>For part 3, we evaluate the history of the third kind of evidence in cognitive neuroscience:A normal subject is asked to do a task. While they are doing the task, a scientist observes their brain in action.For many readers, this will sound like fMRI, where a person lies down in a huge machine, is instructed…
>Ok, so last post I described the first part of the history of methods in the cognitive neurosciences, when behavior goes wrong, then finding out what’s wrong with the brain. For this section, I’ll be discussing when we intentionally damage, or directly zap the brain. Before you get too creeped out, this has mostly (the…
>Recently, spurred on by the Kanazawa business, Ta-Nehisi Coates asked about Evo psych in general in one of his special “Talk to Me Like I’m Stupid” sessions. This spurred on a lively discussion (mostly piling on about how terrible it is) but led down an interesting road, when a commenter named neocortex noted that evo…
> Over at TNC’s blog, there was a big discussion about evolutionary psych, which bled into me defending cognitive psych as a real science not dependent on neuroscience. I volunteered to try to explain the links between cognition and neuroscience for any given topic. Here is my response to the first brave soul to shout:…
> One of the reasons I treated myself to an iPad last year was that I saw great potential for educational (and fun) games for kids. I was hoping we could further delay getting a Wii or DS or other console, and nudge the kids into some educational games to boot.I have been pleased so…
>A month ago, I finished “Remarkable Creatures” by Sean Carroll (biologist Sean Carroll, not physicist Sean Carroll). It was a wonderful review of all of the scientists who have contributed to our evolving understanding of … animal evolution. Beginning with Darwin and Wallace, this book relates the tales of these explorers and adventurers, some leaving…
>I read a really interesting and provocative essay about the web a few days ago that has really stuck with me. I thought I’d share it with my five loyal readers, and ask what they thought. Here is the essay: The Web is a Customer Service Medium, by Paul Ford I think it is worth…
Lately I have found myself drawn into commenting on Ta-Nehisi Coates’ blog over at the Atlantic. For a regular columnist, I find him a sophisticated commentator on issues of race, class and American history, as well as a writer whose prose is a joy to read. But what really drew me in was the other…
>Amanda Ripley has an article in the Atlantic about comparing individual states to international test scoreshttp://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/12/your-child-left-behind/8310/Given that the Atlantic seems to be publishing a few sophisticated pieces on education, I read it with higher expectations. In cases like these, that makes me even more angry when the reporters use all the trappings of scientific writing…
Permit me a little grumpiness and snark. Pieces like this recent one in Wired, 7 Essential Skills You Didn’t Learn In College (look, now with list-power, and SEO-bait!) drive me a little crazy. They are part of a recent trend in some corners of the smart set to suppose that college needs a complete reinvention….
