Browse Titles - 358 results
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Do Exclusivity Rebates Cause Psychological Switching Costs in Consumers?
(Germany: Latest Thinking, 2017), 13 mins
Firms, be it coffee shops or airlines, often try to bind customers with exclusivity rebates rewarding loyalty. The lab experiment presented in this video reveals that these programs are “sticky”: customers stay in those programs longer than would be “rational”. As ALEXANDER MORELL explains, customers often...
Open Access
(Germany: Latest Thinking, 2017), 13 mins
Description
Firms, be it coffee shops or airlines, often try to bind customers with exclusivity rebates rewarding loyalty. The lab experiment presented in this video reveals that these programs are “sticky”: customers stay in those programs longer than would be “rational”. As ALEXANDER MORELL explains, customers often don’t switch to alternatives even if reaching the rebate becomes improbable. Contrary to common behavioral assumptions, the duration...
Firms, be it coffee shops or airlines, often try to bind customers with exclusivity rebates rewarding loyalty. The lab experiment presented in this video reveals that these programs are “sticky”: customers stay in those programs longer than would be “rational”. As ALEXANDER MORELL explains, customers often don’t switch to alternatives even if reaching the rebate becomes improbable. Contrary to common behavioral assumptions, the duration of rebate programs or the size of rebates did not affect the stickiness of the rebate.
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Field of Study
Psychology
Content Type
Instructional material
Date Published / Released
2017
Publisher
Latest Thinking
Speaker / Narrator
Alexander Morell, 1980-
Person Discussed
Alexander Morell, 1980-
Topic / Theme
Market competition, Economic policy, Decision making, Behavior modification, Consumers
Copyright Message
Copyright © 2017 Latest Thinking
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Do Financial Incentives Help Obese People to Achieve and to Maintain a Target Weight?
(Latest Thinking, 2017), 9 mins
By means of a field experiment, the research presented in this video tested the effects of financial incentives on the dieting behavior of obese people. As CHRISTOPH M. SCHMIDT explains, patients leaving rehabilitation clinics have been selected for the study and were given different treatments to help them achiev...
Open Access
(Latest Thinking, 2017), 9 mins
Description
By means of a field experiment, the research presented in this video tested the effects of financial incentives on the dieting behavior of obese people. As CHRISTOPH M. SCHMIDT explains, patients leaving rehabilitation clinics have been selected for the study and were given different treatments to help them achieve their target weight. It shows that those patients who received a financial incentive were more successful in sustaining healthy behav...
By means of a field experiment, the research presented in this video tested the effects of financial incentives on the dieting behavior of obese people. As CHRISTOPH M. SCHMIDT explains, patients leaving rehabilitation clinics have been selected for the study and were given different treatments to help them achieve their target weight. It shows that those patients who received a financial incentive were more successful in sustaining healthy behavior in the short term, with the effect weakening over time. These insights contribute to the question of the role financial incentives can play in encouraging healthy behavior.
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Field of Study
Health Policy
Content Type
Instructional material
Contributor
Christoph Matthias Schmidt, 1962-
Date Published / Released
2017
Publisher
Latest Thinking
Speaker / Narrator
Christoph Matthias Schmidt, 1962-
Person Discussed
Christoph Matthias Schmidt, 1962-
Topic / Theme
Rehabilitation, Personal finances, Obesity
Copyright Message
Copyright © 2017 Latest Thinking
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Do Infants Understand Others as Mental Agents and Communicate Meaningfully Before They Acquire Language?
(Latest Thinking, 2017), 9 mins
How do humans understand each other? One unique aspect is the evolution of more than six thousand languages on earth. In order to use language meaningfully a certain social cognitive infrastructure is needed. This infrastructure turns out to be prior to the acquisition of language in humans. The research presented...
Open Access
(Latest Thinking, 2017), 9 mins
Description
How do humans understand each other? One unique aspect is the evolution of more than six thousand languages on earth. In order to use language meaningfully a certain social cognitive infrastructure is needed. This infrastructure turns out to be prior to the acquisition of language in humans. The research presented in this video investigates how infants learn to communicate and how they understand other people’s intentions and needs before they...
How do humans understand each other? One unique aspect is the evolution of more than six thousand languages on earth. In order to use language meaningfully a certain social cognitive infrastructure is needed. This infrastructure turns out to be prior to the acquisition of language in humans. The research presented in this video investigates how infants learn to communicate and how they understand other people’s intentions and needs before they speak. ULF LISZKOWSKI and his team used a variety of experimental methods, such as eye tracking, EEG and observation, to establish that one-year-old infants already have an awareness of other people’s mental states: they want to help and share information by pointing to things. This makes human communication unique even prior to language acquisition.
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Field of Study
Language
Content Type
Instructional material
Contributor
Ulf Liszkowski, fl. 2000
Date Published / Released
2017
Publisher
Latest Thinking
Topic / Theme
Psychology, Infancy, Communication
Copyright Message
Copyright © 2017 Latest Thinking
×
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Do Kea Birds Have Cooperative Abilities?
(Latest Thinking, 2017), 11 mins
The ability to cooperate with each other has given humans one of the key advantages in the colonization of this planet. What about other species? Do they have cooperative abilities as well? RUSSELL GRAY and his fellow researchers have investigated this particular question observing keas, a New Zealand bird known f...
Open Access
(Latest Thinking, 2017), 11 mins
Description
The ability to cooperate with each other has given humans one of the key advantages in the colonization of this planet. What about other species? Do they have cooperative abilities as well? RUSSELL GRAY and his fellow researchers have investigated this particular question observing keas, a New Zealand bird known for its playfulness and inquisitiveness. The researchers designed three experimental set-ups that tested the birds’ ability and willin...
The ability to cooperate with each other has given humans one of the key advantages in the colonization of this planet. What about other species? Do they have cooperative abilities as well? RUSSELL GRAY and his fellow researchers have investigated this particular question observing keas, a New Zealand bird known for its playfulness and inquisitiveness. The researchers designed three experimental set-ups that tested the birds’ ability and willingness to cooperate with each other as well as the underlying cognition of the process. As Gray explains in this video, the experiments showed that that the keas’ behavior was not just governed by rote learning but that they could adjust their behavior depending on the situation, thus waiting for another bird to solve the situation. These findings suggest that a less anthropocentric look at the nature of relationships within groups is needed in order to understand the evolution of complex cognitive abilities such as collaboration.
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Field of Study
Anthropology
Content Type
Instructional material
Contributor
Russell Gray, fl. 1990
Date Published / Released
2017
Publisher
Latest Thinking
Topic / Theme
Evolution, Colonization, Birds
Copyright Message
Copyright © 2017 Latest Thinking
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Do Land Management Changes Have Effects on Climate as Large as Land Cover Changes?
(Latest Thinking, 2017), 10 mins
The study presented in this video evaluates data from observational towers, satellite pictures and other published data to compare the impact of land-cover change and land management change on climate. The results show that land management change within the same vegetation (e.g., harvesting a formerly untouched fo...
Open Access
(Latest Thinking, 2017), 10 mins
Description
The study presented in this video evaluates data from observational towers, satellite pictures and other published data to compare the impact of land-cover change and land management change on climate. The results show that land management change within the same vegetation (e.g., harvesting a formerly untouched forest) has effects on climate change that are similarly large as effects of land-cover change (e.g., changing forests into pasture). Thu...
The study presented in this video evaluates data from observational towers, satellite pictures and other published data to compare the impact of land-cover change and land management change on climate. The results show that land management change within the same vegetation (e.g., harvesting a formerly untouched forest) has effects on climate change that are similarly large as effects of land-cover change (e.g., changing forests into pasture). Thus, JULIA PONGRATZ explains, earth system models which are used to estimate human impact on climate should include changes in land management.
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Field of Study
Environmental Studies
Content Type
Instructional material
Date Published / Released
2017
Publisher
Latest Thinking
Speaker / Narrator
Julia Pongratz
Person Discussed
Julia Pongratz
Topic / Theme
Geography, Agricultural ecology, Earth sciences, Forest management, Land conservation, Deforestation, Climate change
Copyright Message
Copyright © 2017 Latest Thinking
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Do Moral Capacities Change With Improving Living Conditions?
(Germany: Latest Thinking, 2017), 14 mins
We can see progress all over the world, such as technological transformations, or rising life expectancies and literacy rates. Are these improvements in material conditions accompanied by a change in moral standards? So far, such questions have mainly been discussed in the area of philosophy. CHRISTIAN WELZEL is i...
Open Access
(Germany: Latest Thinking, 2017), 14 mins
Description
We can see progress all over the world, such as technological transformations, or rising life expectancies and literacy rates. Are these improvements in material conditions accompanied by a change in moral standards? So far, such questions have mainly been discussed in the area of philosophy. CHRISTIAN WELZEL is interested in finding empirical evidence that allows tangible conclusions on this matter. As he explains in this video, his research tea...
We can see progress all over the world, such as technological transformations, or rising life expectancies and literacy rates. Are these improvements in material conditions accompanied by a change in moral standards? So far, such questions have mainly been discussed in the area of philosophy. CHRISTIAN WELZEL is interested in finding empirical evidence that allows tangible conclusions on this matter. As he explains in this video, his research team uses public opinion surveys, in particular, the World Values Survey, which questions people all over the world about their convictions and beliefs. They, then, compare these data with objective data about people’s living conditions. Their findings suggest an overarching organizing scheme that locates people’s mindsets between two poles: submissive instincts and emancipatory drives. They also found that mentalities in societies change over time depending on exterior conditions.
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Field of Study
Social Work
Content Type
Instructional material
Date Published / Released
2017
Publisher
Latest Thinking
Speaker / Narrator
Christian Welzel, 1964-
Person Discussed
Christian Welzel, 1964-
Topic / Theme
Sociocultural trends, Morality, Societal structure, Cultural diversity, Social sciences
Copyright Message
Copyright © 2017 Latest Thinking
×
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Do New Genes Stem from the Non-Coding Part of the Genome During Fast Adaptation Processes?
presented by Diethard Tautz, 1957- (Germany: Latest Thinking, 2017), 11 mins
It is often thought that evolution is a slow process. During ecological changes in the environment, however, evolution can happen very fast. One of the reasons for this could be the role of new genes that are recruited during that adaptation. DIETHARD TAUTZ pursues the theory that these new genes come out of the s...
Open Access
presented by Diethard Tautz, 1957- (Germany: Latest Thinking, 2017), 11 mins
Description
It is often thought that evolution is a slow process. During ecological changes in the environment, however, evolution can happen very fast. One of the reasons for this could be the role of new genes that are recruited during that adaptation. DIETHARD TAUTZ pursues the theory that these new genes come out of the so-called non-coding part of the genome. He is interested in studying the fraction of bioactive molecules that come out of random sequen...
It is often thought that evolution is a slow process. During ecological changes in the environment, however, evolution can happen very fast. One of the reasons for this could be the role of new genes that are recruited during that adaptation. DIETHARD TAUTZ pursues the theory that these new genes come out of the so-called non-coding part of the genome. He is interested in studying the fraction of bioactive molecules that come out of random sequences. So far, this explanation has been thought unlikely but, as he explains in this video, synthesizing random sequences and using bacteria as a test system his research group found bioactive molecules in them. This suggests that during fast adaptation processes new genes are recruited from this background of genes in the non-coding part of the genome. This has important implications for our understanding of how adaptation works and offers great potential for the use of these bioactive molecules for medical and pharmaceutical purposes.
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Field of Study
Science
Content Type
Instructional material
Author / Creator
Diethard Tautz, 1957-
Date Published / Released
2017
Publisher
Latest Thinking
Topic / Theme
Evolution, Genetics
Copyright Message
Copyright © 2017 Latest Thinking
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Do People Choose Optimal Health Insurance Plans?
(Hamburg, Hamburg State: Latest Thinking, 2017), 14 mins
The health insurance market is driven by the individual choices consumers make on their insurance plans. The research presented in this video explores the questions of how consumers choose these plans, whether they are able to pick the plan most suited to their situation and whether they switch to another and bett...
Open Access
(Hamburg, Hamburg State: Latest Thinking, 2017), 14 mins
Description
The health insurance market is driven by the individual choices consumers make on their insurance plans. The research presented in this video explores the questions of how consumers choose these plans, whether they are able to pick the plan most suited to their situation and whether they switch to another and better health insurance plan when they have the opportunity to do so. JOACHIM WINTER explains that, after running statistical analyses and...
The health insurance market is driven by the individual choices consumers make on their insurance plans. The research presented in this video explores the questions of how consumers choose these plans, whether they are able to pick the plan most suited to their situation and whether they switch to another and better health insurance plan when they have the opportunity to do so. JOACHIM WINTER explains that, after running statistical analyses and conducting experimental surveys, his research group found that consumers do not tend to pick ideal plans because often they focus too much on price and not so much on other cost-influencing factors. The researchers also discovered that switching rates to other plans are very low. These findings have implications for behavioral economics as well since they more generally offer valuable data on consumers’ choice behavior.
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Field of Study
Business & Economics
Content Type
Instructional material
Contributor
Joachim Winter
Date Published / Released
2017
Publisher
Latest Thinking
Topic / Theme
Health insurance industry, Economics
Copyright Message
Copyright © 2017 Latest Thinking
×
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Do People Tend to Behave Dishonestly in Groups?
(Germany: Latest Thinking, 2017), 12 mins
In recent years, immoral behavior in firms as well as scandals in the banking sector and non-profit organizations have been widely discussed. Often it is groups rather than individuals who are responsible for these immoral acts. This video presents an economic experiment that investigates whether groups are more l...
Open Access
(Germany: Latest Thinking, 2017), 12 mins
Description
In recent years, immoral behavior in firms as well as scandals in the banking sector and non-profit organizations have been widely discussed. Often it is groups rather than individuals who are responsible for these immoral acts. This video presents an economic experiment that investigates whether groups are more likely to lie than individuals; and why this might be the case. As SIMEON SCHUDY explains, significantly more participants behave dishon...
In recent years, immoral behavior in firms as well as scandals in the banking sector and non-profit organizations have been widely discussed. Often it is groups rather than individuals who are responsible for these immoral acts. This video presents an economic experiment that investigates whether groups are more likely to lie than individuals; and why this might be the case. As SIMEON SCHUDY explains, significantly more participants behave dishonestly after communicating in a group than individually. The study shows that the possibility to exchange arguments for and against dishonesty makes group members not only more dishonest but also more pessimistic about other people’s honesty. This "dishonesty shift" might explain why unethical behavior can prevail in so many real-world institutions and makes it hard to predict (im)moral decisions of groups based on the moral standards each individual group member holds.
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Field of Study
Psychology
Content Type
Instructional material
Date Published / Released
2017
Publisher
Latest Thinking
Speaker / Narrator
Simeon Schudy, fl. 2007
Person Discussed
Simeon Schudy, fl. 2007
Topic / Theme
Pessimism, Optimism, Decision making, Honesty, Communication, Organizational behavior
Copyright Message
Copyright © 2017 Latest Thinking
×
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Do Plants Emit Volatile Compounds When Defending Themselves Against Herbivores?
(Latest Thinking, 2017), 11 mins
Plants have at least two ways of defending themselves against herbivores. They can do so directly by producing toxins or compounds that are anti-digestive, or they can indirectly defend themselves by emitting volatile compounds that attract predators and parasitoids of the herbivores. MEREDITH SCHUMANN investigate...
Open Access
(Latest Thinking, 2017), 11 mins
Description
Plants have at least two ways of defending themselves against herbivores. They can do so directly by producing toxins or compounds that are anti-digestive, or they can indirectly defend themselves by emitting volatile compounds that attract predators and parasitoids of the herbivores. MEREDITH SCHUMANN investigates these indirect defenses. As she explains in this video, there are both fast and slow components to herbivore-induced volatiles. Her r...
Plants have at least two ways of defending themselves against herbivores. They can do so directly by producing toxins or compounds that are anti-digestive, or they can indirectly defend themselves by emitting volatile compounds that attract predators and parasitoids of the herbivores. MEREDITH SCHUMANN investigates these indirect defenses. As she explains in this video, there are both fast and slow components to herbivore-induced volatiles. Her research team has examined whether this timing aspect, having both fast and slow components, is important for effectively attracting predators. During their field studies, they observed that the different timing of volatiles allows plants to connect predator activity to herbivore activity even when the two are not active at the same time. Their results suggest new agricultural methods of defending crops against herbivores without using pesticides.
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Field of Study
Environmental Studies
Content Type
Instructional material
Date Published / Released
2017
Publisher
Latest Thinking
Speaker / Narrator
Meredith Christine Schuman
Person Discussed
Meredith Christine Schuman
Topic / Theme
Cattle, Agricultural ecology, Plants, Botany, Ecosystems
Copyright Message
Copyright © 2017 Latest Thinking
×
