Effective Apologies

Summary
An apology is an expression of regret. Effective apologies involve the apologizer taking full responsibility and pledging to prevent repeat offences.

Sorry, Frankenapple. At least you're alive.
(Photo: 1happysnapper at Flickr)

Commentary
When we hear a child say "I'm sorry" when prompted, the insincerity is often palatable. Similar apologies by politicians and CEOs of recent have illicit similar reactions. What makes an apology effective?

Effective apologies should address:

1. which norm (personal, social) was violated,
2. acceptance of responsibility by the violator, and
3. how the violations will be prevented in the future.

If these ideas sound familiar, it may be because that's what we tell our children.

Meta
What apologies have you found to be the most effective?

See Also

• The Role of Apology in Negotiation for a discussion about apologies and their implications.
• Why Is It So Hard to Apologize Well? at The New York Times Magazine for a longer discussion.

Meanness & Executive Pay

This post is based on a submission by reader Phillip Vedol. Please submit suggestions for posts to metaist.blog@gmail.com.

Summary
According to a recently published paper increases in compensation lead to increases in meanness among corporate leaders.

You talkin' to me?
(Photo: patrick_q at Flickr)

Commentary
The study's posits that "higher income inequality between executives and ordinary workers" leads to a perception of power that ultimately results in maltreatment of "rank and file workers" (p. 1). This follows the research on the relationship between power and lying and reinforces the image of powerful managers who abuse their position (e.g., Emmett Milbarage in Chuck).

Meta
Have you experienced this sort of behavior? What about the opposite (magnanimous over-paid managers)?

See Also

• When Executives Rake in Millions: Meanness in Organizations for the original paper.
• Executive Compensation: The More Leaders Make, the Meaner They Get at the Harvard Business Review Research Blog for a longer discussion.

Babies & Morality

This post is based on a submission by reader Professor Daniel Bitran via Professor Martin Patt. Please submit suggestions for posts to metaist.blog@gmail.com.

Summary
Researchers at the Infant Cognition Center at Yale are conducting studies to try and assess the capabilities of infants to understand the world around them.

(Video: YouTube)

Commentary
While I'm hesitant to label this as "bunk", there appear to be at least two deficiencies in the research methods used (based on five minutes of film and not much else).

The first, pointed out to me by Professor Bitran, is that the caregivers always hold the children and may unconsciously influence the result (as in facilitated communication).

Second, the videos seem to show that the researchers who present the option know which one is the "good" one. The babies may be responding to the researcher rather than the choice (similar to Clever Hans). Nonetheless, the results of better controlled studies might show that a basic understanding of cooperation.

See Also

• Infant Cognition Center at Yale for their website.
• Can Babies Tell Right from Wrong? at The New York Times for the article related to the video.

Facilitated Communication

This post is based on a discussion with reader Professor Daniel Bitran. Please submit suggestions for posts to metaist.blog@gmail.com.

Definition
Facilitated communication (FC) is a process by which a facilitator supports the hand or arm of a communicatively impaired individual while using a keyboard or other devices with the aim of helping the individual to develop pointing skills and to communicate.
(Source: Wikipedia)

(Video: YouTube)

Commentary
Facilitated communication may be related to the Ideomotor Effect or the Clever Hans Effect. This would go a long way to explaining the facilitator's denial of interference as well as the subject's inability to answer questions to which the facilitator does not know the answer (among other anomalies in this form of communication).

See Also

• Prisoners of Silence at Google Video for an hour-long Frontline documentary highlighting issues with facilitated communication.
• Facilitated communication and Rom Houben at Digital Bits Skeptic for a more recent story.
• Facilitated communication at Wikipedia.