STUDY: Thinking straight while seeing red?

New studies claim that: "Anger is appropriately blamed for flawed thinking since it tends to alter perception of risk, increase prejudice, and trigger aggression... Anger can actually prompt more careful and rational analysis of another person’s reasoning." But they apparently cue anger that is orthogonal to the task subject matter at hand -- so it supports the idea that reflecting on a prior event that angered you somehow gets you more focused in your reasoning. I wonder if there an associated physiological arousal response that would helps explain the effect... more»

BOOK: How We Reason

I haven't seen it first-hand yet, but here's a recent book by Johnson-Laird providing an update on his take on mental models... more»

BOOK: Why?

Explanation is multifacted and pervasive. The reasons we offer every day are dictated by, and help constitute, social relationships... more»