Arbitration & Mediation

For mediators, negotiators: recommended social and brain sciences blogs

By Diane Levin

If you’re fascinated by the role that science plays in exploring and illuminating human behavior and decision making, the internet offers outstanding choices for the discerning reader and dedicated negotiator. I highly recommend the following sites:

Brains on Purpose. Lawyer and mediator Stephanie West Allen discusses the insights neuroscience offers into the resolution of conflict.

Cognitive Daily. This engaging and informative blog reports on the latest research on cognition, and also invites readers to participate in fun weekly studies.

The Frontal Cortex. Popular science writer Jonah Lehrer, author of Proust Was a Neuroscientist and How We Decide, discusses insights and the latest research from the field of neuroscience.

Neuroethics and Law Blog. This scholarly blog serves as an interdisciplinary forum for discussion of legal and ethical issues involving the mind and brain. I look forward to its weekly ethics and brain sciences news round-up (like this one).

Neurocritic. This blog brings a critical eye to its discussions of neuroscience, devoted to “[d]econstructing the most sensationalistic recent findings in Human Brain Imaging, Cognitive Neuroscience, and Psychopharmacology”.

The Situationist. This blog, which has attracted well-deserved accolades, is an outstanding source for news and discussion on human behavior and the effect of situational forces on legal, political, and social institutions. An essential addition to your blog library.

Predictably Irrational. Dan Ariely continues the conversation he began in his superb book which counters our assumptions about how we reach decisions.

Sociological Images. A site that examines the meaning of images and the messages they convey about gender, race, and identity. It provokes reflection on what these images say about society and culture, while shocking us out of our complacency.

Neuroanthropology. Another blog that offers stimulating discussion across disciplines – anthropology, social science, philosophy, and neuroscience – as it considers the “cultural brain”.

Neuromarketing. The tagline of this blog, written by Roger Dooley, says it all – “where brain science and marketing meet”.

Neurotopia. A quirky and entertaining look at neuroscience. I just can’t resist a blog authored by someone known only as “Evil Monkey”.

Do you have favorite blogs about neuroscience, social psychology, or behavioral economics? If so, please feel free to tell me about them in the comments.

Full post as published by Online Guide to Mediation on November 20, 2009 (boomark / email).