Protected: General Psychology I. students, introduce yourself here!
2008 September 21
A blog on psychology, philosophy, phenomenology, and cognitive science. For students in my courses, this is a good place to find answers and even more questions. I welcome all comments, but if you’re in one of my courses, please make sure to log in to Wordpress.com first, so that we can all see your picture! (It’s friendlier.)
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Did you know you could subscribe to RSS feeds of sites like Cognitive Daily?- Do chimps understand what Jon Stewart (or another chimp) believes? November 10, 2009Take a look at this video from last night's episode of Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show." If you'd like, you can skip past all the political snark to the 4:47 mark to watch Jon bring cognitive psychology into prime time (or at least latenight cable)! That's right; you saw it: Jon Stewart mentioned the psychological concept of […]
- What's the best way to take a study break? November 5, 2009Greta and I did our undergraduate studies at the University of Chicago, or as a commonly-sold T-shirt on campus put it, "where fun goes to die." To say that Chicago didn't emphasize academics over a social life is to deny that people literally lived in the library (a full-scale campsite was found behind one of the stairwells in the stacks; stu […]
- Can artificial sweeteners really help us lose weight? November 4, 2009My SEED column this week focuses on artificial sweeteners. Can switching to artificial sweeteners help solve the obesity problem in the U.S.? Here's a snippet: Saunders says an August report from the American Heart Association (AHA) made it quite clear that excessive sugar consumption is dangerous, and he argues that sugar should be seen as a toxic subs […]
- Anime film characters: Do we perceive the intended race, or our own? November 3, 2009One of my favorite cartoons as a child was "Speed Racer." It featured an all-American boy (first name, "Speed," last name, "Racer") engaging in that most American of pastimes: driving fast cars. Except that "Speed Racer" wasn't really American; it was made in Japan, and the original Japanese voices were crudely ov […]
- Casual Fridays: Is political wishy-washiness a general phenomenon? October 30, 2009Political opinion polls are very tricky. Answers to questions depend on the order they're asked in, and on precisely how they are phrased. If you ask people whether they're in favor of killing unborn children, you'll get a much different response than if you ask if there's any situation where women should be allowed to terminate a pregnan […]
- Do chimps understand what Jon Stewart (or another chimp) believes? November 10, 2009
- APS blog feed
- A Case for the Distractible Toddler November 10, 2009When my oldest son was three years old, someone gave him a very large can of Legos as a gift, enough to build a fortress. So we decided to build a fortress. Or I did, but he was an enthusiastic co-conspirator in the project—at least for about ten minutes. But then he got distracted by the sound of an ambulance siren outside; then he re-discovered a plastic t […]noreply@blogger.com (Wray Herbert)
- Close Encounters of the Rude Kind November 5, 2009One of my personal crotchets is people who walk down busy city sidewalks without looking where they’re going. These days they might be texting on an electronic device, but it’s not the technology I object to. They could just as well be reading a book. What’s annoying is the expectation that the crowds will part, that all the other pedestrians will make the e […]noreply@blogger.com (Wray Herbert)
- Sneezing at health care reform October 28, 2009I ride a public bus to and from work, and today some of my fellow commuters were sneezing. My guess is that people sneeze on the bus ride every day, but I am especially mindful of any contagion at the moment. And well I should be. We’ve got the regular seasonal bug out there, plus the ominous swine flu on the horizon. And the airwaves and newspapers are fill […]noreply@blogger.com (Wray Herbert)
- Another Roadside Distraction October 6, 2009When Pulitzer Prize-winning music critic Tim Page was in second grade, he and his classmates went on a field trip to Boston. They later wrote about the experience as a class assignment, and this is part of what the nine-year-old Page wrote:"Well, we went to Boston, Massachusetts through the town of Warrenville, Connecticut on Route 44A. It was very pret […]noreply@blogger.com (Wray Herbert)
- "For just pennies a day" September 25, 2009There are so many things you can purchase or accomplish for just pennies a day. You can get lots of interesting magazine subscriptions, or a good life insurance plan—no physical required. You can adopt a needy child in Africa, or save the Earth from global warming. The “pennies a day” marketing scheme has been around a long time, and whoever came up with it […]noreply@blogger.com (Wray Herbert)
- A Case for the Distractible Toddler November 10, 2009
- What a feed of this site looks like:
- PSY 230: Non-associative learning November 10, 2009What does it mean to learning and not be aware of it? Can you learn without a mind? How can simple exposure and experience create memories and learning? Does doing something repeatedly effect changes in the brain? What is the significance of all of this happening outside of the conscious awareness of an organism—especially human beings? Your blog [...]Christopher H. Ramey, Ph.D.
- PSY 480: The self and free will November 9, 2009This week we will consider the notion of ‘the self’ and ‘free will’. Consider the following extended quotation from Mobbs, Lau, Jones and Frith (2007, available upon request): Archaeological discoveries of traumatic injuries in primitive hominid skulls strongly hint that our species has a long history of violence. Despite repeated att […]Christopher H. Ramey, Ph.D.
- PSY 260: The craft of writing and arguing November 9, 2009We have recently reviewed the outline for a manuscript’s introduction and its ‘funnel’ logic, as well as the different sections of an APA manuscript. (It will be a good idea to continue to review Chapters 2 and 3 of the manual.) In past blog posts, we have been working on editing our content to its barest [...]Christopher H. Ramey, Ph.D.
- PSY 364: Correlations Part II November 9, 2009Hello, everyone. Please find your new homework on correlation as a downloadable PDF in Comment #1. This is similar to the last homework but now includes graphically representing your data. Feel free to post questions on the blog, as well. We’re here to help!Christopher H. Ramey, Ph.D.
- PSY 480: Mind control at the movies November 6, 2009This week’s assignment was to watch either Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind or Dark City (or both). (They’re both quite good, and are available on iTunes or through Netflix, etc.) What are these movies about and what do these movies have to do with this unit’s neuroethical issues? Please use the movies as evidence for or [...]Christopher H. Ramey, Ph.D.
- PSY 230: Non-associative learning November 10, 2009
