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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...
LegalZoom Hits a Legal Hurdle in North Carolina
May 27, 2014
While the purveyor of online self-help documents LegalZoom was still probably celebrating the South Carolina Supreme Court’s...
May 27, 2014
While the purveyor of online self-help documents LegalZoom was still probably celebrating the South Carolina Supreme Court’s...
Analyzing Financial Fraud Cases Using a Linguistics-Based Text Mining Approach
May 27, 2014
The paper proposes a linguistics-based text mining approach to automate the process of extracting financial concepts from...
May 27, 2014
The paper proposes a linguistics-based text mining approach to automate the process of extracting financial concepts from...
Accounting Class Action Filings and Settlements—2013 Review
May 27, 2014
The number of accounting case settlements in 2013 increased for the second year in a row, but remained low compared with the previous 10 years, according to Cornerstone Research’s latest report, Accounting Class Action Filings and Settlements—2013 Review and Analysis. While the number of securities class action filings that included accounting allegations (47) remained relatively constant in 2013 compared with 2012, the market capitalization losses associated with these filings more than doubled. More...
May 27, 2014
The number of accounting case settlements in 2013 increased for the second year in a row, but remained low compared with the previous 10 years, according to Cornerstone Research’s latest report, Accounting Class Action Filings and Settlements—2013 Review and Analysis. While the number of securities class action filings that included accounting allegations (47) remained relatively constant in 2013 compared with 2012, the market capitalization losses associated with these filings more than doubled. More...
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...
Your Stress is My Stress: Observing Stress Can Trigger Physical Stress Response
May 26, 2014
Merely observing stressful situations can trigger a physical stress response, research shows. Stress is a major health threat in today's society. It causes a range of psychological problems like burnout, depression and anxiety. Even those who lead relatively relaxed lives constantly come into contact with stressed individuals. Whether at work or on television: someone is always experiencing stress, and this stress can affect the general environment in a physiologically quantifiable way through increased...
May 26, 2014
Merely observing stressful situations can trigger a physical stress response, research shows. Stress is a major health threat in today's society. It causes a range of psychological problems like burnout, depression and anxiety. Even those who lead relatively relaxed lives constantly come into contact with stressed individuals. Whether at work or on television: someone is always experiencing stress, and this stress can affect the general environment in a physiologically quantifiable way through increased...
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...
A Deal is a Deal!
May 26, 2014
Settlement Agreement Included Presumptions about Economic Loss The Deepwater Horizon incident prompted a number of legal actions, including multidistrict litigation surrounding private economic and property damage claims and medical claims stemming from the accident and oil spill. In 2012, BP reached a settlement with the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee (PSC), which acts on behalf of individual and business plaintiffs in the multi-district litigation proceedings. BP initially joined with the plaintiffs...
May 26, 2014
Settlement Agreement Included Presumptions about Economic Loss The Deepwater Horizon incident prompted a number of legal actions, including multidistrict litigation surrounding private economic and property damage claims and medical claims stemming from the accident and oil spill. In 2012, BP reached a settlement with the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee (PSC), which acts on behalf of individual and business plaintiffs in the multi-district litigation proceedings. BP initially joined with the plaintiffs...
