Authors: Jonah Lehrer
How We Decide (43 page)
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â Thomas Gilovich also looked at the reactions of London residents during the Blitz of 1940. While the Blitz was happening, British newspapers published maps that displayed the precise location of every German missile strike. The problem was that the strikes didn't look random, which led London residents and British military planners to conclude that the Germans could aim their missiles at specific targets. As a result, people fled those neighborhoods that seemed hardest hit and suspected that German spies lived in the areas that were mostly spared. The reality, however, was that the German military had virtually no control over where the missiles ended up. Although they aimed for central London, they were completely unable to target locations
within
London. The patterns of damage were utterly random.
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* Although certain sections of this brain area, such as the orbitofrontal cortex, are actually concerned with the perception of emotional states, the upper two-thirds of the prefrontal cortexâparticularly the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, or DLPFCâis generally regarded as the rational center of the brain. When you crunch numbers, deploy logic, or rely on deliberate analysis, you're using your DLPFC.
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* And then there's the case of the married, middle-aged Virginia schoolteacher who suddenly started downloading child pornography and seducing young girls. His behavior was so brazen that he was quickly arrested and convicted of child molestation; he was sent to a treatment program for pedophiles, but he was expelled from the program after propositioning several women there. Having failed rehab, he was to appear in court for sentencing, but the day before his court date, he went to the emergency room complaining of blinding headaches and a constant urge to rape his neighbor. After ordering an MRI, the doctors saw the source of the problem: he had a massive tumor lodged in his frontal cortex. After the tumor was removed, the deviant sexual urges immediately disappeared. The man was no longer a hypersexual monster. Unfortunately, this reprieve was brief; the tumor started to grow back within a year. His frontal cortex was once again incapacitated, and the urges of pedophilia returned.
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* But there are ways to compensate for the irrational brains of teens. For instance, when West Virginia revoked driving permits for students who were under the age of eighteen and who dropped out of school, the dropout rate fell by one-third in the first year. While teens were blind to the long-term benefits of getting a high school diploma, they could appreciate the short-term punishment of losing a license. The New York City schools have recently begun experimenting with a program that pays students for improving their standardized test scores; initial results have been extremely encouraging. By focusing on immediate rewards, these incentive programs help correct for the immature prefrontal cortices of children and teenagers.
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* A follow-up study found that instead of thinking about the mechanical details of the swing, experienced golfers should focus on general aspects of their intended movement, what psychologists call a holistic cue word. For instance, instead of contemplating something like the precise position of the wrist or elbow, the player should focus on a descriptive adjective, such as
smooth
or
balanced.
An experimental trial demonstrated that professional golfers who used these holistic cues did far better than golfers who consciously tried to control their strokes.
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Daniel Kahneman first demonstrated the anchoring effect in an experiment known as the United Nations game. He asked people to estimate the percentage of African countries in the United Nations. Before they guessed, a random number was generatedâdirectly in front of the participantsâby spinning a roulette wheel. As you might imagine, people who saw higher numbers on the roulette wheel generated significantly higher guesses for the percentage of African countries in the United Nations than those who saw lower numbers.
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* Haidt's other scenarios involve a woman who uses the American flag to clean her bathroom and a family that eats their dog after it has been killed by a car.
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* Autism, obviously, has nothing to do with psychopathy. Unlike people with autism, psychopaths can readily recognize when others are upset or in pain. Their problem is that they can't generate corresponding emotions, since their amygdalas are never turned on. The end result is that psychopaths remain preternaturally calm, even in situations that should make them upset. People with autism, however, don't have a problem generating emotion. The problem for them is of recognition; they struggle to decipher or simulate the mental states of others.
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* For a wonderful history of Harlow and his research, see Deborah Blum's biography
Love at Goon Park.
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* Your automatic brain is terrible at crunching numbers, which is why Binger always reflects on his poker probabilities. Consider this question: "A bat and ball cost $1.10 in total. The bat costs a dollar more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?" Your first instinct is probably ten cents, but that's the wrong answer, since it would add up to $1.20. The correct answer is five cents, but arriving at this answer requires a little conscious deliberation.
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* Patients who have undergone cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), a form of talk therapy designed to reveal the innate biases and distortions of the human brain, have also been shown to be less vulnerable to these same biases. Scientists speculate that these patients have learned to recognize those maladaptive thoughts and emotions that automatically occur in their responses to certain situations. Because they reflect on their thought processes, they learn to think better.
