THE SOCIAL GENIUS OF ANIMALS

“NEW RESEARCH INDICATES THAT ANIMALS INTERACT IN SURPRISINGLY SOPHISTICATED WAYS”

By: Katherine Harmon

Published: Scientific American Mind; November  – December 2012;http://www.nature.com/scientificamericanmind/journal/v23/n5/full/scientificamericanmind1112-66.html
OR http://www.sciamdigital.com/index.cfm?fa=Products.ViewIssuePreview&ARTICLEID_CHAR=744B6082-237D-9F22-E84F01C1364D56FE
Alternatively, copy paste the following for a free copy  http://www.readcube.com/articles/10.1038/scientificamericanmind0513-30

Level of Difficulty:****

Note to the Student: This text, like a number of others on which tasks have been based, comes out of that wonderful magazine “Scientific American Mind”. This means you will need to pay to access it.

BEFORE YOU READ

·         Do animals have social intelligence?

·         Do they experience grief and feel empathy?

·         Do they cooperate and behave altruistically?

QUESTIONS

1.       Read the experiment conducted at the Thai Elephant Conservation Center. What conclusion can be drawn from this experiment?

2.       What standard misconception concerning animals has been prevalent until quite recently?

3.       The fact that some animals can deceive for personal gain proves that…………………………………….

4.       Why are social skills vital for humans? Use your own words.

5.       In the 2009 study conducted by Goodson and his colleagues, the conclusion was reached that in birds, mammals and humans, the basis for social instinct is ………………………………………(you will need to tweak the text)

6.       The purpose of the mirror experiment is to verify the presence of…………………………………………

7.       If the child in the ball and cupboard experiment were to expect the adult to look for the ball in the cup, he would be said to have ………………………………………………………………………………………

8.       What does “they” refer to in the phrase “they may enable animals to understand others’ actions”?

9.       The way dogs varied the way they signaled that they wanted to play seems to suggest that…………………………………………………………………………… (There are 3 possible answers; find them all)

10.   Read the experiment involving the zebra fish to the end. Were the observations of the scientists proved to be correct or not at the end of the experiment? Support your answer with information from the text.

11.   What similar conclusion was drawn from observations of dolphins sponging for food and young female chimpanzees at the Gombe National Park? You will need to tweak the text.

12.   Read the examples of the monkeys, the Western Scrub Jays and the elephants. What common fact was observed in these experiments?

13.   Read Rosie’s story and state clearly what it is indicative of?

14.   In an experiment, a mouse was placed in a trap and a piece of chocolate was placed nearby. A second mouse was introduced into the enclosure and it was observed that it freed the first mouse and then shared the chocolate with it, which seems to show that ……………………………..

15.    The overall conclusion we can draw from all the research into social intelligence in animals is that animals ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

THE FIRST WRITING TASK

Summarize the information in the text in as few words as possible. An example of the summary task is available under Sample Essays.

THE SECOND WRITING TASK

Discuss the advantages of social intelligence. An example of the writing task is available under Sample Essays.

In your introduction, explain what is meant by social intelligence: a basic affinity to others(with a hormonal basis), a sense of self distinct from others and an understanding that others have different mental states.

In your development, discuss the advantages:

·         It confers the ability to distribute information – a big advantage to a group of species which can transmit the most successful strategies to others.

·         It makes possible empathy and grief, the indispensable fiber that holds us together

·         It enables rich social connections tied to our physical and emotional wellbeing and health

THE SOCIAL GENIUS OF ANIMALS KEY AND TEACHER’S NOTES

This text verifies everything animal lovers have always known instinctively about animals and the deep feelings they are capable of. Nothing in this text came as a surprise to me and I am glad science has caught upJ All animal lovers and anyone who enjoyed “The Brains of the Animal Kingdom” will love this. The first writing task is in fact very short because it is only the conclusions of experiments, which are very similar ,that need to be mentioned so it is a wonderful exercise in synthesis. The second writing task is a sophisticated one which is based on the text but will require input on the part of the student.

1.       Elephants cooperate; they have developed a deep understanding of social cooperation

2.       Animals can’t use tools or learn meaningful pieces of a language; OR only humans can use tools…

3.       Many animals use social connections for survival

4.       Possible answer: none of the great achievements or discoveries would have been possible without them

5.       Hormonal

6.       Self awareness

7.       An immature theory of mind

8.       Mirror neurons

9.       Dogs possess at least a rudimentary theory of mind; dogs could be aware of another dog’s perspective; dogs may have some version of theory of mind.

10.   Proved; the fish had not just mindlessly followed the other fish but had learned a new behavior.

11.   Mothers managed to teach complex skills to their daughters; OR both species use social learning to hand down wisdom to daughters

12.   Some animals use their social awareness for personal gain(by hiding information from potential competitors

13.   Grief is a complex emotion that is observed in animals

14.   Are inclined towards altruism

15.   Are more closely related than they may seem.

PRIVACY AND THE THREAT TO THE SELF

By: Michael P. Lynch

Published: June 22, 2013; The New York Times Opinionator; www.nytimes.com Alternatively, google the title and the writer’s name.

Level of Difficulty: ** (Don’t make this the first level ** you do)

BEFORE YOU READ

·         How concerned are you about your security?

·         How concerned are you about the growing web of surveillance? Do you see it as a necessary evil or something to approach with caution?

NOW CHECK OUT THE FOLLOWING

The dangers of loss of privacy

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2529236/US-whistleblower-Edward-Snowden-delivers-alternative-Christmas-message.html

FBI director on privacy, electronic surveillance

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fbi-director-james-comey-on-privacy-and-surveillance/  

  QUESTIONS

1. What does the phrase “This way of framing the issue” at the beginning of the second paragraph refer to?
2. Privacy is important as a political concept because……………………………………………………..
3. Who has privileged access to a person’s thoughts?
4. What does this privileged access entail?
5. What does “that” refer to in the phrase “Freud cured us of that”? The idea that…………………
6. The writer says “contemporary neuroscience and psychology have convinced many of us otherwise”. What change in thinking has contemporary neuroscience and psychology brought about?
7. What aspect of Descartes’ philosophy does the writer support?
8. According to the thought experiment, what would the ultimate consequence of having complete access to an individual’s thoughts and feelings be?
9. The above thought experiment could actually occur if …………………………………………………………
10. Why would the subject in the thought experiment be dehumanized?
11. What does “It” refer to in the phrase “it is at the root of interrogation techniques”?
12. Free and open communication on an equal footing would be impossible if we failed to………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
13.  The aspect of personhood which the writer feels is endangered in the current era is:................ The reason for the writer's concern is the fact that ……………………
14. The view that we need to strike a balance between our need for privacy and our security is an oversimplification because ………………………………………………………………………………………………

WRITING TASK

Write an essay discussing to what extent you agree with the writer’s views as stated in the text.

PRIVACY AND THE THREAT TO THE SELF KEY AND TEACHER’S NOTES

It is very rare that I come across a text about such a complex issue written relatively simply. The text has been written by a professor of philosophy and is subject-wise very challenging yet the language is perfectly fine, which makes it a wonderful alternative for those Jack and Jill texts. It is suggested that you consider the writing task as a free writing and approach it very flexibly

1. We face a tradeoff between safety and convenience on one hand and privacy on the other. We just need to find the right balance.
2. What is private is what is yours alone to control without interference from others and the state
3. The individual
4. You can access your thoughts in a way I can’t; you can, at least sometimes, control what I know about your thoughts
5. All thoughts were conscious or transparent
6. Our minds are not non physical and they are not distinct from the brain.
7. To be an autonomous person is to be capable of having privileged access to information about your psychological profile… OR A capacity for privacy is a necessary condition of autonomous personhood
8. Control ( The minimum you need)
9. If the government or some entity should request the identity of the person making searches on an issue like “Am I gay?” “What is terrorism?” or “What is atheism?” for security purposes.
10. The relationship between the subject and the knower would be so lopsided that there might cease to be anything subjective about you.
11. Dehumanization
12. See on another as subjects, as persons whose thoughts are our own
13. The concept of an autonomous person. It is the idea we use when we think of ourselves as adult selves
14. To the extent we risk the loss of privacy , we risk, in a very real sense, the loss of our very status as subjective autonomous persons

SOCIAL NETWORKING IN THE 1600's

By: Tom Standage

Published: June 22, 2013; The New York Times; www.nytimes.com Alternatively, just  google the title and writer’s name

Level of Difficulty: **

Thanks are due to my dear friend Oya Özağaç for providing this fascinating text

BEFORE YOU READ

·         How recent a phenomenon is social networking?

·         What are the social advantages of social networking?

·         What are the intellectual, political and commercial advantages?

·         What are the disadvantages?

QUESTIONS

1.       The “weapons of mass distraction” referred to in the first paragraph are………………………………

2.       Media sharing environments are considered to be a new / relatively new / old threat; this view is right / wrong because …………………………………………………………………………………………………

3.       Read paragraphs 3 and 4. We understand from the information presented that coffee houses had a:

·         Political function

·         Practical function

·         Intellectual function

·         Social function

·         All of the above

·         None of the above

·         Other: please specify

4.       How did coffee houses enable information to spread?

5.       What proof can you offer to the contention that the coffee houses of the 1600’s could be described as highly democratic environments?

6.       What conclusion can we draw from the stories of Anthony Wood and Roger North?

7.       What similarity does there seem to be between the reaction to coffee houses and the reaction to modern social media?

8.       The example of The Royal Society proves that ………………………………………………………………….

9.       Why were coffee houses called “penny universities”?

10.   Both Lloyds and The London Stock Exchange have their roots in ……………………………………..

11.   Why is it “no coincidence that coffee remains the traditional drink of collaboration and networking today”?

12.   What major difference between coffee houses and modern social networking sites is highlighted in the text?

13.   Read the example of the 2012 study published by McKinsey & Company. What conclusion can we draw from it?

14.   The project OpenWorm proves beyond doubt that ……………………………………………………………

15.   The writer finds the negative reaction to social networking understandable because……………

16.   He also says that we should learn from history because ………………………………………………………….

WRITING TASK: COMPARISON CONTRAST ESSAY

Write an essay discussing the similarities and differences of the 17^th century version of social networking and current social networking.There is an example under Sample Essays

Similarities according to the text are as follows:

Social differences not recognized, enabling the spread of information, enabling discussions on various issues, blamed for preventing young people from concentrating on their work,

Providing opportunities for learning, being crucibles of creativity

The differences are as follows:

Modern day social networking in the virtual environment, technology affects speed, quality and nature of communication.

SOCIAL NETWORKING IN THE 1600’s KEY AND TEACHER’S NOTES

This fascinating text was sent to me by a very dear friend and I fell in love the moment I saw it. A brilliant topic with a wow factor, an opportunity to design a good writing task… I was hooked. I would use this reading task to introduce comparison contrast essays. The students can make notes as they read and then write

1.       Social networks

2.       New, wrong, the coffee house was the social networking site of the 1600’s. You need to put all the references in their proper places when giving the answer.

3.       All of the above

4.       As the customers moved from one to the other, information circulated with them

5.       Patrons were not merely permitted but encouraged to strike up conversations with strangers from entirely different walks of life.

6.       Not everyone approved of coffee houses

7.       New media sharing platforms pose a particular danger to the young.

8.       Rather than enemies of industry, coffee houses were in fact crucibles of creativity (because of the way in which they facilitated the mixing of both people and ideas

9.       Scientists often conducted experiments and gave lectures in coffee houses and the admission fee was just a penny.

10.   Coffee Houses

11.   Because coffee houses provided a lively social and intellectual environment which gave rise to stream of innovations that shaped the modern world

12.   In our social media platforms, conversations are entirely virtual

13.   Corporate versions of Facebook encourage collaboration, discover hidden talents and knowledge among employees and reduce the use of email.

14.   Students learn more effectively when they interact with other learners.

15.   During the transitional phase (or adjustment period), technologies are often criticized for disrupting existing ways of doing things.

16.   The lesson of the coffee house is that modern fears about the damages of social networking are overdone.

ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY: SHOULD THE RETIREMENT AGE BE RAISED?

The retirement age which used to be arround 50 many years ago is now 62, 65 or 67 on average with many clamoring that this is too low too. 72 or 75 are being considered in some parts of the world as cut off points. Is the current retirement policy in keeping with the times or not? Do your research and decide whether the retirement age should be raised further or not.
Refer to my second blog, The Essay Archive, for sample essays: https://theessayarchive.blogspot.com.tr/  

Reading texts to annotate

1.       “Retirement age, raising of…” http://debatewise.org/debates/2708-retirement-age-raising-of/

2.       “How raising the retirement age screws the working poor” http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/03/raising-retirement-age-screws-working-poor

3.       “Retirement age should be scrapped” http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010/jan/25/retirement-age-scrapped-equality-commission

4.       “Pros and cons of raising the retirement age” http://www.aolnews.com/2010/11/23/pros-and-cons-of-raising-the-social-security-retirement-age/

5.     “Yes, raising the retirement age would be bad for the poor. No, that doesn’t mean it’s unfair.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/03/15/yes-raising-the-retirement-age-would-be-bad-for-the-poor-no-that-doesnt-mean-its-unfair/

Videos to watch and make notes on

1. Pat Robertson: Raising the retirement age to 72 won’t hurt anybody because people really like to work http://mediamatters.org/video/2012/08/27/pat-robertson-raising-retirement-age-to-72-wont/189577

2. Truth about raising social security retirement age http://www.nbcnews.com/id/45755883/ns/msnbc-the_last_word/vp/49911791#49911791

ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY: WHAT IS A FAIR WAGE FOR SPORTSMEN?

Sports have been the most popular  pastime for centuries with many of those we enjoy today dating back hundreds of years. It is only quite recently that sports has become a vocation and earnings in the field have soared. During the current recession, when so many highly qualified people are unable to get a job to feed their families, are the wages we pay sportsmen getting out of control or do they deserve what they earn? Do your research and write an argumentative essay.
Refer to my second blog, The Essay Archive, for sample essays: https://theessayarchive.blogspot.com.tr/  

Reading material to annotate

1.       “Are Salary Caps in Professional Sports Effective?” http://www.debate.org/opinions/are-salary-caps-in-professional-sports-effective

2.       “Are Most Professional Athletes Overpaid?” http://www.debate.org/opinions/are-most-professional-athletes-overpaid

3.       “Why Do Athletes Make so much Money?” http://mcamp.hubpages.com/hub/athletesalaries

4.       Wage Determination in Professional Sports” http://www.humankinetics.com/excerpts/excerpts/wage-determination-in-professional-sports

5.       “Two Sides to Every Coin: Are Professional Athletes Overpaid?” http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1089195-two-sides-to-every-coin-are-professional-athletes-overpaid

Videos to watch and make notes on

1.       “Why do Athlets, Celebs Make So Much? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZ83YOptIZ8

2.       “Do Pro Athletes Deserve to Paid so Much?” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtqJBDXx5Fw

ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY:SPACE EXPLORATION

Mankind has always been interested in space and wondred about their place in it. In the past, they worshiped heavenly bodies then as knowledge about space grew, they tried to probe ever deeper to unlock the mysteries. Yet there are so many problems to address on earth; are these efforts a terrible waste of money or invaluable for our future as a species? Do your reasearch and decide.
Refer to my second blog, The Essay Archive, for sample essays: https://theessayarchive.blogspot.com.tr/  

Reading to annotate

1.       “Nine Good Reasons for Space Exploration” http://martianchronicles.wordpress.com/2008/04/16/nine-good-reasons-for-space-exploration/

2.       “For and Against Space Exploration”  http://eandt.theiet.org/magazine/2011/10/debate.cfm

3.       “Space Exploration is a Waste of Money” http://debatewise.org/debates/137-space-exploration-is-a-waste-of-money/

4.       Is Space Exploration Worth the Money? http://www.debate.org/opinions/is-space-exploration-worth-the-money

Videos to watch and take notes on

1.       “Brian Cox: Why We Need Explorers Explorers” http://www.ted.com/talks/brian_cox_why_we_need_the_explorers.html

2.       “Peter Diamandis on our Next Giant Leap” http://www.ted.com/talks/peter_diamandis_on_our_next_giant_leap.html

3.     Why We Go -- Leaving Our Beautiful Home and Exploring Outer Space: Will Pomerantz at TEDxPCC

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ueGFLVFi80

       The key to sustainable space exploration: David Smith at TEDxPurdueU 2014

       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQOOgDqUta0

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SHOULD PHYSICIAN PAY BE TIED TO PERFORMANCE?

Journal Reports

Published: The Wall Street Journal; June 16, 2013; www.wsj.com Alternatively just google the title and writer’s name.

Level of Difficulty: ***

Note to the Student: If you have never written an argumentative essay or need to brush up on it, this is the task for you. Take notes of the arguments for and against as well as information about both systems as you read. You will need them for your essay. There is an example of the writing task under Sample Essays.

BEFORE YOU READ

·        Doctors, Quality of Care, and Pay for Performance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6u96jL-8l8

      Financial Incentives and Health System Performance - Meredith Rosenthal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ia2v_Lc2YCk

QUESTIONS

1.       What customary mode of paying doctors is being shelved?

2.       On what two novel criteria will Medicare payments now depend?

3.       Subjecting patients to unnecessary tests and hospital visits are both examples of……………….

4.       The objection critics have is that doctors are able to …………………………………………………………...

5.       In what case can the traditional fee for service model be useful?

6.       The overall disadvantage of the fee for service model is that it can lead to a lot of………………..

7.       In the case of The Health Care Incentives Improvement Institute, what determines success for a doctor?

8.       What does “The idea” refer to in the phrase “The idea is increasingly prevalent for procedures”? You will need to teak the text.

9.       The British National Health System Trial is an example of a study that ……………………………………

10.   The solution to the problems that emerged in the above study and the US Medicare study is………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

11.   What does “That” refer to in the sentence “That is simply false”?

12.   What factor was found to influence how doctors manage their patients’ care in the Cleveland study?

13.   What does “it” refer to in the phrase “as well as it should”?

14.   Britain’s pay for performance program is provided as an example to prove that…………………… 

15.   How did a Boston hospital manage to cheat the system?

16.   What are the two major difficulties in discovering ideal performance measures?

17.   The examples of the day care centers in Israel and students solving puzzles both seem to show that ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

18.   What does “This” refer to in the phrase “This can certainly change medicine” Be very careful!

WRITING TASK

Use the notes you made while reading to write an argumentative essay on the subject. In your introduction briefly describe the previous system and the new one. Then state clearly which is better. In your development, use the arguments in the text to support your own view and refute the counter arguments. In your conclusion, write a restatement. You will find an example under Sample Essays

SHOULD PHYSICIAN PAY BE TIED TO PERFORMANCE? KEY AND TEACHER’S NOTES

This straightforward text is a God send for any student who needs practice with argumentative essays and any teacher who needs to teach the same. It follows all the rules in the book with one exception: there is no conclusion as it is a report. It is suggested that the students are encouraged to make a note of the arguments for and against while reading and then use these notes to write their essays. An example is in the file marked Sample Essays.

1.       Paying them for every service they perform

2.       Patient satisfaction surveys; how well physicians comply with procedures for patient care

3.       Bad incentives

4.       Game the system

5.       In providing preventive care

6.       Avoidable Complications

7.       How well they beat benchmarks for delivering chronic care

8.       There being no extra payment if a patient is readmitted following a surgical procedure

9.       Let doctors set the benchmarks they needed to reach to get bonuses and they were far too low. The next sentence is not the answer because it gives the result of the experiment!

10.   Not letting providers set benchmarks and removing incentives for doctors to game the system.

11.   Not being able to come up with adequate measures to judge physician performance; OR the fact that you can’t come up with adequate measures…

12.   Being on Medicade

13.   Pay for performance

14.   There is no evidence that financial incentives can improve patient outcomes

15.   By changing the words they wrote on patients’ charts

16.   Measures that work for one group of doctors  are unlikely to work for all providers; many providers interact in providing care and influence each other’s and patients’ outcomes
17. Financial incentives often crowd out intrinsic motivation

18.    Manipulating greed. The trick is to pick out what you think the reference is and stick it in the sentence. When you do this, you will see that only this will work

SWITCHING ON CREATIVITY

“Cases of savant syndrome have inspired an electrical brain stimulation technique for boosting creative insight”

By: Allan W. Snyder, Sophie Ellwood and Richard P. Chi

Published: Scientific American Mind; November – December 2012

To access the article, copy paste the following for a free copy:
http://www.readcube.com/articles/10.1038/scientificamericanmind1112-58

Level of Difficulty: ****

BEFORE YOU READ

·         Do you believe we have hither to untapped latent abilities?

·         Do you believe these can and should be brought to light?

·         What would the advantages of such an endeavor be?

·         Can you imagine any disadvantages?

QUESTIONS

1.       The writer states “Recent studies suggest otherwise”. What exactly do recent studies suggest?

2.       What does “this approach” refer to in the phrase “the inspiration for this approach”?

3.       People with savant syndrome seem to owe their extraordinary abilities in one specific area to………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

4.       The purpose of the examples of the ultrasound technician and the portrait painter is to show that ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

5.       Despite their advantages, mind sets have numerous disadvantages such as ………………………..

6.       Read the example of the short reading passage. What does it prove?

7.       What does “this goal” refer to in the phrase “A clue to achieving this goal”?

8.       What innate advantage does Stephen Wiltshire have over other artists?

9.       What is the implication of such a mindset?

10.   What development led to the emergence of acquired savant skills in Mr. Z and Orlando Serrell?

11.   What is the implication of these two cases?

12.   What is the purpose of using transcranial magnetic stimulation?

13.   Read the experiment concerning transcranial direct current stimulation to the end. The purpose of the experiment was to………………………………………………………………………………….

14.   Was the hypothesis of the scientists proved or disproved? Support your answer with information from the text.

15.   What makes the 9 dots problem so very difficult to solve?

16.   Did the study involving the 9 dots problem confirm the result of the previous experiment or not? Support your answer with information from the text.

17.   What conclusion can we draw from the last paragraph but one?

WRITING TASK

Write an essay discussing the implications of the research described in the text.

SWITCHING ON CREATIVITY KEY AND TEACHER’S NOTES

This text is so fascinating that I dare anyone to be able to put it down once they start reading. All students need to subscribe to a magazine I feel and if you agree, you might suggest this one. It is a mine of information and texts with enormous potential for our purposes. The questions are just as tough as they should be at this level and there is a free writing activity too.

1.       These light bulb moments can be orchestrated; the next sentence is an explanation of this main idea.

2.       Weakening these biases and boosting openness to new ideas by temporarily diminishing the neural activity in specific brain areas.

3.       Right hemisphere dominance

4.       The brain actively interprets what we think of as our raw experience in light of past knowledge.

5.       Leaving us susceptible to errors including illusions, false memories and memories making us less receptive perhaps even resistant to new ideas.

6.       That humans are conceptual not literal thinkers

7.       Accessing perceptual details usually hidden from conscious awareness, potentially unlocking  the genius within us all

8.       He has privileged access to more raw, less processed information about the world

9.       It allows the person to work bottom up from the parts to the whole.

10.   Impairment in the left anterior temporal lobe.

11.   These skills are latent in us all but beyond conscious access

12.    Reducing the influence of prior knowledge

13.   Recipients to access a different cognitive style

14.   Proved; 60% of those in the group that received stimulation according to our parameters solved the problem.

15.   The problem activates seemingly relevant prior knowledge that obstructs the solution. This is the minimum you need; the rest is explanation.

16.   It confirmed it; 14 out of 33 individuals solved the problem as a result of receiving stimulation at the anterior temporal lobes according to our protocol

17.   Many questions remain unanswered of course

THE SCIENCE OF GENIUS

“Outstanding creativity in all domains may stem from shared attributes and a common process of discovery”

By: Dean Keith Simonton

Published: Scientific American Mind; November – December 2012; 
To access the text, copy paste the following: 
http://www.nature.com/scientificamericanmind/journal/v23/n5/full/scientificamericanmind1112-34.html

Level of Difficulty: ****

BEFORE YOU READ

·         How would you determine a genius?

·         What abilities do geniuses have?

·         Do they suffer any problems?

·         Would you have liked to be an absolute genius?

QUESTIONS

1.       The conclusion the writer reaches as a result of the modern day examples of geniuses he lists is ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

2.       If the ultimate goal of the research into how the mind of a genius works is achieved, this could provide the added bonus of enabling scientists to ………………………………………………………..

3.       Beethoven, Tolstoy, Shakespeare and Newton are credited with being geniuses thanks to ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

4.       Which definition of genius does the writer believe is more beneficial? For what reasons? You are going to have to use your own words to some extent so careful.

5.       Mendel, Darwin, Max Born and Einstein are all geniuses but vary in terms of ………………………..

6.       What does “this precise issue” in the section titled “Origins of Genius” refer to?

7.       What is “the ten year rule” and is it completely reliable?

8.       Why or why not? Two reasons.

9.       Read the examples of Einstein and Galileo. What do they prove?

10.   How does the writer support the contention that 20% of the variation in creativity can be attributed to nature? You will need to tweak the text.

11.   What aspect of the emergence of a genius does nature contribute to according to the writer?

12.   As a result of the experiences of Virginia Wolf, Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath, Van Gogh, Newton and Galileo, experts began to wonder about…………………………………………………………………………..

13.   Which sentence best summarizes the information concerning the writers 2005 review?

14.   Do Keri’s findings support the above view or not? Explain.

15.   What do the stories of Archimedes and Newton share with Pasteur’s discovery of penicillin on a petri dish?

16.   Why does the writer feel there must be something else uniting Archimedes, Newton and a brilliant writer or musician?

17.   …………………………..and……………………………………are two features of BVSR, or blind variation and selective retention.

18.   Whose views does this quote from Einstein support? Think of the last couple of pages you have been reading.

19.   All the sketches Picasso made in preparation for Guernica prove that…………………………(you will need to tweak the text)

20.   What is the advantage to the genius of the pursuit of diverse hobbies and openness to new ideas?

WRITING TASK

Write a summary of no more than 220 words of this long text. Since the text is long and you have a word limit, you are going to have to make some notes for yourself and plan carefully. When you have completed your summary you can check out the example in the file marked Sample Essays.

THE SCIENCE OF GENIUS KEY AND TEACHER’S NOTES

This is a truly fascinating text as are a lot of articles in Scientific American Mind and is very absorbing indeed so much so that I felt I just had to share it with you. I had one problem though: it is a factual text and as such does not lend itself to those good comprehension questions. I did my best but it is easy for this level. Still it is wonderful reading and the writing task more than makes up for the relatively easy questions; it is tough.

1.       How little we understand about the origins of intellectual and creative eminence.

2.       To investigate whether genius can be cultivated (unleashing a wealth of new ideas for the benefit of all)

3.       Their exceptional achievements

4.       Exceptional achievement; many exceptional achievers don’t achieve high IQ; possible second point: those that have high IQ are not all exceptional achievers

5.       The magnitude of their creative achievements

6.       Whether genius must be born or whether one becomes a genius

7.       Nobody can expect to reach the heights of creativity without mastering the knowledge or skills because only experts can create; No

8.       Because geniuses often spend less time acquiring domain information than their less creative colleagues; major breakthroughs often occur in areas where the genius must create the necessary expertise from scratch.

9.       Geniuses are more likely to exhibit unusually wide interests and hobbies and to display exceptional versatility often contributing to more than one domain of expertise.

10.   Openness to experience, cognitive and behavioral flexibility, tolerance of ambiguity and change are all heritable characteristics and common in geniuses

11.   The rate at which someone acquires necessary skills and knowledge

12.   Whether the biological endowment of a genius also confers great setbacks

13.   All told, top performers are not a very normal bunch

14.   They support it. He found a genetic basis for both creativity and psychosis in a variant of the Neuregulin 1 gene

15.   Serendipity

16.   Because something else must permit a person to go beyond tradition and training to reach the summit of genius.

17.   Superfluity and backtracking

18.   Campbell, the writer and Hermann Von Helmholtz

19.   Superfluity and backtracking exist in the arts

20.   It infuses them with seemingly irrelevant stimulation that can enrich blind variations