Previous studies have shown that one's prior beliefs have a strong effect on perceptual decision-making and attentional processing. The present study extends these findings by investigating how individual differences in paranormal and conspiracy beliefs are related to perceptual and attentional biases. Two field studies were conducted in which visitors of a paranormal conducted a perceptual dec...

BACKGROUND Body image disturbance is a core feature of anorexia nervosa (AN). Attitudinal and cognitive biases as well as fundamental perceptual differences have been hypothesized to play a role in this disturbance. METHOD This study investigated body image dissatisfaction and distortion, haptic perception and perfectionism in 30 patients with AN and 31 age-matched healthy controls. Participa...

When perceptual decisions are coupled to a specific effector, preparatory motor cortical activity may provide a window into the dynamics of the perceptual choice. Specifically, previous studies have observed a buildup of choice-selective activity in motor regions over time reflecting the integrated sensory evidence provided by visual cortex. Here we ask how this choice-selective motor activity ...

New functional imaging studies demonstrate that it is possible to decode a sensory visual pattern, and even an internal perceptual state, by combining seemingly insignificant feature selective signal biases present in a large number of voxels.

We use linguistic algorithms to measure the extraversion of company executives based on their speech patterns during conference calls. We find extraverted executives earn significantly higher salaries. Extraverted CFOs are more often promoted to CEO, and extraverted CEOs are more likely to serve on outside boards. Analyzing executive transitions, we find that firms with extraverted CEOs garner ...

To investigate the mechanisms of perceptual learning, we recently introduced a paradigm in which incorrect, reverse feedback followed after some but not all vernier presentations. This feedback paradigm exerted a strong effect on performance that seemed to bias decisions rather than to yield perceptual learning. Here, we show that observers can develop independent decision biases for different ...

We show that CEOs exhibit a home bias in acquisitions. Firms are over twice as likely to acquire targets located in their CEOs’ home states than similar targets domiciled elsewhere. The bias is strongest for private targets and when acquirer governance is lax, and these private home deals do not create value, suggesting that CEOs acquire these targets for their own benefits. Unlike typical publ...

Managerial decision-making and rationality are impacted and influenced by perceptual processes. This essay seeks to critically analyse and discuss perceptual processes as pivotal in any decision-making endeavour. Its importance is briefly discussed with particular emphasis placed on ways in which certain differences or biases in perception may have on individuals’ understanding of reality as we...

We adopt an interactionist logic to study the determinants of risk taking by chief executive officers (CEOs). We introduce the concept of ‘‘capability cues’’—contextual signals that decision makers might reasonably interpret as indicators of their current level of overall ability—arguing that positive cues will induce boldness, while negative cues will induce timidity. Then, drawing from prior ...

Recent empirical papers report a declining trend in the cumulative abnormal return (CAR) of acquirers during an M&A program. Does this necessarily imply that acquiring CEOs are infected by hubris and are not learning from previous mistakes? We first confirm the existence of this declining trend on average. However, we find a positive CAR trend for CEOs likely to be infected by hubris, which is ...