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Cognitive
New Mediator Self-Reflection Tool
January 29, 2019
The Supreme Court of Virginia has developed a wonderful new self-reflection form for mediators. While the Court developed this tool for their certified mediators as part of their re-certification process, it is a valuable tool for any mediator (just ignore the instructions about continuing mediator education credits). There is a lot of content, so if you are using this on your own you will probably want to pick and choose among the questions. This new tool coordinates with Virginia’s...
January 29, 2019
The Supreme Court of Virginia has developed a wonderful new self-reflection form for mediators. While the Court developed this tool for their certified mediators as part of their re-certification process, it is a valuable tool for any mediator (just ignore the instructions about continuing mediator education credits). There is a lot of content, so if you are using this on your own you will probably want to pick and choose among the questions. This new tool coordinates with Virginia’s...
Updated Examples of Negotiation Theory
January 27, 2019
The stalemate in Washington D.C. has numerous pundits commenting on the negotiation strategies of the primary actors but I am going to just highlight a few from our colleagues. First, Russell Korobkin accurately predicted how the LA strike might end while the federal shutdown would not in his L.A. Times Op-ed last week. As he noted, If deals favoring either side of these disputes would be better for both than no deal at all, why are L.A. teachers on picket lines and national park rangers...
January 27, 2019
The stalemate in Washington D.C. has numerous pundits commenting on the negotiation strategies of the primary actors but I am going to just highlight a few from our colleagues. First, Russell Korobkin accurately predicted how the LA strike might end while the federal shutdown would not in his L.A. Times Op-ed last week. As he noted, If deals favoring either side of these disputes would be better for both than no deal at all, why are L.A. teachers on picket lines and national park rangers...
Implicit Biases May Be A Good Thing!
January 17, 2019
In past blog posts, I have discussed implicit biases and how important it is to recognize their existence and to counteract...
January 17, 2019
In past blog posts, I have discussed implicit biases and how important it is to recognize their existence and to counteract...
Incentives, Performance and Choking in Darts
January 13, 2019
This paper examines the effect of incentives on the performance of darts players. We analyze four data sets comprising a total of 123,402 darts matches of professional, amateur, and youth players. The game of darts offers an attractive natural research setting, because performance can be observed at the individual level and without the obscuring effects of risk considerations and the behavior of others. We find that amateur and youth players perform better under moderately higher incentives, but choke...
January 13, 2019
This paper examines the effect of incentives on the performance of darts players. We analyze four data sets comprising a total of 123,402 darts matches of professional, amateur, and youth players. The game of darts offers an attractive natural research setting, because performance can be observed at the individual level and without the obscuring effects of risk considerations and the behavior of others. We find that amateur and youth players perform better under moderately higher incentives, but choke...
CrossFit Versus Gold’s Gym
January 12, 2019
As our data showed (see our official academic article on this, Fell & Geher, 2018, published in the Journal of Evolution and Health), the exercise experiences of these two gyms differed pretty dramatically. People who attended Gold's were much more likely to use the stationary bicycle, stairmaster, and treadmill, for instance, while CrossFitters were more likely to use kettleballs and to engage in intensive interval training (designed as proxies for the kinds of physical activities...
January 12, 2019
As our data showed (see our official academic article on this, Fell & Geher, 2018, published in the Journal of Evolution and Health), the exercise experiences of these two gyms differed pretty dramatically. People who attended Gold's were much more likely to use the stationary bicycle, stairmaster, and treadmill, for instance, while CrossFitters were more likely to use kettleballs and to engage in intensive interval training (designed as proxies for the kinds of physical activities...
Five Marketing Lessons from the Payless Shoe Prank
January 12, 2019
An elaborate advertising prank by discount retailer Payless ShoeSource is raising eyebrows and important questions about the ability of marketers to manipulate consumer behavior. The ruse took place in a mall near Los Angeles, where a select group of social media influencers were invited to a private launch party for new Italian shoe designer Bruno Palessi. But after the fashionistas paid hundreds of dollars for what they though was fancy footwear, they discovered they had been duped. Payless...
January 12, 2019
An elaborate advertising prank by discount retailer Payless ShoeSource is raising eyebrows and important questions about the ability of marketers to manipulate consumer behavior. The ruse took place in a mall near Los Angeles, where a select group of social media influencers were invited to a private launch party for new Italian shoe designer Bruno Palessi. But after the fashionistas paid hundreds of dollars for what they though was fancy footwear, they discovered they had been duped. Payless...
How to Use the Ben Franklin Effect to Increase Loyalty
January 10, 2019
What is the Ben Franklin effect? Named after Ben Franklin (who wrote of borrowing a book from a rival who warmed to him as a result), this effect states the following: that if you ask someone to help you out in some way, and they indeed do, they will then be more likely to do you another favor. Note that asking for the favor is not enough: the person asked needs to willingly provide it without feeling too cajoled. The existence of this effect doesn’t mean that doing someone a favor...
January 10, 2019
What is the Ben Franklin effect? Named after Ben Franklin (who wrote of borrowing a book from a rival who warmed to him as a result), this effect states the following: that if you ask someone to help you out in some way, and they indeed do, they will then be more likely to do you another favor. Note that asking for the favor is not enough: the person asked needs to willingly provide it without feeling too cajoled. The existence of this effect doesn’t mean that doing someone a favor...
Why Did People Pay $600 For a Pair of $20 Payless Shoes?
January 6, 2019
The Palessi Luxury Brand Launch Party Here’s what happened. The company took over a former Armani store in Santa Monica California for a weekend in late November 2018. It created a luxury ambiance and stocked the store with the same Payless shoes that sell for $20–$40. It invented an upscale fashion designer called Bruno Palessi, branding the store as a “Palessi” store. (It even created an Instagram account and website for the fake brand). For the Palessi store’s grand opening...
January 6, 2019
The Palessi Luxury Brand Launch Party Here’s what happened. The company took over a former Armani store in Santa Monica California for a weekend in late November 2018. It created a luxury ambiance and stocked the store with the same Payless shoes that sell for $20–$40. It invented an upscale fashion designer called Bruno Palessi, branding the store as a “Palessi” store. (It even created an Instagram account and website for the fake brand). For the Palessi store’s grand opening...
People Aren’t Dumb. The World Is Hard.
January 6, 2019
You wouldn’t think you could win a Nobel Prize for showing that humans tend to make irrational decisions. But that’s what Richard Thaler has done. The founder of behavioral economics describes his unlikely route to success; his reputation for being lazy; and his efforts to fix the world — one nudge at a time. * * * Years ago, Richard Thaler became enthralled with a new line of research about decision-making by the psychologists...
January 6, 2019
You wouldn’t think you could win a Nobel Prize for showing that humans tend to make irrational decisions. But that’s what Richard Thaler has done. The founder of behavioral economics describes his unlikely route to success; his reputation for being lazy; and his efforts to fix the world — one nudge at a time. * * * Years ago, Richard Thaler became enthralled with a new line of research about decision-making by the psychologists...
Exercise: A Sanctuary From Stress
January 5, 2019
But harnessing themselves to exercise frequently was not going to happen unless it was necessary to accelerate their weight loss. In the interim, study after study has pointed to the benefits of exercise for improving sleep (1), maintaining cognitive abilities (2), improving bone strength (3), maintaining cardiovascular health (4), decreasing the likelihood of certain types of cancer (5), regulating glucose control in diabetes (6), improving mood disorders (7), and, of course, losing weight. But...
January 5, 2019
But harnessing themselves to exercise frequently was not going to happen unless it was necessary to accelerate their weight loss. In the interim, study after study has pointed to the benefits of exercise for improving sleep (1), maintaining cognitive abilities (2), improving bone strength (3), maintaining cardiovascular health (4), decreasing the likelihood of certain types of cancer (5), regulating glucose control in diabetes (6), improving mood disorders (7), and, of course, losing weight. But...
