Cognitive Psychology In and Out of the Laboratory
Web Exercises
1. Battle of the Sexes
The link below is to an online “battle of the sexes” quiz. You pick your sex and answer 5 very stereotypical questions. Based on your score, the website will give you a name (I was named a “Learning Lady”) and a brief description of how you performed (I was told “When a light bulb goes off above a man's head, you see a dim light”). Ask students to take this quiz twice – once as a “male” and once as a “female.” Then, have them write a short response based on their experience.
http://battleofthesexes.com/quiz-2.php?sex=female
2. Are Men from Mars and Women from Venus?
In 1992 John Gray published Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus. The website below is the companion site to the book that claims to answer men-versus-women questions. Ask students to review the content on this website and discuss whether the material is evidence-based or pseudoscience.
3. Brain Games – Battle of the Sexes
The two links are to videos from the National Geographic program, Brain Games. Both links have several brief clips from their two episodes exploring sex differences. Students can watch one or more clips and then contribute to online discussion forums.
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/brain-games/episodes/battle-of-the-sexes
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/brain-games/episodes/battle-of-the-sexes-2/
4. Brain Bases of Individual Differences in Cognition
In this APA Science Brief, Dr. Chantel Prat and Dr. Marcel Adam Just discuss how cognitive differences between individuals are based upon brain activity patterns and neural efficiency.
http://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2008/05/prat.aspx
5. Explore Your Own Cognitive Skills
Students can register for free with Cambridge Brain Sciences and perform a variety of cognitive tasks, including mental rotation and grammatical reasoning. After completing the tasks, students can contribute to discussion posts describing their performance and learn how they differ from one another in terms of their strengths and weaknesses.