MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'contributors'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:23:58 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5139894&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F08%2F18%2Fthe-psychopath-test%2F It is late summer and the time of year when I get to catch up on books that have been piling up in my office. One of these, Jon Ronson’s The Psychopath Test, had been on my radar since I read a positive review by Janet Maslin in The New York Times a couple months ago and knowing Ronson’s other work (including The Men Who Stare at Goats), I was eager to dive in. Ronson has a talent for picking out quirky characters and fringe topics and knitting them together with sharp (and, frequently, cutting) prose.  In The Psychopath Test, he mingles with Scientologists, denizens of Broadmoor (an English psychiatric hospital once known as Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum), David Shayler (the former MI5 spy turned conspiracy theorist turned messiah), and numerous other intriguing individuals.  Al... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5139894 Thu, 18 Aug 2011 04:01:46 +0100 5139894 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5096361&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F08%2F04%2Fpolicy-implications-of-implicit-social-cognition%2F Situationist Contributor Brian Nosek and Rachel Riskind recently posted their paper, “Policy Implications of Implicit Social Cognition” on SSRN.  Here is the abstract. * * * Basic research in implicit social cognition demonstrates that thoughts and feelings outside of conscious awareness or conscious control can influence perception, judgment and action. Implicit measures reveal that people possess implicit attitudes and stereotypes about social groups that are often distinct from their explicitly endorsed beliefs and values. The evidence that behavior can be influenced by implicit social cognition contrasts with social policies that implicitly or explicitly assume that people know and control the causes of their behavior. We consider the present state of evidence for implicit... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5096361 Thu, 04 Aug 2011 04:01:10 +0100 5096361 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5050743&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F07%2F19%2Fimplicit-bias-symposium-with-links-to-videos%2F Discussion:  Concrete Solutions and Next Steps. The last panel will bring back all the panelists for a final robust, interdisciplinary, and unscripted conversation about the challenges and opportunities highlighted throughout the day. What can and should be done now? What research agenda will provide the knowledge necessary to lessen the impact of implicit bias within the courtroom and the judiciary?  What forces, besides the scientific merits, might drive the conversation and debate? Moderator: Jerry Kang, UCLA, Law Video: Panel 4: Back to Reality – Rountable Discussion: Concrete Solutions and Next Steps (Source: The Situationist) The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5050743 Tue, 19 Jul 2011 04:02:27 +0100 5050743 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5008324&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F07%2F07%2Fthe-situation-of-heroism%2F From NPR’s Morning Edition: In 1971, at Stanford University, a young psychology professor created a simulated prison. Some of the young men playing the guards became sadistic, even violent, and the experiment had to be stopped. The results of the Stanford Prison Experiment showed that people tend to conform — even when that means otherwise good people doing terrible things. Since then, the experiment has been used to help explain everything from Nazi Germany to Abu Ghraib. Now, in a new project, [Situationist Contributor] Philip Zimbardo, the psychologist who created the prison experiment, is trying to show that people can learn to bring out the best in themselves rather than the worst. An Unwanted Legacy Four decades after he created the Stanford Prison Experiment, Zimbardo says h... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5008324 Thu, 07 Jul 2011 04:01:39 +0100 5008324 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4997629&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F07%2F04%2Findependence-day-celebrating-courage-to-challenge-the-situation-2%2F First Published on July 3, 2007: With the U.S. celebrating Independence Day — carnivals, fireworks, BBQs, parades and other customs that have, at best, only a tangential connection to our “independence,” — we thought it an opportune moment to return to its source in search of some situationism. No doubt, the Declaration of Independence is typically thought of as containing a dispositionist message (though few would express it in those terms) — all that language about individuals freely pursuing their own happiness. Great stuff, but arguably built on a dubious model of the human animal. That’s not the debate we want to provoke here. Instead, we are interested in simply highlighting some less familiar language in that same document that reveals something... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4997629 Mon, 04 Jul 2011 04:00:45 +0100 4997629 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4984511&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F06%2F28%2Fsusan-fiske-on-inclusive-leadership-stereotyping-and-the-brain%2F Discussion about (In)Equality,” “The Interior Situational Reaction to Inequality,” (Source: The Situationist) The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4984511 Wed, 29 Jun 2011 03:18:58 +0100 4984511 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4872183&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F05%2F26%2Fthe-situation-of-jon-hanson%2F From Harvard Law School Website: Professor Jon Hanson, the Alfred Smart Professor of Law, is this year’s winner of the prestigious Albert M. Sacks-Paul A. Freund Award for Teaching Excellence, an honor bestowed each spring by the Harvard Law School graduating class. The award recognizes teaching ability, attentiveness to student concerns and general contributions to student life at the law school. This is the second time Hanson has received the recognition. He won the Sacks-Freund award in 1999, and he was a finalist in 2000 and again in 2006. Class Marshall Sameer Singh Birring ’12 introduced Hanson at Class Day exercises on May 25. He called Hanson a pioneer in the movement to apply insights from psychology to the analysis of law and policy. A student in Hanson’s Corporatio... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4872183 Thu, 26 May 2011 13:21:43 +0100 4872183 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4862644&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F05%2F24%2Fthe-situation-of-a-winning-attitude%2F From Triangle Business Journal: * * * According to new research, motivation to succeed actually can decrease in people who see others succeed. In an experiment, participants observed others trying to solve a series of word puzzles. On video monitors, some observers viewed the group completing a word puzzle, others observed the group attempt but not complete the puzzle. A control group didn’t view any puzzle-solving at all. All observers were then asked to complete word puzzles of their own. Observers who watched the puzzles being completed were less successful with their own puzzles than those who saw the incomplete puzzles or the control group. The researchers called this phenomenon “vicarious goal fulfillment.” If we see someone else complete a task, we transfer that fulfillment to... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4862644 Tue, 24 May 2011 04:01:46 +0100 4862644 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4696698&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F04%2F10%2Fthe-disorderly-situation-of-stereotyping%2F From Los Angeles Times: Picture yourself in a well-kept room — pictures neatly hung on walls, books organized on a shelf, floors clear of junk. Now sit yourself in a room with crooked pictures, scattered books and dirty laundry on the floor. Feeling any different? In the second room, you might be more apt to keep your distance from a person of another race, believe that Muslims are aggressive or think that gay people are creative, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Science. The idea, said researchers from Tilburg University in the Netherlands, is that people in messy environments tend to compensate for that disorder by categorizing people in their minds according to well-known stereotypes. Testing the relationship between disorder and discrimination in real-life situa... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4696698 Sun, 10 Apr 2011 04:01:36 +0100 4696698 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4676876&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F04%2F04%2Fcanons-of-confabulation%2F From the Law and Mind Blog, here’s an excellent post by Michael Lieberman about a chapter (forthcoming in Ideology, Psychology, and Law (ed, Jon Hanson, 2011) authored by Situationist Contributors Eric Knowles and Peter Ditto. * * * Knowles and Ditto’s chapter on Preference, Principle, and Causistry – detailed elsewhere on this blog – bears a striking resemblance to Karl Llewellyn’s famous critique of the use of canons of construction in judicial opinions.  Given the title of this blog, how can we not explore such a clear intersection of the mind sciences and the law? Canons of construction are interpretive tools invoked by judges to discern the meaning of statutes.  To couch this in Knowles and Ditto’s terms, the universe of canons exists as a menu of principles upon wh... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4676876 Mon, 04 Apr 2011 07:30:39 +0100 4676876 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4670174&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F04%2F02%2Fpreference-principle-casuistry%2F From our sister blog, Law & Mind, here is an excellent post by Harvard Law LL.M. candidate David Simon. Simon summarizes a fascinating chapter by Situationist Contributors Eric Knowles and Peter Ditto (forthcoming in “Ideology, Psychology, and Law” (Jon Hanson, ed., 2011). * * * [T]he attribution of principle or its absence is more than an evaluative stance; it is also a lay-psychological hypothesis concerning the causes of another’s behavior. - Eric D. Knowles & Peter H. Ditto, Preference , Principle, & Casuistry We often value people who act on their principles  more than those who act solely on their preferences. In other words, we value behavior that is justified by reasons rather than emotions. This shouldn’t be much of a surprise to... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4670174 Sat, 02 Apr 2011 18:00:50 +0100 4670174 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4664281&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F04%2F01%2Ftalk-on-the-situation-of-retribution%2F Title: “Punishing Jaws: Experiments  on  Retribution  Against  Nonhuman  Perpetrators” When: Today – April 1st, at 12PM Where: Griswold 110, Harvard Law School Who: Situationist Contributor and Drexel Law School Professor Adam Benforado and University of Pennsylvania Psychology Professor Geoff Goodwin will discuss historical and empirical research regarding retributive punishment imposed upon animals.  They will then use this evidence to draw inferences about human intuitions regarding punishment. Free burritos! * * * Related Situationist posts: The Criminals that Other Criminals Punish “Intuitions of Punishment?,” “Michael McCullough on the Situation of Revenge and Forgiveness,” “Steven Pinker Speaks at Harvard Law School,” “John Darley on “J... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4664281 Fri, 01 Apr 2011 04:01:39 +0100 4664281 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4653386&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F03%2F29%2Fsalms-lecture-tonight%2F Jon Hanson Evening Lecture and Reception On Tuesday, March 29th, Professor Jon Hanson will give a lecture entitled “Law, Psychology, and Inequality” at 6PM in Harvard Law School’s Austin East.  A reception with free food and drink will follow! (Source: The Situationist) The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4653386 Tue, 29 Mar 2011 07:00:27 +0100 4653386 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4631522&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F03%2F25%2Fpsychology-of-inequality%2F Elaine McCardle wrote a terrific review of last month’s Fifth Annual PLMS Conference.  Her article is the spotlight piece on the Harvard Law School website and includes several excellent videos, photos, and links.  Here’s the story. * * * While equality is a fundamental principle of American law and the bedrock of the national psyche, inequality has actually increased in the past four decades in the distribution of wealth, power, opportunity, even health. Yet the topic of inequality has received relatively little attention from legal theorists, and, for the most part, it is ignored in the basic law school curriculum. A conference last month at HLS, “The Psychology of Inequality,” presented by the Project on Law & Mind Sciences (PLMS), stepped into that vacuum, bringi... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4631522 Fri, 25 Mar 2011 04:01:28 +0100 4631522 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4626872&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F03%2F24%2Fif-its-evitable-i-dont-like-it%2F Situationist Contributor Aaron Kay as well as Peter A. Ubel and Gavan Fitzsimons wrote the following editorial for the Detroit Free Press.: This week it will be one year since President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) into law. Despite all the controversy that preceded the bill’s passage, most health policy experts confidently predicted that the public would soon embrace the legislation. To back up these predictions, they pointed out that Medicare was quite controversial when it was established in the 1960s, but rapidly grew in popularity. Much the same happened more recently with Medicare Part D, the law championed by President George W. Bush to extend Medicare coverage to medications. Recent polls belie these predictions, however, as support for health care reform has... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4626872 Thu, 24 Mar 2011 04:01:42 +0100 4626872 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4622300&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F03%2F23%2Fsending-the-wrong-message%2F Joe D’Amico probably had the best of intentions when he set out to eat an all-McDonald’s diet for thirty days leading up to the L.A. Marathon. And, in fact, as a result of internet buzz, his “food challenge” ended up raising $26,000 for Ronald McDonald charities. At the race a few days ago, D’Amico set a personal record and improved his cholesterol levels in the process! So a clear win-win-win! But isn’t there some Grinch out there to point out the dark side of all of this? Not at the Huffington Post, which has been nothing but complementary (see here and here), . . . leaving it to the Situationist to rain on everyone’s parade. Why am I skeptical about this stunt? Well, for starters it fits in quite neatly with previous strategies by big tobacco an... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4622300 Wed, 23 Mar 2011 04:01:28 +0100 4622300 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4615202&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F03%2F21%2F25-mil%25c2%25adlion-years-of-us-vs-them%2F From World News: Like peo­ple, some of our mon­key cousins tend to take an “us ver­sus them” view of the world, a study has found. This sug­gests that the ten­den­cy for hu­man groups to clash may stem from a dis­tant ev­o­lu­tion­ary past, sci­en­tists say. Yale Un­ivers­ity re­search­ers led by psy­chol­o­gist Lau­rie San­tos found in a se­ries of ex­pe­ri­ments that mon­keys treat mon­keys from out­side their groups with the same sus­pi­cion and dis­like as their hu­man cousins tend to treat out­siders. The find­ings are re­ported in the March is­sue of the Jour­nal of Per­son­al­ity and So­cial Psy­chol­o­gy. “One of the more trou­bling as­pects of hu­man na­ture is that we eval­u­ate peo­ple dif­fer­ently de­pend­ing on wh... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4615202 Mon, 21 Mar 2011 04:01:44 +0100 4615202 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4605882&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F03%2F18%2Fbelonging%2F From Eureka Alert: Along with the excitement and anticipation that come with heading off to college, freshmen often find questions of belonging lurking in the background: Am I going to make friends? Are people going to respect me? Will I fit in? Those concerns are trickier for black students and others who are often stereotyped or outnumbered on college campuses. They have good reason to wonder whether they will belong – worries that can result in lower grades and a sense of alienation. But when black freshmen participated in an hour-long exercise designed by Stanford psychologists to show that everyone – no matter what their race or ethnicity – has a tough time adjusting to college right away, their grades went up and the minority achievement gap shrank by 52 percent. And years late... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4605882 Fri, 18 Mar 2011 05:34:54 +0100 4605882 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4600598&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F03%2F16%2Fkennedy-and-pronin-on-the-spiral-of-conflict%2F A group of  Harvard Law students are blogging over at the Law & Mind Blog.  Here is one of their posts about a chapter by Situationist Contributor Emily Pronin and Kathleen Kennedy (forthcoming in from Situationist Contributor Jon Hanson’s  book, “Ideology, Psychology, and Law”).  The post is authored by HLS student Michael Lieberman. * * * In their chapter, Bias Perception and the Spiral of Conflict, Kathleen Kennedy and Emily Pronin examine what they see as a major cause of breakdowns in negotiation, both small- and large-scale: a tendency of each side to view the other side’s position as biased and preference-driven (rather than based on objective facts). Kennedy and Pronin explain that we tend to see signs of bias all around us – some even posit t... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4600598 Thu, 17 Mar 2011 01:53:16 +0100 4600598 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4552075&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F03%2F06%2Fthe-situation-of-natural-talent%2F From Harvard Gazette: Fields such as music, math, and chess have had a predilection for a long time to seek out the youngest and most accomplished among them. According to Chia-Jung Tsay, this is because “we want to seek something that’s inherent to us. We associate accomplishment at a young age with something that comes effortlessly.” But does this desire to seek out “natural” talent eventually skew our view of what talent is? * * * Tsay and her adviser, [Situationist Contributor] Mahzarin Banaji, the Richard Clarke Cabot Professor of Social Ethics, began looking at different domains, considering which fields more strongly emphasize natural talent over hard work and experience. They found that music was the most often cited for natural talent, and business was most cited for ha... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4552075 Sun, 06 Mar 2011 04:01:37 +0100 4552075 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4545018&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F03%2F04%2Fthe-costs-of-exposing-the-myth-of-free-will%2F Having recovered from the fabulous keyword=k13943&tabgroupid=icb.tabgroup119727″>Fifth Conference on Law and Mind Sciences, I’ve returned this week to my normal routine of teaching, researching, emailing, and procrastinating — but not without a new and fresh perspective. Indeed, on Thursday, as my Law and Mind Sciences seminar turned to our unit on neuroscience and I began rereading Joshua Greene and Jonathan Cohen’s article “For the Law, Neuroscience Changes Nothing and Everything,” I couldn’t help but think back to Situationist Contributor Aaron Kay’s compelling presentation on the benefits of believing in societal fairness for those who suffer from injustice.  In a series of studies, Aaron has documented that “members of disadvantaged g... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4545018 Fri, 04 Mar 2011 04:30:24 +0100 4545018 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4536141&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F03%2F02%2Fideological-bias-in-social-psychology%2F On January 27th, moral psychologist Jonathan Haidt gave a provocative talk at the annual convention of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.  His presentation has since received a lot of press (including John Tierney’s New York Times article on the talk). Edge has posted a version of Haidt’s talk as well as a variety of responses (here).  Below, we’ve posted the response by Situationist Contributor, John Jost. * * * Social psychology is not a “tribal-moral community” governed by “sacred values.” It is wide open to anyone who believes that we can use the scientific method to explain social behavior, regardless of their political beliefs. Nor is our “corner” of social science “broken” when it comes “race... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4536141 Wed, 02 Mar 2011 04:01:10 +0100 4536141 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4525057&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F02%2F27%2Flegal-socialization-and-the-news%2F Over at the new Law & Mind Blog, several Harvard Law students have been blogging about a chapter (forthcoming inIdeology, Psychology, and Law, edited by Situationist Contributor Jon Hanson) by Mitchell Callan and Situationist Contributor Aaron Kay. In the second post on the topic (copied below), LLM candidate David Simon discusses legal socialization. * * * Imagine you and your neighbor share a fence along a common border, part of which demarcates the boundary between both properties and “the wilderness.” The fence benefits both of you because it keeps out the livestock-killing coyotes. One day, a shared and critical part of the fence collapses onto your property, leaving your yard open to coyotes, who may eat your livestock. Without legal recourse, how might you resolve... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4525057 Sun, 27 Feb 2011 04:20:50 +0100 4525057 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4522155&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F02%2F25%2Fharvard-law-record-on-tomorrows-plms-conference%2F From the Harvard Law Record: Legal scholars have long been borrowing from economists to explain legal rules and doctrine. Examining the law through the lens of social psychological research is a more novel approach, one which will be front and center at the fifth annual Conference on Law and Mind Sciences at Harvard Law School. On Feb. 26 in Austin North, academics and students will discuss the latest research on the psychological causes and consequences of social inequality and its application to law and policy. The conference, entitled “The Psychology of Inequality,” is an all-day event sponsored by the Project on Law and Mind Sciences (PLMS) and will feature four panels comprised of mostly mind scientists and several legal scholars. “The larger ambition of the conferen... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4522155 Fri, 25 Feb 2011 04:01:31 +0100 4522155 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4477823&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F02%2F15%2Flaw-competition-self-interest%2F Over at the new Law & Mind Blog, several Harvard Law students have been blogging about a chapter by Mitchell Callan and Situationist Contributor Aaron Kay. In the first post on the topic (copied below), 1L student Becky Ding summarizes the chapter (forthcoming in Ideology, Psychology, and Law, edited by Situationist Contributor Jon Hanson). * * * In Association between Law, Competitiveness, and the pursuit of self-interest, Mitchell Callan and Aaron Kay discuss how law and the way our legal system functions affect and shape our thinking and interpersonal relations. In particular, it fosters the assumption that people are self-interested, competitive and untrustworthy. Callan and Kay supports their theory through theories and research results from various social cognition studies. Calla... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4477823 Tue, 15 Feb 2011 04:01:54 +0100 4477823 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4470453&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F02%2F12%2F2-weeks-from-today%2F Learn more here.  Register here. (Source: The Situationist) The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4470453 Sun, 13 Feb 2011 01:02:51 +0100 4470453 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4438912&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F02%2F05%2Fsjt%2F Over at the new Law & Mind Blog, several Harvard Law students have been blogging about about system justification theory.  In the first post on the topic (copied below), third-year student Rachel Funk summarizes a chapter by Gary Blasi and Situationist Contributor John Jost (forthcoming in Ideology, Psychology, and Law, edited by Situationist Contributor Jon Hanson). * * * In System Justification Theory and Research: Implications for Law, Legal Advocacy, and Social Justice, Gary Blasi and John Jost outline a model of social psychology they call system justification theory (SJT). According to Blasi and Jost, in addition to the well-established theories of ego justification (that is, our psychological need to think well of ourselves) and group justification (our psychological need to ... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4438912 Sat, 05 Feb 2011 15:24:45 +0100 4438912 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4361080&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F01%2F17%2Fpatriots-loss-poetic-justice%2F Sal Paolantonio interviewed Bart Scott after the Jets beat the Patriots and Scott describe the win as  “poetic justice” that showed “what kind of defense, what kind of team this was.” Scott warned anyone who’s going to “talk crap about us” that they’ll play for it.  The video is here. Those comments, as well as Deione Branch’s description of the Jets as “classless” put us in mind of the following Situationist post, published originally on February 5, 2008 (here). In case you hadn’t heard, the New England Patriots played their worst game of the season last night. A team that had savored, not merely defeating, but blowing out their opponents failed in their quest for perfection. For at least a little longer, the 1972 Miami Dolphins will hold onto thei... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4361080 Mon, 17 Jan 2011 18:55:46 +0100 4361080 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4343208&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fvideos.videopress.com%2Fpn0rNzqV%2Fsarah-palin-responds-to-tucson-shooting_hd.mp4 Situationist Contributors Adam Benforado and Jon Hanson have written extensively about a dynamic they call “naive cynicism.” Their work explores how dispositionism maintains its dominance despite the fact that it misses so much of what actually moves us. It argues that the answer lies in a subordinate dynamic and discourse, naive cynicism: the basic subconscious mechanism by which dispositionists discredit and dismiss situationist insights and their proponents. Without it, the dominant person schema – dispositionism – would be far more vulnerable to challenge and change, and the more accurate person schema – situationism – less easily and effectively attacked. Naive cynicism is thus critically important to explaining how and why certain legal policies manage to carry the da... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4343208 Wed, 12 Jan 2011 15:34:30 +0100 4343208 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4338035&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F01%2F12%2Fthe-power-of-suggestion%2F In the wake of the massacre in Tucson one of the debates has been over whether a toxic environment might have contributed to the assailant’s behavior.  Social psychology has demonstrated countless times the power of seemingly trivial situatonal forces to encourage hostility and violence.  One of the classics is a 1975 study of the effects of dehumanization. Here is a 1999 summary of that study by Situationist Contributor Phil Zimbardo. * * * My colleague, Albert Bandura, and his students contnued this line of research by extending the basic paradigm here to study the minimal conditions necessary to create dehumanization (Bandura, Underwood, & Fromson, 1975). What they manipulated was only the actors’ perceptioin of their victims–no authority pressures, no induced an... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4338035 Wed, 12 Jan 2011 04:17:15 +0100 4338035 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4331068&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F01%2F10%2Fgearing-up-for-the-launch-be-a-participant%2F As we mentioned recently, the Project on Law and Mind Sciences is currently in the final stages of designing an online study clearinghouse where researchers can post studies and find participants, and interested members of the public can, well, participate! We believe that this will be a great new resource for all those interested in the broad Situationist endeavor. In gearing up for the launch, here is a link to a new experiment that I’m running along with two researchers at Cambridge aimed at better understanding how people process information. Participate today!  Here! (Source: The Situationist) The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4331068 Mon, 10 Jan 2011 14:42:15 +0100 4331068 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4249093&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F12%2F11%2Fpushback-from-the-left%2F Situationist Contributor Jerry Kang recently posted his thoughtful essay, “Implicit Bias and the Pushback from the Left” (St. Louis University Law Journal, Vol. 54, p. 1139, 2010) on SSRN.  Here’s the abstrct. * * * Over the past three decades, the mind sciences have provided remarkable insights about how our brains process social categories. For example, scientists have discovered that implicit biases – in the form of stereotypes and attitudes that we are unaware of, do not consciously intend, and might reject upon conscious self-reflection – exist and have wide-ranging behavioral consequences. Such findings destabilize our self-serving self-conceptions as bias-free. Not surprisingly, there has been backlash from the political Right. This Article examines so... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4249093 Sat, 11 Dec 2010 04:01:35 +0100 4249093 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4237947&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F12%2F07%2Fdr-z-on-dr-phil%2F Heroic Imagination in Action, December 9, 2010. Situationist Contributor, Phil Zimbardo will co-host the DR. PHIL TV show, on: Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010 (for local airing times, see www.drphil.com). This program continues an earlier show (Oct. 25, 2010) that focused on The Lucifer Effect, understanding how good people can turn evil, and centered on the issue of obedience to authority. The new show builds upon that theme by adding demonstrations of bullying by girls in groups, and the power of group dynamics and social trust as revealed in the recent “Bling Ring” Hollywood thefts. Millions of dollars worth of celebrity jewelry and clothing were stolen by a group of young girls, as described by one guest. The final component shifts focus to understand how “bad kids” can turn good and ev... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4237947 Wed, 08 Dec 2010 01:22:56 +0100 4237947 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4225383&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F12%2F03%2Fnew-experiment-participate-here%2F The Project on Law and Mind Sciences is currently in the final stages of designing an online study clearinghouse where researchers can post studies and find participants, and interested members of the public can, well, participate! To whet your appetite, here is a link to a new experiment that I’m running along with two researchers at Cambridge aimed at better understanding how people process information. Participate today!  Here! (Source: The Situationist) The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4225383 Fri, 03 Dec 2010 04:01:18 +0100 4225383 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4183350&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F11%2F19%2Fjust-deserts%2F Over the last several months, I have been conducting some experiments on retribution with cognitive psychologist Geoff Goodwin.  I’ll be presenting some of our results next month at a workshop at Vanderbilt and hope to do some posts on the Situationist concerning our findings soon after.  Thinking a lot about the motivation to deliver just deserts has had a strange and unexpected effect on me.  I’ve found myself hyperaware of my own desire to punish when I read newspaper articles describing criminal acts or when I see movies where offenses are committed.  I’ve also noticed myself recasting events that would seem to have little to do with retributive motives. Today, I came across a video of a man running onto the field during last week’s Fresno State versus Nevada football game.... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4183350 Fri, 19 Nov 2010 04:00:50 +0100 4183350 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4164557&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F11%2F15%2Fthe-situation-of-creating-a-consumer-financial-protection%25c2%25a0bureau%2F In the wake of the worst economic crisis in the United States since the Great Depression, there has been a drive to reconfigure the regulatory state and renegotiate the relationship between Americans, business, and government. In a new article, just posted on SSRN, I argue that the ultimate formulation of that relationship turns, to a significant degree, on our basic attributional tendencies, particularly where we look to assign causal responsibility when things go wrong. Who or what engendered the shanty town that appeared in Sacramento, California in 2008?  Who blackened the pelican and closed the beach of Pensacola?  What lies behind the rise in diabetes in elementary school students? The answers that we give drive our remedial responses and our prophylactic measures—and in doing so... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4164557 Mon, 15 Nov 2010 04:01:08 +0100 4164557 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4151894&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F11%2F09%2Finterview-with-professor-eric-knowles%2F From The Project on Law & Mind Sciences at Harvard Law School (PLMS): Here is an illuminating interview of Situationist Contributor Erid Knowles by Harvard Law student Anna Lamut. The interview, titled “On Moral Judgment and Normative Questions” lasts just over 72 minutes. It was conducted as part of the Law and Mind Science Seminar at Harvard taught by Situationist Contributor Jon Hanson. Eric Knowles  is an assistant professor of Psychology & Social Behavior, Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley. The following blurb from his website describes his research: “When does inequality seem like inequity? Broadly speaking, my research examines how people perceive and react to the fact that some groups in society have more than others. I am especially interested in how di... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4151894 Tue, 09 Nov 2010 04:01:56 +0100 4151894 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4142822&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F11%2F07%2Fjudges-are-like%2F This week I have been trying to catch up on some tasks that have been on my list since early in the semester.  One has been to post some of my recent papers on SSRN.  To this end, I have just put up Color Commentators of the Bench, which may be of interest to certain Situationist readers.  The abstract appears below: Featuring prominently in the last four sets of Supreme Court confirmation hearings, the judge-as-umpire analogy has become the dominant frame for understanding the role of the Justice and may also now act as a significant constraint on judicial behavior. Strong criticisms from legal academics and journalists attacking the realism of the analogy have had little destabilizing effect. This Essay argues that the best hope for shifting the public conception of the work of a Just... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4142822 Sun, 07 Nov 2010 04:01:15 +0100 4142822 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4133852&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F11%2F04%2Fsusan-fiske-discusses-her-work-on-different-types-of-prejudices%2F Situationist Contributor Susan Fiske discusses her research on stereotypes and prejudice and the systematic principles that influence how groups are treated in society. * * * * * * For a sample of related Situationist posts, see “The Situation of Objectification,” “Women’s Situational Bind,” “Hey Dove! Talk to YOUR parent!,” and “You Shouldn’t Stereotype Stereotypes.” (Source: The Situationist) The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4133852 Thu, 04 Nov 2010 04:01:18 +0100 4133852 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4125070&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F11%2F02%2Fthe-psychology-of-guns-and-race%2F I have just posted my forthcoming article, Quick on the Draw: Implicit Bias and the Second Amendment, on SSRN.  The abstract appears below: African Americans face a significant and menacing threat, but it is not the one that has preoccupied the press, pundits, and policy makers in the wake of several bigoted murders and a resurgent white supremacist movement. While hate crimes and hate groups demand continued vigilance, if we are truly to protect our minority citizens, we must shift our most urgent attention from neo-Nazis stockpiling weapons to the seemingly benign gun owners among us—our friends, family, and neighbors—who show no animus toward African Americans and who profess genuine commitments to equality. Our commonsense narratives about racism and guns—centered on a conceptio... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4125070 Tue, 02 Nov 2010 04:01:19 +0100 4125070 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4119103&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F10%2F27%2Fwinning-the-food-fight%2F Back at the end of August, I wrote a post about the benefits of “nudging” people towards heath, in particular, by resetting food defaults.  I argued that we could combat obesity without unduly infringing on individual choice or autonomy by changing the food situation so that when a person ordered “a latte,” for example, she was given skim milk unless she specified that she wanted whole milk. Thus, I was extremely excited to see Brian Wansink, David R. Just, and Joe McKendry’s great “Lunch Line Redesign” op-chart in the New York Times a few days ago.  For decades, experts have been working hard to design supermarkets and fast food restaurants to maximize sales; it sure is nice to see scientists taking a similar approach to maximize nutrition.  As they explain, Experiments t... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4119103 Wed, 27 Oct 2010 04:01:26 +0100 4119103 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4105775&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F10%2F25%2Fsituationist-phil-zimbardo-takes-over-the-dr-phil-show%2F Here is a brief promotional piece to highlight the Heroic Imagination Project and Situationist Contributor Phil Zimbardo’s upcoming appearances on Dr. Phil. Visit www.heroicimagination.org to learn more. www.drphil.com for show times. You can watch video clips from today’s show here. (Source: The Situationist) The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4105775 Mon, 25 Oct 2010 04:01:04 +0100 4105775 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4098075&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F10%2F21%2Fthe-situation-of-precision-targeted-ads%2F Robert Wright posted an interesting commentary on the New York Times Opinionator last night in which he argued that the arrival of HTML 5, which “will allow sites you visit to know your physical location and will make it easier for them to keep track of your browsing and shopping history,” may be “the salvation of journalism.” As he explains, “The willingness of advertisers to spend the money that sustains journalists has always depended on having information about the reader.”  And modern technology, with its ability to track individual consumer behavior, has made it possible to tailor and target ads towards specific individuals.  In Wright’s words, What if God [or Google or Yahoo], knowing exactly who every Slate reader is, and what kinds of products and services he’s a... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4098075 Thu, 21 Oct 2010 04:01:07 +0100 4098075 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4077339&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F10%2F17%2Fdan-kahan-at-harvard-law-school%2F On Monday, October 18th, the HLS Student Association for Law and Mind Sciences (SALMS) and the American Constitution Society (ACS) are hosting a talk by Yale professor Dan Kahan entitled “The Laws of Cultural Cognition, and the Cultural Cognition of Law. Professor Kahan is the Elizabeth K. Dollard Professor of Law at Yale Law School.  A graduate of Harvard Law School, Professor Kahan clerked for both for Justice Thurgood Marshall and Judge Harry T. Edwards of the District of Columbia Circuit United States Court of Appeals. Professor Kahan is well-known for his work in the area of cultural cognition, or the study of how people assess the degree of risk in a given situation based on their culturally engrained concepts of good behavior.  He leads the Cultural Cognition Project, which ... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4077339 Sun, 17 Oct 2010 23:15:11 +0100 4077339 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4060904&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F10%2F12%2Fthe-recovery-within-us-the-human-and-legal-situation-of-wall-street-2%2F The financial markets may fail, and personal lives may be wrecked, but as Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) says in Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps: “nobody likes a cry-baby.” Oliver Stone’s new film is a rally for the old American strategy of overcoming calamity through love, capital, and labor productively employed. As the film opens in 2008 the world is on the edge of economic meltdown, but the kids are alright.  In the first Wall Street we watched a young stockbroker, Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen), back-slide from the straight path of his union-leader father, into a reckless life of corporate raiding and insider trading.  The sequel’s up-and-comer, Jacob Moore (Shia LaBeouf), has a more serious name and a truer purpose.  This twenty-something is smart, energetic, and idealistic.  ... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4060904 Tue, 12 Oct 2010 04:01:39 +0100 4060904 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3982036&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F09%2F18%2Ftamara-piety-on-market-manipulation%2F In response to Adam Beneforado’s terrific post this week, “Breaking Up Is Easy to Do: When Corporations Dump Consumers,” Situationist friend Tamara Piety wrote another excellent comment, a portion of which we’ve posted below. * * * To me, one of most offensive examples of this type of channeling is the price discrimination practice involved in rebate/coupon schemes. Rebates and coupons are used as a way to expand the customer base by attracting a few more customers by virtue of the illusion (for most) of a lower price point. We see it in electronics all the time – “Laptop $999 [with $250 rebate]” There are several things at work here at once. One is that the seller ( or whoever actually pays the rebate) has your money for some period of time ranging from 30 days to 6 ... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3982036 Sat, 18 Sep 2010 21:16:30 +0100 3982036 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3976540&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F09%2F16%2Fbreaking-up-is-easy-to-do-when-corporations-dump-consumers%2F As Jon Hanson and a number of other Situationist contributors (including yours truly) have profiled over the years, corporations go to great lengths to convince us that we are rational market actors, exercising free choice.  By using advertizing, marketing, and other means to encourage consumers to believe that they are in control, corporate entities can effectively evade liability and regulation.  When someone becomes obese from eating too much fast food or develops cancer from smoking too many cigarettes, the “choice myth” acts as a great shield.  How can the corporation be deemed blameworthy when individuals exercised free choice to buy the problematic products in copious quantities? The great injustice, of course, is that at the same time that corporations are selling the narrat... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3976540 Thu, 16 Sep 2010 04:01:12 +0100 3976540 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3913164&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F08%2F29%2Fthe-bagel-situation%2F If you order a “bagel with cream cheese,” how much cream cheese should be provided with the bagel? That was the question my girlfriend and I pondered the other day as we drove through New Jersey futilely trying to remove half of the cream cheese on our bagels without the aid of a knife. Why is it that nearly every bagel that we buy has considerably more cream cheese than we want?  Is it that people can somehow sense that we are from Philadelphia? If some people prefer a little cream cheese and some people prefer a lot, doesn’t it make the most sense to provide a small amount of cream cheese unless someone speaks up and voices a preference for more?  That way, everyone gets exactly what they want (and no more than they want).  And people who don’t really have a strong impulse eit... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3913164 Sun, 29 Aug 2010 04:01:33 +0100 3913164 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3876728&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F08%2F17%2Fthe-situation-of-terrorist-babies%2F Over the past few days, allegations of a frightening new terrorist plot have emerged.  Indeed, at the end of last week, Texas State Representative Debbie Riddle and Texas Congressman Louis Gohmert appeared on different editions of “Anderson Cooper 360” to sound the alarm that the Obama administration has been ignoring a critical threat to the United States. What is this ominous menace?  Iranian nuclear missile silos?  North Korea transporting dirty bomb material into the United States?  The Chinese government developing technology to disable the U.S. power grid over the Internet? Nope.  The answer is “terror babies.” According to Riddle and Gohmert, terrorist organizations are sending pregnant women into our country so that the children that they bear will have American citize... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3876728 Tue, 17 Aug 2010 04:01:10 +0100 3876728 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3872615&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F08%2F17%2Fthe-situation-of-terrorist-babies%2F Over the past few days, allegations of a frightening new terrorist plot have emerged.  Indeed, at the end of last week, Texas State Representative Debbie Riddle and Texas Congressman Louis Gohmert appeared on different editions of “Anderson Cooper 360” to sound the alarm that the Obama administration has been ignoring a critical threat to the United States. What is this ominous menace?  Iranian nuclear missile silos?  North Korea transporting dirty bomb material into the United States?  The Chinese government developing technology to disable the U.S. power grid over the Internet? Nope.  The answer is “terror babies.” According to Riddle and Gohmert, terrorist organizations are sending pregnant women into our country so that the children that they bear will have American citize... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3872615 Tue, 17 Aug 2010 04:01:10 +0100 3872615 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3865321&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F08%2F14%2Fintuitions-of-punishment%2F Owen Jones and Robert Kurzban recently posted their paper, “Intuitions of Punishment” (forthcmoing in the University of Chicago Law Review) on SSRN.  Here’s the abstract. * * * Recent work reveals, contrary to wide-spread assumptions, remarkably high levels of agreement about how to rank order, by blameworthiness, wrongs that involve physical harms, takings of property, or deception in exchanges. In The Origins of Shared Intuitions of Justice we proposed a new explanation for these unexpectedly high levels of agreement. Elsewhere in this issue, Professors Braman, Kahan, and Hoffman offer a critique of our views, to which we reply here. Our reply clarifies a number of important issues, such as the interconnected roles that culture, variation, and evolutionary processes pl... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3865321 Sat, 14 Aug 2010 05:21:54 +0100 3865321 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3858220&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F08%2F12%2Fthomas-nadelhoffer-on-neuroscience-philosophy-and-law%2F From The Project on Law & Mind Sciences at Harvard Law School (PLMS): Below is a fascinating and enlightening 51-minute interview of Thomas Nadelhoffer by Harvard Law Student Brian Wood.  The interview, titled “Developments in Neuroscience and their Implications for Criminal Law,” lasts just over 51 minutes.  It was conducted the Law and Mind Science Seminar at Harvard (taught by Situationist Editor Jon Hanson). Bio: Situationist Contributor Dr. Thomas Nadelhoffer was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. He has earned degrees in philosophy from The University of Georgia (BA), Georgia State University (MA), and Florida State University (PhD). Since 2006, he has been an assistant professor of philosopy and a member of the law and policy faculty at Dickinson College in Carl... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3858220 Thu, 12 Aug 2010 04:01:05 +0100 3858220 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3831411&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F08%2F06%2Fwhy-do-lawyers-acquiesce-in-their-clients%25e2%2580%2599-misconduct-part-iv%2F This is Part IV of my series, exploring the reasons why lawyers acquiesce in their clients’ frauds and other misconduct.  For background, please access Part I, Part II and Part III of this series.  In this segment, I will focus on the relationship between lawyers’ “role ideology”—normative visions about their professional role—and the inclination to “go along to get along” when their high status clients (or, more accurately, high-paying client representatives) want to engage in financial shenanigans that impact our capital markets. Don’t think this is an issue?  It is now 2010 and we are still recovering from the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression.  No doubt, some lawyers looked the other way when their client representatives wanted to engage in ... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3831411 Fri, 06 Aug 2010 14:34:13 +0100 3831411 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3802458&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F07%2F30%2Fattributional-divide-top-10%2F This article, the first of a multipart series, argues that a major rift runs across many of our major policy debates based on our attributional tendencies: the less accurate dispositionist approach, which explains outcomes and behavior with reference to people’s dispositions (i.e., personalities, preferences, and the like), and the more accurate situationist approach, which bases attributions of causation and responsibility on unseen influences within us and around us. Given that situationism offers a truer picture of our world than the alternative, and given that attributional tendencies are largely the result of elements in our situations, identifying the relevant elements should be a major priority of legal scholars. With such information, legal academics could predict which indiv... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3802458 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 04:01:43 +0100 3802458 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3794858&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F07%2F28%2Fthe-future-of-embodied-cogntion%2F I have just returned from the fabulous Barnard Interdisciplinary Workshop on Embodiment. The three-day workshop, funded by the National Science Foundation, brought together 23 experts from across the cognitive sciences and humanities—including George Lakoff, Larry Barsalou, and Vittorio Gallese—to plan and discuss the future of the rapidly growing field. I was lucky enough to participate as a representative from legal academia and I must say that I am more convinced than ever that embodiment research is set to revolutionize a number of disciplines both inside the mind sciences and without. In the coming weeks, I hope to bring more new work from embodied cognition to the Situationist, so find those soft slippers, put the tea kettle on, and sit back in a comfy chair . . . * * * For a sam... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3794858 Wed, 28 Jul 2010 04:01:41 +0100 3794858 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3790765&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F07%2F27%2Fthe-shirley-sherrod-situation-and-the-situation-of-race%2F Situationist friend Charles Ogletree and Johanna Wald had a terrific editorial this Sunday, titled “After Shirley Sherrod, We all Need To Slow Down and Listen,” in which, among other things, they discuss the relevance of research by Situationist Contributors Mahzarin Banaji and Jerry Kang.  Here are some excerpts. * * * President Obama has called and chatted with Shirley Sherrod. Tom Vilsack and Ben Jealous have issued heartfelt apologies. There is talk of a “Chardonnay summit” in the Rose Garden. The subtext to all this? Let’s wrap up this incident quickly so we can all go on our vacations guilt-free, secure in the knowledge that our “post-racial society” remains intact. Once again, in the midst of the cacophony, calls abound for a national &#82... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3790765 Tue, 27 Jul 2010 04:01:07 +0100 3790765 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3726651&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F07%2F06%2Fthe-situation-of-common-sense%2F On April 15, I had the pleasure of participating in a Collaborative training symposium on Implicit Bias and Eyewitness Identification, conducted for Connecticut prosecutors and public defenders.  I spoke on the topic of implicit bias, a core research interest.  It was an interesting conversation, and the engagement was intelligent, thoughtful, and public minded. Afterwards, Chris Nolan, a journalist for the Connecticut Law Tribune, interviewed me over the phone for a long while, and I tried to give him more information about the relevant science and policy implications.  He wrote up an article, which spawned a strident response by Karen Lee Torre. She was pretty darn angry.  She called me a “known left-winger,” “liberal political operative,” “an active Ob... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3726651 Tue, 06 Jul 2010 04:01:56 +0100 3726651 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3724486&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F07%2F05%2Fthe-situation-of-touch%2F From Situationist Contributor John Bargh’s ACME Lab: Sitting in a hard chair can literally turn someone into a hardass. Holding a heavy clipboard leads to weighty decisions. Rubbing rough surfaces makes us prickly. So found researchers studying the interaction between physical touch and social cognition. The experiments included would-be car buyers who, when seated in a cushy chair, were less likely to drive a stiff bargain. The findings don’t just suggest tricks for salesman, but may illuminate how our brains develop. “The way people understand the world is through physical experiences. The first sense they develop is touch,” said study co-author Josh Ackerman, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology psychologist. As they grow up, those physical experiences shape how people co... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3724486 Mon, 05 Jul 2010 04:48:24 +0100 3724486 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3723352&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F07%2F03%2Findependence-day-celebrating-courage-to-challenge-the-situation-2%2F This post was first published on July 3, 2007. With the U.S. celebrating Independence Day — carnivals, fireworks, BBQs, parades and other customs that have, at best, only a tangential connection to our “independence,” — we thought it an opportune moment to return to its source in search of some situationism. No doubt, the Declaration of Independence is typically thought of as containing a dispositionist message (though few would express it in those terms) — all that language about individuals freely pursuing their own happiness. Great stuff, but arguably built on a dubious model of the human animal. That’s not the debate we want to provoke here. Instead, we are interested in simply highlighting some less familiar language in that same document that reve... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3723352 Sun, 04 Jul 2010 03:00:32 +0100 3723352 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3710622&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F06%2F30%2Fadvertisement-space-for-sale-call-now%2F I have written in the past about the dangers of corporate sponsorship and the blurring of the lines between advertising and “content.”  Three years ago, in an op-ed in the Washington Post, for example, I was highly critical of several corporate deals for shows at the National Gallery of Art—in particular, Target’s prominent sponsorship of an exhibit of Jasper John’s target paintings.  As I argued, The corporation as art critic may be inevitable. The wealthy members of society, in their role as patrons, have always had a profound influence on the course of art. But the current trend does not sit well with me. If financial realities force museums to cede control to corporate America, art may lose its magic. The artists and works to be celebrated will not be those that inspire, ex... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3710622 Wed, 30 Jun 2010 04:01:27 +0100 3710622 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3676736&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F06%2F19%2Fthe-situation-of-public-relations%2F Here at the Situationist, we spend a lot of time focused on new research from the mind sciences and, as a result, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that there are other individuals and entities (besides academics and universities) out there working tirelessly to uncover what makes us tick. Some of these individuals and entities are well intentioned: they want to know how humans think and behave to design better government policies that reduce suffering and improve outcomes or to create products or services that better serve our needs and wants. Yet, there are others out there whose goals are less meritorious.  Like mind scientists, they understand that people are powerfully influenced by their situations, but their aim is not to use this knowledge to nudge people towards healthy eating... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3676736 Sat, 19 Jun 2010 04:01:38 +0100 3676736 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3590392&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F05%2F23%2Fthe-person-situation-debate-in-philosophy%2F Situationist Contributor John Jost recently co-authored a brief comment, titled “Virtue ethics and the social psychology of character: Philosophical lessons from the person–situation debate,” which will be of interest to many of our readers.  Here are the opening paragraphs. * * * A venerable tradition of ethical theory drawing on Aristotle’s Ethics still flourishes alongside consequentialist (utilitarian) and deontological (Kantian) alternatives. The Aristotelian notion is that if humans develop in themselves and inculcate in others certain settled dispositions to reason and act in characteristic ways—bravely, honestly, generously—they will behave in ways that secure and preserve eudaimonia (happiness or well-being) for themselves and others (Burnyeat, 1980; Hursthous... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3590392 Sun, 23 May 2010 04:01:15 +0100 3590392 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3560300&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F05%2F13%2Fthe-spatial-situation-of-crime-and-criminal-law%2F No pressure (except for you, grandma — loyal reader number 1), but I have a new article out in the most recent issue of the Cardozo Law Review.  The abstract for The Geography of Criminal Law is below. * * * When Westerners explain the causes of actions or outcomes in the criminal law context, they demonstrate a strong tendency to overestimate the importance of dispositional factors, like thinking, preferring, and willing, and underestimate the impact of interior and exterior situational factors, including environmental, historical, and social forces, as well as affective states, knowledge structures, motives, and other unseen aspects of our cognitive frameworks and processes. One of the situational factors that we are particularly likely to overlook is physical space—that is, la... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3560300 Thu, 13 May 2010 16:00:57 +0100 3560300 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3533923&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F05%2F05%2Fexamining-the-gendered-situation-of-harvard-business-school%2F Julia Brau, Paayal Desai, Alexandra Germain, Akmaral Omarova, Jung Paik,  and Julie Sandler are all students at Harvard Business School (HBS) who last week published a thoughtful article in their student newspaper The Harbus.  With potential lessons and relevance for many institutions, the piece discusses recent efforts  to understand and address sources of gender discrepancies in academic performance at HBS.  Here are some excerpts. * * * Are men and women equal at HBS? It’s a question that has been front of mind at HBS in recent weeks. . . . One of these many efforts is a field study that focuses on analyzing and addressing the current differences between the male and female academic experience at HBS. As The Harbus published in a Fall article, “WSA Academic Initiative Su... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3533923 Wed, 05 May 2010 04:01:32 +0100 3533923 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3526812&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F05%2F03%2Fthe-situation-of-bystanders%2F ABC News‘s “What Would You Do?” series recently conducted a series of experiments testing the bystander effect. * * * * * * Most readers of The Situationist have likely seen the grainy video of Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax‘s final moments on a street in Jamaica, Queens.  He was stabbed while saving a woman from a knife-wielding attacker and fell to the sidewalk, where he lay dying in a pool of his own blood for more than an hour while dozens of pedestrians passed by without calling for help. A.G. Sulzberger and Mick Meenan wrote an excellent piece, titled “Questions Surround a Delay in Help for a Dying Man” last week in The New York Times.  The article quotes Situationist Contributor John Darley whose now classic research on the bystander effects which, unf... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3526812 Mon, 03 May 2010 04:01:21 +0100 3526812 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3522686&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F05%2F01%2Femily-pronin-reviews-whistling-vivaldi%2F One of the great social psychologists of our time, Claude Steele, was recently on NPR discussing his new book Whistling Vivaldi and Other Clues to How Stereotypes Affect Us. The book is a moving personal account and a compelling scientific discussion of how stereotypes shape the thoughts, feelings, and actions of those whom they target. Steele is the originator of “stereotype threat,” an idea that has spawned countless experiments around the world and profoundly impacted the way that we think about the racial achievement gap in American schooling. Stereotype threat is a situationist concept if ever there was one. The idea goes like this:  In certain situations, all of us are subject to negative stereotypes because of identities we have (as a professor, we might be stereotyped as absen... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3522686 Sat, 01 May 2010 04:01:02 +0100 3522686 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3490694&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F04%2F21%2Ftrust-me-youll-enjoy-this-post%2F Craig Lambert has a worthwhile interview with Situationist friend, Dan Gilbert (author of the best-selling 2007 psychology book Stumbling on Happiness and host of the recent PBS television series This Emotional Life.), in the current issue of Harvard Magazine.   Here are some excerpts. * * * In a recent issue of Science, Gilbert and his coauthors—psychology graduate student Matthew Killingsworth, Rebecca Eyre, Ph.D. ’05, and [Situationist Contributor] Timothy Wilson, Aston professor of psychology at the University of Virginia—reported findings on “surrogation”: consulting the experience of another person, a surrogate, in deciding whether something will make you happy. They discovered that the direct experience of another person trumps the conjecturing of our own minds. The sur... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3490694 Wed, 21 Apr 2010 04:01:20 +0100 3490694 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3475889&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F04%2F16%2Fsome-situational-signals-of-a-suicidal-disposition%2F From Physorg: Following the suicide of a relative or close friend, surviving family members and friends are left with a number of painful questions: “What made them do it?,” “Why didn’t they get help?”  The most troublesome question is often, “Is there anything I could have done to prevent this?” People who are contemplating suicide tend to conceal their behavior, or deny they are having suicidal thoughts, so it can be difficult to identify warning signs. Even experienced clinicians sometimes do not catch any warning signs and suicide experts have been searching for a clear behavioral marker of suicide risk. Psychological scientist Matthew Nock of Harvard University, along with colleagues from Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3475889 Fri, 16 Apr 2010 04:01:40 +0100 3475889 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3467830&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F04%2F14%2F2010-law-and-mind-sciences-conference%2F The 2010 Conference on Law and Mind Sciences “Moral Biology? How should developments in mind sciences and behavioral biology alter our understanding of law and morality?” When: Thursday, April 15, 2010, at 5:30 p.m. Where: Harvard Law School, Austin Hall, West Classroom Free and Open to the Public This panel discussion will examine how developments in evolutionary biology and the mind sciences should inform law, philosophy, and economics, focusing on subjects such as punishment, responsibility, racism, addiction, and cooperation. Participants will include: I. Glenn Cohen Joshua Greene William Fitzpatrick Adina Roskies Walter Sinnott-Armstrong Thomas Scanlon Co-sponsored by The Project on Law and Mind Sciences at Harvard Law School, The Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law P... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3467830 Wed, 14 Apr 2010 04:01:38 +0100 3467830 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3456733&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F04%2F10%2Fsituationism-in-policy%2F Situationist Contributor Jon Hanson was recently interviewed by Big Think.  Here is his answer to the following question: “How have policy makers responded to your research?” * * * * * * You can view more at “Harvard Law Spotlights Situationism” and  “Jon Hanson on Situationism and Dispositionism,” which contains other related Situationist links. (Source: The Situationist) The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3456733 Sat, 10 Apr 2010 04:01:59 +0100 3456733 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3437749&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F04%2F04%2F2010-mind-science-conference-at-harvard-law-school%2F Discussions/Break-out, wrap up, Experimental, Experiential 5:30pm: Public Event at Harvard Law School, Austin West Moral Biology? What Can Biology and the mind Sciences Teach Us About Law and Morality? Moderator: I. Glenn Cohen Panelists: Joshua Greene William Fitzpatrick Walter Sinnot-Armstrong Adina Roskies Respondent: Tim Scanlon 7:15pm  Public Reception Austin Corridor Friday, April 16 9:00am-10:30am: Biology and Cooperation Moderator: Yochai Benkler Panelists: Oliver Goodenough David Rand Kevin McCabe 10:30-10:50: Break 10:50-12:20pm: Mind Sciences and Racism Moderator: Jon Hanson Panelists: Nilanjana (Buju) Dasgupta Nalini Ambady Valerie Purdie-Vaughns Curtis Hardin 12:20pm Conference Close (Source: The Situationist) The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3437749 Sun, 04 Apr 2010 23:45:40 +0100 3437749 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3395195&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F03%2F23%2Fwhat-does-situationism-mean-for-law%2F Situationist Contributor Jon Hanson was recently interviewed by Big Think.  Here is his answer to the following question: “What are some of the changes that the legal system should be making?” * * * * * * To watch the first part of Hanson’s BigThink interview, see “Jon Hanson on Situationism and Dispositionism,” which also contains other related Situationist links. (Source: The Situationist) The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3395195 Tue, 23 Mar 2010 04:16:47 +0100 3395195 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3378561&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F03%2F18%2Fhanson-kysar-to-deliver-the-2010-monsanto-lecture%2F Situationist Contributor Jon Hanson and Yale Law Professor Doug Kysar are co-delivering the 2010 Monsanto Lecture on Tort Law and Jurisprudence tomorrow at Valparaiso University School of Law.  Their lecture is titled “Abnormally Dangerous: Inequality Dissonance and the Making of Tort Law.”  Here’s the abstract. * * * At the conceptual heart of tort law rests a choice between negligence and strict liability as the default standard of care for unintentional wrongs. The prevailing American view holds that strict liability should be reserved for rare cases in which an activity poses significant hazards even after a defendant has taken all reasonable care. The types of explanations for that preference have shifted over time from a classical liberal rationale to an economic... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3378561 Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:01:06 +0100 3378561 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3366277&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F03%2F14%2Fthe-situation-of-the-health-care-debate%2F A Harvard Law student wrote a worthwhile post on Law & Mind a few weeks ago about some of the dynamics behind the health care debate.  Here is an excerpt. * * * How should an institution inspire collective action?  What’s the best strategy?  The conventional wisdom is that to solve a collective problem, the institution should reward contributors and punish free-riders.  To prevent people from littering, fine them; to induce people to donate to charity, reward them; to move people to invent, lure them with intellectual property . . . .  The implicit reasoning is that the typical human agent is a rational wealth-optimizer who won’t contribute to a public good unless he or she is incentivized to do.  Yet, . . . the rational actor model isn’t an accurate depiction of human natu... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3366277 Mon, 15 Mar 2010 03:27:41 +0100 3366277 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3350350&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F03%2F10%2Fmahzarin-banaji-at-harvard-law-school%2F On Thursday, March 11th, the HLS Student Association for Law and Mind Sciences (SALMS) is hosting a talk by Harvard psychology professor Mahzarin Banaji entitled “Mind Bugs and the Science of Ordinary Bias.”  Here’s the description. * * * How deep are the bounds on human thinking and feeling and how do they shape social judgment?  Our focus has been on the mechanics of unconscious mental processes, with attention to those that operate without conscious awareness, intention, or control.  Most recently, we have worked with a task that reveals unconscious preferences in a rather blunt manner, showing that they can sit, at one level, in contradiction with consciously endorsed preferences.  We use the tool largely for theory testing, focusing on questions about the natur... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3350350 Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:01:51 +0100 3350350 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3318436&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F02%2F28%2Fbecome-a-contributor-to-world-of-psychology%2F Unbeknownst to some of you, World of Psychology welcomes guest contributors! Please send us your essays, commentary, opinion or rational (or sometimes irrational!) thoughts about anything in the world of psychology and mental health. This is a wonderful opportunity for the writers in our audience — professionals and laypeople alike — to share their point of view with our 1.1 million readers. Entries should be about a psychology or mental health topic (obviously), and be something that hasn’t been published online already a hundred times before. We’re especially interested in folks who are interested in recent research or news on a specific topic, and can bring their own background, experiences and insight to bear on that topic. World of Psychology is about opening u... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3318436 Sun, 28 Feb 2010 20:58:10 +0100 3318436 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3311763&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F02%2F26%2Fvalue-affirmation-and-the-situation-of-climate-change-beliefs%2F On NPR’s All Things Considered, Situationist Contributor Dan Kahan and Donald Braman were interviewed this week by Christopher Joyce regarding their important work on cultural cognition.  Here is an excerpt. * * * Over the past few months, polls show that fewer Americans say they believe humans are making the planet dangerously warmer, and that is despite a raft of scientific reports that say otherwise. And that puzzles many climate scientists, but not social scientists. As NPR’s Christopher Joyce reports, some of their research suggests that when people encounter new information, facts may not be as important as beliefs. CHRISTOPHER JOYCE: The divide between climate believers and disbelievers can be as wide as a West Virginia valley, and that’s where two of them square... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3311763 Fri, 26 Feb 2010 04:01:47 +0100 3311763 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3302388&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F02%2F24%2F2010-hnlr-symposium-the-negotiation-within%2F This Saturday The Harvard Negotiation Law Review is hosting a symposium titled “The Negotiation Within.” * * * * * * To visit the conference registration site, click here. (Source: The Situationist) The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3302388 Wed, 24 Feb 2010 04:01:41 +0100 3302388 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3287805&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F02%2F19%2Fthe-situation-of-stereotype-threat%2F Randy Khalil has a nice article, “‘Stereotype threat’ negatively affects students,” in Wednesday’s Daily Princetonian.  Here are some excerpts. * * * Princeton students fall victim to the “stereotype threat,” according to a study led by Adam Alter GS ’09. The “stereotype threat” is the phenomenon in which reminding people of negative stereotypes associated with their group identity can encourage the fulfillment of those stereotypes. “When reminded of their group membership, for example, white people struggle athletically, black people struggle academically, women struggle mathematically and men struggle linguistically,” Alter explained in an e-mail. Alter wanted to find out if the way that people are reminded of their group membership determi... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3287805 Fri, 19 Feb 2010 04:01:37 +0100 3287805 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3272966&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F02%2F15%2Fthe-situation-of-scientific-consensus%2F Situationist Contributor Dan Kahan, Hank Jenkins-Smith, and Donald Braman, have just posted another fascinating paper, “Cultural Cognition of Scientific Consensus” on SSRN.  Here’s the abstract. * * * Why do members of the public disagree – sharply and persistently – about facts on which expert scientists largely agree? We designed a study to test a distinctive explanation: the cultural cognition of scientific consensus. The “cultural cognition of risk” refers to the tendency of individuals to form risk perceptions that are congenial to their values. The study presents both correlational and experimental evidence confirming that cultural cognition shapes individuals’ beliefs about the existence of scientific consensus, and the process by which they for... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3272966 Mon, 15 Feb 2010 04:01:09 +0100 3272966 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3267005&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F02%2F12%2Fthe-broader-situation-a-case-study-of-cop-car-cameras%2F As part of my new commitment to posting more of my work on SSRN, I’ve just put up another forthcoming article that may be of interest to some readers.  It offers a law and mind sciences (situationist / critical realist) perspective on Yale Law School’s Cultural Cognition Project (CCP) using a great recent article by CCP scholars Dan M. Kahan, David A. Hoffman, and Donald Braman as a case study.  That article has been referenced in two recent New York Times pieces (including one that listed it as among the most important ideas of 2009). If your interest is not yet piqued, I should also mention that the new SSRN post also has police chases and scandalous pictures of Angelina Jolie . . . or, well, at least one of those things. The link is here; the abstract is found below. * * * The C... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3267005 Fri, 12 Feb 2010 04:01:51 +0100 3267005 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3254518&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F02%2F09%2Fsystem-justification-and-the-meaning-of-life%2F Situationist Contributor John T. Jost and his co-authors Lindsay E. Rankin and Cheryl J. Wakslak recently published a fascinating article, titled “System Justification and the Meaning of Life: Are the Existential Benefits of Ideology Distributed Unequally Across Racial Groups?” 22, Social Justice Research 312 (2009).  Here’s the abstract. * * * In this research, we investigated the relations among system justification, religiosity, and subjective well-being in a sample of nationally representative low-income respondents in the United States. We hypothesized that ideological endorsement of the status quo would be associated with certain existential and other psychological benefits, but these would not necessarily be evenly distributed across racial groups. Results reveale... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3254518 Tue, 09 Feb 2010 04:01:36 +0100 3254518 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3239637&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F02%2F04%2Fthe-embodied-cognition-bonanza%2F I am excited to be back after a two-month stint guest blogging at Concurring Opinions and I thought I’d jump right in on the matter of “embodied cognition.” Tuesday morning, I opened up the New York Times to find yet another popular article taking up the topic.  While I continue to be happy to see “embodied cognition fever” catching among the nation’s journalists, I worry ever-so-slightly that the rush to bring the fascinating research to the public may ultimately have negative consequences. I have been interested in embodied cognition for a while and have had students in my Law and Mind Science course read some of the work in the field the last two years I taught the seminar.  That led me to present some of my thoughts about the implications of the work for law last year at ... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3239637 Thu, 04 Feb 2010 04:28:43 +0100 3239637 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3200501&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F01%2F23%2Four-stake-in-corporate-behavior%2F Situationist Contributor David Yosifon published a thoughtful and timely op-ed,  in yesterday’s San Francisco Chronicle. Here are some excerpts. * * * Corporations are crucial institutions in our society. Consumers rely on them for everything from the basic provisions of food and clothing to the more dispensable delights of computers and cell phones. Workers rely on them for jobs. Communities need them for a tax base. Shareholders rely on them for profits that fund retirement, or entrepreneurial activity. We all have a stake in effective corporate operations. Yet corporate directors are not required, indeed are not allowed, to put the interests of any party above shareholders in their decision making. Now the Supreme Court has declared that the First Amendment forbids us from restri... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3200501 Sat, 23 Jan 2010 04:01:30 +0100 3200501 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3178836&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F01%2F16%2Flaw-and-economics-primer%2F Situationist Contributor Jon Hanson, Kathleen Hanson, and Melissa Hart, have recently posted their outstanding introduction to law and economics (to be published in Dennis Patterson’s forthcoming volume, “Compantion to Philosophy of Law and Legal Theory) on SSRN.  The chapter includes a brief discussion of the emergence of economic behavioralism and situationism, and it is now available to download for free here.  Here’s the abstract. * * * This chapter provides an introduction to the history, uses, methods, strengths, and limits of law and economics. It begins by examining the role of positive and normative approaches to law and economics. To examine the positivist thesis – that the law does in fact tend toward efficiency – the chapter discussed and analyze... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3178836 Sat, 16 Jan 2010 04:01:52 +0100 3178836 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3171966&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F01%2F13%2Freporting-social-facts-vs-pining-for-jim-crow-no-comparison-between-reid-and-lott%2F Imagine a scenario. An African American lawyer, we can even call him “Barry,” has applied for a job at a prestigious firm—one that has never before hired a Black person. You eavesdrop on a couple of partners talking about the candidate. Question: Which, if either, of the these overheard comments is the more racist? “I don’t know… Barry’s facing an uphill climb at an all-White firm like this. However, he just might have a shot given the fact that he’s fairly light-complected and doesn’t speak using African American Vernacular English.” * * * “This firm’s going to hell if it hires a Black guy. I wish Strom Thurmond were the head of the hiring committee.” The analogy may be a bit crude. But those paying attention to rec... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3171966 Wed, 13 Jan 2010 14:55:08 +0100 3171966 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3167216&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F01%2F13%2Fa-new-situationist-eric-d-knowles%2F We are thrilled to introduce a new Situationist Contributor, Eric D. Knowles. Since 2006, Eric D. Knowles has been an assistant professor of psychology and social behavior at the University of California, Irvine. He researches how individuals perceive and react to social inequities, focusing specifically on the role of motivations (e.g., to bolster the hierarchy, to see oneself as a good and deserving person) in leading people to deny the existence of inequity, dis-identify with their ingroup, or form attitudes likely to reduce intergroup disparities. He is also interested in political psychology, including how implicit intergroup biases shape perceptions of politicians and their policies. (Source: The Situationist) The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3167216 Wed, 13 Jan 2010 04:01:51 +0100 3167216 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3163850&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F01%2F12%2Fkrieger-on-the-situation-of-discrimination-in-france%2F Situationist Contributor Linda Hamilton Krieger is the French-American Foundation’s scholar-in-residence at Sciences Po.  She recently appeared on a France24 debate to discuss French and American strategies for fighting discrimination in hiring and education.  You can watch the roughly six-minute video of the interview below. * * * * * * To review a sample of related Situationist posts, see see “Implicit Associations on Oprah,” “Afraid of Knowing Ourselves,” “Why Race May Influence Us Even When We “Know” It Doesn’t,” “Geoffrey Cohen on “Identity, Belief, and Bias”,” “Colorblinded Wages – Abstract,” “The Cognitive Costs of Interracial Interactions,” “Measuring Implicit Attitudes,” “Firefighters and ... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3163850 Tue, 12 Jan 2010 04:10:43 +0100 3163850 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3159803&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F01%2F11%2Fglobal-climate-change-and-the-situation-of-denial%2F Situationist Contributor John T. Jost together with Irina Feygina and Rachel E. Goldsmith have recently completed a fascinating article examining the motivations behind some people’s unwillingness to take climate change seriously.  The article, titled “System Justification, the Denial of Global Warming, and the Possibility of ‘System-Sanctioned Change’” will be published later this year in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Here’s the abstract. * * * Despite extensive evidence of climate change and environmental destruction, polls continue to reveal widespread denial and resistance to helping the environment. It is posited here that these responses are linked to the motivational tendency to defend and justify the societal status quo in the face of ... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3159803 Mon, 11 Jan 2010 04:01:16 +0100 3159803 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3156524&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F01%2F09%2Ftaking-the-situation-of-consumers-seriously%2F Situationist Contributor David Yosifon recently posted his superb article, “The Consumer Interest in Corporate Law,” (43 UC Davis Law Review 253-313 (2009)) on SSRN.  It’s an important, well written, and very situationist analysis of the influence of corporate law and corporations on consumers. Here’s the abstract. * * * This Article provides a comprehensive assessment of the consumer interest in dominant theories of the corporation and in the fundamental doctrines of corporate law. In so doing, the Article fills a void in contemporary corporate law scholarship, which has failed to give sustained attention to consumers in favor of exploring the interests of other corporate stakeholders, especially shareholders, creditors, and workers. Utilizing insights derived fr... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3156524 Sat, 09 Jan 2010 04:01:49 +0100 3156524 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3139098&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F01%2F04%2Flaw-and-economics-primer%2F Situationist Contributor Jon Hanson, Kathleen Hanson, and Melissa Hart, have recently posted their outstanding introduction to law and economics (to be published in Dennis Patterson’s forthcoming volume, “Compantion to Philosophy of Law and Legal Theory) on SSRN.  The chapter includes a brief discussion of the emergence of economic behavioralism and situationism.  Here’s the abstract. * * * This chapter provides an introduction to the history, uses, methods, strengths, and limits of law and economics. It begins by examining the role of positive and normative approaches to law and economics. To examine the positivist thesis – that the law does in fact tend toward efficiency – the chapter discussed and analyzes the famous Hand Formula developed by Judge Learne... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3139098 Mon, 04 Jan 2010 04:01:52 +0100 3139098 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3100873&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F12%2F18%2Fcultural-cognition-as-a-conception-of-the-cultural-theory-of-risk%2F Situationist Contributor Dan Kahan posted his recent paper, “Cultural Cognition as a Conception of the Cultural Theory of Risk,” on SSRN.  Here’s the abstract. * * * Cultural cognition refers to the tendency of individuals to form beliefs about societal dangers that reflect and reinforce their commitments to particular visions of the ideal society. Cultural cognition is one of a variety of approaches designed to empirically test the cultural theory of risk associated with Mary Douglas and Aaron Wildavsky. This commentary discusses the distinctive features of cultural cognition as a conception of cultural theory, including its cultural worldview measures; its emphasis on social psychological mechanisms that connect individuals’ risk perceptions to their cultural out... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3100873 Fri, 18 Dec 2009 04:43:37 +0100 3100873 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3084844&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F12%2F14%2Fjohn-jost-speaks-about-his-own-research%2F This is Part III and the conclusion of an interview of Situationist Contributor John Jost by the Association for Psychological Science Student Caucus.    Part I is here and Part II is here.  This segment focuses on John’s own remarkable and pathbreaking research. * * * APSSC: Much of your research has focused on psychological characteristics of liberals and conservatives. What have you learned that could be applied in the increasingly partisan world of politics? Jost: Well, that is an interview in itself, and I have given several on this topic (including one that is archived at The Situationist). The bottom line is that major differences of opinion (such as the debate over health care reform) are not easy to resolve because they are rooted in fundamental differences not only in pers... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3084844 Mon, 14 Dec 2009 04:01:42 +0100 3084844 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3083094&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F12%2F13%2Fjohn-jost-on-studying-psychology%2F This is Part II of an interview of Situationist Contributor John Jost by the Association for Psychological Science Student Caucus.    Part I is here.  This portion of the interview focuses on John’s experience, and advice about, studying psychology. * * * APSSC: What suggestions do you have for choosing an area of study within a field as large and diverse as psychology? Jost: . . . Study something that you are passionate about. It can be something about human behavior that inspires you (like language or creativity or wisdom) or worries you (like our capacity for self-destruction) or simply fascinates you. It should be a fairly big issue or set of questions, but not so big as to be intractable. To sustain yourself over the years, it seems to me that you cannot be working on some... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3083094 Sun, 13 Dec 2009 04:55:45 +0100 3083094 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3082453&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F12%2F12%2Fthe-situation-of-john-jost%2F The Association for Psychological Science Student Caucus recently conducted a fascinating interview of Situationist Contributor, John Jost.    Here are some excerpts. * * * APSSC: What led you to choose psychology as a career? Jost: . . . . I knew at age 13 or 14 that I wanted to be a psychologist, but, like many others, I expected that I would become a clinical psychologist. The reason for that was that as a child and adolescent, I was very close to someone (an extended family member) who had a serious mental illness. I thought — quite unrealistically, of course — that I could understand him better than other people and that I could somehow help him. It wasn’t until college that I decided that I would rather try to fix the “holes” in the social system than force individual �... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3082453 Sat, 12 Dec 2009 04:01:26 +0100 3082453 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3036985&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F11%2F29%2Fracial-attitudes-in-the-presidential-race%2F From Project Implicit Blog: An article by Project Implicit researchers published this month in Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy reports evidence that both implicit and explicit race attitudes were related to intended vote in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. 1,057 registered voters completed a study conducted at Project Implicit’s research website during the week before the presidential election. The participants completed multiple measures of racial attitudes including self-reported feelings of warmth toward Blacks and Whites, a measure of “symbolic” racism, two implicit measures of racial attitudes – a brief version of the Implicit Association Test (IAT) and the Affective Misattribution Procedure (AMP), and reported their intended vote. Analyses suggested that parti... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3036985 Sun, 29 Nov 2009 04:01:50 +0100 3036985 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3035939&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F11%2F28%2Fmeasuring-implicit-attitudes%2F From University of Washington News * * * Study supports validity of test that indicates widespread unconscious bias In the decade since the Implicit Association Test was introduced, its most surprising and controversial finding is its indication that about 70 percent of those who took a version of the test that measures racial attitudes have an unconscious, or implicit, preference for white people compared to blacks. This contrasts with figures generally under 20 percent for self report, or survey, measures of race bias. A new study (pdf here) validates those findings, showing that the Implicit Association Test, a psychological tool, has validity in predicting behavior and, in particular, that it has significantly greater validity than self-reports in the socially sensitive topics of race,... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3035939 Sat, 28 Nov 2009 04:01:17 +0100 3035939 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3008171&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F11%2F19%2Faaron-kay-%25e2%2580%259cthe-psychological-power-of-the-status-quo%25e2%2580%259d%2F Situationist Contributor Aaron Kay is an Assistant Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Waterloo in Canada. Professor Kay’s research has focused on the integration of implicit social-cognitive processes with the study of broad social issues. In his primary line of work, he investigates the myriad ways by which people cope with, adapt to, and rationalize social inequalities. At the moment, this research program addresses questions such as: (1) How do people rationalize and justify their good fortune and bad fortune, others’ good fortune and bad fortune, and the social systems that dictate these outcomes? (2) What are the psychological tools employed in aiding people to cope with the internal conflict produced from participating in social systems that are, in many obje... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3008171 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:20:31 +0100 3008171 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2984865&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F11%2F12%2Fgeoffrey-cohen-on-%25e2%2580%259cidentity-belief-and-bias%25e2%2580%259d%2F Situationist Contributor, Geoffrey Cohen spoke at the Second Project on Law and Mind Sciences (PLMS) Conference (in March of 2008).  His talk, titled “Identity, Belief, and Bias” summarized research exploring the way in which motivations to protect long-held beliefs and identities contribute to bias, resistance to probative information, and ideological intransigence.  You can watch Cohen’s outstanding presentation in the following videos (each roughly 9 minutes in length). * * * * * * * * * * * * For a sample of related Situationist posts, see “The Situation of the Achievement Gap,” “The Project’s Second Conference – ‘Ideology, Psychology & Law’,” “Women’s Situational Bind,” and “The Implicit Value of... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2984865 Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:01:05 +0100 2984865 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2963174&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F11%2F05%2Fasymmetric-introspection-and-extrospection%2F Situationist Contributor Emily Pronin recently wrote a very helpful primer on her work on the difference between “How We See Ourselves and How We See Others,” which she published in Science.  Here’s the abstract. * * * People see themselves differently from how they see others. They are immersed in their own sensations, emotions, and cognitions at the same time that their experience of others is dominated by what can be observed externally. This basic asymmetry has broad consequences. It leads people to judge themselves and their own behavior differently from how they judge others and those others behavior. Often, those differences produce disagreement and conflict. Understanding the psychological basis of those differences may help mitigate some of their negative effect... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2963174 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:07:57 +0100 2963174 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2958929&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F11%2F04%2Fthe-interior-situation-of-honesty-and-dishonesty%2F Seed magazine recently provided a terrific summary of fascinating research on the situation of honesty (here). Here are some excerpts. * * * In a famous set of experiments in the 1970s, children were observed trick-or-treating in the suburbs. Some were asked their names and addresses upon arriving at a door, while some were asked nothing. All were instructed to take just one piece of candy from the bowl, but as soon as the owner of the home retreated into the kitchen, the children who hadn’t provided their names and addresses shoveled the candy into their bags, sometimes taking everything in the bowl. Psychologists posited that anonymity made the children feel safe from the repercussions of their actions, an effect they call deindividuation. Moral psychologists have since constructed myr... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2958929 Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:01:15 +0100 2958929 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2950794&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F11%2F02%2Fthe-situation-of-gang-rape%2F * * * In the wake of the horrific story about a 15-year-old girl gang-raped in a schoolyard during a homecoming dance.  The girl was brutalized for more than two hours and, if that wasn’t disturbing enough, there are reports of as many as twenty people stood by and watched, without even calling authorities.  The story raises the question about how so many could do so little to help.  Were they all monsters or is there some other explanation? On that topic, two Situationist Contributors have been interviewed to offer a situationist perspective.  We’ve excerpted parts of both interviews below. From ABC News, here are excerpts from an article, titled “How Could People Watch Alleged Gang Rape ‘Like An Exhibit’?,” by Radha Chitale, interviewing Situationi... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2950794 Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:01:02 +0100 2950794 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2916188&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F10%2F22%2Flaw-students-flock-to-situationism%2F Here is Anthony Kammer’s fine article, titled “Meeting of the Minds: Law Students Flock to Psychology Lectures,”  in the latest edition of The Harvard Law Record. * * * In a recent New York Times column, David Brooks described psychology as a field that was taking off among young people, who were interested in probing for more accurate answers to the mysteries of human behavior. That might help explain why audiences packed the lectures of two Harvard psychologists who presented their research at the law school this September. Both talks, sponsored by the Student Association for Law and Mind Sciences (SALMS), raised intriguing questions about the way our psychological intuitions are formalized in the law. On September 8th, Daniel Wegner,  author of The Illusion of Con... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2916188 Thu, 22 Oct 2009 04:01:12 +0100 2916188 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2912270&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F10%2F21%2Fgoutam-jois-at-harvard-law-school%2F On Thursday, October 22, the HLS Student Association for Law and Mind Sciences (SALMS) and the HLS American Constitution Society (ACS) are hosting a talk by Situationist Fellos Goutam Jois entitled “Stare Decisis is Cognitive Error”: * * * For hundreds of years, the practice of stare decisis — a court’s adherence to prior decisions in similar cases — has guided the common law. However, recent behavioral evidence suggests that stare decisis, far from enacting society’s “true preferences” with regard to law and policy, may reflect — and exacerbate — our cognitive biases. The data show that humans are subconsciously primed (among other things) to prefer the status quo, to overvalue existing defaults, to follow others’ decisions, and to stick to th... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2912270 Wed, 21 Oct 2009 04:01:18 +0100 2912270 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2865744&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F10%2F06%2Fthe-problem-of-old-fears-and-new-dangers%2F A few weeks ago, the grandfather of law and economics, Richard Posner, decided to weigh in on President Obama’s proposal for a Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA), which would regulate consumer financial products including mortgages and credit cards.  He bemoaned the idea of a new regulatory body—dismissing it as the misguided vision of a cadre of idealistic behavioral economists. As he explained, in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, “Behavioral economists are right to point to the limitations of human cognition.  But if they have the same cognitive limitations as consumers, should they be designing systems of consumer protection?” The enemy is a familiar one for Posner and any self-respecting classical liberal: paternalism. Posner’s concern is that “the agency wil... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2865744 Tue, 06 Oct 2009 05:16:10 +0100 2865744 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2846432&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F09%2F30%2Fthe-situation-of-metaphors%2F Drake Bennett had a superb article, “The surprising ways that metaphors shape your world,” in Sunday’s Boston Globe. Here are some excerpts. * * * [W]hether they’re being deployed by poets, politicians, football coaches, or realtors, metaphors are primarily thought of as tools for talking and writing–out of inspiration or out of laziness, we distill emotions and thoughts into the language of the tangible world. We use metaphors to make sense to one another. Now, however, a new group of people has started to take an intense interest in metaphors: psychologists. Drawing on philosophy and linguistics, cognitive scientists have begun to see the basic metaphors that we use all the time not just as turns of phrase, but as keys to the structure of thought. By taking thes... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2846432 Wed, 30 Sep 2009 04:01:34 +0100 2846432 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2824178&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F09%2F23%2Fthe-motivated-situation-of-inequality-and-discrimination%2F Aaron C. Kay, Danielle Gaucher, Jennifer M. Peach, Kristin Laurin, Justin Friesen, Mark P. Zanna, and Steven J. Spencer have recently published their article, “Inequality, Discrimination, and the Power of the Status Quo: Direct Evidence for a Motivation to See the Way Things Are as the Way They Should Be” (97 Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 421– 434 (2009).  Here’s the abstract. * * * How powerful is the status quo in determining people’s social ideals? The authors propose (a) that people engage in injunctification, that is, a motivated tendency to construe the current status quo as the most desirable and reasonable state of affairs (i.e., as the most representative of how things should be); (b) that this tendency is driven, at least in part, by people�... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2824178 Wed, 23 Sep 2009 04:01:41 +0100 2824178 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2778501&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F09%2F09%2Fbargh-and-baumeister-and-the-free-will-debate-part-ii%2F In conclusion, we think it is possible to maintain a belief in determinism, but it should not be obligatory for psychologists. In fact, psychologists who retain a faith in determinism must keep this an abstract belief and violate it in practice: They must act as if people really make choices, as if multiple possibilities exist for future life, and as if statistical probabilities refer to different possible events. Determinism is not viable in practice but is an elegant theory that people may find appealing as an abstract article of faith. The main alternative to it is a probabilistic universe, in which multiple futures are really possible and causes operate by changing the odds that something will happen rather than guaranteeing it. * * * John Bargh & Brian Earp, “The Will is Cau... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2778501 Wed, 09 Sep 2009 04:01:31 +0100 2778501 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2774681&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F09%2F08%2Fthe-situation-of-snacking%2F Conclusion: These experiments demonstrate the power of food advertising to prime automatic eating behaviors and thus influence far more than brand preference alone. * * * You can download a pdf of the article here. For a collection of related Situationist posts, see “The Benefit of Knowing Your Eating Sins,” “The Situation of Body Image,” “Big Calories Come in Small Packages,” “The Situation of Eating – Part II,” “The Situation of Eating,” “The Situation of the Dreaded ‘Freshman 15′,” “Our Situation Is What We Eat,” “Social Networks,” “Common Cause: Combating the Epidemics of Obesity and Evil,” “The Situation of Fatness = Our ‘Obesogenic’ Society,” “Innovative Policy: Zoning for Health,” “Situational Obesit... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2774681 Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:16:59 +0100 2774681 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2768670&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F09%2F05%2Fthe-situation-of-litigators%2F This study examined whether explicit and implicit biases in favor of Whites and against Asian Americans would alter mock jurors’ evaluation of a litigator’s deposition. We found evidence of both explicit bias as measured by self-reports, and implicit bias as measured by two Implicit Association Tests. In particular, explicit stereotypes that the ideal litigator was White predicted worse evaluation of the Asian American litigator (outgroup derogation); by contrast, implicit stereotypes predicted preferential evaluation of the White litigator (ingroup favoritism). In sum, participants were not colorblind, at least implicitly, towards even a “model minority,” and these biases produced racial discrimination. This study provides further evidence of the predictive and eco... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2768670 Sat, 05 Sep 2009 04:01:22 +0100 2768670 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2747977&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F08%2F31%2Fthe-situation-of-college-education-why-going-for-the-money-makes-sense-for-some-prep-players%2F Would you turn down a multi-million dollar contract in order to play for free? How about an education? This athlete did. Meet 17-year-old Enes Kanter. For any basketball fan, the scouting report on this Swiss-born Turkish basketball player is enticing: a physical specimen at 6′9″-6′10″ who possesses superior positioning and is a “clever defender.” A few months ago, at an age when most of his peers are working part-time jobs in the service industry or on a factory floor, Kanter played in the Euroleague (widely touted to be the world’s second-best professional league) against grown men and recorded 5 points, 3 rebounds and a steal in a mere 10 minutes of game time. Expectations are that the precocious Kanter will grow a few inches, improve on his al... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2747977 Mon, 31 Aug 2009 04:01:43 +0100 2747977 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2734085&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F08%2F26%2Fconstruing-acquaintance-rape%2F Situationist Contributor Dan Kahan recently posted his fascinating paper, “Culture, Cognition, and Consent: Who Perceives What, and Why, in ‘Acquaintance Rape’ Cases.”  Here’s the abstract. * * * This paper uses the theory of cultural cognition to examine the debate over rape-law reform. Cultural cognition refers to the tendency of individuals to conform their perceptions of legally consequential facts to their defining group commitments. Results of an original experimental study (N = 1,500) confirmed the impact of cultural cognition on perceptions of fact in a controversial acquaintance-rape case. The major finding was that a hierarchical worldview, as opposed to an egalitarian one, inclined individuals to perceive that the defendant reasonably understood t... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2734085 Wed, 26 Aug 2009 04:01:05 +0100 2734085 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2705165&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F08%2F17%2Fthe-situation-of-imitation-and-mimickry%2F John Cloud has an interesting article, titled “Monkey See, Monkey Do: Imitation Breeds Bonding,” in the latest issue of Time Magazine.  Here are some excerpts. * * * . . . . A new paper in Science . . . [investigates] whether a widely documented human phenomenon — the fact that we tend to prefer people who behave the same way we do in social interactions — exists in other species. It turns out it does. Adhering to the old saying “monkey see, monkey do,” monkeys in the study appeared to favor those who mimicked them — even when the imitator was a member of another species (Homo sapiens). The authors of the paper, Annika Paukner of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Animal Center, who worked with her colleague Pier Ferrari as well as two Italian researcher... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2705165 Mon, 17 Aug 2009 04:01:48 +0100 2705165 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2674305&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F08%2F06%2Fthe-situation-of-group-serving-behavior%2F This article reports two studies in which college students’ identification with their university was measured and information about the procedural justice of the university was manipulated. Study 1 used an explicit measure of group identification and a deliberative measure of group-serving behavior. Study 2 used an implicit measure of group identification and both deliberative and spontaneous measures of group-serving behavior. The findings of both studies support the hypothesis that among people who are highly identified with a group, learning about the group’s injustice leads to short-term increases in group-serving behavior. * * * To access the article, click here.  For a related Situationist post, see “Tom Tyler on ‘Strategies of Social Control’.” (... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2674305 Thu, 06 Aug 2009 04:01:40 +0100 2674305 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2663978&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F08%2F03%2Fhes-a-banana-eating-monkey-but-im-not-a-racist%2F Whatever may have been the payoffs of the recent discussion between Harvard University Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Cambridge police Sergeant James Crowley, Vice President Biden, and President Obama, the teachable moments unfortunately continue.  Last week, Crowley’s colleague, Officer Paul Barrett wrote an e-mail responding to a Boston Globe columnist this way: “If I was the officer he verbally assaulted like a banana eating jungle monkey, I would have sprayed him in the face with OC [pepper spray] deserving of his belligerent non-compliance.” Crowley summed up his old-school rant as follows: “Gates is a goddamned fool and you the article writer simply a poor follower and maybe worse, a poor writer. Your article title should read CONDUCT UNBECOMING A JUNGLE ... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2663978 Mon, 03 Aug 2009 04:01:58 +0100 2663978 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2637853&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F07%2F25%2Fleaving-the-past%2F Sam has been an active racist his entire life.  For decades, he has called blacks demeaning names; he has written about their inferiority; he has threatened them and beaten them; he has attended lynchings. Under great pressure from various acquaintances and friends, in his seventieth year of life, he stops using the “n” word and ends the explicit prohibition on hiring blacks at his factory. Ten years later, however, his business still has an almost all white workforce, despite getting lots of black applications, and no managers. Should we trust Sam that racial bias has nothing to do with the disparity? If you are like me, despite hoping that Sam has changed, you are deeply skeptical.  A person carries his past with him, and it continues to shape his life—even when he genuinely beli... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2637853 Sat, 25 Jul 2009 04:01:57 +0100 2637853 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2630166&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F07%2F23%2Fobannon-v-ncaa-the-situation-of-signing-forms%2F Situationist contributor Michael McCann has a column on SI.com concerning a new lawsuit brought against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (”NCAA”) over whether former student-athletes should be compensated for the NCAA’s use of their images and identities in such products as DVDs and video games. The case, O’Bannon v. NCAA, centers on forms freshmen student-athletes must sign in order to be eligible to play sports and receive their college scholarships. The forms require the student-athletes to relinquish many of their legal rights.  The plaintiff claims that these student-athletes, some of whom are 17 years old, are situationally pressured into signing the forms. We excerpt the column below. * * * Should athletes whose college days are long behind th... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2630166 Thu, 23 Jul 2009 04:01:58 +0100 2630166 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2616722&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F07%2F20%2Fthe-situation-of-homogeneity%2F This summer, I have finally gotten around to reading Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein’s book Nudge and, unsurprisingly, there is much in the book that parallels situationist work.  Indeed, many (if not most) of the referenced social psychology experiments and dynamics should already be familiar to readers of this website. One paragraph that I came across this morning particularly struck a chord with me because it took up a topic that I addressed not a month earlier in an op-ed in the Baltimore Sun: the problem with “collaborative filtering,” whereby consumers are given recommendations based on the preferences of others with identical tastes.  As Thaler and Sunstein explain, [S]urprise and serendipity can be fun for people, and good for them too, and it may not be entirely wonderful... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2616722 Mon, 20 Jul 2009 04:01:47 +0100 2616722 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2615377&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F07%2F19%2Fbloggingheads-tv-percontations-system-justification-theory%2F * * * To read a selection of related Situationist posts, see “John Jost’s “System Justification and the Law” – Video,” “Independence Day: Celebrating Courage to Challenge the Situation,” “Thanksgiving as “System Justification”?” and “Patriots Lose: Justice Restored!“  To review the full collection of Situationist posts related to system justification, click here. (Source: The Situationist) The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2615377 Sun, 19 Jul 2009 04:01:26 +0100 2615377 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2598275&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F07%2F14%2Fsituational-branding-effects%2F Situationist contributor Grainne Fitzsimons conducted a fascinating study in collaboration with Gavan Fitzsimons and Tanya Chartrand on the effects of popular company logos on human behavior.  In the following video Gavan and Tanya describe the study. * * * * * * To read some related Situationist posts, see “The Unseen Behavioral Influence of Company Logos,” “The Situation of Repackaging,” and “The Big Game: What Corporations Are Learning About the Human Brain.” To read other Situationist posts on marketing, click here; for those on priming, click here. (Source: The Situationist) The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2598275 Tue, 14 Jul 2009 04:01:21 +0100 2598275 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2572963&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F07%2F06%2Fthe-situation-of-train-crashes%2F Here’s an excellent op-ed from last week’s Philadelphia Inquirer, titled “Sometimes Spending Saves Lives,” by Situationist Contributor Adam Benforado. * * * On the first Monday of summer, nine people lost their lives when Train 112 careened into Train 214 on Washington’s Red Line Metrorail. A mother of six, a nurse, a command pilot, and a contract laborer were among the dead. Some 80 others were injured. This accident was tragic, shocking, and heart-rending, but it may not have been unpreventable. Until the National Transportation Safety Board completes its assessment, we will not know for sure what caused the crash, but initial evidence suggests that outdated equipment and malfunctioning systems played a significant role. As Tom Davis, a former Republican co... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2572963 Mon, 06 Jul 2009 05:11:39 +0100 2572963 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2570573&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F07%2F05%2Fbiased-i-know-you-are-but-what-am-i%2F Randy Dotinga, writing for the North County Times, quotes Situationist Contributor Peter Ditto on the bias of our media choices. * * * If you’re a conservative, you’re more likely to listen to Rush Limbaugh than turn to National Public Radio. And if you’re liberal, you’re probably don’t spend your time tuned to Roger Hedgecock, Sean Hannity and Rick Roberts. Pretty obvious, right? Yes, but now researchers have gone and confirmed what we think we know: People like to hear opinions that back up what they already think. In a study published this week in a journal called Psychological Bulletin, researchers say we do indeed turn to sources of information that confirm our biases, especially when it comes to things like politics and religion. * * * Peter Ditto, a pro... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2570573 Sun, 05 Jul 2009 04:01:22 +0100 2570573 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2570574&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F07%2F04%2Findependence-day-celebrating-courage-to-challenge-the-situation%2F With the U.S. celebrating Independence Day — carnivals, fireworks, BBQs, parades and other customs that have, at best, only a tangential connection to our “independence,” — we thought it an opportune moment to return to its source in search of some situationism. No doubt, the Declaration of Independence is typically thought of as containing a dispositionist message (though few would express it in those terms) — all that language about individuals freely pursuing their own happiness. Great stuff, but arguably built on a dubious model of the human animal. That’s not the debate we want to provoke here. Instead, we are interested in simply highlighting some less familiar language in that same document that reveals something special about the mindset and cele... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2570574 Sat, 04 Jul 2009 04:01:43 +0100 2570574 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2553077&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F06%2F28%2Fthe-situation-of-gender-and-science%2F Rachana Dixit wrote a worthwhile article in Daily Progress summarizing recent research illustrating the implicit links between gender and science.  Here are some excerpts. * * * A new study has found that both men and women hold unspoken stereotypes that males are more easily linked with science than females. The work’s authors say the stereotypes may contribute to continuing underachievement and under-participation among girls and women in science, furthering the idea that science is a male career. “I think this is pervasive in our culture, but it is changing,” said [Situationist Contributor] Brian Nosek, a University of Virginia psychology professor who led the study. . . . The findings suggest that 70 percent of respondents harbored implicit stereotypes associating science with m... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2553077 Sun, 28 Jun 2009 17:44:40 +0100 2553077 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2473535&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F06%2F11%2Femily-pronin-on-the-situation-of-bias%2F In March of 2008, at the Second Harvard Conference on Law and Mind Sciences, Situationist Contributor Emily Pronin presented her fascinating and important work in a talk titled “Implications of Personal and Social Claims and Denials of Bias.”  Below we have pasted the abstract and the four video segments of her presentation. * * * People’s efforts to make accurate, fair, and sound judgments and decisions often are compromised by various cognitive and motivational biases. Although this is clearly a problem, the solution is less clear due to the fact that people generally deny, and often are literally unaware of, their own commissions of bias – even while they readily impute bias to those around them. I will discuss evidence for this asymmetry in bias perception and for the ... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2473535 Thu, 11 Jun 2009 04:03:51 +0100 2473535 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2469569&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F06%2F10%2Fthe-situation-of-biased-perceptions%2F Emily Aronson and Ushma Patel recently wrote a nice article (pasted below) about the important work of Situationist Contributor and psychology star Emily Pronin. Pronin’s work takes on special significance this week in light debates about the Sotomayor nomination and this week’s Supreme Court’s decision in Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co., in which Justice Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion that “The judge inquires into reasons that seem to be leading to a particular result. . . . To bring coherence to the process, and to seek respect for the resulting judgment, judges often explain the reasons for their conclusions and rulings. There are instances when the introspection that often attends this process may reveal that what the judge had assumed to be a proper, c... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2469569 Wed, 10 Jun 2009 04:00:09 +0100 2469569 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2464176&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F06%2F09%2Fstereotyping-sotomayor%2F Last week, Situationist Contributor Adam Benforado wrote a second op-ed for the Philadelphia Inquirer, titled “Stereotypes on Full Display,” about conservative reaction to the Sotomayor nomination.  We’ve pasted it below. * * * If you thought race and gender politics were put to rest with the historic presidential campaigns of last year, think again. The excitement and controversy over Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination to the Supreme Court demonstrate both how far we have come and how far we have to go. Although Sotomayor has served on the federal bench for 17 years – longer than any incoming justice in the last 100 years – there is little hope that the confirmation process will focus on her judicial record. The order of the day is Sotomayor’s i... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2464176 Tue, 09 Jun 2009 04:01:16 +0100 2464176 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2447668&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F05%2F31%2Fbrooks-on-the-situation-of-judging%2F New York Times columnnist David Brooks had a nice op-ed, “The Empathy Issue,” picking up some of the themes in the recent op-ed by Situationist Contributors Adam Benforado and Jon Hanson.  Here are some excerpts. * * * The American legal system is based on a useful falsehood. It’s based on the falsehood that this is a nation of laws, not men; that in rendering decisions, disembodied, objective judges are able to put aside emotion and unruly passion and issue opinions on the basis of pure reason. * * * Supreme Court justices, like all of us, are emotional intuitionists. They begin their decision-making processes with certain models in their heads. These are models of how the world works and should work, which have been idiosyncratically ingrained by genes, culture, education... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2447668 Sun, 31 May 2009 04:01:46 +0100 2447668 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2441604&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F05%2F29%2Fthe-situation-of-judicial-cognition-and-motivation-abstract%2F Jennifer Robbennolt, Robert MacCoun, and [Situationist contributor] John M. Darley, posted their excellent paper, “Multiple Constraint Satisfaction in Judging,” on SSRN.  Here’s the abstract. * * * Different models of judicial decision making highlight particular goals. Traditional legal theory posits that in making decisions judges strive to reach the correct legal decision as dictated by precedent. Attitudinal and strategic models focus on the ways in which judges further their preferred policies. The managerial model emphasizes the increasing caseload pressures that judges at all levels face. Each model accurately captures some of what every judge does some of the time, but a sophisticated understanding of judicial decision making should explicitly incorporate the no... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2441604 Fri, 29 May 2009 04:01:01 +0100 2441604 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2441611&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F05%2F21%2Fthe-situation-of-judicial-activism%2F Yesterday, Situationist Contributors Adam Benforado and Jon Hanson published an op-ed, “Right or Left, Judges Are Activists,” in the Philadelphia Inquirer. * * * The attack is on. Supreme Court Justice David Souter may still have his robe, but a conservative rabble has already begun its effort to influence who will wear it next. Their weapon is a tested one: the claim of “judicial activism.” Over the last week, conservative pundits and bloggers have set their sights on Judge Sonia Sotomayor of the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. By most accounts, Sotomayor, who was first nominated to the federal bench by President George H.W. Bush in 1991, is an accomplished, respected jurist with a compelling personal story. Nonetheless, some on the far right have assailed h... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2441611 Thu, 21 May 2009 04:01:37 +0100 2441611 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2398791&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F05%2F08%2Fbush-cheney-rumsfeld-and-tenet-guilty-2%2F More than 10,000 people cast their votes during the last year and a half in a virtual voting booth at www.LuciferEffect.com. Their judgments accord with the recent Senate Armed Services bipartisan report that blames Bush officials for detainee abuse. It also finds that the prison guards and interrogators were not the “true culprits.” The vast majority of these voters found all four Bush officials guilty of having created the legal frameworks, laws, and motivational conditions that provided the foundation for the abuses and torture of detainees at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay prisons. The guilty verdicts (for George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and George Tenet) were true regardless of political preference, across all age groups, and whether or not they had read The Lucifer ... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2398791 Fri, 08 May 2009 04:01:18 +0100 2398791 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2348434&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F04%2F20%2Fthe-situation-of-the-achievement-gap%2F Situationist Contributor Geoffrey Cohen has received a lot of attention in the media over the last week because of fascinating research he and his collaborators are doing and reently desribed in Science regarding one way to help reduce the achievement gap in education. Here are excerpts from one such story, this one, titled “Study: Writing About Values Boosts Grades, Shrinks Achievement Gap,”  by Lea Winerman for Online NewsHour With Jim Lehrer. * * * A short self-affirming writing exercise that took only about an hour of class time boosted struggling black junior high school students’ grade point average by nearly half a point over two years, according to a new study.  The surprising result, published this week in the journal Science, suggests a new way to combat the... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2348434 Mon, 20 Apr 2009 04:04:29 +0100 2348434 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2348436&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F04%2F17%2Fthe-situational-effect-of-groups%2F In his Guardian article, “Hands up if you’re an individual,” Stuart Jeffries offers a brief summary of some social psychology classics.  Below, we have included excerpts.  After reviewing Milgram’s famous experiments on obedience, Jeffries writes: * * * This was one of the classic experiments of group psychology, though not all have involved duping volunteers into believing they had electrocuted victims. Group psychology has often involved experiments to explain how individuals’ behaviours, thoughts and feelings are changed by group pressures. It is generally thought to have originated in 1898 when Indiana University psychologist Norman Triplett asked children to spin a fishing reel as fast as they could. He found that when the children were doing the task ... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2348436 Fri, 17 Apr 2009 04:01:30 +0100 2348436 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2348438&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F04%2F15%2Fthe-situation-of-reason-2%2F In the mid-1970s, Situationist contributor Timothy Wilson with Richard Nisbett conducted one of the best known social psychology experiments of all time. It was strikingly simple and involved asking subjects to assess the quality of hosiery. Situationist contributors Jon Hanson and David Yosifon have described the experiment this way: Subjects were asked in a bargain store to judge which one of four nylon stocking pantyhose was the best quality. The subjects were not told that the stockings were in fact identical. Wilson and Nisbett presented the stockings to the subjects hanging on racks spaced equal distances apart. As situation would have it, the position of the stockings had a significant effect on the subjects’ quality judgments. In particular, moving from left to right, 12% of th... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2348438 Wed, 15 Apr 2009 04:57:56 +0100 2348438 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2287166&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F03%2F18%2Fconference-on-the-free-market-mindset%2F From the Harvard Law School Website (published yesterday and written by Christine Perkins), here is an a nice summary of  the Project on Law and Mind Science’s Third Annual Conference. * * * On Saturday, March 7, Harvard Law School’s Program on Law and Mind Sciences held its third annual conference, “The Free Market Mindset: History, Psychology and Consequences.” Close to 200 people attended the day-long event at HLS, bringing together leading scholars in law, economics, social psychology, and social cognition to discuss their research on the historical origins, psychological antecedents, and policy consequences of the free market mindset. According to HLS Professor Jon Hanson, Director of the Project on Law and Mind Sciences at HLS, the conference’s topic was originally in... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2287166 Wed, 18 Mar 2009 04:01:53 +0100 2287166 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2258104&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F03%2F11%2Fafraid-of-knowing-ourselves%2F Last month Charles Blow wrote a nice opinion piece, titled “A Nation of Cowards?” in the New York Times, in which he discussed Attorney General Eric Holder’s comments on the topic and echoed many of the themes routinely raised on The Situationist.   Here are some excerpts. * * * . . . . According to an ABC News/Washington Post poll released last month, twice as many blacks as whites thought racism was a big problem in this country, while twice as many whites as blacks thought that blacks had achieved racial equality. . . . [A] CNN poll from last January found that 72 percent of whites thought that blacks overestimated the amount of discrimination against them, while 82 percent of blacks thought that whites underestimated the amount of discrimination against blacks. What ... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2258104 Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:00:37 +0100 2258104 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2249548&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F03%2F07%2Fthe-situation-of-objectification%2F The Daily Mail’s Fiona Macrae and CNN’s Elizabeth Landau each had brief articles last week on the fascinating research by Situationist contributor Susan Fiske and her collaborators.   We’ve mashed up excerpts of the two articles below. * * * It may seem obvious that men perceive women in sexy bathing suits as objects, but now there’s science to back it up. New research shows that, in men, the brain areas associated with handling tools and the intention to perform actions light up when viewing images of women in bikinis. At the same time, the region they use to try to tune into another person’s thoughts and feelings tunes down, brain scans showed. The research was presented this week by [Situationist Contributor] Susan Fiske . . .  at the annual meeting of th... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2249548 Sat, 07 Mar 2009 11:01:04 +0100 2249548 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2177819&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F02%2F11%2Fa-new-situationist%2F We are delighted to introduce a new Situationist Contributor: Professor Thomas Nadelhoffer. Thomas Nadelhoffer was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. He later earned degrees in philosophy from The University of Georgia (BA), Georgia State University (MA), and Florida State University (PhD). Since 2006, he has been an assistant professor of philosopy and a member of the law and policy faculty at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. During the upcoming year (2009-2010), he will be at the SAGE Center for the Study of the Mind (U.C. Santa Barbara) as a MacArthur fellow in Law and Neuroscience. Professor Nadelhoffer’s main areas of research include moral psychology, the philosophy of action, free will, punishment theory, and neurolaw. He is particularly interested in research at... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2177819 Wed, 11 Feb 2009 04:01:41 +0100 2177819 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2067691&cid=t_179945_134_f&fid=35187&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FDiabetesDaily%2F%7E3%2F496478207%2Fthe-most-important-story-never-told.php Do you care passionately about a diabetes-related topic? I invite you to become a guest contributor to Diabetes Daily. Whether you care about health care reform, managing a tricky blood sugar issue, or engaging the diabetes community to act, you... (Source: Diabetes Daily) Diabetes Daily blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2067691 Sat, 27 Dec 2008 18:47:23 +0100 2067691 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2523418&cid=t_179945_122_f&fid=35668&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.nature.com%2F%7Er%2Fnn%2Frss%2Faction_potential_with_comments%2F%7E3%2FFvBJ8LBXIdc%2Fthe_business_of_universities.html Universities are strange two-headed beasts: they are places where much of the research we publish is conducted, but they are also educational institutes, whose job is to train students (not all of whom go on to become scientists, or necessarily contribute to the research side of the enterprise). Added to the mix now is that many universities are now effectively businesses, having to provide their own operating revenues in the face of tighter funding. In the UK, there is increasing grumbling that this is Not A Good Thing, with many university staff members warning that some of the tactics involved in raising these revenues will dilute the value of the degrees that are being doled out. (Source: Action Potential) Action Potential blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2523418 Thu, 10 Jul 2008 23:00:00 +0100 2523418 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1403019&cid=t_179945_109_f&fid=35677&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FBrainBasedBusiness%2F%7E3%2F279052519%2Fno_significance_from_online_co.html Skeptics said that online writers would never make much difference from what they post. Too many voices … too little organization … too many raw talents … too few experts…. Have you heard the buzz? Do you believe it? Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton organized a new book, The Age of Conversation: Why Don't People Get It … to prove the significance of online conversations. How will it happen?  Soon 275 authors … plan to flood the global business community … with articles that will revolutionize business in ways many skeptics only dream of.Know any of the book’s contributors? Adam Crowe, Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Fa... BrainBasedBusiness blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1403019 Mon, 28 Apr 2008 01:22:37 +0100 1403019 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1329195&cid=t_179945_122_f&fid=35668&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblogs.nature.com%2Fnn%2Factionpotential%2F2008%2F03%2Fnprc.html When the community is overburdened by peer review, it's everybody's problem. As of today, Nature Neuroscience has become part of the solution by joining the Neuroscience Peer Review Consortium, a flexible system that allows voluntary participation by authors, referees and... (Source: Action Potential) Action Potential blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1329195 Wed, 26 Mar 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1329195 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1170699&cid=t_179945_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2F221136346%2F Starting this week, you will start seeing a growing number of Expert Contributors writing in our blog and website, so that we can collectively discuss the latest research and trends on cognitive and emotional training, brain fitness and health, and the implications of brain research in general for our everyday lives. All of it, spiced up by stimulating brain teasers. So, if you haven't already, make sure to subscribe to our newsletter (above) and our RSS feed (on the right). Let me introduce, In alphabetical order, the Expert Contributors who will share their knowledge with us in January and February. - Wes Carroll, SB in Computer Science and Engineering from MIT, and Puzzle Master for Ask a Scientist lecture series. - Simon Evans, PhD., and Paul Burghardt, PhD., who collaborate in the ... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1170699 Wed, 23 Jan 2008 04:12:37 +0100 1170699