Nature vs. Nurture

So in psychology we are studying "Intelligent testing."  And one of the key debates for psychologists and sociologists both is nature vs. nurture.  Last year in Sociology we debated the issue of homosexuality and whether nature or nurture is the deciding factor.  This year in psychology we want to turn the nature vs. nurture debate and it's effect on intelligence.  Far below you will see a reminder of a blog we did in sociology.  Above are some videos that shed some light on the nature vs. nurture debate in psychology and the area of intelligence.  We will look at some articles highlighted in your online book and I will give you an opportunity to decide for yourself:  is intelligence influenced by nature or by nurture?

Homosexuality A Choice?

 

 

Summary: Sociologists almost always find strong evidence of nurture over nature in our studies, but there is one research area where the environment and socialization has little influence: sexual orientation. The cartoon at left highlights that while social scientists cannot find links between being gay and socialization factors like parenting styles, biological believers find strong evidence for their nature arguments that claim sexual orientation depends largely on genes, hormones, and birth order. The video also highlights how the research reflects focus almost exclusively on gay men and not lesbians.  The core message of this video is still very sociological because it outlines that since sexual orientation is neither an outcome of socialization or a lifestyle choice,  “conversion” therapy is not only ineffective, but can actually become a damaging socialization experience itself-which we have already discussed.

Another way to look at nature vs. nurture is through the Olympics.  Watch the following clip from the 2012 London Games.  (click here)

Memory activites

Below you find a link to my webpage with some Memory activities.  Please click the link below and answer the questions for each activity.

http://tr008.k12.sd.us/New%20Folder/Psychology/Memory%20and%20Thought/Memory%20and%20thoughts%20experiments.htm

When you get to the memory exhibit please do the following activities and record your results

Under the Playing Games with memory link do the following 2 games
     Memory Solitaire
     Tell yourself a story

Then read the following 3 and record what you learned.
     Droodles
     Common Cents
     If your going to rob a bank.

When you are done with these go to the link below and do the experiments.  You should have a handout to record your answers in your packet.

http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/chmemory.html

Memory, Eyewitness Testimony and the Bystander Effect

So the last class period we had a little fun.  I dressed up as a robber and proceeded to steal a couple of cell phones.  The goal was to see if students could remember details of the incident and along with details about the robber (me).  As we learned, our memory is not as good or as accurate as we would like to believe.  There were different descriptions, different details, and highly inaccurate drawings.

But the point I was trying to make was proven.  So let's take a look at some clips below about memory, eyewitness testimony and I'll even throw in a couple of fun clips for us to end with.

Elizabeth Loftus-as profiled in your book:

Ferguson shooting and relating to unreliability of eyewitness testimony

 

 

Also, in socio-psychology there is a well-known effect called the bystander effect.  For short, the bystander effect implies that the larger the group of people in a setting, the less likely an individual will be to help someone in need.  So let's look at some examples below.

 



The death of Kitty Genovese

 

and some fun ones to end with

 

 

Sheldon from Big Bang theory on eidetic memory

spanking
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Classical Conditioning Assignment

Classical conditioning is a form of learning in which the subject develops a particular response to a stimulus that would otherwise be nuetral, without being paired with a stimulus that is not neutral and elicits an automatic response. In other words, the subject generates a response that wouldn't naturally occur as a result of associating a neutral stimulus with a nonneutral stimulus.

Classical conditioning occurs daily in our lives but we don't think about it. Examples of this classical conditioning concept can be found throughout our lives in many different ways.

 One of the most obvious real world examples of classical conditioning is it's use in the media. Here is how:
Unconditioned stimulus: Paradise or the pretty woman
Conditioned Stimulus: Corona
Unconditioned Response: Happiness or excitement to paradise or the pretty woman
Conditioned response: Happiness or excitement  to Corona

Assignment:  Your assignment is to find an example of classical conditioning in your everyday life.
You should find a visual aid to represent it and label the US, CS, UR CR as done in the example above.

Methods of Learning: Classical, Operant, Modeling

There are three ways psychologists categorize the way we learn.  They are classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and through shaping or what we will call modeling.  Below are some clips that describe some of these.

Little Albert Experiment by John Watson

 

 Pavlov's Bar

 

Classical Conditioning my father

 

Link #1

 

 

 

Operant conditioning in the Big Bang Theory

                                                              Shaping through rewards

                                                                              The Skinner Box

              

 

 

 

 

Positive and negative reinforcement