Reminder for Class Tomorrow

Don't forgot to bring your debate chart filled out to class tomorrow night. rw

Group 1 debate

Post here if you are part of group #1.

More Links!

Institute of Cognitive and Brain Sciences At Berkeley
http://icbs.berkeley.edu/

Institute of Cognitive and Decision Sciences
http://www.uoregon.edu/~icds/ICDS_ENTER.html

Psycholinguistics at UMASS
http://www.umass.edu/psyling/

MIT Brain and Cognitive Sciences
http://web.mit.edu/bcs/

Tufts Center for Cognitive Studies
http://ase.tufts.edu/cogstud/

Language Experiments on the Web
http://surf.to/experiments

Washington University Memory and Cognition Lab
http://memory.wustl.edu/

NASA’s Cognition Lab
http://human-factors.arc.nasa.gov/cognition/coglab.html

Link to Links on Memory and Cognition
http://www.topsy.org/memcog.html

Cognitive Science at Johns Hopkins
http://web.jhu.edu/cogsci

Psycholinguistics at the University of York
http://www.york.ac.uk/res/prg/

Advances in Cognitive Psychology (online journal)
http://www.ac-psych.org/

Institute of Cognitive Science at University of Colorado
http://ics.colorado.edu/

UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience
http://www.icn.ucl.ac.uk/

Cognitive Science Celebrities! Not quite TMZ, but....
http://carbon.cudenver.edu/~mryder/itc_data/cogsci.html

Cognitive Neuroscience Society
http://www.cogneurosociety.org/content/welcome

Cognitive Science Society
http://cognitivesciencesociety.org/index.html

Cognitive and Linguistic Sciences at Brown
http://cognitivesciencesociety.org/index.html

CogWeb- Cultural Cognitive Studies
http://cogweb.ucla.edu/

Cognitive Science at UCLA
http://www.cogsci.ucla.edu/

Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University
http://pn.aas.duke.edu/

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition
http://www.apa.org/journals/xlm/

Department of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience at University of Denver
http://www.du.edu/psychology/research/dcn.htm

Cognitive Psychology at Yale
http://www.yale.edu/psychology/cognitive.html

Syllabus Update

(as discussed last night)

12/1- Film- "Secrets of the Mind", review Creativity article, Tobin's presentation, Group time to prepare for Debate

12/8- Group Debate, Vooght article, Final Exam Review, Blog Log due

12/15 Final Exam

On remembering traumatic events

http://mixingmemory.blogspot.com/2005/02/traumatic-memories-case-against-memory.html

Recently, I was held up at gunpoint, and having survived the event, it gave me a first hand look at how you remember aspects of a traumatic event.

This article talks about how innacurate memories that are "recovered" after years of not remembering are. I was trying to find an article that focused on how you alter memories directly after the event, because that is something I felt like I was semiconciously doing.

At the police station, I was able to depict the guy's clothes, hat and general build and shape exactly since I have a fairly photographic memory for everything but faces, but having to depict the gun, I started to depict it as a silver and black thing that I felt like I remembered exactly, until I realized, I molded the memory of a tv show I watched the week before with the actual memory of the gun.

I realized when I was depicting the weapon, I was picturing the scene of the movie I was watching pasted into my hallway with the clothes the guy was wearing, but the scene was not my own and I have absolutely no memory of the actual gun that was in my face.

I think that is a way I rationalized the event and tried to separate that from myself. The most traumatic thing, I completely repressed while replacing it with a fictional more distant memory.

I wonder if I had not taken this class before the event, would I have noticed that my memory was shifting as it was or would I have accepted the movie scene as what really happened.

---Daria

SAT: aptitude or demographics

I followed a few of the links posted and found this link, http://hypertextbook.com/eworld/sat.shtml that discusses if the Sat test produces results that measure aptitude or demographics. “The article offered that if the SAT is an extremely weak predictor of academic potential it is a moderate predictor of family income.” Furthermore, students who have come from families with higher incomes tend to receive higher SAT scores. The most obvious advantage students who come from families with higher income have is access to SAT training materials, classes and tutors. This quote taken from the article is stated by Steve Job, co-founder of Apple computers, “It's a political problem. The problems are sociopolitical. The problems are unions. You plot the growth of the NEA [National Education Association] and the dropping of SAT scores, and they're inversely proportional. The problems are unions in the schools. The problem is bureaucracy. I'm one of these people who believes the best thing we could ever do is go to the full voucher system.”

Creativity and Learning

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=how-to-unleash-your-creativity

After reading the assigned article on creativity, I decided to look for something related online. The link above goes to a little panel of people talking about creativity. One thing I found interesting in both articles is the relationship of school and creativity. Robert Epstein says that part of our creativity gets killed off in first grade, because we are taught so much, tests are so emphasized, and we are basically socialized to pay attention and stop day dreaming. I think this is very true, I mean our schools are based on a model from the 19th century when school were meant to produce good little factory workers who could be quiet and follow instructions. Epstein adds that knowledge stimulates creativity, the problem is that in addition there needs to be time for children to be more free in generating ideas. The Sternberg article on creativity talked about different learning methods, based on either memory, analysis, creativity, or practicality, and how students who are predisposed to learn better in the latter two ways often do poorly in school because the former two methods are so highly regarded. Sternberg also talked about how having creative ideas is not enough, one needs to know how to use them and persuade others that the ideas are good.

Another thing I found interesting is the idea that like intelligence, creativity is something that increases when it is exercised. Epstein has four "skill sets" for creative expression: capturing, which is being able to gather all the random creative ideas you have; challenging, because tough situations open up multiple solutions; broadening, which means learning more things so there are greater possibilites to create from; and surrounding, which is managing your enviroment so that it stimulates creativity.

Oh, and the idea of the myth of creativity was pretty interesting, especially considering we're all artists of one sort or another here. Artists are apprenetly viewed as "weird" and "crazy" and "drug-addicts" which is negative, but at the same time artists are held up as possessing some magical "gift." This can put off some people from being more creative or intimate them to think they can't be creative.

Eugenics Links

http://museum.icp.org/museum/exhibitions/eugenics/intro3.html

http://www.eugenicsarchive.org/eugenics/

Project Zero

I looked up Project Zero and found that it is a research project trying to study and improve children’s learning in and through the arts. They are trying to understand the cognitive functions of learning founded by Harvard Graduate School of Education. Project Zero is interested in teaching children more of the arts to greaten their strengths in creative thinking and problem solving. The founder is named Nelson Goodman and was given the name “Zero” because it was recently discovered in the field. Project Zero’s goal is to understand the processes of learning in the arts and other areas of study.

More Excellent Links

Best Visual Illusion Competition
http://illusioncontest.neuralcorrelate.com/

Scientific American Mind
http://www.sciam.com/sciammind/

Duke University Cognitive Psychology Lab
http://www.geri.duke.edu/cogpsych/index.htm

Tversky at Stanford University
http://www-psych.stanford.edu/~bt/

Project Zero at Havard (Multiple Intelligence)
http://www.pz.harvard.edu/index.cfm

Brandeis Memory and Cognition Lab
http://www.bio.brandeis.edu/memlab/

University of Georgia Clinical and Cognitive Neuroscience Lab
http://www.uga.edu/psychology/ccnl/

Princeton Center of Mind, Brain and Behavior
http://www.csbmb.princeton.edu/

The Ergonomics Society
http://www.ergonomics.org.uk/

The Cognitive Science Society
http://cognitivesciencesociety.org/index.html

UCSC Perceptual Science Lab
http://mambo.ucsc.edu/

Decision Processes at Penn State
http://www.psych.upenn.edu/~baron/dp.html

Society for Judgement and Decision Making
http://www.sjdm.org/

Cognitive Science Starter Kit of Reading
http://www2.bc.edu/~richarad/lcb/bib/starter.html

The SAT: Aptitude or Demographics?
http://hypertextbook.com/eworld/sat.shtml

cog psych is funny.

www.toothpastefordinner.com

Link to the debate process we will use

http://74.125.45.104/search?q=cache:3mHB2ijpSLUJ:www.sas.upenn.edu/cwic/docs/db1.doc+creating+a+class+debate&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=us

Vegan Diet and the Developing Infant Brain

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/21/opinion/21planck.html

This week I found an article in the New York Times from 2007 that reported on a story of a 6 week old baby, named Crown Shakur, who died of starvation due to his parents’ insistence on raising him vegan. Shakur’s parents who live in Atlanta were being convicted of involuntary manslaughter of their son who weighed a mere 3.5 pounds at the time of his death. I began wondering if there was any research in the field of cognitive psychology that questions if the development of an infant’s brain is affected by a vegan diet. I searched around the net for a while and found a few blogs and such that argued that the lack of B-12 in a vegan baby’s diet had a negative effect of its brain development. However, for the most part I found no real credible sources on the matter.

Botox for migraines

Check out this link if you want


http://www.migraines.org/treatment/probotox.htm

Embarassment

http://punintended.com/blog/be-embarrassed-about-nothing/

I found an interesting post on a non-cognitive psychology blog about embarrassment, which I think is related to the field of cognitive psychology. It explains that embarrassment is a non-desirable feeling that in many cases (or most cases) prevents people from many opportunities such as scared to ask a cute guy out because of fear of embarrassment of rejection, etc. The irony of it is that we would be regretful if we don't act on certain things in fear of embarrassment, but we would never ever regret feeling embarrassed. The feeling is not a natural response, but it is in how we react to awkward situations. Our reaction is everything. When people look at you when you do something "embarrassing", they are not looking because of what you did, but they are looking at how you are responding to what you did. People do not care about what you did anyway, and therefore you should not keep this feeling of embarrassment for a long time.

The post suggests some preventions to feeling embarrassed, such as thinking that "Someday I'm going to be dead", or think to "open your mind, open your life". I think this post is very interesting and very true, but I believe the best way to prevent feeling too embarrassed when faced in an embarrassing situation is to laugh it off or make a joke about it.

selective memory

This article from Science News looks into the idea of the manipulation of memories, specifically in terms of erasing traumatic or uncomfortable memories. The author presents that "careful questioning can alter an eyewitness's recollection during testimony, Eichenbaum says. The new research, which he calls "terrific" and "interesting", shows that careful use of molecular tools can manipulate memories". The researchers seem to have found a method of manipulating chemicals and enzymes that could potentially erase memories, though the research is still shaky. 

The idea of erasing specific, unhappy memories is definitely a popular topic (think of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), but i'm skeptical of the usefulness of such an act.

Should Toddlers Watch TV?

http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/2008/10/should_you_let_your_toddler_wa.php

I came across this article about whether or not parents should let their kids and toddlers watch TV. By letting toddlers watch TV, parents teach kids that they must be entertained at all times, and this might increases the likelihood of shortening their attention spans and making it harder for them later on in their lives to focus on their school work and other works. Categories of TV programs have effects on the likelihood of them developing attention problems as well. Toddlers aged 0 - 36 months who watch educational programs, such as Sesame Street and Barney, are less likely to develop attention problem than toddlers who watch non-violent programs such as Rugrat, and violent programs such as Power Ranger. However, it is the other way around for kids ages 4-5. Kids ages 4-5 are more likely to develop attention problems when they watch educational programs than violent programs. I find this hard to believe.

Idea of Other Intelligences

The book that I am reading speaks of many things and one that I found interesting for blog is that idiot savants can be very good at one type of talent or “intelligence” even though they have a mental deficiency. Also people with serious head injuries and damage to a certain part of the brain that controls that part of intelligence can adapt to the situation and still work well with their talents. If science says that one part of your brain controls a certain task (lets say language) and there is a serious injury there, and the person is still able to talk even though that part of the brain is gone… then it is possible that language is its once intelligence.

Benefits of Colorblindness

I ran across an article that suggests a possible advantage of being colorblind. The article was written by a man who discovered he was colorblind at the age 28, forever ending his dream to become a pilot. He explains, “In WWII analysis of aerial photographs, teams that included color-blind people were more successful.” He goes on to explain that sometimes the colors that we see can distract up from hard to see and notice textures surfaces and light or darkness.

He also mentions that researchers from the University of Calgary tested a group of monkeys to see if the color monkeys were better at hunting than those who have normal vision. It is revealed in the study that the colorblind monkeys were indeed better at hunting. It is believed that, “The monkey’s without color vision caught more insects, presumably because they could see through the insects camouflage.”

www.lumosity.com/blog/the-color-blind-advantage/

Awakenings- Movie Night?

I have received "Awakenings", the film we discussed which was based on a book by Oliver Sacks, from Netflix. It doesn't seem possible to sacrifice an entire class session to watch the movie, but I could carve out an hour... would at least ten people be interested/willing to stay an extra hour next week to watch the film? Feel free to bring popcorn.

Illusions: Spinning Woman & Magic Eye

http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/2008/10/casual_fridays_tk421_why_cant.php#more

You have probably seen a "spinning" woman illusion online somewhere before (go to the link if you haven't). They say that if you see her spinning clockwise, then you're right-handed, and if you see her spinning counter-clockwise, then you are left-handed. That is not necessarily true. Some people can see her spinning both ways, and some can only see her spinning in one way. This blog/article has asked over 1,600 readers to answer what they see. Roughly 2/3 of the people see her as spinning clockwise, and the rest, counter-clockwise, and 2/3 of them can see the reverse spinning direction, as well. This may have been because it is less natural to see her spinning counter-clockwise, and therefore, people who first saw her spinning in the "natural" way (clockwise), is less likely to be able to reverse her spinning direction.

This blog also says that those people who can reverse the spinning woman are significantly more likely to be able to see 3D Magic Eye illusions (see link), and that there might be a relationship between how much time you spend gaming and your ability to perceive the illusions. I have never been able to see a magic eye illusion and had not really been able to reverse the spinning woman all my life when everyone around me could. I'm hoping that it is mainly because I do not play games, not any other reasons.

Copy of Group Project Proposal

Group Project Proposal: Color Perception

Our project will entail discerning the way that color is understood by members of different majors at pratt and by members of the color normal and color blind communities (if colorblind testsubjects can be found).

We will replicate the Sloan acromatopsia card test used by Oliver Sacks in The Island of the Colorblind: which are "each of these cards has a range of grey squares which vary only in tone, progressing from a very light grey to a very dark grey, almost black. Each square has a hole cut out in the center and if , a piece of colored paper is placed behind these, one of the squares will be a match for the color, they will be an equal density.
This test is really easy for fully colorblind people as they can only see the value, but I thought it would be interesting to test color normal students to test their accuity in being able to match a bright color to a grey of the same value.

We are also looking into performing another experiment seeing if students can match a color chip to its duplicate on a wall of different color and value chips, similar to a color go fish.

We will then separate the subjects by major and concentration and age and gender as well as ethnicity and primary language and color normality versus colorblindness to see the effects of each of these demographics on the test results.

----Daria

Pratt Email

I've been unable to access my Pratt email for the past 2 days. Not sure it's the same for everyone...let me know tonight if you've tried to send something to me.
rw

Social Iciness is Found to Alter Perception of Temperature

A Cold Stare Can Make You Crave Some Heat

This article from the New York times highlights a recent study on the connection between psychological, emotional states and physical sensations. The research found a relationship between social metaphors involving temperature (i.e "icy stare", "cold shoulder" "warm personality") and perceived temperature. John Bargh, a psychologist at Yale, noted that "a brain region called the insula tracks both temperature and general psychological states, and it may be here where social perceptions and sensations of warmth or coldness are fused". 

One study called for the half of the test subjects to recall a memory of social rejection, while the other half  was asked to remember a time social acceptance. The subjects were then asked to estimate the temperature of the lab. It was found that the subjects who were asked to recall a time of rejection estimated the room to be an average of 5 degrees colder than the other subjects. 

In another study, the researchers asked the participants their food or drink preferences after experiencing either social isolation or acceptance. Those who experienced isolation showed a preference for warm foods, while the others showed no preference. 

As the researcher states, this study explains the perceived healing properties of a cup of tea or bowl of soup after a crappy day!

Language and Gestures

I found the article that Christina L. posted on October 26 that questions if hand gestures slows down the process of language learning, very interesting. Hand gestures, motions and expressions have the power to convey what we desire without the use of words. The argument is that if children learn how to make demands using gestures alone, they have no motivation to learn different words in order to express what they want. Additionally, it is argued that Italian born children use gestures more frequently than American born children. The article explains that we can lump gestures into two different categories: deictic and representational. Deictic gestures being gestures that a child makes to call attention to something. These include pointing to something or reaching for something. Representational gestures are movements a child will make to symbolize an object. Examples of representational gestures include gesturing to the mouth to mean hungry, or holding a hand up to his or her ear to mean telephone.

The article included three charts which compared the use of both deictic and representational gestures among Italian children and American children. The results suggested that American children used more deictic gestures, Italian children used representational gestures dramatically more than American children, and American children had drastically larger number of spoken words.

Temple Gradin

Here is Temple Gradin's website (the autistic woman we were talking about in class). 

http://www.templegrandin.com/

her website mostly talks about her books and essays, but her wikipedia page has some more of her biography. 

Cognitive Dissonance and Judgement

http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/2008/10/cognitive_dissonance_and_carme.php#more

Cognitive dissonance is the feeling one gets when one does something that contradicts his or her beliefs. It can be a strong and distasteful feeling, and researchers have found that it can affect a person's judgment.

Funnily enough, this was tested by having people dress up as Carmen Miranda, the Chiquita banana lady. In a grass skirt, coconut bra, and fruit-laden headdress, subjects walked in broad daylight across a campus quad, then asked to estimate the distance they traveled. Some of the subjects were made to believe they had a choice in wearing the costume or doing some unnamed embarrassing thing, while others were given no choice. There was also a control group who didn't wear the costume at all.

Those who chose to wear the outfit tended to estimate the distance much shorter than those who were forced to wear it. Those not in outfits estimated right in the middle of the other two. The cognitive dissonance of having to dress up in an embarrassing costume caused the brain to judge distance longer than if there was a choice or if there was no outfit. Perhaps this is because the uneasy feeling made people feel like time was dragging on, so the distance seemed longer. Or perhaps because those subjects felt put-upon, they imagined the task to be harder and the embarrassment longer lasting. At any rate, there is a definite indication that cognitive dissonance affects the judgment of the physical world.