Though he doesn’t refer to it by name, comedian Norm Macdonald gives us a great example of the availability heuristic midway through this clip from Me Doing Standup. He describes how we worry about things that will almost assuredly never happen … Read More
REM Behavior Disorder
In the following video, we can see an example of a patient with REM Behavior Disorder. Remember that REM Behavior Disorder differs from sleepwalking, which generally occurs during Slow Wave sleep (stage 3 and 4).
Dan Ariely on “Decision Illusions”
In this TEDtalk, behavioral economist Dan Ariely begins by describing visual illusions as a metaphor for understanding the “decision illusions” that we make. He notes that we are exceptionally good at vision (and get lots of practice) but not so … Read More
A Young Stroke Victim’s Story
In this touching story (with beautiful illustrations) Christine Hyung-Oak Lee describes her experience of having a stroke: the confusion, the feelings of being trapped inside her own brain, and the slow process of her recovery. While strokes are often discussed … Read More
Visual Illusions from Stuart Anstis
Here’s a link to some great demonstrations from Stuart Anstis at UCSD. You can also find audio from all of the lectures of his Psych 102 class on Sensation and Perception here. The link here is to the latest edition … Read More
Magic and Change Blindness
Here’s another example of change blindness featuring Magic Singh performing some close-up illusions, followed by Beau Lotto explaining why this type of blindness occurs. While the video refers to inattentional blindness, this is probably better referred to as change blindness, … Read More
The Wug Test and Overgeneralization
In this clip from Scientific American Frontiers, Steven Pinker explains The Wug Test and also how the overgeneralization of grammatical rules suggests that children acquire the rules of language, rather than simply learning by imitation. Looking to learn more … Read More
Bonobo Language Learning
Here’s a few videos from the Iowa Primate Learning Sanctuary showing attempts to teach language to Bonobo chimps. The first video is of Kanzi demonstrating his skills in using a lexigram. In the next video, we can see Kanzi following … Read More
Birth of a Language in Nicaragua
This clip from the documentary “Evolution” shows the development of a new sign language in Nicaragua in the 1980s. This supports an interactionist approach to language acquisition, suggesting that our innate capacity for language must be combined with a social … Read More
Test Your Awareness
Test your awareness with this clever Whodunnit! video demonstrating change blindness