Archive | Psychology

Exude Competence

Many years ago, when I was working for another trial consultant, one of the clients spoke to my boss and told her that I “exuded competence.” The boss was happy to hear this and to tell me. I took it as a high compliment because it reinforced my goal of doing what I say I’m […]

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David is right.  We have to exude competence if we are to convince others that we possess the expertise necessary to perform a job.  When I first became a trial consultant, way back in 1989, the person who trained me was a particularly tough task master.  He greatly disliked my psychologist’s way of pensively contemplating […]

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Leadership styles

Many people wonder how leaders emerge. Some people endorse the view that certain people are “born leaders,” while others believe leadership is a skill that is acquired. Organizational psychologists have studied leaders, leadership, and leadership styles for decades to determine what traits separate effective leaders from leaders who lack effectiveness, the situations in which leadership […]

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I often learn new things in reading what Melissa has written.  As someone whose graduate work was in the Organizational Behavior field (the business school version of I/O psychology), leadership is a familiar topic.  But, considering her perspective on how leadership plays out in the jury decision making process is enlightening.  Melissa is the expert […]

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The Last Thing Said to a Loved One

As our family and friends know, both of David’s parents passed away recently, within a few months of one another. And, as almost everyone who knows David and me is aware, I adored both of David’s parents. I will go as far as saying that both David’s mother, Carole, and father, Herman, were nicer and […]

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It has been a rough year for me, my brothers, and Melissa with the loss of my parents, 106 days apart.  Their decline was long and difficult.  Collectively, we did many things to manage their care and quality of life.  That fact that they had made similar efforts to care for their parents or other […]

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Do You Still Need to Practice?

Recently, I remarked to my bass guitar teacher, Phill Fest, that many of my friends question my need to take bass lessons, due to the fact I have been playing the bass guitar for over 20 years. (This was the subject of a previous post, in which I mentioned that, although I have been playing […]

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I took piano lessons as a child, but fishing seemed much more fun than piano, so I didn’t play piano long!  But, call it what you want, practice, playing, fishing, getting better, and staying strong at anything takes time and effort.  I’ve written about Dr. Fran Kinne before. She started playing piano at age 3 […]

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Thou shalt not smoke

Just when you think you’ve experienced it all…well, then, something new happens. Magnus moved into our current office a few months ago. We were in the old one for over 24 years and the new one is definitely an improvement over the prior office, in most ways. The new office is in a 2 story, […]

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Magnus’ former office building offered few opportunities for interaction with the other occupants of the building, which is a small, 1 story structure with 4 individual office suites.  Although the on site property manager smokes cigarettes, he is always polite enough to smoke outside.  For the entire time Magnus has been in business, we never […]

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The Destruction of Goodwill

Negativity bias has a long history of research within social psychology. Negativity bias refers to the tendency of many people to assign greater importance to negative information than positive information. Considerable research has revealed that negative adjectives and descriptions contribute more to people’s overall impressions of others than positive adjectives and descriptions. It is important […]

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Goodwill can be fleeting.  I am thinking about some other recent interactions and encounters where it has disappeared quickly.  A fast food restaurant which forgets to include the dipping sauces, or hands out sub standard (for them) food comes to mind.  Another restaurant which has great Vietnamese food but frequently gets the take out order […]

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Technology is Great…until it isn’t

We rely on technology in today’s world. Some tech is life or death; some of it just seems that way. After my last post, one might understand my frustrations with technology – the loss of data with a server crash is very painful. And, even after supposed recovery of the data, we find ourselves spending […]

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One of my friends recently asked me to fix her computer.  She was surprised when I told her I have absolutely no idea how to fix computers, phones, tablets, or any other electronic devices.  She remarked that, because I am so smart, she thought fixing a computer must be simple for me!  I wish!  Given […]

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Bystander apathy

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On May 11, 2021

Category: Getting Through Life and Work, Giving Back, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Psychology

Why do some people help others in need while other people appear to ignore the suffering of another person? What factors make it likely that bystanders will intervene when a stranger is in obvious need of help, for example, while being attacked in a public place? What is the impact of other people on the […]

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Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On May 11, 2021

Category: Getting Through Life and Work, Giving Back, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Psychology

I’d like to think I’m a helper in a situation that requires it.  I certainly take the time and make the effort to call police or EMS when I witness an accident or dangerous situation.  Melissa and I have also stopped to help when we have witnessed traffic accidents.  In the instance I’m thinking of, […]

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Thanks Mindi!

Melissa and I had the pleasure to watch a live stream concert recently – a full band concert of Mindi Abair and the Boneshakers. They played Mindi’s new CD, “The Best of Mindi Abair.” We’ve had the pleasure of seeing Mindi in concert a few times. She puts on a great show! Mindi is a […]

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I share David’s sentiment: Thanks, Mindi!  And, thanks, Eric!  David and I have spent countless hours during the pandemic watching Mind Abair’s live streamed concerts.  Most of them involve her, solo, but others have included some of her famous and talented friends and band mates.  In these times when many musicians and other performers are […]

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Heuristical thinking

Biases and heuristics often, but not always, go hand in hand. While bias is attributed to the absence of reflective thought, leading to limitations in judgment, heuristics are used intentionally when making inferences. Heuristics are common sense reasoning strategies employed by laypersons. They are “shortcuts” that accelerate the decision making process. Heuristics may or may […]

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Magnus’ reports often contain a section entitled “Heuristics” and, when I’m showing our sample report to prospective clients, I usually have to explain what a heuristic is and why it is important.  I typically explain that heuristics are the ways that the jurors relate to a case – in their own language.  Whether it is […]

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