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Laurie Santos: A monkey economy as irrational as ours
This lecture blends evolutionary biology, genetics and psychology together into one intriguing glimpse at yet another bizarrely familiar intersection between human and monkey behavior. In spite of humanity's vast intelligence, many of the same quirks and irrationalities also crop up in its simian relatives (and ancestors). For example, monkeys do possess their own unique economic system — and Laurie Santos points out that some of their least effective patterns parallel the decisions that led to today's financial crisis. Mastersdegree.net Watch the Ted Talk here
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Daniel Goleman on compassion
Daniel Goleman's main thesis is clear and simple — humanity needs compassion in order to survive. He explores issues of brain and social science alike to understand why some people just don't reach out to help others in need. Though an incredibly complex study, one of the many facets he notes is the correlation between willingness to display empathy and compassion and time constraints. Mastersdegree.net Watch the Ted Talk here
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Impatient People Have Lower Credit Scores, Research Finds
LiveScience: While patience may be a virtue, a new study is showing that it can also help your credit score. According to research by two economists at Boston's Federal Reserve Center for Behavioral Economics and Decision Making, people who were willing to wait for long-term benefits had better credit scores than people who accepted immediate rewards. "Most often, the reasons economists put forward (for why people default) are, maybe there was not enough screening for mortgage applicants, or securitization, or other institutional reasons," said Stephan Meier, co-author of the study. Read the whole story: LiveScience
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Creativity Linked to Rule Bending
Scientific American: Why do cheaters cheat? Perhaps because they can think up original ways to avoid work: a new study finds that creativity is tied to a willingness to cheat. The work is in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. [Francesca Gino and Dan Ariely, "The dark side of creativity: Original thinkers can be more dishonest"] The teacher hands back copies of a multiple-choice test where you circled your answers. She then tells you to transfer your answers to a sheet where you fill in circles next to each answer. But your copy of the test includes her marks for the correct answers.
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In praise of healthy sins
Calgary Herald: Everything in moderation. I think of those words as my mother's buzz phrase. After decades of scare stories about the dangers of red meat, alcohol and sexually transmitted diseases, it's a wonder anyone gets out of bed in the morning. I'm not about to minimize the dangers of any of those things, but whenever I feel like adopting a more ascetic lifestyle devoid of the dangers of eating, drinking and generally being alive, I try to think of my mom's advice: "Everything in moderation." The good news is the science that scares us every time we consider buying the rib-eye instead of oatcakes can also be used to justify a more balanced approach to living.
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Q & A With Psychological Scientist Daniel Levitin (Part 1)
Daniel Levitin, a prominent psychological scientist, musician, author and producer, will be speaking at the 24th Annual APS Convention in Chicago this May as part of the Music, Mind, and Brain Theme Program. We invited Twitter and Facebook followers to ask Levitin questions based on his background and research in music and psychology. Here is what Levitin had to say... You've played in rock bands, and you've pioneered the academic study of music. Does music shape your intellectual work, or vice versa? Can you give an example of this? Well first, I'd like to say that as much as I appreciate the compliment, I'm really not a pioneer in the academic study of music.
