Regarding a video of Obama "for balance" - you're right Mike and I was thinking about this just after making the post. So to be fair I have just embedded a video in which Stewart shows how in Obama's acceptance speech at the DNC he made many, many promises, but of course with few specifics.
Good point - thx, Michael Michael Britt [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.thepsychfiles.com/blog On Sep 30, 2008, at 1:43 PM, Michael Smith wrote: > > > You might want to include a video of Obama doing something similar > for balance. > > Isn't one of the skills of a good politician an ability to talk at > length on a subject but aviod saying anthing substantial? (Probably > because the politician will have some people agree wholeheartedly > while others disagree vehemently about any particular issue of any > importance). The last thing you want to do is commit to some course > of action that either you will regret later, or that you cannot > later deliver on. > > So I agree that politicians are rewarded, probably for being a > skillful rhetoritician, that is, appearing to please everyone (as > much as possible) while offending no one (as much as possible-- > especially since offending someone is now probably the greatest > 'sin' one can commit nowadays). This necessitates a skillful fence- > sitting while hopefully appearing not to do so. > > --Mike > > --- On Mon, 9/29/08, Michael Britt <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > From: Michael Britt <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: [tips] Reinforcement/Punishment example from Comedy Central > To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" <[email protected] > > > Date: Monday, September 29, 2008, 8:16 AM > > Back in the '70s Steven Kerr wrote a wonderful article called "On The > Folly of Rewarding A While Hoping For B" which very clearly showed > how we > often don't pay attention to the factors that are truly governing our > behavior (at least from a behavioral perspective). > > When I saw a recent episode of The Daily Show on Comedy Central I > couldn't > help but think of Kerr's article. The piece was about how non- > specific > the presidential candidates are talking in their speeches. The > candidate's "Generic-Off". Might make for a good class > discussion when > you get to the Learning chapter. I haven't gotten around to making an > episode out of this yet, but you can find the videos on my site. > > I decided to include the video of John McCain attempting to answer the > "birth control vs. viagra" question too. I don't think during > the long > pause he takes to answer the question that he is actually thinking > about > the question. I think he's thinking about how NOT to answer the > question. > Another example of how we don't reward politicians for specific > answers > (in fact, we punish them). I'm curious what you think of all this. > > Michael > > > -- > Michael Britt, Ph.D. > http://www.thepsychfiles.com/blog > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > --- > To make changes to your subscription contact: > > Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) > > --- > To make changes to your subscription contact: > > Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
