“A preoccupation with
scarcity diminishes IQ and self control. Simple measures can help us counteract
this cognitive tax”
By: Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir
Published: Scientific American Mind, January /
February 2014
Level of Difficulty: ****
Access this article by copy pasting the following:http://www.nature.com/scientificamericanmind/journal/v25/n1/full/scientificamericanmind0114-58.html
BEFORE YOU READ
·
How
do you imagine scarcity impacts IQ? Can you think of any examples?
·
Do
the underprivileged have lower IQ’s? If so why?
·
How
do you imagine scarcity diminishes self control?
If you think you have been able
to predict the content of the text, think again. You are in for some surprises.
QUESTIONS
1.
After
the university entrance exam in Turkey this year, some students complained
about the noise from demolition going on next to the school where they took the
exam. Will their grades suffer? Why?
2.
Even
if you have an ideal work environment, concentration could still be difficult
due to…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
3.
You
go to work after showering together with your partner and having breakfast
together. Would reminiscing about it prove a major distraction? Why? You will
need to tweak the text.
4.
Why
exactly is scarcity such a great obstacle? Because …………………………………………………………
5.
If
a waitress who is doing extra shifts to pay the rent forgets a specific dietary
requirement, what component of mental function has failed her?
6.
The
writers and their graduate student picked out a hypothetical story for the
subjects in the New Jersey Mall experiment. Why was this particular hypothetical
story selected?
What effect did they expect the story to have?
To cause……………………………………….to emerge.
7.
After the results of the test were studied, it
was found that there was a negative / positive correlation was found to exist
between fluid intelligence scores and focus on scarcity.
8.
The
surprising conclusion that can be drawn from the comparison of the results of
the New Jersey test and the sleep deprivation test is that sleep deprivation
………………………………………
9.
What
does “This cognitive penalty” refer to?
10.
What
does “this connection” in the sentence “A number of experiments have vividly
illustrated this connection” refer to?
11.
Which
of the following nibbles will be popular with a teacher grading essays on a
final exam at university? You can select as many as necessary.
·
Walnuts
and hazelnuts
·
Chocolate
chip cookies
·
Apples
·
A
Mars bar
12.
What
conclusion can be drawn from the experiment with the Australian students?
There is a ……………………correlation
between being cognitively loaded and composure.
13.
The
second New Jersey experiment proved that ……………………………….is also affected by
scarcity.
14.
Why
were sugar cane farmers and not regular Indian farmers picked for the study?
15.
The
overall conclusion of all the experiments discussed thus far is
that…………………………..
16.
Many
would say that it is hunger that negatively impacts performance when dieting.
Are they right or not? Why?
17.
On
reading the paragraph beginning “The size” it becomes obvious that measures are
necessary to ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
18.
It
is implied in the text that problems related to scarcity
are…………………………………………………..
WRITING TASK
Having
made notes on the text write an essay in which introduce scarcity and discuss
ways in which its effects may be counteracted. Use the plan below:
In your introduction, discuss the pace of modern life,
daily hassles, the continual need to multitask and concerns for the future.
Introduce the concept of preoccupation and how it interferes with focus.
Introduce scarcity.
In your first developmental paragraph, discuss scarcity and bandwidth. Explain
how they interact and remember to provide your own examples.
In your second developmental paragraph, discuss measures that can be taken
to counteract scarcity: scheduling family time, eating properly, taking care of
health, sports, sticking to a routine, signing up for automatic bill payment
and the like.
In your conclusion, write a restatement.
FREEING UP INTELLIGENCE KEY AND TEACHER’S NOTES
This interesting text tells the biological
story of how preoccupation and inner or outer distractions affect cognitive
skills. We always knew that this was the case but not the connections and how
it actually works. Like all texts about problems, there are solutions too and
plenty of opportunity to ask some good careful reading questions.
1.
Yes,
they will because of the powerful effect of even slight distraction.
2.
Noisy
trains of thought / OR, disruptions that come from within
3.
No
it wouldn’t because internal disruptions stem from scarcity and there is no
scarcity here.
4.
It
constantly draws us back to that urgent unmet goal and taxes our bandwidth and
our most fundamental capacities.
5.
Executive
control
6.
Because
it was realistic and very likely got them thinking about their own financial
concerns
The all too real non-hypothetical
thinking about scarcity
7.
Positive
8.
Has
a smaller effect
9.
The
fact that the same person has fewer IQ points when he or she is preoccupied by
scarcity (than when not)
10.
Reduced
executive function will hamper self control.
11.
Chocolate
chip cookies and Mars bars
12.
Negative
13.
Compulsivity
14.
So
as to be able to study the same farmers when they are rich and poor and know
that there is nothing specific about the preharvest and postharvest months.
15.
The
poor do have lower effective capacity than those who are well off not because
they are less capable but rather because part of their mind is captured by
scarcity.
16.
No
it is not; it is concerns about dieting because dieting is a form of scarcity
17.
Manage
and cultivate bandwidth despite pressures to the contrary brought on by
scarcity.
18.
Increasing
