Religion causes a chronic biasing of visual attention

As the Pope arrives in the UK, a provocative new study claims that religious practice changes people's attentional mindset (how much they're focused on detail vs. the big picture), not just while they're still a believer but even for years after becoming an atheist. What's more, it's shown that different religions can tune the mind in contrasting ways, potentially hindering communication and understanding between different religious groups.

Lorenza Colzato at the Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, and her colleagues, tested the bias of 72 Dutch participants towards either global or local processing - that's the big picture vs. the detail. The participants were from four groups: Conservative Calvinists (a form of Protestantism), Liberal Calvinists (who aren't so strict), Conservative Calvinists turned atheist and life-long atheists.

The task was straightforward. Participants were presented with squares made up of little rectangles, or vice versa. Depending on the condition - global vs. local processing - they had to indicate as fast as possible with a key press what the big shape was or what the little shapes were. Someone with a bias towards local processing would be expected to perform more quickly when identifying the little shapes, whereas someone with a mind tuned to the big picture should be faster when identifying the big shapes.

Clear differences emerged between the groups: the life-long atheists showed the strongest bias for the big picture, followed by the Liberal Calvinists, and then the Conservative Calvinists and the former Conservative Calvinists turned atheist. The latter two groups performed similarly suggesting that more than seven years without religious practice wasn't enough to remove the effects of the religion on a person's attentional mindset.

Why should Calvinism encourage a mindset focused on details? Colzato's team said it could be because Calvinism places an emphasis on following rules and on individual responsibility and control. They further speculated that religions that place more emphasis on communal solidarity and an external locus of control (with destiny seen as being in God's hands) could have the opposite effect. To test this, they recruited Orthodox Jews and Roman Catholics in Israel and Italy, respectively, and compared their big picture/small details bias with secular citizens from the same countries. Consistent with their predictions, this time the researchers found it was the religious folk who showed a bias for the big picture when compared with the performance of their secular compatriots. As in the first study, these differences were observed even though the participants had been matched for educational background, IQ and age.

Although this research can't prove that different religions cause these different mindsets, the researchers think it's unlikely that the causal direction runs in the other direction (with people having a certain mindset seeking out a religion that suits) - not least because many people are born into their religion rather than choosing it.

Colzato's team said their findings have real-world implications. 'Even a rather abstract bias such as towards local vs. global attributes of a perceived event is likely to cause diverging perceptions, interpretations and, eventually, conclusions,' they said. 'Very likely, this divergence stands in the way of effective communication between people with different religious backgrounds, especially if we consider that religion may impact many more ... parameters than investigated here.'
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Colzato LS, van Beest I, van den Wildenberg WP, Scorolli C, Dorchin S, Meiran N, Borghi AM, and Hommel B (2010). God: Do I have your attention? Cognition, 117 (1), 87-94 PMID: 20674890

Cute Dogs Love Our Beer

Name: Rosko

Age: 2.5 months

Favorite Bruery Beer: Saison Rue

Why are women chosen to lead organisations in a crisis?

The majority of major corporations and countries are headed by men. When women are appointed to leadership positions, it tends to be when an organisation is in crisis - a phenomenon known as the glass cliff. Recent examples include: the appointment of Lynn Elsenhans as CEO of the oil company Sunoco in 2008, just after their shares had halved in value; and the election of Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir as prime minister of Iceland, just after her country's economy had been crippled by the global recession.

Real life examples are supported by lab studies in which male and female participants show a bias for selecting female candidates to take charge of fictitious organisations in crisis. Further investigation has ruled out possible explanations for the glass cliff - it's not due to malicious sexism nor to women favouring such roles.

Now a brand new study suggests the phenomenon occurs firstly, because a crisis shifts people's stereotyped view of what makes for an ideal leader, and secondly, because men generally don't fit that stereotype. '...[I]t may not be so important for the glass cliff that women are stereotypically seen as possessing more of the attributes that matter in times of crisis,' the researchers wrote, 'but rather that men are seen as lacking these attributes ...'.

Susanne Bruckmüller and Nyla Branscombe first established when the glass cliff is most likely to occur. They presented 119 male and female participants with different versions of newspaper articles about an organic food company. Participants were more likely to select a fictitious female candidate to take over the company if it was described as being in crisis, and its previous three leaders had all been male. For participants who read that the previous managers had all been female, the glass cliff disappeared - they were just as likely to select a fictitious male candidate to take over the crisis stricken firm as they were to select a female.

This finding suggests the glass cliff has to do with people believing that a change from the status quo (from male leaders to a female) is what's needed in a crisis. However, this explanation breaks down because the reverse pattern wasn't found. Participants didn't show a bias for a male candidate to take over a crisis-stricken company that had had a run of three previous female leaders.

A second study explored the role of gender and leadership stereotypes and involved 122 male and female participants reading about a supermarket chain described either as thriving or in crisis. Next the participants rated their impression of two briefly described, fictitious managerial candidates, one male, one female, using attributes previously identified as being stereotypically male (e.g. competitive) or stereotypically female (e.g. strong communication skills). Finally, the participants rated the suitability of each candidate and stated which of them they'd hire.

In a successful context, the male candidate was judged to be more suitable for the role and was more likely to be selected - a replication of the bias seen in real life. More intriguing was that a crisis context led participants to attribute fewer stereotypically female attributes to the male candidate and to judge him as less suitable for the managerial role. Meanwhile, the crisis context didn't alter the qualities attributed to the the female candidate, nor the perception of her suitability. Crucially, however, she was more likely to be selected in the crisis situation - you might say almost by default, given that the male candidate was now seen as being less suitable and having fewer appropriate attributes.

'Our findings indicate that women find themselves in precarious leadership positions not because they are singled out for them, but because men no longer seem to fit,' Bruckmüller and Branscombe explained. 'There is, of course, a double irony here. When women get to enjoy the spoils of leadership (a) it is not because they are seen to deserve them, but because men no longer do, and (b) this only occurs when, and because, there are fewer spoils to enjoy.'
_________________________________

Bruckmüller, S. & Branscombe, N. (2010). The glass cliff: When and why women are selected as leaders in crisis contexts. British Journal of Social Psychology, 49 (3), 433-451 DOI: 10.1348/014466609X466594

Previously on the Digest:

Women need female role models.
Hey girls: Science helps people.
How ambitious mothers breed successful daughters.

My Shopping Spree at Penang Airport.

So that was how I spend my day in Penang Airport.

Post 1.

Post 2.

Post 3.




To roam through the airport freely and wheezing through endless rows of shopping possibilities, it was like given 12 hours time to have a glimpse of heaven. It just wasn’t enough.

12 hours flew by in a glimpse and I didn’t even notice it. How magical what money can do for you to pass time.




I don’t remember the last time I was on such an impulse trip and having to just do nothing but shop all day long.

Oh wait, I do remember, it was in London on Boxing Day last year. Ahh…. What an experience.

Overall I was pretty contented with my purchases of the day.




It was mega sales all over Malaysia which only made the shopping experience only more sensational.

My best buy had to be the dress, I’m into colors lately with lots of crazy mix and matches and plenty of accessories. Sort of a little bit of bohemian style and yet funky and crazy.




So the bangles come in second after the dress.




I wanted to get a few other bangles and decided perhaps I should save it for my Bangkok (which is now) trip.

In this Dayana shop, I spotted a bag which I thought was cute,




Only to find out that a few days later in Bangkok, one in every 5 girls were holding the same bag, albeit in different colors. It’s a foldable bag which you can fold out like this.


Though the ones that most Thai girls are holding are the plain design ones.


However, my favourite place has to be the duty free fragrance section where I went completely wild!

Totally love my new 10ml Harajuku perfume that set me back a RM84 that day.




Thus the perfume shall be my new found interest (gonna collect them all!)




And it seemed that I wasn’t the only one hooked onto these Harajuku girls.



A reader shared this photo in my comments and it’s just so cute!


Shopping in airports has just got better with the running Indulge Till You Fly Campaign that will end on the 6th January 2011. Just spend RM 250 and above on anything at the airport (spas, shopping, dining) at KLIA, LCCT-KLIA, PIA, KIA, KKIA or LIA and win fantastic prizes. All you need to do is to fill up the Indulge and Win Contest form with a maximum of 3 cumulative receipts totaling RM 250 on the same day. Spending with Mastercard will get twice the number of entries!

During the Malaysia Mega Sale, which is until 16th September 2010, there are additional rewards and prizes. With a minimum spending of RM250, you’ll get an entry to the Indulge & Win Contest + a RM10 on the spot voucher which you can use immediately. If you had spent with MasterCard, you’ll get double the chance to win in the Indulge & Win Contest.

And, if you spend more with MasterCard that is up to RM 350, you’ll get double chance to win in the contest, a RM 10 voucher and an additional nifty Recycle and Indulge green bag, which allows you more benefits!

Walk into participating Body Shop outlets at Malaysia Airports with the Recycle and Indulge Green Bag and shop for a minimum of RM 120 with MasterCard and you’ll be entitled for a 20% discount. No worries if you’re not a Mastercard holder – you’ll get 15% off at The Body Shop with a minimum spend of RM 120. Don’t forget to bring along the Recycle and Indulge Green Bag whenever you shop at the participating Body Shop outlets at Malaysia Airports. The privilege at The Body Shop is valid until June 2011.


The lady filled up the form for me. ^^


It’s always nice to know that your endless spending spree was rewarded with a little something.




This applies to any participating F&B, retail or reflexology/spa outlet at Malaysian international airports operated by Malaysia Airports (RM250 in duty free? Too easy).




Like someone used to say: “It’s not how much you get, it’s the fact that it’s free.”




Fill in the answers correctly and submit to be in the running for a pair of First Class Priceless Indulgent Holiday Package to various locations such as: Cape Town, London, Sydney. There are 10 packages to be won that would spin you on one of the most memorable journey, either into a full day Safari at Fairy Glen, Cape Town, afternoon tea at Langham, London or seaplane tour up New South Wales Coastline. Bask and be pampered at five-star hotels namely The Table Bay Hotel in Cape Town, The Landmark Hotel in London and The Blue Hotel in Sydney. Not to mention dining and spa experience at any of these destinations.

It’s going to be total indulgent if you win and the fabulous news is that there will be a winner for the First Class Priceless Indulgent Holiday Package every 3 weeks! So you can keep indulging and vying for the prizes until January 2011.

Anyway, I kinda forgot to fill in the answer so I don’t think I’ll be winning any prize anytime soon. T_T

I want to tour the New South Wales Coastline…. T_T

No wait I want to go back to London. I miss Boxing Day… T_T


Find out how many participating airports there are and then fill in your form and submit it to the friendly guy/girl at these kiosks and brace yourself for a winning.

But I managed to snag two of the RM10 and got myself a free McDonald meal and a magazine for a friend at LCCT few days later. What can I say, I’m easily satisfied. :p




Next time you have a plane to catch, don’t worry that you have too much free time at the airport because you arrive early, just worry about your credit limit. ;)




You’ll know what to do after that.

What are participants really up to when they complete an online questionnaire?

Internet surveys are an increasingly popular method for collecting data in psychology, for obvious reasons, but they have some serious shortcomings. How do you know if a participant read the instructions properly? What if they clicked through randomly, completed it drunk or maybe their cat walked across the keyboard? Now a possible solution has arrived in the form of a tool, called the UserActionTracer (UAT), developed by Stefan Stieger and Ulf-Dietrich Reips.

The UAT is a piece of code that tells the participant's web browser to store information, including timings, on all mouse clicks (single and double), choices in drop-down menus, radio buttons, all inserted text, key presses and the position of the mouse pointer. Stieger and Reips tested this out with a survey of 1046 participants on the subject of instant messaging. The new tool revealed that 31 participants changed their reported age; 5.9 per cent made suspicious changes to opinions they'd given; 46 per cent clicked through at least some parts of the questionnaire at a suspiciously fast rate (mainly for so-called 'semantic differential' items in which the participant must choose a position between two contrasting adjectives); 3.6 per cent of participants left the questionnaire inactive for long periods; 6.3 per cent displayed excessive clicking; and 11 per cent showed excessive mouse movements (it's that cat again).

As a way of checking the usefulness of this extra behavioural data, the researchers concentrated on the fraction of participants for whom they had access to a secondary source of information that could be used to verify the questionnaire answers. This showed that participants who'd displayed more suspicious behaviour while filling out the questionnaire also tended to provide answers that didn't match up with the other information source.

'Our study shows that the UAT was successful in collecting highly detailed information about individual answering processes in online questionnaires,' Stieger and Reips said. Another application of the tool is in pre-testing of online questionnaires. Researchers could use the tool to test which items tend to prompt corrections or inappropriate click-throughs before rolling out a questionnaire to a larger sample.
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Stieger, S., & Reips, U. (2010). What are participants doing while filling in an online questionnaire: A paradata collection tool and an empirical study. Computers in Human Behavior, 26 (6), 1488-1495 DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2010.05.013

New Baby Diaper Cakes Added!

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Raya's Over and Dell Technical Department is Closed?

Yep so I have been away (from my laptop) for the Raya period and now I'm back on a WORKING Monday and suddenly, my laptop, after a long weekend of celebration, decided not to start on me.

It's been 2.5 years since I bought this Dell XPS and now it's not operating. Obviously the warranty has been long over and I am in need of a laptop to actually work, so I called up the technician hotline only to be responded with this auto-response:

"Due to the puiblic holiday, our office is closed today..."


Wtf? What holiday? Raya is already over!

Sigh.

Then I called up the sales department, got through to this lady who told me the only way I can get some help is to extend the warranty, which cost RM1000 (are you f**king serious?), OR I could buy a new motherboard (according to a Dell's personnel, the reason the laptop is not functioning is because of a faulty motherboard), which cost RM800+.

Now two problems exist:

1. How would you know it's the motherboard problem when you never even send a technician over to check what's wrong with my laptop. For all I know it could be the charger's problem? Or fuse?

And you want me to pay RM800+ before you send someone over to change my motherboard, which it might not even be the motherboard's problem to start with.

2. It's only been 2.5 years since I first got this laptop and the motherboard has already DIED TWICE! Whereas an additional fault occured in between these two dead motherboard problems.

First time was three months after I got the laptop. THREE MONTHS!

Second time was a year after I got the laptop, to which the lappie's mousepad died. And which a technician came over to fix.

Now the third time, my laptop refuse to start. Maybe due to MOTHERBOARD problem again?!

So on an average my laptop faces a faulty problem less than once a year!


SIGH.


Maybe it's time for me to change my laptop.


~*~*~*~*~*~

On a happier note, I rushed to attend another session of my Marie France right before the Raya period started.

By now I'm quite pumped up to obey to following a strict diet plan. I could almost visualise it: a slim figure.

A dream I once had when I was 18? Slim and looking HOT! I woke up from the dream still reminiscing about that figure, all body-hugging in tight business suit.

I have been going on certain treatments in Marie France, due to popular demand, I shall reveal the certain few treatments that I have already undergone to target on reducing cellulites, fats, and stretchmarks on my hip and thighs.

Treatments:

1. LST-3 - Ultra sound that can help burn your fat even after the treatment for up to 72 hours. I loved this the most as it also tightens my skin after a good massage that comes with the treatment.

2. Radio Frequency - I have to remove all my accessories for this, in case I get shocked. Supposingly this is BEST for my fat burning, highly reccomended by a lot of people I've met. I almost wanted to buy a RF machine to do it on myself in my own time but an RF machine is the cost of a house!

3. BST - this is a machine with a tube that when pressed to your skin, felt like acupunture. Perhaps using electric to produce the same effect. We all know there are acupunture methods that can help you lose weight, and fat.

4. Mud Mask - This includes lots of massages, wrappings and a super nice self-heating mud mask to smooth and tighten your skin. Take this if you enjoy a good massage because damn those ladies at Marie France can really work their fingers.

5. Infra-red - it felt like going to a tanning booth. Only that you get your fat burned instead of a tan. Sleeping through this treatment is easy.

6. Laser - did this twice and it felt cold where the laser-point touched. Thank god for heated beds, I normally have chills on my back when I do this. Burns fat and kills stretchmarks.

There are a few other treatments I don't really remember the names. There's this one that's super effective for cellulites where the machine physically squeezes your stubborn fat (which is the proper way to remove cellulite). However, this machine might hurt a little (or a lot, depending how strong you set the machine)


Well, that's about it. If you're interested...


SMS For a free 60min slimming session (worth
RM380)

type MFB NICOLEKISS Name send to
32996