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Cognition

Is Your Language Making You Broke and Fat?

Julie Sedivy Ph.D. on March 8, 2012

Keith Chen, an economist from Yale, makes a startling claim: people's fiscal responsibility and healthy lifestyle choices depend in part on how the grammar of their language encodes the concept of future time.

Keith Chen, an economist from Yale, makes a startling claim: people's fiscal responsibility and healthy lifestyle choices depend in part on how the grammar of their language encodes the concept of future time.

Cognition

This Year's Juicy Books on Thinking, Persuasion and Language

Julie Sedivy Ph.D. on December 30, 2011

2011 has yielded a slew of smart new books that provide some deep and fascinating insights about what it means to be a thinking, speaking, influencing and influenceable human being. Here are a few of my favorites.

2011 has yielded a slew of smart new books that provide some deep and fascinating insights about what it means to be a thinking, speaking, influencing and influenceable human being. Here are a few of my favorites.

Confidence

The Decisions of the Powerful: When Confidence Leads to Sloppy Thinking

Julie Sedivy Ph.D. on November 1, 2011

Corner offices. Tall and plush leather chairs. The swaggering gait and confident postures. Walk into an office environment, and it's usually not hard to guess which people hold the positions of power. But do all these trimmings and reminders of the power hierarchy really make for the best decision-making among those who are in charge?

Corner offices. Tall and plush leather chairs. The swaggering gait and confident postures. Walk into an office environment, and it's usually not hard to guess which people hold the positions of power. But do all these trimmings and reminders of the power hierarchy really make for the best decision-making among those who are in charge?

Persuasion

Get People to Start Agreeing with You

Julie Sedivy Ph.D. on October 23, 2011

In the art of persuasion, timing, as they say, is everything. For example, if you decide to ask your boss for a salary raise, you might try to gauge just the right moment to make your request. Here's a hint: Make your pitch just after she's heard a presentation by her favorite employee.

In the art of persuasion, timing, as they say, is everything. For example, if you decide to ask your boss for a salary raise, you might try to gauge just the right moment to make your request. Here's a hint: Make your pitch just after she's heard a presentation by her favorite employee.

Body Language

Nod Your Head if You Agree with Yourself: How Your Own Body Language Can Persuade You

Julie Sedivy Ph.D. on September 9, 2011

I don’t see the body language gurus dispensing advice about how to interpret your own body language. What if we use our own body language as clues to what we are thinking? And what if these clues can shape our attitudes?

I don’t see the body language gurus dispensing advice about how to interpret your own body language. What if we use our own body language as clues to what we are thinking? And what if these clues can shape our attitudes?

Identity

Are You a Mac or a Mac User? How the Language of Identity Persuades

Julie Sedivy Ph.D. on August 8, 2011

Do you think of yourself as a beer-drinker, or do you merely drink beer? Are you a Democrat, or do you just vote for Democratic candidates? Wielding the right language to tap into people's sense of identity can make for potent persuasion.

Do you think of yourself as a beer-drinker, or do you merely drink beer? Are you a Democrat, or do you just vote for Democratic candidates? Wielding the right language to tap into people's sense of identity can make for potent persuasion.

Persuasion

Think you can't be persuaded by ads you ignore? Think again

Julie Sedivy Ph.D. on July 8, 2011

It’s no surprise to advertisers that people rarely devote their full brainpower to the ads that are lobbed at them. But this doesn’t necessarily mean that the ads have no impact on consumers. Sometimes, it can mean the opposite.

It’s no surprise to advertisers that people rarely devote their full brainpower to the ads that are lobbed at them. But this doesn’t necessarily mean that the ads have no impact on consumers. Sometimes, it can mean the opposite.

Child Development

Can Nostalgic Advertising Re-Write Your Childhood Memories?

Julie Sedivy Ph.D. on July 5, 2011

Our unreliable trips down memory lane suggest that advertisers have much to gain from tweaking our reminiscences.

Our unreliable trips down memory lane suggest that advertisers have much to gain from tweaking our reminiscences.

Persuasion

Fiction as stealth persuasion

Julie Sedivy Ph.D. on June 26, 2011

The fictional words and actions of entirely made-up characters who have never drawn a breath in the real world can impact our attitudes and behavior more powerfully than the pleas or arguments of real flesh-and-blood people talking to us about real things in the actual world. Why should this be?

The fictional words and actions of entirely made-up characters who have never drawn a breath in the real world can impact our attitudes and behavior more powerfully than the pleas or arguments of real flesh-and-blood people talking to us about real things in the actual world. Why should this be?

Consumer Behavior

Your best defense against advertising may be your unconscious mind

Julie Sedivy Ph.D. on June 9, 2011

Evidence is piling up that commercial messages may affect us in many ways that we're not aware of. But it seems we have a defensive system—one that can be turned on by our unconscious mind.

Evidence is piling up that commercial messages may affect us in many ways that we're not aware of. But it seems we have a defensive system—one that can be turned on by our unconscious mind.

Cognition

Politically Correct Animal Language

Julie Sedivy Ph.D. on May 14, 2011

The editors of the Journal of Animal Ethics have called for re-vamping animal language. So-called negative words like "pets" or "wildlife," they say, should be replaced by "companion animals" and "free-living animals." Could changing the language also change attitudes towards animals?

The editors of the Journal of Animal Ethics have called for re-vamping animal language. So-called negative words like "pets" or "wildlife," they say, should be replaced by "companion animals" and "free-living animals." Could changing the language also change attitudes towards animals?

Freudian Psychology

Do Obama/Osama Slips of the Tongue Reveal Racist Attitudes?

Julie Sedivy Ph.D. on May 4, 2011

Over the last few days, in the flurry of excited talk about the killing of Osama bin Laden, I’ve heard at least five slips of the tongue in which the name “Osama” was substituted for “Obama.” Do these "Freudian" slips of the tongue reveal racist attitudes equating the U.S. President with dangerous terrorists?

Over the last few days, in the flurry of excited talk about the killing of Osama bin Laden, I’ve heard at least five slips of the tongue in which the name “Osama” was substituted for “Obama.” Do these "Freudian" slips of the tongue reveal racist attitudes equating the U.S. President with dangerous terrorists?

Consumer Behavior

Avant-garde ads: A secret weapon of the right wing?

Julie Sedivy Ph.D. on April 29, 2011

When befuddled by what seem like nonsensical messages, people tend to launch in hot pursuit of meaning elsewhere—including traditional social structures.

When befuddled by what seem like nonsensical messages, people tend to launch in hot pursuit of meaning elsewhere—including traditional social structures.

Politics

Why do politicians sling mud? Because it sticks

Julie Sedivy Ph.D. on March 22, 2011

We profess to hate negative attack ads in politics. But when it comes to negative campaigning, genteel social norms get some push-back from psychological mechanisms that give dirty politics an edge over keeping it clean.

We profess to hate negative attack ads in politics. But when it comes to negative campaigning, genteel social norms get some push-back from psychological mechanisms that give dirty politics an edge over keeping it clean.

Cognition

The language of power in the anti-prestige age

Julie Sedivy Ph.D. on March 2, 2011

We expect broadcasters to have a little bit of linguistic class, and this includes not dropping g's and turning ing into in', pronouncing nuclear as nucular, or seasoning their speech with generous dashes of double negatives. But Presidents, it seems, are an entirely different matter.

We expect broadcasters to have a little bit of linguistic class, and this includes not dropping g's and turning ing into in', pronouncing nuclear as nucular, or seasoning their speech with generous dashes of double negatives. But Presidents, it seems, are an entirely different matter.

It's hard to imagine nowadays, but it used to be that when it came time to name a company or a product, someone would just trot out a perfectly sensible, serviceable name like General Motors or International Business Machines. Practical yes, but a bit drab—not to mention possibly missing out on opportunities for linguistic product placement.

Persuasion

Subliminal seduction gets a second glance

Julie Sedivy Ph.D. on January 27, 2011

Salacious images in ice cubes? Subliminal commands in movie theaters? Years after the de-bunking of myths of advertising mind control, we're coming to realize that unconscious responses to persuasion are just a part of daily cognition.

Salacious images in ice cubes? Subliminal commands in movie theaters? Years after the de-bunking of myths of advertising mind control, we're coming to realize that unconscious responses to persuasion are just a part of daily cognition.

We often choose consumer products and adopt regional dialects, whether consciously or not, in order to project a certain social identity. With American dialects pulling apart and becoming more distinct from each other, even big corporations like McDonald's want to be part of your in-group.  TV commercials are starting to talk to you in your own accent.

Media

The Other Reason Why “iPad” Is a Dumb Name

Julie Sedivy Ph.D. on December 15, 2010

When Apple unveiled its new tablet computer, you'd think there were no women at the meeting.  Or anyone from Chicago for that matter.  Here's how America's most radical dialect change can cause some serious brand-name confusion.  

When Apple unveiled its new tablet computer, you'd think there were no women at the meeting.  Or anyone from Chicago for that matter.  Here's how America's most radical dialect change can cause some serious brand-name confusion.