Thursday, March 14, 2013

New ToPIX Content: 3/14/13

This update includes additions to the Research Methods in the Classroom, Neuroscience in the News, the Change Blindness page, Social in the News, Learning Video, Perception in the News, Perception in the Classroom, Statistics in the Classroom, Learning Video, Psychological Disorders Video, and the Movie List.

New ToPIX Content

Assistant ToPIX Editor, Jessica Hartnett, posted a link to a blog post and Dogbert comic on how NOT to collect phone survey data. This can be found on the Research Methods in the Classroom page.

A BBC News article on brain-to-brain communication in rats, an ABC News article on frontal lobe ablation, and a link to more mapping of Phineas Gage's brain, were posted to the Neuroscience in the News page courtesy of Mike Palij and Stephen Black (via the TIPS listserv), respectively.

The Change Blindness page now includes a recent Transport for London advertisement that can be used as an alternative to the "invisible gorilla" test. Thanks to Stephen Chew for passing this along!

Recent New York Times coverage of priming research and reproducibility was added to the Social in the News page. Thanks again, Mike Palij (via the TIPS listserv).

A news article and YouTube video of Mariska, the lock-picking horse, were both added to the Learning Video page. (Nice find Gary Peterson! -- via the TIPS listserv). This clip could be used to launch discussion or introduce shaping, observational learning, and related concepts.

An audio clip from NPR and article speaks to inattention, and attentional blindness in radiologists. This was added to the Perception in the News page courtesy of Miguel Roig (via the TIPS listserv).

If you are interested in discussing PTC detection and "supertasters," check out the Perception in the Classroom page for a link to the BBC's Supertaster questionnaire.

The Statistics in the Classroom page was reorganized by Jessica Hartnett, and now includes a number of updates: examples from the internet, humor, in-class activities, and statistics in the news. Check them out!

A new TED Education video was posted to the Learning Video page. It can serve as another way to help students differentiate between classical and operant conditioning. Thanks Amy Barth!

And last-- but definitely not least-- are a whole slew of updates to the Psychological Disorders Video page courtesy of Bob DuBois, Jeanie Kent Duncan, Steve Jones, Harry Pitsikalis, and Carol Furchner (via the STP Facebook Group). If you teach topics such as schizophrenia, incarceration of the mentally ill, and treatment for inmates, go ahead and visit this page on ToPIX. The ToPIX Movie List was also updated to reflect some of these additions.

If you have any suggestions for a new ToPIX resource, or any resources to share with colleagues, please send them to TOPIX@TeachPsych.org.