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Cognitive
How Data is Helping Us Unravel the Mysteries of the Brain
October 14, 2018
Geneticist Steve McCarroll wants to make an atlas of all the cells in the human body so that we can understand in precise...
October 14, 2018
Geneticist Steve McCarroll wants to make an atlas of all the cells in the human body so that we can understand in precise...
Brief Jog Sharpens Mind
October 13, 2018
The students who went for a jog, but not the relaxation students, subsequently showed significant improvement on the version of the Trail Making Test that measures mental speed and attentional control (but not the other that taps memory and cognitive switching). Moreover, this improvement in cognition was fully mediated by their increased feelings of energy and vigour, implying – although not proving conclusively – that the jog boosted cognition through its effects on their subjective sense of having...
October 13, 2018
The students who went for a jog, but not the relaxation students, subsequently showed significant improvement on the version of the Trail Making Test that measures mental speed and attentional control (but not the other that taps memory and cognitive switching). Moreover, this improvement in cognition was fully mediated by their increased feelings of energy and vigour, implying – although not proving conclusively – that the jog boosted cognition through its effects on their subjective sense of having...
3 Ways to Make Better Decisions — By Thinking Like a Computer
October 7, 2018
If you ever struggle to make decisions, here's a talk for you. Cognitive scientist Tom Griffiths shows how we can apply the logic of computers to untangle tricky human problems, sharing three practical strategies for making better decisions -- on everything from finding a home to choosing which restaurant to go to tonight.
October 7, 2018
If you ever struggle to make decisions, here's a talk for you. Cognitive scientist Tom Griffiths shows how we can apply the logic of computers to untangle tricky human problems, sharing three practical strategies for making better decisions -- on everything from finding a home to choosing which restaurant to go to tonight.
Total Recall
October 3, 2018
Mediators need to remember stuff – lots of stuff. Sure, it helps to have a flush mentality – as my very first, and now long gone, boss used to tell me. Mr. Dalgety would come back to the office after a hearing, raise his hand beside his head and pull an imaginary chain before moving to his next case. Likewise for the duration of a mediation, especially on mediation day, successful mediators need to hold, and retrieve, large amounts of data. Our ability to take in information, store...
October 3, 2018
Mediators need to remember stuff – lots of stuff. Sure, it helps to have a flush mentality – as my very first, and now long gone, boss used to tell me. Mr. Dalgety would come back to the office after a hearing, raise his hand beside his head and pull an imaginary chain before moving to his next case. Likewise for the duration of a mediation, especially on mediation day, successful mediators need to hold, and retrieve, large amounts of data. Our ability to take in information, store...
Daniel Kahneman on the Marvels and Flaws of Our Human Intuition
October 1, 2018
A psychologist by training, Kahneman has never taken a course in economics; yet he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2002. How did that happen? He says his work came about from two conversations. His late colleague Amos Tversky showed him a paper called “The Psychological Assumptions of Economics,” which posited that the agent of economic theory is rational, selfish, and with tastes that do not change. To a psychologist, Kahneman said, this is astonishing. The notion that our beliefs...
October 1, 2018
A psychologist by training, Kahneman has never taken a course in economics; yet he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2002. How did that happen? He says his work came about from two conversations. His late colleague Amos Tversky showed him a paper called “The Psychological Assumptions of Economics,” which posited that the agent of economic theory is rational, selfish, and with tastes that do not change. To a psychologist, Kahneman said, this is astonishing. The notion that our beliefs...
The Future of Jobs 2018
September 29, 2018
As technological breakthroughs rapidly shift the frontier between the work tasks performed by humans and those performed by machines and algorithms, global labour markets are likely to undergo major transformations. These transformations, if managed wisely, could lead to a new age of good work, good jobs and improved quality of life for all, but if managed poorly, pose the risk of widening skills gaps, greater inequality and broader polarization. In many ways, the time to shape the future of work...
September 29, 2018
As technological breakthroughs rapidly shift the frontier between the work tasks performed by humans and those performed by machines and algorithms, global labour markets are likely to undergo major transformations. These transformations, if managed wisely, could lead to a new age of good work, good jobs and improved quality of life for all, but if managed poorly, pose the risk of widening skills gaps, greater inequality and broader polarization. In many ways, the time to shape the future of work...
The Politics of Selecting Chevron Deference
September 28, 2018
In this article, we examine an important threshold question in judicial behavior and administrative law: When do federal circuit courts decide to use the Chevron deference framework and when do they select a framework that is less deferential to the administrative agency's statutory interpretation? The question is important because the purpose of Chevron deference is to give agencies—not judges—policy‐making space within statutory interpretation. We expect, nonetheless, that whether to invoke...
September 28, 2018
In this article, we examine an important threshold question in judicial behavior and administrative law: When do federal circuit courts decide to use the Chevron deference framework and when do they select a framework that is less deferential to the administrative agency's statutory interpretation? The question is important because the purpose of Chevron deference is to give agencies—not judges—policy‐making space within statutory interpretation. We expect, nonetheless, that whether to invoke...
Corporate Litigation: Halo Effect, Halo Tax, and Home Court Advantage
September 24, 2018
As they examined these cases, they found three distinct characteristics: Halo Effect: High status companies received a sort of “halo effect” that the researchers said was associated with jurors giving the company the benefit of a doubt. Overall, jurors were 14% less likely to find high status companies liable when compared to low status firms. Juror perspectives changed if the high status company was found liable and then jurors became angry and punished high status firms severely (when they...
September 24, 2018
As they examined these cases, they found three distinct characteristics: Halo Effect: High status companies received a sort of “halo effect” that the researchers said was associated with jurors giving the company the benefit of a doubt. Overall, jurors were 14% less likely to find high status companies liable when compared to low status firms. Juror perspectives changed if the high status company was found liable and then jurors became angry and punished high status firms severely (when they...
It’s Hard To Let Go!
September 19, 2018
One of the hardest things about settling a lawsuit is for the parties to let go. They have spent all this time and energy (mental and emotional) as well as money on it over a period of months (if not years) and now, in the face of an offer to settle that is less than they had hoped for, they are faced with the choice of settling or moving forward towards a trial that they may not win. In other words, they might be “throwing good money after bad”. Many of us feel that we should keep moving...
September 19, 2018
One of the hardest things about settling a lawsuit is for the parties to let go. They have spent all this time and energy (mental and emotional) as well as money on it over a period of months (if not years) and now, in the face of an offer to settle that is less than they had hoped for, they are faced with the choice of settling or moving forward towards a trial that they may not win. In other words, they might be “throwing good money after bad”. Many of us feel that we should keep moving...
Why Ethical People Become Unethical Negotiators
September 18, 2018
You may think you are an ethical person, but self-interest can cloud your judgment when you sit down at the bargaining table, says Max Bazerman. With profit and greed driving the desire to deceive, it’s not surprising that negotiators often act unethically. But it’s too simplistic to think people always enter a negotiation looking to dupe the other side. Sometimes negotiators stretch the truth unintentionally, falling prey to what Bazerman and his colleagues call “bounded ethicality”...
September 18, 2018
You may think you are an ethical person, but self-interest can cloud your judgment when you sit down at the bargaining table, says Max Bazerman. With profit and greed driving the desire to deceive, it’s not surprising that negotiators often act unethically. But it’s too simplistic to think people always enter a negotiation looking to dupe the other side. Sometimes negotiators stretch the truth unintentionally, falling prey to what Bazerman and his colleagues call “bounded ethicality”...
