Month: August 2009
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Context and Aesthetic Judgements
It’s no surprise that perceived context is important in influencing people’s decisions. A recent experiment has shown that people rate pictures as more aesthetically pleasing (and actually experience more pleasure while viewing them) if they believe they come from art galleries. Aesthetic judgments, like most judgments, depend on context. Whether an object or image is…
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To Breastfeed or Not
In governmental and popular literature breastfeeding is praised as being the optimum solution to infant feeding. The Wikipedia article, for instance, is extensive and well-cited suggesting the following benefits to infants: superior nutrition, greater immune health, higher intelligence… the list goes on. For the mother, many long- and short-term health benefits are also cited. In what…
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Technology in the Classroom
Teachers are using technology in the classroom as a crutch, rather than a tool to increase their quality of teaching, proposes José A. Bowen, Dean of the Meadows School of the Arts, and this is why he’s removing computers from his classrooms. Resistance was high, both from teachers and students, but research has linked boredom in…
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The Advantage of Female Executives
Of the top 500 public US companies, firms with women in senior management performed 18 to 69 percent better in terms of profitability than the median companies in their industries. Not only this, but these firms, with around three women in top jobs, scored higher on top measures of organisational excellence by at least 40 percent.…