Neuroscience
Warning: You Are About to Be Nudged
December 4, 2015
Defaults have been shown in prior research to impact important decisions, including how people complete advance directives (which specify the medical treatments they want to receive if they become unable to communicate their wishes). However, defaults and other nudges are often criticized for violating individual autonomy because those affected are typically unaware that they are being influenced. We report results from a study in which people were informed that they were being defaulted, either...
December 4, 2015
Defaults have been shown in prior research to impact important decisions, including how people complete advance directives (which specify the medical treatments they want to receive if they become unable to communicate their wishes). However, defaults and other nudges are often criticized for violating individual autonomy because those affected are typically unaware that they are being influenced. We report results from a study in which people were informed that they were being defaulted, either...
Does Your Approach Appeal to the Inner Reptile?
December 3, 2015
If your approach gets the attention and approval of the inner reptile you have a much better chance of guiding the other person to agreeing with you. The inner reptile, Is more concerned with avoiding pain in order to survive than with enjoying pleasure. Discuss the direct benefits of your approach and how the party will avoid or alleviate some kind of pain if he or she adopts it. Responds to emotions. What drives decision making is mostly subconscious. It doesn’t involve the cognitive parts...
December 3, 2015
If your approach gets the attention and approval of the inner reptile you have a much better chance of guiding the other person to agreeing with you. The inner reptile, Is more concerned with avoiding pain in order to survive than with enjoying pleasure. Discuss the direct benefits of your approach and how the party will avoid or alleviate some kind of pain if he or she adopts it. Responds to emotions. What drives decision making is mostly subconscious. It doesn’t involve the cognitive parts...
The Upside of a Stressful Childhood
November 29, 2015
Everyone knows that chronic stress is dangerous, especially for the developing brain. It prunes dendrites and inhibits the birth of new neurons. It shrinks the hippocampus, swells the amygdala and can lead to an elevated risk for heart disease, depression and diabetes. At times, these persuasive studies can make it can seem as if the ideal childhood is an extended vacation, shielded from the struggles of life. But the human brain resists such simple prescriptions. It is a machine of tradeoffs,...
November 29, 2015
Everyone knows that chronic stress is dangerous, especially for the developing brain. It prunes dendrites and inhibits the birth of new neurons. It shrinks the hippocampus, swells the amygdala and can lead to an elevated risk for heart disease, depression and diabetes. At times, these persuasive studies can make it can seem as if the ideal childhood is an extended vacation, shielded from the struggles of life. But the human brain resists such simple prescriptions. It is a machine of tradeoffs,...
Learning Really Can Cause Your Brain To Change
November 24, 2015
Learning a new route causes the brain to change its structure, a new study finds. Brief navigational training is enough to change the hippocampus and how it is linked to other areas. This is one of the first studies to suggest that learning really does cause changes to the brain’s structure. Dr Tim Keller, the study’s first author, said: “The hippocampus has long been known to be involved in spatial learning, but only recently has it been possible to measure changes in human brain...
November 24, 2015
Learning a new route causes the brain to change its structure, a new study finds. Brief navigational training is enough to change the hippocampus and how it is linked to other areas. This is one of the first studies to suggest that learning really does cause changes to the brain’s structure. Dr Tim Keller, the study’s first author, said: “The hippocampus has long been known to be involved in spatial learning, but only recently has it been possible to measure changes in human brain...
Why Bad Guys Win at Work
November 22, 2015
Psychopathic individuals are generally more dishonest, egocentric, reckless, and cruel than the population average. Machiavellianism is somewhat more related to superficial charm, interpersonal manipulation, deceit, ruthlessness, and impulsivity. People who score highly on this trait are morally feeble and likely to endorse the idea that “the end justifies the means” or agree that “it is hard to get ahead without cutting corners here and there.” Narcissism relates to unrealistic feelings...
November 22, 2015
Psychopathic individuals are generally more dishonest, egocentric, reckless, and cruel than the population average. Machiavellianism is somewhat more related to superficial charm, interpersonal manipulation, deceit, ruthlessness, and impulsivity. People who score highly on this trait are morally feeble and likely to endorse the idea that “the end justifies the means” or agree that “it is hard to get ahead without cutting corners here and there.” Narcissism relates to unrealistic feelings...
Why Sticking a Pair of Eyeballs on a Sign Actually Changes Behavior
November 18, 2015
Why Sticking a Pair of Eyeballs on a Sign Actually Changes Behavior. ATLAS OBSCURA. Police in the United Kingdom have been using eye-inhabiting signs as part of crime deterrence programs for the past decade. In 2013, posters in Nottinghamshire featuring the eyes of one of their police inspectors reportedly cut theft rates by 40 percent. In 2011, a group of scientists at Newcastle University’s Center for Behavior and Evolution placed a variety of posters around campus where students were prone to litter....
November 18, 2015
Why Sticking a Pair of Eyeballs on a Sign Actually Changes Behavior. ATLAS OBSCURA. Police in the United Kingdom have been using eye-inhabiting signs as part of crime deterrence programs for the past decade. In 2013, posters in Nottinghamshire featuring the eyes of one of their police inspectors reportedly cut theft rates by 40 percent. In 2011, a group of scientists at Newcastle University’s Center for Behavior and Evolution placed a variety of posters around campus where students were prone to litter....
Can Judgment Be Taught?
November 16, 2015
Can judgment even be taught? It thrives on its own flexibility and resourcefulness in the face of ever-changing circumstances. It therefore cannot be a matter of hard-and-fast rules. What is there to teach? But neither does experience seem enough. Many seasoned litigators seem rather clueless. They never learn to make good judgments. There is the old joke about the lawyer who tells a client she should hire him because of his good judgment, and when the client asks the source of his good judgment,...
November 16, 2015
Can judgment even be taught? It thrives on its own flexibility and resourcefulness in the face of ever-changing circumstances. It therefore cannot be a matter of hard-and-fast rules. What is there to teach? But neither does experience seem enough. Many seasoned litigators seem rather clueless. They never learn to make good judgments. There is the old joke about the lawyer who tells a client she should hire him because of his good judgment, and when the client asks the source of his good judgment,...
You Don’t Need Charisma to Be an Inspiring Leader
November 15, 2015
There is a simpler way to inspire change. In recent years, social scientists led by Todd Thrash have demystified the phenomenon of inspiration. At its core, inspiration is what happens when a person feels stimulated to bring some new idea to life after becoming spontaneously aware of new possibilities. Bold visions of greatness and charismatic speeches are certainly one way to elicit that feeling. But a few years ago, we stumbled onto another way. In a series of field experiments, my colleagues...
November 15, 2015
There is a simpler way to inspire change. In recent years, social scientists led by Todd Thrash have demystified the phenomenon of inspiration. At its core, inspiration is what happens when a person feels stimulated to bring some new idea to life after becoming spontaneously aware of new possibilities. Bold visions of greatness and charismatic speeches are certainly one way to elicit that feeling. But a few years ago, we stumbled onto another way. In a series of field experiments, my colleagues...
Neuroscience: The Aesthetic Brain
November 6, 2015
Neuroscience: The Aesthetic Brain. NATURE. While the amygdala is central to our evaluation of threat, it also contributes to judgments of trustworthiness. This overlap might be efficient for the brain, but as a side effect it could play a part in what psychologists call the attractiveness halo effect—a reflexive presumption that external beauty indicates overall goodness. Such a neural short cut can lead to all sorts of social benefits for attractive people, from better grades to more lenient punishments....
November 6, 2015
Neuroscience: The Aesthetic Brain. NATURE. While the amygdala is central to our evaluation of threat, it also contributes to judgments of trustworthiness. This overlap might be efficient for the brain, but as a side effect it could play a part in what psychologists call the attractiveness halo effect—a reflexive presumption that external beauty indicates overall goodness. Such a neural short cut can lead to all sorts of social benefits for attractive people, from better grades to more lenient punishments....
Women Who Show Anger Are Taken Less Seriously
November 5, 2015
Women Who Show Anger Are Taken Less Seriously. NEW YORK MAGAZINE. When women expressed anger during group deliberation, it undermined their argument, and people were less likely to be influenced by their opinion. For men, on the other hand, the opposite was true. “These diverging consequences might result in women potentially having less influence on societally important decisions than men, such as jury verdicts,” wrote the study authors, Jessica Salerno of Arizona State University and Liana...
November 5, 2015
Women Who Show Anger Are Taken Less Seriously. NEW YORK MAGAZINE. When women expressed anger during group deliberation, it undermined their argument, and people were less likely to be influenced by their opinion. For men, on the other hand, the opposite was true. “These diverging consequences might result in women potentially having less influence on societally important decisions than men, such as jury verdicts,” wrote the study authors, Jessica Salerno of Arizona State University and Liana...
