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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