TE 409: Assignment 2

Base Unit: Cognition

The three key concepts I look to hit on for this unit are memory,
thinking, and intelligence. Students will be learning the inner workings of
various cognitive processes while also learning theories and history of
cognitive studies. At the end of this unit, students will be able to understand:
the individual parts of the brain and how they work together to make
cognition possible, the different ways to test intelligence, that not all
intelligence tests show true Smarts, cultural aspects can affect intelligence
scores, and that there are multiple ways to study/interpret cognitive
studies/findings. My essential questions for this unit will include: what are the
various forms of memory and how do they affect the way your brain
processes information? How can damage to certain parts of the brain affect
the cognitive process? How is intelligence measured, and are those
measurements absolute?
1. Textbook
a. Psychology: An Introduction
b. http://www.intropsych.com/
c. I chose this text book for the deepness of the material covered
within it. By deepness, I mean that each chapter is split into
subcategories, and those subcategories are split into separate
sections. There is also material for each unit I would want to look
at during the semester, so I could use this textbook throughout
my class. I feel that students will have an easy time finding what
they need for my lessons within this textbook with relative
speed.
d. Questions:
i. Who is HM and why are they significant?
ii. What is the difference between retrograde and anterograde
amnesia?
iii. According to this textbook, what are the bests ways for
students to learn materials for school?
2. Data Set
a. Ranking the smartest states
b. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/thefix/wp/2015/11/13/actually-mr-trump-iowa-is-one-of-thesmartest-states-in-the-union/
c. I chose this dataset and the article accompanying it because I
feel it would add to a discussion on how intelligence is assessed
and the misconceptions of what intelligence actually is. I like this
dataset because it uses multiple variables, not just simply IQ, to
determine the intelligence of states. Even with the multiple
variables, students can still be educated on the different ways to
measure intelligence. Students interest will hopefully be caught
by the datas connection to current events and will be able to

have a discussion on how this data represents the various states

and intelligence as a whole.
d. Questions:
i. Were you surprised by what states were considered the
smartest?
ii. Are the variables in this dataset an accurate representation
of intelligence?
iii. If you were going to design an intelligence test, what would
you include on that test?
3. Canonical Text
a. Hermann Ebbinghauss Memory: A Contribution to Experimental
Psychology
b. Chapter 1
c. http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Ebbinghaus/memory1.htm
d. Ebbinghaus is considered one of the fathers of cognitive
psychology. I chose this piece because it will give students a
good idea of how cognition was viewed in the 19th century and in
the beginnings of the field of psychology. Students will be able to
see Ebbinghauss ideas and compare them to what science
considers fact today. Primary documents like this will also give
students an idea of how cultural factors affected perspectives in
psychology, which is always a factor that can be considered in
psychological research.
e. Questions:
i. How do Ebbinghauss views towards cognition compare to
what we are learning in class?
ii. Using prior knowledge or short internet research, how do
you think cultural factors could have influenced
Ebbinghauss views?
iii. Could this research be used today as fact?
4. Interactive Website
a. Interactive 3D Brain
b. http://www.g2conline.org/2022
c. I chose this website so students can get more familiar with the
anatomical aspects of the brain that affect
learning/memory/cognition. While simply memorizing words on a
paper and their functions may work for some students, I would
hope that some students who are more visual learners can find
some value in this depiction of the brain. The website highlights
various parts of the brain and breaks down the functions of each
part and even other information like various case studies,
disorders that affect that part of the brain, etc. Students will be
able to use this website as a resource when they have any
questions about brain part functions and diseases or when they
need to study for a brain anatomy test.
d. Questions:

i. What roles do the parts of the frontal lobe play in

cognition?
ii. What is the functional difference between the primary
motor and premotor cortex?
iii. What is the Corpus Callosums role in brain function and
cognition?
5. Film Selection
a. Documentary: Beyond Thought
b. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0hCraYw3YQ
c. I chose this documentary because it explores the idea of
awareness and thinking across many different kinds of
people/lifestyles. While this documentary might not have much
scientific fact or information, it does offer a unique perspective
on how people with different lifestyles/cultures view thinking,
awareness, and other cognitive processes. Students will
hopefully begin to think about their awareness and thinking and
will also continue to build upon the idea that cognition and
thinking processes can change based on how you grew up and
how you currently live.
d. Questions:
i. What are some examples of how people in this film
described awareness?
ii. Do you personally believe that awareness can be different
among different people, or that we all experience the same
phenomena?
iii. What is the activity that gets you in your zone? how
would you describe the feeling of being in the zone?