Some Readings

The Prime Directives of the Human Mind

What do people want the society they live in to provide?

Cantril, H. (1964). The human design. Journal of Individual Psychology, 20, 129-136.

Katz, D. (1960). The functional approach to the study of attitudes. The Public Opinion Quarterly, 24, 163-204. Note: Read Sections I (Nature of Attitudes: Their Dimensions) and II (Four Functions Which Attitudes Perform for the Individual).

What prevents people from making good public policy?

The following books speak to that issue. The links are to

Amazon.com, where they can be purchased inexpensively.

Ariely, D. (2010). Predictably irrational: The hidden forces that shape our decisions. New York, NY: Harper Perrenial.

Publisher Description: Irrational behaviour is a part of human nature, but as MIT professor Ariely has discovered in 20 years of researching behavioural economics, people tend to behave irrationally in a predictable fashion. Drawing on psychology and economics, behavioural economics can show us why cautious people make poor decisions about sex when aroused, why patients get greater relief from a more expensive drug over its cheaper counterpart and why honest people may steal office supplies or communal food, but not money. According to Ariely, our understanding of economics, now based on the assumption of a rational subject, should, in fact, be based on our systematic, unsurprising irrationality. Ariely argues that greater understanding of previously ignored or misunderstood forces (emotions, relativity and social norms) that influence our economic behaviour brings a variety of opportunities for re-examining individual motivation and consumer choice, as well as economic and educational policy. Ariely's intelligent, exuberant style and thought-provoking arguments make for a fascinating, eye-opening read.

Gilbert, D. (2007). Stumbling on happiness. New York, NY: Vintage Books.

Publisher Description: Why are lovers quicker to forgive their partners for infidelity than for leaving dirty dishes in the sink? Why will sighted people pay more to avoid going blind than blind people will pay to regain their sight? Why do dining companions insist on ordering different meals instead of getting what they really want? Why do patients remember long medical procedures as being less painful than short ones? Why do home sellers demand prices they wouldn’t dream of paying if they were home buyers? Why are shoppers happier when they can’t get refunds? Why do pigeons seem to have such excellent aim; why can’t we remember one song while listening to another; and why does the line at the grocery store always slow down the moment we join it?

In this brilliant, witty, and accessible book, renowned Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert describes the foibles of imagination and illusions of foresight that cause each of us to misconceive our tomorrows and misestimate our satisfactions. Vividly bringing to life the latest scientific research in psychology, cognitive neuroscience, philosophy, and behavioral economics, Gilbert reveals what scientists have discovered about the uniquely human ability to imagine the future, and about our capacity to predict how much we will like it when we get there. With penetrating insight and sparkling prose, Gilbert explains why we seem to know so little about the hearts and minds of the people we are about to become.

Herbert, W. (2010). On second thought: Outsmarting your mind's hard-wired habits. New York, NY: Crown Publishers.

Publisher Description: Our lives are composed of millions of choices, ranging from trivial to life-changing and momentous. Luckily, our brains have evolved a number of mental shortcuts, biases, and tricks that allow us to quickly negotiate this endless array of decisions. We don’t want to rationally deliberate every choice we make, and thanks to these cognitive rules of thumb, we don’t need to. 

Yet these hard-wired shortcuts, mental wonders though they may be, can also be perilous.   They can distort our thinking in ways that are often invisible to us, leading us to make poor decisions, to be easy targets for manipulators…and they can even cost us our lives. 

The truth is, despite all the buzz about the power of gut-instinct decision-making in recent years, sometimes it’s better to stop and say, “On second thought . . .”  

The trick, of course, lies in knowing when to trust that instant response, and when to question it.  In On Second Thought, acclaimed science writer Wray Herbert provides the first guide to achieving that balance.  Drawing on real-world examples and cutting-edge research, he takes us on a fascinating, wide-ranging journey through our innate cognitive traps and tools, exposing the hidden dangers lurking in familiarity and consistency; the obstacles that keep us from accurately evaluating risk and value; the delusions that make it hard for us to accurately predict the future; the perils of the human yearning for order and simplicity; the ways our fears can color our very perceptions . . . and much more. 

Along the way, Herbert reveals the often-bizarre cross-connections these shortcuts have secretly ingrained in our brains, answering such questions as why jury decisions may be shaped by our ancient need for cleanliness; what the state of your desk has to do with your political preferences; why loneliness can literally make us shiver; how drawing two dots on a piece of paper can desensitize us to violence… and how the very typeface on this page is affecting your decision about whether or not to buy this book.   

Ultimately, On Second Thought is both a captivating exploration of the workings of the mind and an invaluable resource for anyone who wants to learn how to make smarter, better judgments every day.

Levy, D. A. (2010). Tools of Critical Thinking: Metathoughts for Psychology, 2^nd Ed. Long Grove, Il.: Waveland Press.

Two Brief Reviews: (1) Levy's book is a thoughtful, witty and ultimately compelling argument in support of developing critical thinking skills. Not only does he illuminate examples of sloppy or lazy thinking, but he provides understandable tools for sharpening the reader's critical faculties. More importantly, and without pedantry, he highlights the real perils of our current age's inclination to accept overly-simplified or fashionably vague ideas as "truths"---notions that can lead to conformity, a failure of imagination, and an inability to discern fact from opinion.

(2) Levy alerts us to the very real danger of biased and lazy thinking, which allows others the power to define our truths, validate or invalidate our perceptions and dictate the limits of our lives. Levy vigorously contends that critical thinking can help to arm us against this kind of ignorance and potential danger. Specifically, to the critical thinker, a diversity of perspectives is welcomed as a constructive challenge and an opportunity to enhance learning, tolerance and understanding. In this way, Levy's book is an invitation to move beyond the bounds of what we think we know into a larger reality. He actively encourages us to push back walls, open doors and build bridges.

Stanovich, K. E. (2010). Thinking straight about Psychology, 9^th Ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Publisher Description: Keith Stanovich's widely used and highly acclaimed book helps students become more discriminating consumers of psychological information, helping them recognize pseudoscience and be able to distinguish it from true psychological research.   Stanovich helps instructors teach critical thinking skills within the rich context of psychology.  It is the leading text of its kind. 

How to Think Straight About Psychology says about the discipline of psychology what many instructors would like to say but haven't found a way to.  That is one reason adopters have called it “an instructor's dream text” and often comment “I wish I had written it.  It tells my students just what I want them to hear about psychology”.

Stone, D., Patton, B., & Heen, S. (2010). Difficult conversations: How to discuss what matters most. New York, NY: Penguin Group.

Excerpt from a book summary: Difficult conversations are anything that someone does not want to talk about, such as asking for a raise or complaining to a neighbor about his barking dog. People are usually reluctant to open a difficult conversation out of fear of the consequences. Typically, when the conversation does occur the parties think and feel a lot more than they actually say.

Underlying every difficult conversation are actually three deeper conversations. The "What happened?" conversation usually involves disagreement over what happened, what should happen, and who is to blame. The feelings conversation is about the parties' emotions, and their validity. The identity conversation is an internal conversation that each party has with herself, over what the situation tells her about who she is. The authors identify common errors that people make in these sorts of conversations. The key to having effective, productive conversations is to recognize the presence of these deeper conversations, avoid the common errors, and turn difficult conversations into learning conversations.

Thaler, R. H., & Sunstein, C. R. (2008). Nudge: Improving decisions about health, wealth, and happiness. New Haven, CN: Yale University Press.

Publisher Description: Every day, we make decisions on topics ranging from personal investments to schools for our children to the meals we eat to the causes we champion. Unfortunately, we often choose poorly. The reason, the authors explain, is that, being human, we all are susceptible to various biases that can lead us to blunder. Our mistakes make us poorer and less healthy; we often make bad decisions involving education, personal finance, health care, mortgages and credit cards, the family, and even the planet itself.

Thaler and Sunstein invite us to enter an alternative world, one that takes our humanness as a given. They show that by knowing how people think, we can design choice environments that make it easier for people to choose what is best for themselves, their families, and their society. Using colorful examples from the most important aspects of life, Thaler and Sunstein demonstrate how thoughtful “choice architecture” can be established to nudge us in beneficial directions without restricting freedom of choice. Nudge offers a unique new take—from neither the left nor the right—on many hot-button issues, for individuals and governments alike. This is one of the most engaging and provocative books to come along in many years.