crisis negotiators to forego the usual comforts of life, such as sleep, in their single-minded pursuit of their goal. Those appear to have been the conditions under which the government of Greece and its European creditors negotiated a definitive new bailout package for the financially troubled nation. After Greek voters rejected the deal on the table in a referendum,...
Spite Houses: 15 Obnoxious Homes That Were Built Just To Annoy The Neighbors
August 1, 2015
The ultimate way to show your contempt for an enemy may be by building a "spite house." Spite houses are homes built to annoy the neighbors, often by cutting off access to a road or obstructing their views. "They probably wouldn't get much attention if they looked like normal houses, but spite houses have a reputation for being kind of odd looking, since they're usually built on narrow parcels of land," columnist John Kelly wrote in The Washington Post. Spite houses have a long history in the U.S....
August 1, 2015
The ultimate way to show your contempt for an enemy may be by building a "spite house." Spite houses are homes built to annoy the neighbors, often by cutting off access to a road or obstructing their views. "They probably wouldn't get much attention if they looked like normal houses, but spite houses have a reputation for being kind of odd looking, since they're usually built on narrow parcels of land," columnist John Kelly wrote in The Washington Post. Spite houses have a long history in the U.S....
Scientists See Neurons Change as Memories Form
July 28, 2015
"Learning can be traced back to individual neurons in the brain, according to a new study." Learning can be traced back to individual neurons in the brain, according to a new study. “What we wanted to do was see if we could actually create a new association — a memory — and see if we would be able to see actual change in the neurons,” said Matias Ison, a neuroscientist at the University of Leicester in England and one of the study’s authors. He and his colleagues were able to monitor...
July 28, 2015
"Learning can be traced back to individual neurons in the brain, according to a new study." Learning can be traced back to individual neurons in the brain, according to a new study. “What we wanted to do was see if we could actually create a new association — a memory — and see if we would be able to see actual change in the neurons,” said Matias Ison, a neuroscientist at the University of Leicester in England and one of the study’s authors. He and his colleagues were able to monitor...
Face It, Your Brain Is A Computer
July 26, 2015
I have often stressed that it is important to understand how the brain works in order to develop the best techniques for teaching and learning. Gary Marcus, a professor of psychology and neural science at New York University, has an interesting piece in the New York Times comparing the brain to a computer. Professor Marcus writes, "There is much that we don’t know about brains. But we do know that they aren’t magical. They are just exceptionally complex arrangements of matter. Airplanes may not fly like...
July 26, 2015
I have often stressed that it is important to understand how the brain works in order to develop the best techniques for teaching and learning. Gary Marcus, a professor of psychology and neural science at New York University, has an interesting piece in the New York Times comparing the brain to a computer. Professor Marcus writes, "There is much that we don’t know about brains. But we do know that they aren’t magical. They are just exceptionally complex arrangements of matter. Airplanes may not fly like...
There Are No Do-Overs in Mediation
July 23, 2015
Evaluate what the lawsuit is worth by using a decision tree. With every new offer or demand, the client is faced with...
July 23, 2015
Evaluate what the lawsuit is worth by using a decision tree. With every new offer or demand, the client is faced with...
Why Cooperate?
July 21, 2015
A short piece in the New York Times by Harvard economists and Yale psychologists has a suggestion that may surprise you – or maybe not – about people’s motivation to cooperate. The authors focus on the “tragedy of the commons” which is the situation “where individuals acting independently and rationally according to each’s self-interest behave contrary to the best interests of the whole group by depleting some common resource.” They argue that for people faced with a choice...
July 21, 2015
A short piece in the New York Times by Harvard economists and Yale psychologists has a suggestion that may surprise you – or maybe not – about people’s motivation to cooperate. The authors focus on the “tragedy of the commons” which is the situation “where individuals acting independently and rationally according to each’s self-interest behave contrary to the best interests of the whole group by depleting some common resource.” They argue that for people faced with a choice...
Why This Beautiful Human Behaviour is Highly Infectious
July 16, 2015
The wonderful human behaviour that elevates all our morals. Acts of kindness can spread surprisingly easily between people — just by observing someone else being generous. They activate parts of the brain involved in motivating action and of social engagement, a new study finds. In turn we are also more likely to ‘pay it forward’. Scientists call this the ‘moral elevation’ effect.
July 16, 2015
The wonderful human behaviour that elevates all our morals. Acts of kindness can spread surprisingly easily between people — just by observing someone else being generous. They activate parts of the brain involved in motivating action and of social engagement, a new study finds. In turn we are also more likely to ‘pay it forward’. Scientists call this the ‘moral elevation’ effect.
Metaphors Can Be a Window into the Mind
July 9, 2015
Listening to the other party in a mediation or negotiation is key to resolving the issues between you. Whatever your assumptions, biases or preconceptions may be, you need to push them aside and focus on what the other party is saying. You need to understand them, what their goals are and why. By getting a good handle on their emotions you have a better chance at understanding them. Not only are the words used by the other party telling you their emotions, but the tools of language used will also...
July 9, 2015
Listening to the other party in a mediation or negotiation is key to resolving the issues between you. Whatever your assumptions, biases or preconceptions may be, you need to push them aside and focus on what the other party is saying. You need to understand them, what their goals are and why. By getting a good handle on their emotions you have a better chance at understanding them. Not only are the words used by the other party telling you their emotions, but the tools of language used will also...
After the West Coast Ports Conflict, Damage Remains
July 8, 2015
To alleviate crisis negotiations, keep them from escalating in the first place. No one wants to engage in crisis negotiations. When parties need to hurriedly work out a solution to a shared problem, time is short, tempers are frayed, and the disaster is looming. Feeling they’ve exhausted good-faith bargaining, parties in crisis negotiations may believe they face an impossible choice between caving in to the other side’s demands or standing firm and watching the worst-case scenario unfold. That...
July 8, 2015
To alleviate crisis negotiations, keep them from escalating in the first place. No one wants to engage in crisis negotiations. When parties need to hurriedly work out a solution to a shared problem, time is short, tempers are frayed, and the disaster is looming. Feeling they’ve exhausted good-faith bargaining, parties in crisis negotiations may believe they face an impossible choice between caving in to the other side’s demands or standing firm and watching the worst-case scenario unfold. That...
