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Cognitive
How Uber Uses Psychological Tricks to Push Its Drivers’ Buttons
April 16, 2017
To keep drivers on the road, the company has exploited some people’s tendency to set earnings goals — alerting them that they are ever so close to hitting a precious target when they try to log off. It has even concocted an algorithm similar to a Netflix feature that automatically loads the next program, which many experts believe encourages binge-watching. In Uber’s case, this means sending drivers their next fare opportunity before their current ride is even over. And most of this happens...
April 16, 2017
To keep drivers on the road, the company has exploited some people’s tendency to set earnings goals — alerting them that they are ever so close to hitting a precious target when they try to log off. It has even concocted an algorithm similar to a Netflix feature that automatically loads the next program, which many experts believe encourages binge-watching. In Uber’s case, this means sending drivers their next fare opportunity before their current ride is even over. And most of this happens...
Higher Working Memory Ability;More Brain Freeze
April 10, 2017
Some fortunate people have more “working memory” than others. It’s as if they have an extra pair of hands available for mental juggling; extremely useful for doing arithmetic and similar tasks in your head. These folk with abundant working memory capacity also tend to fare well academically and in their careers. Little surprise that “brain training” games like Lumosity and Cogmed target working memory in pursuit of these knock-on benefits (though the evidence that the training brings such...
April 10, 2017
Some fortunate people have more “working memory” than others. It’s as if they have an extra pair of hands available for mental juggling; extremely useful for doing arithmetic and similar tasks in your head. These folk with abundant working memory capacity also tend to fare well academically and in their careers. Little surprise that “brain training” games like Lumosity and Cogmed target working memory in pursuit of these knock-on benefits (though the evidence that the training brings such...
How Well Do You Take Criticism?
March 28, 2017
We all need to learn from our mistakes, but we may be making mistakes without realizing it. Accepting and using criticism to improve ourselves is an art. It may be the difference between being stuck in a rut or being able to perform better professionally and personally. It’s easy to become defensive when hearing criticism or discrediting the source. We may come up with excuses for results that are less than optimal. The Muse has these suggestions for not taking criticism personally, finding...
March 28, 2017
We all need to learn from our mistakes, but we may be making mistakes without realizing it. Accepting and using criticism to improve ourselves is an art. It may be the difference between being stuck in a rut or being able to perform better professionally and personally. It’s easy to become defensive when hearing criticism or discrediting the source. We may come up with excuses for results that are less than optimal. The Muse has these suggestions for not taking criticism personally, finding...
Sunstein on Bounded Rationality & Relinquishing Control
March 24, 2017
Cass R. Sunstein (Harvard Law School; Harvard University - Harvard Kennedy School (HKS)) has posted ‘Don't Tell Me What I Can't Do!’ On the Intrinsic Value of Control (Forthcoming, Introduction, Behavioral Economics Guide 2017) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: For most people, control has some intrinsic value; people care about maintaining it and will pay something to do so. Whenever a private or public institution blocks choices or interferes with agency, some people will rebel, even if exercising...
March 24, 2017
Cass R. Sunstein (Harvard Law School; Harvard University - Harvard Kennedy School (HKS)) has posted ‘Don't Tell Me What I Can't Do!’ On the Intrinsic Value of Control (Forthcoming, Introduction, Behavioral Economics Guide 2017) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: For most people, control has some intrinsic value; people care about maintaining it and will pay something to do so. Whenever a private or public institution blocks choices or interferes with agency, some people will rebel, even if exercising...
You Only Have a Few Moments to Make a Lasting, First Impression
March 24, 2017
First impressions are lasting impressions. Trying to correct a bad first impression can be done, but it may take time and effort. Whether you’re meeting a prospective client, another attorney or the opposing party during a mediation, first impressions count. According to a 1992 study that first impression is formed within two seconds of seeing you, according to Entrepreneur magazine. Two Harvard researchers, Nalini Ambady and Robert Rosenthal, did an experiment where they asked students to rate...
March 24, 2017
First impressions are lasting impressions. Trying to correct a bad first impression can be done, but it may take time and effort. Whether you’re meeting a prospective client, another attorney or the opposing party during a mediation, first impressions count. According to a 1992 study that first impression is formed within two seconds of seeing you, according to Entrepreneur magazine. Two Harvard researchers, Nalini Ambady and Robert Rosenthal, did an experiment where they asked students to rate...
The Neuroscience of Humor Investigated
March 13, 2017
A study published in Frontiers in Neuroscience takes a look inside the brains of professional comedians and compares them with less humorous humans. They attempt to home in on the seat of creative humor and ask what it can tell us about creativity. Researchers from the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles recently undertook a rather ambitious project: they set out to spy on the neural correlates of creating a joke. Interestingly, the activation in these particular...
March 13, 2017
A study published in Frontiers in Neuroscience takes a look inside the brains of professional comedians and compares them with less humorous humans. They attempt to home in on the seat of creative humor and ask what it can tell us about creativity. Researchers from the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles recently undertook a rather ambitious project: they set out to spy on the neural correlates of creating a joke. Interestingly, the activation in these particular...
3 Simple Ways to Make Yourself Happy Every Day, According to Neuroscience
March 12, 2017
Do you want to be happier? That's a pretty silly question--who doesn't want more happiness? Fortunately, there are simple...
March 12, 2017
Do you want to be happier? That's a pretty silly question--who doesn't want more happiness? Fortunately, there are simple...
Emotions Do Carryover
March 7, 2017
I saw a blog on the Program on Negotiation (PON) at Harvard Law School’s web page written by its staff (January 12, 2017) entitled “How Mood Affects Negotiators”. It caught my attention because I had just witnessed this effect in two of my mediations. Recently, I held two mediations on the same day- one in the morning and one in the afternoon with the same plaintiff’s and defense counsel. The only new party in each mediation was the actual plaintiff. All of the other participants were...
March 7, 2017
I saw a blog on the Program on Negotiation (PON) at Harvard Law School’s web page written by its staff (January 12, 2017) entitled “How Mood Affects Negotiators”. It caught my attention because I had just witnessed this effect in two of my mediations. Recently, I held two mediations on the same day- one in the morning and one in the afternoon with the same plaintiff’s and defense counsel. The only new party in each mediation was the actual plaintiff. All of the other participants were...
Game Theory and Mediation: Adding Real Value?
March 6, 2017
Several years ago, while travelling back with my son David to Oxford where he was studying as an undergraduate, we discussed my work as a mediator and his study of economics, particularly the learning for us both from Game Theory. I (John) had been familiar with The Prisoners’ Dilemma for a number of years, probably dating back to the Oil Pricing Exercise with which I recall commencing Harvard’s Program on Negotiation course many years previously (1996!). We use a developed version of The Prisoners’...
March 6, 2017
Several years ago, while travelling back with my son David to Oxford where he was studying as an undergraduate, we discussed my work as a mediator and his study of economics, particularly the learning for us both from Game Theory. I (John) had been familiar with The Prisoners’ Dilemma for a number of years, probably dating back to the Oil Pricing Exercise with which I recall commencing Harvard’s Program on Negotiation course many years previously (1996!). We use a developed version of The Prisoners’...
The Troubled Friendship of Tversky and Kahneman
March 5, 2017
Writer Michael Lewis’s new book, “The Undoing Project: The Friendship That Changed Our Minds”, is about two of the most...
March 5, 2017
Writer Michael Lewis’s new book, “The Undoing Project: The Friendship That Changed Our Minds”, is about two of the most...
