An intriguing overview of important developments in brain research, specifically as it relates to finding “the right mental...
A veteran neuroscientist and clinical psychologist explores the changes that occur in our brains depending upon how we deal with challenging situations.
For the past 40 years, Robertson (T. Boone Pickens Distinguished Scientist/Univ. of Texas, Dallas; The Winner Effect: How Power Affects Your Brain, 2012, etc.) has dedicated his research to answering one question: “How, when and why do some people rise to the challenge of bad experiences, while others fold under their weight?” In this review of benchmarks in his career, he begins with his days as a student in the 1970s when he was training to become a clinical psychologist. At the time, the prevailing wisdom held “that experience only molded the very young brain.” After that, the brain’s neural circuitry was hard-wired and could only be changed by electric-shock therapy or medication. “In 1984…the sky fell in,” writes the author. Experiments showed that the brain is not hard-wired and is, in fact, changed by experience, and the left and right hemispheres of the brain play different roles in how individuals respond to stress. Furthermore, neural circuits in the brain’s right hemisphere activated anxiety-ridden avoidance, while a positive response to challenge was associated with left-hemisphere activity. In 2012, another piece of the puzzle came together when Robertson helped to establish the role of one of the brain’s key chemical messengers, noradrenaline, in helping the brain maintain attention. “Millions of mini-infusions of noradrenaline, triggered by millions of mental challenges,” create a cognitive reserve in the brain by stimulating the growth of neural networks, provided the challenge does not create severe stress. The author, who writes clearly for a popular audience, had identified the equivalent of a wonder drug that plays an important role in maintaining cognitive ability as we age.
An intriguing overview of important developments in brain research, specifically as it relates to finding “the right mental balance we need for each challenge that faces us.”Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-63286-729-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Oct. 30, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
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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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