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Cognitive
The Venting Myth
March 28, 2018
Mediation training has long viewed venting anger as a useful tool for restoring a positive psychological state. This practice has been handed down as received wisdom through several generations of mediation trainers, practitioners, and theorists. Beware, this venting myth can be dangerous Venting negative emotions triggers the physiologic stress response by increasing the level of the powerful hormone, cortisol. Higher cortisol levels lead to distortions in how we perceive anger, thus making...
March 28, 2018
Mediation training has long viewed venting anger as a useful tool for restoring a positive psychological state. This practice has been handed down as received wisdom through several generations of mediation trainers, practitioners, and theorists. Beware, this venting myth can be dangerous Venting negative emotions triggers the physiologic stress response by increasing the level of the powerful hormone, cortisol. Higher cortisol levels lead to distortions in how we perceive anger, thus making...
Pick a Mood, any Mood – Just Pick a Good One
March 27, 2018
There aren’t many benefits to being in a bad mood, even if that’s your reliable, long-standing default mode. Being in a bad mood can make you less effective, less open to creative solutions, and due to stress, it can affect your health. Most peoples’ jobs have a degree of stress, some much more than others. Unless your job is professional chocolate taster or handing out free tickets to Disney World to an Oprah Winfrey Show audience (hint, everyone in the audience...
March 27, 2018
There aren’t many benefits to being in a bad mood, even if that’s your reliable, long-standing default mode. Being in a bad mood can make you less effective, less open to creative solutions, and due to stress, it can affect your health. Most peoples’ jobs have a degree of stress, some much more than others. Unless your job is professional chocolate taster or handing out free tickets to Disney World to an Oprah Winfrey Show audience (hint, everyone in the audience...
Negotiation Via Text Messaging
March 22, 2018
Noam Ebner, Professor of Negotiation and Conflict Resolution at Creighton University Graduate School’s Department of Interdisciplinary Studies, has written a timely book chapter titled, “Negotiation Via Text Messaging,” in Honeyman, C. & Schneider, A.K. (eds.) The Negotiator’s Desk Reference. St Paul: DRI Press. In his publication, Professor Ebner addresses potential pitfalls and benefits related to using text messaging in order to conduct certain negotiations. Here is the abstract: “Never!”...
March 22, 2018
Noam Ebner, Professor of Negotiation and Conflict Resolution at Creighton University Graduate School’s Department of Interdisciplinary Studies, has written a timely book chapter titled, “Negotiation Via Text Messaging,” in Honeyman, C. & Schneider, A.K. (eds.) The Negotiator’s Desk Reference. St Paul: DRI Press. In his publication, Professor Ebner addresses potential pitfalls and benefits related to using text messaging in order to conduct certain negotiations. Here is the abstract: “Never!”...
How Exercise May Help the Memory Grow Stronger
March 17, 2018
Exercise may help the brain to build durable memories, through good times and bad. Stress and adversity weaken the brain’s ability to learn and retain information, earlier research has found. But according to a remarkable new neurological study in mice, regular exercise can counteract those effects by bolstering communication between brain cells.
March 17, 2018
Exercise may help the brain to build durable memories, through good times and bad. Stress and adversity weaken the brain’s ability to learn and retain information, earlier research has found. But according to a remarkable new neurological study in mice, regular exercise can counteract those effects by bolstering communication between brain cells.
Harvard Law Students Develop AI Program to Help Lawyers Draft Contracts
March 16, 2018
Harvard Law Today is reporting on a new computer program developed by four Harvard Law School students that uses artificial intelligence to help lawyers draft contracts. HLS students harness artificial intelligence to revolutionize how lawyers draft and manage contracts Four Harvard Law students have their heads in the cloud—and they think the rest of the legal profession should join them. With their powerful new search engine called Evisort that harnesses cloud storage and artificial...
March 16, 2018
Harvard Law Today is reporting on a new computer program developed by four Harvard Law School students that uses artificial intelligence to help lawyers draft contracts. HLS students harness artificial intelligence to revolutionize how lawyers draft and manage contracts Four Harvard Law students have their heads in the cloud—and they think the rest of the legal profession should join them. With their powerful new search engine called Evisort that harnesses cloud storage and artificial...
A Neuro-Linguist’s Toolbox – Rapport: Non-Verbal Behaviours
March 16, 2018
NLP approaches non-verbal behavior from a different perspective. Can you remember a time you were having a wonderful conversation...
March 16, 2018
NLP approaches non-verbal behavior from a different perspective. Can you remember a time you were having a wonderful conversation...
When You Need to Bear Bad News
March 15, 2018
If you need to give bad news an article by Sara McCord suggests, Find the right time that makes the most sense for the other person and think about whether he or she may consider the issue urgent or not. If you think you need to break the news immediately explain why you think there are special circumstances justifying your interruption. Craft your message and tell the end of the story first. What went wrong and what’s the impact? Apologize if you think it’s appropriate, talk about...
March 15, 2018
If you need to give bad news an article by Sara McCord suggests, Find the right time that makes the most sense for the other person and think about whether he or she may consider the issue urgent or not. If you think you need to break the news immediately explain why you think there are special circumstances justifying your interruption. Craft your message and tell the end of the story first. What went wrong and what’s the impact? Apologize if you think it’s appropriate, talk about...
You Look Like Someone I Can Trust!
March 15, 2018
It seems that my mother was not alone in trusting strangers. In a January 29, 2018 post entitled This Is Why You Trust Some strangers and Not Others, Brandon Specktor, Senior Writer at LiveScience.com, notes that researchers have found that our ability to trust strangers depends on how much they resemble others that we know to be trustworthy or not so trustworthy. (Id.) In short, it is an “appearance” bias that operates like the Pavlovian response we all learned about in school. If a stranger...
March 15, 2018
It seems that my mother was not alone in trusting strangers. In a January 29, 2018 post entitled This Is Why You Trust Some strangers and Not Others, Brandon Specktor, Senior Writer at LiveScience.com, notes that researchers have found that our ability to trust strangers depends on how much they resemble others that we know to be trustworthy or not so trustworthy. (Id.) In short, it is an “appearance” bias that operates like the Pavlovian response we all learned about in school. If a stranger...
Traditional Mediation Tools Explained by Neuroscience
March 13, 2018
Mediators have many tools for facilitating an effective mediation. Neuroscience shows how our actions are influenced by stress hormones released when we perceive threats. Understanding the physiological stress response and its triggers helps us see why these traditional tools are effective. 1. Building Trust and Rapport: The stress response is triggered when threats outweigh resources for handling the threats. Building trust and rapport between mediator and party helps reduce stress in two ways....
March 13, 2018
Mediators have many tools for facilitating an effective mediation. Neuroscience shows how our actions are influenced by stress hormones released when we perceive threats. Understanding the physiological stress response and its triggers helps us see why these traditional tools are effective. 1. Building Trust and Rapport: The stress response is triggered when threats outweigh resources for handling the threats. Building trust and rapport between mediator and party helps reduce stress in two ways....
“Critical Thinking” by Tversky & Liberman
March 8, 2018
The Legal Theory Bookworm recommends Critical Thinking: Statistical Reasoning and Intuitive Judgment by Amos Tversky & Varda Liberman on SSRN. Here is a description: Life is fundamentally uncertain. We do not know whether it will rain, whether the market will go up or down, whether our unhealthy eating choices will have serious consequences, or whether terrorists will strike our city. To make matters worse, we also lack a tried and true procedure for evaluating the likelihood of such...
March 8, 2018
The Legal Theory Bookworm recommends Critical Thinking: Statistical Reasoning and Intuitive Judgment by Amos Tversky & Varda Liberman on SSRN. Here is a description: Life is fundamentally uncertain. We do not know whether it will rain, whether the market will go up or down, whether our unhealthy eating choices will have serious consequences, or whether terrorists will strike our city. To make matters worse, we also lack a tried and true procedure for evaluating the likelihood of such...
