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HOW WE LEARN

THE SURPRISING TRUTH ABOUT WHEN, WHERE, AND WHY IT HAPPENS

A fascinating perspective on how we can benefit from the distractions of daily life.

Carey (Poison Most Vial: A Mystery, 2012, etc.) chose to write scientific mysteries for kids as a distraction from his day job as a science reporter for the New York Times, until it dawned on him that he had an amazing story to share: Ostensibly poor study habits can be important to improving learning strategies.

Recent experiments in cognition offer startling insights into how the brain works, contradicting traditional beliefs about the merits of concentration and self-discipline. “Distractions can aid learning,” writes the author. “Napping does, too. Quitting before a project is done: not bad, as an almost done project lingers in memory far longer than one that is completed.” Taking a break and texting or checking emails when faced with a knotty math problem may actually facilitate a solution. New research indicates that memory is a two-stage process: In addition to storage, there is retrieval, which is an associative process. What we remember from one moment to the next may not be identical; images are embedded “in networks of perceptions, facts and thoughts, slightly different combinations of which bubble up each time.” Carey describes experiments that demonstrate the remarkable fact that if subjects are shown a series of pictures or lines of poetry that they are asked to memorize, their recall will improve over several days without further practice. In the case of a meaningless array of syllables or numbers, however, this is not the case. “Forgetting is not only a passive process of decay but also an active one, of filtering,” and the brain treats nonsense syllables as dispensable clutter. Forgetting is part of the mental process of fixing a memory. If we are motivated to solve a difficult problem, our brains will take advantage of a break to continue working “offline” while we turn our attention elsewhere.

A fascinating perspective on how we can benefit from the distractions of daily life.

Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2014

ISBN: 978-0-8129-9388-2

Page Count: 272

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: July 1, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2014

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THINKING, FAST AND SLOW

Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our...

A psychologist and Nobel Prize winner summarizes and synthesizes the recent decades of research on intuition and systematic thinking.

The author of several scholarly texts, Kahneman (Emeritus Psychology and Public Affairs/Princeton Univ.) now offers general readers not just the findings of psychological research but also a better understanding of how research questions arise and how scholars systematically frame and answer them. He begins with the distinction between System 1 and System 2 mental operations, the former referring to quick, automatic thought, the latter to more effortful, overt thinking. We rely heavily, writes, on System 1, resorting to the higher-energy System 2 only when we need or want to. Kahneman continually refers to System 2 as “lazy”: We don’t want to think rigorously about something. The author then explores the nuances of our two-system minds, showing how they perform in various situations. Psychological experiments have repeatedly revealed that our intuitions are generally wrong, that our assessments are based on biases and that our System 1 hates doubt and despises ambiguity. Kahneman largely avoids jargon; when he does use some (“heuristics,” for example), he argues that such terms really ought to join our everyday vocabulary. He reviews many fundamental concepts in psychology and statistics (regression to the mean, the narrative fallacy, the optimistic bias), showing how they relate to his overall concerns about how we think and why we make the decisions that we do. Some of the later chapters (dealing with risk-taking and statistics and probabilities) are denser than others (some readers may resent such demands on System 2!), but the passages that deal with the economic and political implications of the research are gripping.

Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our minds.

Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011

ISBN: 978-0-374-27563-1

Page Count: 512

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011

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THE CULTURE MAP

BREAKING THROUGH THE INVISIBLE BOUNDARIES OF GLOBAL BUSINESS

These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.

A helpful guide to working effectively with people from other cultures.

“The sad truth is that the vast majority of managers who conduct business internationally have little understanding about how culture is impacting their work,” writes Meyer, a professor at INSEAD, an international business school. Yet they face a wider array of work styles than ever before in dealing with clients, suppliers and colleagues from around the world. When is it best to speak or stay quiet? What is the role of the leader in the room? When working with foreign business people, failing to take cultural differences into account can lead to frustration, misunderstanding or worse. Based on research and her experiences teaching cross-cultural behaviors to executive students, the author examines a handful of key areas. Among others, they include communicating (Anglo-Saxons are explicit; Asians communicate implicitly, requiring listeners to read between the lines), developing a sense of trust (Brazilians do it over long lunches), and decision-making (Germans rely on consensus, Americans on one decider). In each area, the author provides a “culture map scale” that positions behaviors in more than 20 countries along a continuum, allowing readers to anticipate the preferences of individuals from a particular country: Do they like direct or indirect negative feedback? Are they rigid or flexible regarding deadlines? Do they favor verbal or written commitments? And so on. Meyer discusses managers who have faced perplexing situations, such as knowledgeable team members who fail to speak up in meetings or Indians who offer a puzzling half-shake, half-nod of the head. Cultural differences—not personality quirks—are the motivating factors behind many behavioral styles. Depending on our cultures, we understand the world in a particular way, find certain arguments persuasive or lacking merit, and consider some ways of making decisions or measuring time natural and others quite strange.

These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.

Pub Date: May 27, 2014

ISBN: 978-1-61039-250-1

Page Count: 288

Publisher: PublicAffairs

Review Posted Online: April 15, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014

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