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Cognitive
5 Communication Skills that Open People’s Minds
June 4, 2014
Five Tricks For Opening Minds 1. Establish your common humanity. 2. Start with stories, not reasons. 3. Allow your discussion partner to feel safe changing his or her mind. 4. Validate their experience, question their interpretation. 5. Keep focused on your goal. What’s Next? The next time you’re in a discussion with someone about a controversial issue such as religion, politics, household chores, or dietary doctrine, try to use these tricks: Establish a dialogue...
June 4, 2014
Five Tricks For Opening Minds 1. Establish your common humanity. 2. Start with stories, not reasons. 3. Allow your discussion partner to feel safe changing his or her mind. 4. Validate their experience, question their interpretation. 5. Keep focused on your goal. What’s Next? The next time you’re in a discussion with someone about a controversial issue such as religion, politics, household chores, or dietary doctrine, try to use these tricks: Establish a dialogue...
Symposium Issue on Cognitive Bias and Writing Strategies
June 2, 2014
Legal writing professors will find several articles of interest in a recent symposium issue of the Journal of Law and Policy....
June 2, 2014
Legal writing professors will find several articles of interest in a recent symposium issue of the Journal of Law and Policy....
The Cheerleader Effect: Why People Appear Better-Looking in Groups
May 31, 2014
The so-called ‘cheerleader effect’ is the phenomenon that people seem more attractive when they are in a group than when they are alone. At least, so urban legend has it. But now the cheerleader effect has scientific backing from a study published recently in Psychological Science (Walker & Vul, 2013). In fact, the study finds that both men and women are perceived as more attractive when they are in a group than when alone. The effect is the result of the way we look at groups...
May 31, 2014
The so-called ‘cheerleader effect’ is the phenomenon that people seem more attractive when they are in a group than when they are alone. At least, so urban legend has it. But now the cheerleader effect has scientific backing from a study published recently in Psychological Science (Walker & Vul, 2013). In fact, the study finds that both men and women are perceived as more attractive when they are in a group than when alone. The effect is the result of the way we look at groups...
Early Fitness Preserves Thinking Skills 25 Years Later
May 31, 2014
Young adults who are in good physical shape performed better in cognitive tests 25 years later, a new study finds. The study, published in the journal Neurology, also found that even if you didn’t get too much exercise in your youth, it’s never too late to start, as the benefits can still be seen later on. One of the study’s authors, David R. Jacobs, said: “Many studies show the benefits to the brain of good heart health. “This is one more important study that should remind young...
May 31, 2014
Young adults who are in good physical shape performed better in cognitive tests 25 years later, a new study finds. The study, published in the journal Neurology, also found that even if you didn’t get too much exercise in your youth, it’s never too late to start, as the benefits can still be seen later on. One of the study’s authors, David R. Jacobs, said: “Many studies show the benefits to the brain of good heart health. “This is one more important study that should remind young...
Meditation and the Brain
May 30, 2014
Anyone who has ever attempted to meditate can vouch for the fact that while it is theoretically simple, it is extremely challenging in practice. In fact, its simplicity is what makes it difficult, and it is also what makes it worthwhile. Mindfulness meditation (the practice most popular in the United States) requires a steady observation of one particular object or sensation. As we find ourselves increasingly surrounded by modern distractions and the hustle and bustle of everyday life, focusing...
May 30, 2014
Anyone who has ever attempted to meditate can vouch for the fact that while it is theoretically simple, it is extremely challenging in practice. In fact, its simplicity is what makes it difficult, and it is also what makes it worthwhile. Mindfulness meditation (the practice most popular in the United States) requires a steady observation of one particular object or sensation. As we find ourselves increasingly surrounded by modern distractions and the hustle and bustle of everyday life, focusing...
DARPA-Funded Computerized Psychologists Can Diagnose Anxiety, Depression, and PTSD
May 28, 2014
A veteran is having a virtual therapy session. His counselor is named Ellie, and she is, among other things, a very good listener. She's responsive to the soldier's comments. She reads the subtleties of his facial expressions. She nods appreciatively at his insights. She grimaces, slightly, when he tells her about a trauma he experienced. Ellie is an avatar, a virtual therapist developed at USC with funding from DARPA, the Defense Department's advanced research center. And "people love interacting...
May 28, 2014
A veteran is having a virtual therapy session. His counselor is named Ellie, and she is, among other things, a very good listener. She's responsive to the soldier's comments. She reads the subtleties of his facial expressions. She nods appreciatively at his insights. She grimaces, slightly, when he tells her about a trauma he experienced. Ellie is an avatar, a virtual therapist developed at USC with funding from DARPA, the Defense Department's advanced research center. And "people love interacting...
Here’s Why Believing People Can Change Is So Important in Life
May 28, 2014
Adolescents who believe people can change cope better with the challenges of attending high school, a new study finds. In contrast, those who believed that people’s personalities are fixed and unchangeable fared worse, suffering higher levels of stress and poorer physical health. The study’s authors were inspired by the idea that the high school years are a defining period in life: “Iconic films such as The Breakfast Club or Back to the Future depict teens as indelibly marked as “losers,”...
May 28, 2014
Adolescents who believe people can change cope better with the challenges of attending high school, a new study finds. In contrast, those who believed that people’s personalities are fixed and unchangeable fared worse, suffering higher levels of stress and poorer physical health. The study’s authors were inspired by the idea that the high school years are a defining period in life: “Iconic films such as The Breakfast Club or Back to the Future depict teens as indelibly marked as “losers,”...
Can Cognitive Training Boost Self-Control?
May 27, 2014
I’m someone who when sat in front of a fast food menu will always make a beeline for the most artery-clogging burger and a large...
May 27, 2014
I’m someone who when sat in front of a fast food menu will always make a beeline for the most artery-clogging burger and a large...
What Bees Tell Us About Making Better Decisions
May 27, 2014
Cornell University biologist Thomas Seely, in a Cornell Chronicle Online story by Susan S. Lang, explains how bees build coalitions until a quorum develops. Seely says bees rely on disagreement and contest, whereas humans often rely on consensus and compromise. Researchers know the bees make excellent decisions because they set up situations that offered choices to the bees, some superior for bees and others not so great. The bees almost always chose the superior sites. * * * To help feel...
May 27, 2014
Cornell University biologist Thomas Seely, in a Cornell Chronicle Online story by Susan S. Lang, explains how bees build coalitions until a quorum develops. Seely says bees rely on disagreement and contest, whereas humans often rely on consensus and compromise. Researchers know the bees make excellent decisions because they set up situations that offered choices to the bees, some superior for bees and others not so great. The bees almost always chose the superior sites. * * * To help feel...
How About Paying Parents for Their Kids’ Good Grade?
May 26, 2014
In Think Like a Freak, we touch briefly on paying schoolkids for good grades — which, much of the time, isn’t successful. This inspired a note from a reader named Gary Crowley, who describes himself as “an economics major in college many years ago”: Hey Guys, Loved Think Like a Freak. One thought: Why don’t we trying paying parents for kids getting good grades??? If the parents are motivated to make money, from someone else’s hard work, then they’ll make the kids work harder...
May 26, 2014
In Think Like a Freak, we touch briefly on paying schoolkids for good grades — which, much of the time, isn’t successful. This inspired a note from a reader named Gary Crowley, who describes himself as “an economics major in college many years ago”: Hey Guys, Loved Think Like a Freak. One thought: Why don’t we trying paying parents for kids getting good grades??? If the parents are motivated to make money, from someone else’s hard work, then they’ll make the kids work harder...
