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Psychology
Michael Lewis’ Latest ‘Project’ is Brilliant
December 23, 2016
In Michael Lewis’ new book The Undoing Project (Norton, 352 pp., **** out of four stars), he describes the Nobel Prize-winning, behavioral-finance theory that Israeli psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky created in the 1970s as “a truck packed with psychology that might be driven into the inner sanctums of economics and exploded.” While Kahneman and Tversky were more genius than intellectual terrorist, their groundbreaking studies on how our minds trick us into making bad judgments...
December 23, 2016
In Michael Lewis’ new book The Undoing Project (Norton, 352 pp., **** out of four stars), he describes the Nobel Prize-winning, behavioral-finance theory that Israeli psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky created in the 1970s as “a truck packed with psychology that might be driven into the inner sanctums of economics and exploded.” While Kahneman and Tversky were more genius than intellectual terrorist, their groundbreaking studies on how our minds trick us into making bad judgments...
“Power Poses” Don’t Stand Up
December 6, 2016
Perhaps you’ve seen the famous TED talk about so-called power poses. It encouraged viewers to change the course of their lives by assuming what are thought of as dominant postures. "So you make yourself big, you stretch out, you take up space. You're basically opening up. It's about opening up." That's Harvard researcher Amy Cuddy. Her talk is the second most-watched on the TED site: 37 million views. The 2010 study by Cuddy and colleagues that inspired the talk stated that striking power poses...
December 6, 2016
Perhaps you’ve seen the famous TED talk about so-called power poses. It encouraged viewers to change the course of their lives by assuming what are thought of as dominant postures. "So you make yourself big, you stretch out, you take up space. You're basically opening up. It's about opening up." That's Harvard researcher Amy Cuddy. Her talk is the second most-watched on the TED site: 37 million views. The 2010 study by Cuddy and colleagues that inspired the talk stated that striking power poses...
Why Facebook Rules the World
December 4, 2016
One day, when historians tell the strange story of the 21st century, this age of software and smartphones, populism and Pokemon,...
December 4, 2016
One day, when historians tell the strange story of the 21st century, this age of software and smartphones, populism and Pokemon,...
Simple Bias Makes Forgiveness Hard
November 21, 2016
Tom Tate’s second visit to the German town of Pforzheim was a return to somewhere he hadn’t seen in fifty years. After bailing from a burning plane, he and his RAF squad had landed there, been captured, and his comrades executed by a Hitler Youth group incensed by the bombing the town had suffered. Tate himself had only escaped by moments, and swore never to return to a place that he believed bore only hate against him. But spurred by a magazine article that mentioned an annual service held to commemorate...
November 21, 2016
Tom Tate’s second visit to the German town of Pforzheim was a return to somewhere he hadn’t seen in fifty years. After bailing from a burning plane, he and his RAF squad had landed there, been captured, and his comrades executed by a Hitler Youth group incensed by the bombing the town had suffered. Tate himself had only escaped by moments, and swore never to return to a place that he believed bore only hate against him. But spurred by a magazine article that mentioned an annual service held to commemorate...
Can Mediation Training Reduce Biases in Lawyers?
November 15, 2016
A recent article answers yes. Douglas Frenkel & James Stark, Improving Lawyers’ Judgment: Is Mediation Training De-Biasing?,...
November 15, 2016
A recent article answers yes. Douglas Frenkel & James Stark, Improving Lawyers’ Judgment: Is Mediation Training De-Biasing?,...
7 Ways Positive Body Language Will Radically Improve Your Life
November 12, 2016
Amy Cuddy, a Harvard psychologist, has devoted her studies to the impact body language has on your confidence, influence, and, ultimately, success. Her biggest findings center on the powerful effects of positive body language. Positive body language includes things like appropriate eye contact, active engagement/listening, and targeted gestures that accentuate the message you’re trying to convey. Studies show that people who use positive body language are more likable, competent, persuasive, and emotionally...
November 12, 2016
Amy Cuddy, a Harvard psychologist, has devoted her studies to the impact body language has on your confidence, influence, and, ultimately, success. Her biggest findings center on the powerful effects of positive body language. Positive body language includes things like appropriate eye contact, active engagement/listening, and targeted gestures that accentuate the message you’re trying to convey. Studies show that people who use positive body language are more likable, competent, persuasive, and emotionally...
New Study IDs Brain Cells That Help Us Learn by Watching Others
November 8, 2016
From infancy, we learn by watching other people, and new research has pinpointed the individual neurons that support this observational learning. In the study, each person took turns choosing cards on his or her own and then watched two other players draw cards from the same decks. By learning from the results of their own and the other players’ choices, the participants quickly zeroed in on the deck containing better cards. The research team was surprised to discover that individual neurons...
November 8, 2016
From infancy, we learn by watching other people, and new research has pinpointed the individual neurons that support this observational learning. In the study, each person took turns choosing cards on his or her own and then watched two other players draw cards from the same decks. By learning from the results of their own and the other players’ choices, the participants quickly zeroed in on the deck containing better cards. The research team was surprised to discover that individual neurons...
The Psychology of the Serenity Prayer
October 30, 2016
A new paper by Simon Haines et al. (senior author Peter Koval) in Psychological Science provides new evidence for the strategy-situation...
October 30, 2016
A new paper by Simon Haines et al. (senior author Peter Koval) in Psychological Science provides new evidence for the strategy-situation...
Get a Handle on Your Emotions Before Negotiating
October 20, 2016
Our emotional state impacts everything we do, whether it’s driving, interacting with family members or how we eat. Negotiations can be highly emotionally charged for the clients and sometimes for the attorney, according to an article in the Harvard Business Review. The authors did some research as part of an ongoing study and conducted interviews with twenty experienced negotiators to discuss their thoughts and feelings about the negotiation process. Subjects were asked to collect images they...
October 20, 2016
Our emotional state impacts everything we do, whether it’s driving, interacting with family members or how we eat. Negotiations can be highly emotionally charged for the clients and sometimes for the attorney, according to an article in the Harvard Business Review. The authors did some research as part of an ongoing study and conducted interviews with twenty experienced negotiators to discuss their thoughts and feelings about the negotiation process. Subjects were asked to collect images they...
Emotions Control
October 7, 2016
Recently, I stumbled across an interesting study published online by the ABA Journal (aka American Bar Association Journal). Researchers discovered that when the LSU Tigers unexpectedly lose a football game, the juvenile judges take their anger/frustration at the loss out on the juveniles before them by imposing longer sentences. (“Louisiana juveniles got longer sentences after unexpected LSU football losses, study finds” posted online September 8, 2016) I am particularly amused by this...
October 7, 2016
Recently, I stumbled across an interesting study published online by the ABA Journal (aka American Bar Association Journal). Researchers discovered that when the LSU Tigers unexpectedly lose a football game, the juvenile judges take their anger/frustration at the loss out on the juveniles before them by imposing longer sentences. (“Louisiana juveniles got longer sentences after unexpected LSU football losses, study finds” posted online September 8, 2016) I am particularly amused by this...
