Effects of Priming the Concept of Luck on Task Persistence

Does feeling lucky influence the way we perform? Do we try harder and persist at tasks if we think luck is involved, or are we more prone to give up? To help answer these questions, this research examines the effect of priming the concept of luck on persistence. In particular, some participants completed a word descramble task designed to prime luck; others completed a neutral word descramble task. All participants then completed a set of reasoning puzzles, one of which they were told was ‘difficult’ but in reality was unsolvable. Persistence was measured by (a) the amount of time participants invest trying to solve the reasoning puzzles, and (b) the number of novel attempts participants make to solve the unsolvable puzzle. Contrary to expectations, there were no significant differences between the luck prime and neutral prime conditions on either persistence measure. However, a significant interaction emerged between the type of prime (luck vs. neutral) and participant beliefs about luck on persistence, such that those who were primed with the concept of luck and reported strong beliefs in luck persisted longer compared to those who did not report a strong belief in luck. On the other hand, participants who were not primed with the concept of luck but reported strong beliefs in luck were less persistent compared to those who did not hold strong beliefs in luck. These results provide insight into the pervasiveness of the concept of luck in modern culture and how subtle cues in the environment may affect subsequent performance behaviors such as persistence

The Value of Information in Invasive Species Management

Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Valuing Monitoring Networks for Invasive Species: The Case of Soybean Rust

Crop Production/Industries,

PROVIDING EQUITABLE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF PROTECTED NATURAL AREAS IN A METROPOLITAN SETTING: AN APPLICATION OF THE LOCATION SET-COVERING PROBLEM

We use the location set covering problem to define a natural area site selection model for use in the Chicago region. This framework allows us to explicitly consider the equity of site distribution by stipulating that each population center has access to a recreational space within a specified distance.Land Economics/Use,

EXPLORING GOAL TRADEOFFS IN METROPOLITAN NATURAL AREA PROTECTION

This study examines the issue of natural area protection in an urban environment. We report on the results of interviews conducted with a wide range of land use planners in the Chicago region. Of particular interest are the unique goals and challenges of land acquisition programs in a metropolitan area.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Charged particles produced in neutron reactions on nuclei from beryllium to gold

Charged-particle production in reactions of neutrons with nuclei has been studied over the past several years with the spallation source of neutrons from 1 to 50 MeV at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE). Target nuclides include 9Be, C, 27Al, Si, 56Fe, 59Co, 58,60Ni, 93Nb and 197Au. Proton, deuteron, triton, 3He and 4He emission spectra, angular distributions and production cross sections have been measured. Transitions from the compound nuclear reaction mechanism to precompound reactions are clearly seen in the data. The data are compared with data from the literature where available, with evaluated nuclear data libraries, and with calculations where the selection of the nuclear level density prescription is of great importance. Calculations normalized at En = 14 MeV can differ from the present data by a factor of 2 for neutron energies between 5 and 10 MeV