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How Do We Learn?
Engrams and Dianetics: Lecture Idea
Subject: Engrams and Dianetics
Description: Interestingly, Dianetics—Scientology—also uses the term engram. In
Dianetics, an engram is the memory of a painful experience. This is similar to
psychology’s definition of an engram as a hypothetical means by which memory traces
are stored as a physical or biochemical change in the brain. Discussing the similarities
and differences between these definitions may be of benefit to students who are likely to
hear of Dianetics in connection with celebrities, such as Tom Cruise.
Link 1: http://psychology.wikia.com/wiki/Dianetics or http://goo.gl/SBvQY
Link 2: http://psychology.wikia.com/wiki/Engram_%28neuropsychology%29
Time: 10 minutes
How Do We Learn Predictive Associations?
Little Albert: Lecture Idea
Subject: Little Albert
Description:
Students are fascinated by the case of Little Albert, which is of course presented in the
text. Expand your lecture by sharing with the students more details about Watson’s
original study and some of the criticisms of how psychologists have interpreted this study.
Harris (1979) provides a compelling discussion of the original study, including some
interesting suggestions to explain why the results have been so popular. The article can be
found online.
Link: http://htpprints.yorku.ca/archive/00000198/01/BHARRIS.HTM
Time: 10 minutes
Reference:
Harris, B. (1979). Whatever happened to Little Albert? American Psychologist, 34(2),
151–160.
How Do We Learn Predictive Associations?
Taste Aversions and the Preservation of Wolves: Lecture Idea
Subject: Taste Aversions and the Preservation of Wolves
Description: With the reintroduction of wolves into natural environments, ranchers have
become concerned about those wolves killing farm animals. One possible solution to this
problem that would not involve killing the wolves would be to condition a taste aversion
to sheep in these wolves. By contaminating “bait” sheep or mutton with an undetectable
dose of an illness-causing substance, researchers have shown that wolves can develop a
conditioned taste aversion that will cause them to avoid live sheep. For further
information about such efforts, try this Web site.
URL: http://www.conditionedtasteaversion.net
Time: 5 minutes
How Do We Learn Predictive Associations?
Pavlov’s Dog Game: Lecture Idea
Subject: Pavlov’s Dog Game
Description: As part of your discussion of Pavlov and classical conditioning, ask students
to play the Pavlov’s dog game before they come to class, or you can put it on a screen
during class. You may wish to practice the game before class if you decide to
demonstrate it during class. The game allows you to illustrate in a direct manner the
principles Pavlov uncovered. The site has additional information about Pavlov written at
a level that is easy for students to understand.
Link:http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/medicine/pavlov
Time: 10 minutes
How Does Operant Conditioning Change Behavior?
Schedules and Reinforcement: Lecture Idea
Subject: Schedules of Reinforcement
Description: Using examples of various schedules present in everyday life is useful to
students. Such examples may include deep-sea fishing, playing a slot machine, a minimumwage job, a fruit-picker who gets paid by the box, an artist who gets paid for each piece
completed, a student checking her email daily, playing Russian roulette, a cat that is fed
morning and night, a babysitter who gets a flat fee per day, or calling the theater to check
on showtimes. Ask students to develop their own examples and to describe the schedule of
reinforcement demonstrated.
Time: 15 minutes
How Does Operant Conditioning Change Behavior?
Token Economies: Lecture Idea
Subject: Token Economies
Description: Students are quite interested in token economies and may have experienced
such in their classrooms. It may be helpful to discuss some of the problems with the use of
token economies in hospital settings, including the importance of identifying reinforcers,
the objection to “rewards” proposed by Kohn (2001), and the problems with generalization
of behavior once the person leaves the token economy.
Time: 10 minutes
Reference:
Kohn, A. (2001). Five reasons to stop saying “good job!” Young Children, 56(5), 24–28.
How Does Watching Others Affect Learning?
Advertising: Lecture Idea
Subject: Advertising
Description: Find commercials that use celebrities to advertise products and show two to
three at the beginning of your lecture (a list is provided below from YouTube). Discuss
why advertisers use such celebrities and what types of models we are most likely to
believe.
Link 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkDhF8N8mng or http://goo.gl/ZxRMx
Link 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ipvkl91QvvM or http://goo.gl/ghtf1
Link 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgdYbHvXuVA or http://goo.gl/XtZJe
Time: 10 minutes
How Does Watching Others Affect Learning?
Columbine and Other School Shootings: Lecture Idea
Subject: Columbine and Other School Shootings
Description: After the school shootings at Columbine, many people pointed to the fact that
the two adolescent shooters played the violent video game Doom and were obsessed with
the music of Marilyn Manson and the movie The Basketball Diaries. Describe the events at
Columbine and the research on what we know about the effects of such games, movies, and
music.
Time: 15 minutes