Saturday, January 2, 2010

Sex and shopping – it's a guy thing - life - 01 January 2010 - New Scientist

Sex and shopping – it's a guy thing - life - 01 January 2010 - New Scientist

much of human economic behaviour is engendered by motives of costly signalling to display our personal qualities to potential mates and other social partners. These motives are finely tuned and very specific. They show systematic sex differences, and are influenced by apparent mating opportunities. They reveal a human display psychology with intricate design features shaped over millennia of evolution, to attract mates and friends through certain kinds of costly, risky behaviours that reliably signal certain desirable traits.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Brain Power - Studying Young Minds, and How to Teach Them - Series - NYTimes.com

Brain Power - Studying Young Minds, and How to Teach Them - Series - NYTimes.com

Over the past four years, the couple has tested Building Blocks in more than 400 classrooms in Buffalo, Boston and Nashville, comparing the progress of children in the program with that of peers in classes offering another math curriculum or none at all. On tests of addition, subtraction and number recognition after one school year, children who had the program scored in the 76th percentile on average, and those who did not scored in the 50th percentile.

By the end of kindergarten, a year after the program has ended, those who had had it sustained their gains, scoring in the 71st percentile, on average.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Random Promotions � Cheap Talk

Random Promotions � Cheap Talk: "Random promotion outperformed a “promote the best” policy. It increases the chance that someone who is actually good at the job makes it to the next level."

Friday, December 11, 2009

Buying Green Makes You Do Bad Things

Buying Green Makes You Do Bad Things :
Do green products really make us better people? Does engaging in a virtuous act of consumption build on itself, making us more socially-conscious, in turn encouraging virtuous behavior in other areas of our lives? Or does buying these products make us feel better — but, in reality, make us act worse?

According to a new study, set to be published in the journal Psychological Science, the answer is — unsurprisingly for those of us with a cynical disposition toward human nature — the latter.

Buying Green Makes You Do Bad Things at SmartMoney.com

Buying Green Makes You Do Bad Things at SmartMoney.com

Do green products really make us better people? Does engaging in a virtuous act of consumption build on itself, making us more socially-conscious, in turn encouraging virtuous behavior in other areas of our lives? Or does buying these products make us feel better — but, in reality, make us act worse?

According to a new study, set to be published in the journal Psychological Science, the answer is — unsurprisingly for those of us with a cynical disposition toward human nature — the latter.