Cognitive
Your Smile Gives You Away
June 12, 2017
Smile and the whole world smiles with you? Well, not necessarily. In a winning scenario, smiling can decrease your odds of success against the same opponent in subsequent matches, according to new research presented by the USC Institute for Creative Technologies and sponsored by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory. People who smiled during victory increased the odds of their opponent acting aggressively to steal a pot of money rather than share it in future gameplay, according to a paper presented...
June 12, 2017
Smile and the whole world smiles with you? Well, not necessarily. In a winning scenario, smiling can decrease your odds of success against the same opponent in subsequent matches, according to new research presented by the USC Institute for Creative Technologies and sponsored by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory. People who smiled during victory increased the odds of their opponent acting aggressively to steal a pot of money rather than share it in future gameplay, according to a paper presented...
The Cognitive Cure For Stage Fright, According To Neuroscience
June 11, 2017
A world famous pastor who speaks to sold out stadiums once admitted to me that in his first year as a minister, his hands would shake as he approached the lectern. His palms would sweat and his heart would race. He had severe stage fright. When he overheard a critical comment about his speaking, he would focus on it and replay it over and over in his head. Reappraisal: Changing the channel The minister told me he overcame the fear of public speaking by “changing the internal channel.” Instead...
June 11, 2017
A world famous pastor who speaks to sold out stadiums once admitted to me that in his first year as a minister, his hands would shake as he approached the lectern. His palms would sweat and his heart would race. He had severe stage fright. When he overheard a critical comment about his speaking, he would focus on it and replay it over and over in his head. Reappraisal: Changing the channel The minister told me he overcame the fear of public speaking by “changing the internal channel.” Instead...
Empirical Evidence on the Efficacy of Pre-Employment Criminal Background Checks
May 31, 2017
Dylan Minor (Northwestern-Kellogg), Nicola Persico (same), and Deborah M. Weiss (Northwestern Law) have just posted on SSRN their article Criminal Background and Job Performance. Here's the abstract: Job applicants with criminal records are much less likely than others to obtain legitimate employment, a problem that recent legislation, including Ban the Box, has attempted to address. The success of any remedial strategy depends on why hiring firms impose a hiring penalty and whether their concerns...
May 31, 2017
Dylan Minor (Northwestern-Kellogg), Nicola Persico (same), and Deborah M. Weiss (Northwestern Law) have just posted on SSRN their article Criminal Background and Job Performance. Here's the abstract: Job applicants with criminal records are much less likely than others to obtain legitimate employment, a problem that recent legislation, including Ban the Box, has attempted to address. The success of any remedial strategy depends on why hiring firms impose a hiring penalty and whether their concerns...
Calming Power of Reminiscing About Happy Times
May 28, 2017
Your brain needs help if it’s to quickly regain control. And, according to a new study published in Nature Human Behaviour, you can provide it by thinking back over good times. The idea that thinking about positive past events, including achievements or successes, can help to improve ongoing mood and resilience to stress is certainly not new. But showing that simply recalling happy memories can combat acute stress at a physical level is important, since there’s plenty of research finding that...
May 28, 2017
Your brain needs help if it’s to quickly regain control. And, according to a new study published in Nature Human Behaviour, you can provide it by thinking back over good times. The idea that thinking about positive past events, including achievements or successes, can help to improve ongoing mood and resilience to stress is certainly not new. But showing that simply recalling happy memories can combat acute stress at a physical level is important, since there’s plenty of research finding that...
Inside the Arbitrator’s Mind
May 24, 2017
Arbitrators are lead actors in global dispute resolution. They are to global dispute resolution what judges are to domestic dispute resolution. Despite its global significance, arbitral decision making is a black box. This Article is the first to use original experimental research to explore how international arbitrators decide cases. We find that arbitrators often make intuitive and impressionistic decisions, rather than fully deliberative decisions. We also find evidence that casts doubt on the conventional...
May 24, 2017
Arbitrators are lead actors in global dispute resolution. They are to global dispute resolution what judges are to domestic dispute resolution. Despite its global significance, arbitral decision making is a black box. This Article is the first to use original experimental research to explore how international arbitrators decide cases. We find that arbitrators often make intuitive and impressionistic decisions, rather than fully deliberative decisions. We also find evidence that casts doubt on the conventional...
Persuasive Writing: Should Advocates Exploit the Negativity Bias?
May 23, 2017
Professor Kenneth Chestek explains: Cognitive psychologists have identified a phenomenon they call the "negativity bias," in which humans seem to remember and be affected by negative information more strongly than by positive information. What are the implications of this bias for legal writers? Should they focus on negative themes (describing the opposing side as bad) instead of positive ones (describing their clients as good and worthy)? More specifically, do trial judges fall prey to the negativity...
May 23, 2017
Professor Kenneth Chestek explains: Cognitive psychologists have identified a phenomenon they call the "negativity bias," in which humans seem to remember and be affected by negative information more strongly than by positive information. What are the implications of this bias for legal writers? Should they focus on negative themes (describing the opposing side as bad) instead of positive ones (describing their clients as good and worthy)? More specifically, do trial judges fall prey to the negativity...
Judicial Bias in Sex Discrimination Cases: Empirical Analysis
May 22, 2017
Matthew Knepper (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis) has just posted on SSRN his article (forthcoming J. Labor Econ.) When the Shadow Is the Substance: Judge Gender and the Outcomes of Workplace Sex Discrimination Cases. Here's the abstract of this important article, which quite literally takes research on implicit bias to a completely different level: The number of workplace sex discrimination charges filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) approaches 25,000 annually. Do the subsequent...
May 22, 2017
Matthew Knepper (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis) has just posted on SSRN his article (forthcoming J. Labor Econ.) When the Shadow Is the Substance: Judge Gender and the Outcomes of Workplace Sex Discrimination Cases. Here's the abstract of this important article, which quite literally takes research on implicit bias to a completely different level: The number of workplace sex discrimination charges filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) approaches 25,000 annually. Do the subsequent...
How to Master Your Emotions
May 14, 2017
In her new book How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain, renowned psychologist Lisa Feldman Barrett makes a compelling case about the constructed theory of emotions. Unlike the classical theory that posits that emotions are built-in reactions triggered by the environment, Barrett claims that emotions do not happen to us without our volition. Rather, we construct our emotions by making meaning of sensations, and making predictions using our past experiences and our collection of concepts....
May 14, 2017
In her new book How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain, renowned psychologist Lisa Feldman Barrett makes a compelling case about the constructed theory of emotions. Unlike the classical theory that posits that emotions are built-in reactions triggered by the environment, Barrett claims that emotions do not happen to us without our volition. Rather, we construct our emotions by making meaning of sensations, and making predictions using our past experiences and our collection of concepts....
Behavioral Economics & the Patent-Antitrust Intersection
May 10, 2017
Daryl Lim (The John Marshall Law School) has posted Retooling the Patent-Antitrust Intersection: Insights from Behavioral Economics (Baylor Law Review, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Behavioral economics has been embraced in finance and implemented by the government. In IP law, scholars have argued it can inform non-obviousness analyses, decipher patent damages, and develop a more nuanced narrative for incentivizing innovation. In antitrust law, scholars have argued for a larger role...
May 10, 2017
Daryl Lim (The John Marshall Law School) has posted Retooling the Patent-Antitrust Intersection: Insights from Behavioral Economics (Baylor Law Review, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Behavioral economics has been embraced in finance and implemented by the government. In IP law, scholars have argued it can inform non-obviousness analyses, decipher patent damages, and develop a more nuanced narrative for incentivizing innovation. In antitrust law, scholars have argued for a larger role...
An Empirical Study of the Effects of the Negativity Bias
May 9, 2017
Because I have been working on a book on cognitive biases for several months, I was delighted to discover a newly-posted article on SSRN by Kenneth D. Chestek concerning the effects of the Negativity Bias on persuasive writing. Fear and Loathing in Persuasive Writing: An Empirical Study of the Effects of the Negativity Bias. (Legal Communication & Rhetoric: JALWD, Vol. 14, 2017) Abstract "Cognitive psychologists have identified a phenomenon they call the "negativity bias," in which humans...
May 9, 2017
Because I have been working on a book on cognitive biases for several months, I was delighted to discover a newly-posted article on SSRN by Kenneth D. Chestek concerning the effects of the Negativity Bias on persuasive writing. Fear and Loathing in Persuasive Writing: An Empirical Study of the Effects of the Negativity Bias. (Legal Communication & Rhetoric: JALWD, Vol. 14, 2017) Abstract "Cognitive psychologists have identified a phenomenon they call the "negativity bias," in which humans...
