Re: Brain teasers wanted
My father liked "brain teasers" (although Mum inclined to Molly Strait's opinion). Here's one of his -- it comes in a not-so-difficult and a very difficult version: 12 coins: They are identical in appearance, but one is counterfeit, being heavier than the others. You have a simple 2-pan balance. (If students don't know what that is, they may know it as the "scales of justice" held by the blindfolded statue.) Show that you can always detect the fake coin in three comparisons using the balance. (If you like, you can give hints about how many coins to put on each pan of the balance for the first weighing -- 6 vs. 6? 4 vs 4?) Hard version: (Took me many many tries -- Dad never believed in giving away the answers, so I won't either, but it is solvable without any "tricks.") Same as above, but the counterfeit coin is either heavier or lighter than the rest, and you don't know which. Still only 3 comparisons with the balance. -David === David G. Likely, Department of Psychology, University of New Brunswick Fredericton, N. B., E3B 5A3 Canada History of Psychology: http://www.unb.ca/web/psychology/likely/psyc4053.htm ===
Re: [Re: activities,demos,group work (long)]
"Paul C. Smith" wrote: > > We have a gen ed course titled "Small Group Behavior", in which students > learn two interaction models: the "Task-oriented model" and the > "interpersonal model". Most of the work is done on the former model. > Students face a variety of real-life tasks (e.g., select someone to hire > from a number of applicants), work on the tasks in small groups, then > self-assess and peer assess per the behaviors described in the models Paul- Where is this course located at Alverno? Is it a departmental course? And who teaches it? How are the teachers chosen? Here, we're having some difficulty getting full-time faculty to volunteer to develop the courses that would infuse the skills through distribution requirements. The incentives, as compared to those for research and other activities, are relatively small. Applying formal administrative pressure would prevent just the sort of "buy-in" that we hope to nurture. On the other hand, a general education plan that's implemented in large part by adjunct faculty doesn't seem attractive either. Thanks for your response! It's the sort of alternative model we might try to adapt. -dennis -- dennis l. byrnes Psychology Department University of Massachusetts at Boston Boston, MA 02125-3393 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Office: (617)287-6380 FAX: (617)287-6336
what do brain teasers demonstrate?
> I am not saying this as a criticism of the recent discussion. But frankly I > have always hated brain teasers. It makes me just cringe to see them. For > instance, I read all of Discover magazine except for the last page, which is > a brain teaser... And I consider myself a problem-solver! Wonder why I > dislike them so much? What does this say about me as an instructor? Couldn't > stand comic strips too. > > Molly Straight, MA Molly's reaction struck a cord with me, in that I have been wondering what the instructional use of brain teasers would be? I will (hopefully) be teaching an Intro Psych course here at UNC next year, and had thought of using the previous hat brain teaser, but couldn't think of what it would be used to demonstrate. Any suggestions/ideas? Thanks, Matt Raney
Re: what do brain teasers demonstrate?
Hi On Wed, 8 Mar 2000, Matthew Raney wrote: > Molly's reaction struck a cord with me, in that I have been wondering what > the instructional use of brain teasers would be? I will (hopefully) be > teaching an Intro Psych course here at UNC next year, and had thought of > using the previous hat brain teaser, but couldn't think of what it would > be used to demonstrate. Any suggestions/ideas? When teaching cognitive section, use them to illustrate some of the difficulties that people experience when trying to solve problems. Many brain-teasers require overcoming some restrictive perspective and/or achieving some new insight. It may be difficult to say whether these are distinct or equivalent processes. Others require application of logical thinking and reasoning. Best wishes Jim James M. Clark (204) 786-9757 Department of Psychology(204) 774-4134 Fax University of Winnipeg 4L05D Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2E9 [EMAIL PROTECTED] CANADA http://www.uwinnipeg.ca/~clark
what do brain teasers demonstrate?
>Molly's reaction struck a cord with me, in that I have been wondering what >the instructional use of brain teasers would be? > >Thanks, >Matt Raney My only experience with brain teasers in a classroom is a fond memory of a graduate seminar on vision from William Rushton, who frequently started each class with a problem (a geometry proof, the coin problem, etc.). He preceded each with the explanation ". . . so your minds won't rot." Then we would go on to talk about esoteric topics in vision like Hecht, Shlaer, and Pirenne or color anomolous vision. The problems were irrelevant but they were fun, built a sense of comradery, and generally prevented our brains from rotting. Claudia PS Dare I suggest the Car Talk web site archive of puzzler problems as a rich source for these teasers? (And what does this have to do with car repair?) Claudia J. Stanny, Ph.D.e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Department of PsychologyPhone: (850) 474 - 3163 University of West Florida FAX:(850) 857 - 6060 Pensacola, FL 32514 - 5751 Web:http://www.uwf.edu/psych/stanny.html
Re: what do brain teasers demonstrate?
Frankly, I don't like too many of them because MOST people cannot solve them and then, of course, can clearly see why the answer is what it is afterwards, but that's because the path to the answer is quite twisted--it's almost like a 'read my mind' kind of task. Alternatively, the problems we use in cognitive psych as examples for problem solving tend to have a well-defined solution path, i.e., the missions & cannibals problem in its many permutations (hobbits/orcs, jealous wives/cheating husbands, fat dads, skinny kids, etc.) So the nature of these problems is quite different. But if someone is really interested in these other types of problems there are dozens of books which revolve around the theme of lateral thinking. If you can get to a website for the KPBS store of knowledge, the discovery channel store, or simply barnes & noble or amazon.com then you can find them. annette Annette Taylor, Ph. D. Department of PsychologyE-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] University of San Diego Voice: (619) 260-4006 5998 Alcala Park San Diego, CA 92110 "Education is one of the few things a person is willing to pay for and not get." -- W. L. Bryan
Re: what do brain teasers demonstrate?
They can be used in the cognitive/problem-solving section - demonstrating "obstacles" to problem solving. For instance, I use the "$30 problem" to illustrate the importance of stepping back and getting a fresh perspective on the problem: 3 men go a conference and split a hotel room that costs $30. Each pays $10. The owner of the hotel reminds the clerk that hotel rooms are on sale for $25 that week and to return $5 to the 3 men. The clerk doesn't know how to divide $5 by 3, so he knocks on the door, says they are getting a discount, and gives each man $1 back and keeps $2 for himself. The puzzle: The men started with $30. Each man ended up paying $9 for the room (for a total of $27). The clerk kept $2. $27 + $2 = $29. Where did the extra dollar go (It's verbal sleight of hand - and works only if you tell the story fast. If you _step back_ and recast the problem logically, the mystery goes away. The men paid out $27 - $25 goes to the hotel and $2 to the clerk. Or, start with $30 and say $25 to hotel, $3 back as refund, $2 to clerk Either way, problem goes away. It ties in nicely with what most Intro books say about restructuring problems). Matthew Raney wrote: > > I am not saying this as a criticism of the recent discussion. But frankly I > > have always hated brain teasers. It makes me just cringe to see them. For > > instance, I read all of Discover magazine except for the last page, which is > > a brain teaser... And I consider myself a problem-solver! Wonder why I > > dislike them so much? What does this say about me as an instructor? Couldn't > > stand comic strips too. > > > > Molly Straight, MA > > Molly's reaction struck a cord with me, in that I have been wondering what > the instructional use of brain teasers would be? I will (hopefully) be > teaching an Intro Psych course here at UNC next year, and had thought of > using the previous hat brain teaser, but couldn't think of what it would > be used to demonstrate. Any suggestions/ideas? -- --- John W. Kulig[EMAIL PROTECTED] Department of Psychology http://oz.plymouth.edu Plymouth State College tel: (603) 535-2468 Plymouth NH USA 03264fax: (603) 535-2412 --- "The only rational way of educating is to be an example - if one can't help it, a warning example." A. Einstein, 1934.
Re: rites of passage
Hi Debbie and others, For Native American Indians, the Vision Quest is the ceremony that you are referencing for this transition. The Sundance is entirely something else.. And for young women having their first Moon (menstruation) or Ishnati (in the Lakota language), the ceremony is the Buffalo Woman rite. Hope that helps! Re: this spirituality, good references for some of it (nothing beats personal experience): Steven Foster & Meredith Little's work on Vision Quests and Joseph Walker on Lakota spirituality However, keeping in mind that some of my Native relatives have had fun over the years telling anthropologists and psychologists "stories" about some of our traditions that aren't fully true..some things just aren't meant to be shared under certain circumstances. Hope this is helpful, Judy Muhn Brighton Hospital (Brighton, Michigan) Henry Ford Community College (Dearborn, Michigan)
RE: [Re: activities,demos,group work (long)]
Warning - shameless self-promotion follows... Judith A. Roberts wrote: > Is there any chance you could post the name of the textbook > used for this class? Or are there some references for these models of small group > behavior? I really like using small groups to work on problems in the > statistics course I teach, but I would also like to provide > my students with some training at the beginning of the semester to make it more > productive for everyone. The materials are all in-house, available at http://www.alverno.edu/educators/e_publications.html The book you want is === Teaching Social Interaction at Alverno College (1994) by the Social Interaction Department This book presents the approach of the Alverno faculty to teaching social interaction across the curriculum and includes faculty strategies, narratives and examples of applications of Alverno social interaction models. $25.00 === Paul Smith Alverno College Milwaukee
Rites of passage and anthropological accuracy
On Wed, 8 Mar 2000 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > However, keeping in mind that some of my Native relatives have had fun over > the years telling anthropologists and psychologists "stories" about some of > our traditions that aren't fully true..some things just aren't meant to > be shared under certain circumstances. Now that's interesting. There's a current controversy concerning Margaret Mead's work, and apparently a claim that at least some of what she put into Coming of Age in Samoa was a joke perpetuated on her by her interviewees. I have sources, somewhere. -Stephen Stephen Black, Ph.D. tel: (819) 822-9600 ext 2470 Department of Psychology fax: (819) 822-9661 Bishop's Universitye-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Lennoxville, QC J1M 1Z7 Canada Department web page at http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy Check out TIPS listserv for teachers of psychology at: http://www.frostburg.edu/dept/psyc/southerly/tips/
Answer to "light bulb" brain teaser
Title: Answer to "light bulb" brain teaser OK, here it is. You have three switches, 1,2, and 3. Turn on any two switches, say, 1 and 3, and leave on for a minute. Then turn off one switch, say, 1. Then go upstairs. If the light is on then it's obviously controlled by switch 3. If the light is off and cool, switch 2 controls it. If the light is off and warm, switch 1 controls it. Beth Benoit University of Massachusetts Lowell
Re: what do brain teasers demonstrate?
Title: Re: what do brain teasers demonstrate? I use brain teasers as an example of how difficult it may be to assess "different kinds of intelligence" (a la Gardner's multiple- factor theory). It seems that the modern take on intelligence stresses the importance of problem-solving skills that require creative thinking, with less emphasis on the older ideas that intelligence is based on logical thinking skills. Beth Benoit University of Massachusetts Lowell Molly's reaction struck a cord with me, in that I have been wondering what the instructional use of brain teasers would be? I will (hopefully) be teaching an Intro Psych course here at UNC next year, and had thought of using the previous hat brain teaser, but couldn't think of what it would be used to demonstrate. Any suggestions/ideas? Thanks, Matt Raney
RE: [Re: activities,demos,group work (long)]
Dennis Byrnes wrote:
> Where is this course located at Alverno?
We have course prefixes for non-departmental courses. The Small Group
Behavior course is BSC 215 (BSC for "Behavioral Sciences"). My
interdisciplinary research course is BSC 255. Other non-departmental courses
include a series of CM courses ("Communications").
> Is it a departmental course? And who teaches it? How are the
> teachers chosen?
The courses are taught by faculty with expertise in the area
(naturally...). The BSC courses are typically (but not always) taught by
faculty in the Behavioral Sciences Division (Psychology, Social Sciences,
Professional Communications). The CM courses are typically (but not always)
taught by faculty in Professional Communications or English. In many cases,
faculty volunteer to teach these courses because they've taught upper level
courses in their respective majors that rely on those abilities, and want to
(a) know something more about how they're taught and assessed at the lower
levels, and/or (b) want some input on the content of the courses.
Those who teach the Small Group Behavior course seem quite willing to do
so. It's a piece of service done for the college by the Behavioral Sciences
Division, but it doesn't seem too much of a "drag" on people. On the other
hand, the Communications Department just sent our department a request for
teachers of the Communications courses, and the response was a uniform "no
way".
> Here, we're having some difficulty getting
> full-time faculty to volunteer to develop the courses that
> would infuse the skills through distribution requirements.
> The incentives, as compared to those for research and other
> activities, are relatively small. Applying formal
> administrative pressure would prevent just the sort of
> "buy-in" that we hope to nurture. On the other hand, a
> general education plan that's implemented in large part by
> adjunct faculty doesn't seem attractive either.
Agreed on all counts. At Alverno, tenure and promotion are dependent
chiefly on demonstrations of teaching effectiveness, with publication and
research being secondary. On the other hand, familiarity with this kind of
system gets one invited to make presentations about assessment and
ability-based learning (I was just asked at the last minute to present at
MPA in May as a result of our system). Faculty who are truly interested in
college teaching as a discipline in itself will find the traditional rewards
do come from being willing to teach these courses.
I do find myself resistant to teaching that kind of course (the group
interaction or basic communications courses), but often wish I had the
nerve/generosity to teach one of the communications pieces (writing, in
particular). Maybe someday.
Paul Smith
Alverno College
Milwaukee
RE: Test Critiques
First of all, having students write test critiques is an outstanding way for them to learn to apply the knowledge they have acquired during a course like this. Your first question was whether it is necessary for students to have access to the test manuals. Your message did not specify whether this was a graduate or undergraduate level course. In a graduate level course, having access to the testing materials is essential for an assignment like this. The test manual will contain almost everything they will need to know in order to evaluate the psychometric properties of the instrument. When I have used this assignment in a graduate course on testing, I typically require students to read the test manual and examine the test material, consult the Mental Measurements Yearbook, and read at least 2 research articles on the test. For an undergraduate course, there may be some ways to work around problems with availability. I suspect that students could get most of what they needed from the Mental Measurements Yearbook and review articles. However, the quality of the assignment would necessarily be transformed from what the student thinks about the test to what the "experts" think about the test because the students would not actually see the test. Your second question dealt with access to test materials. Since most psychological tests are restricted in the since that a person has to have some level of qualification to obtain them, it would not be possible to leave students on their own to obtain test materials. The University Counseling Center sounds like a good place to start. If your program has doctoral-level training programs in Clinical, School, or Counseling psychology, you should be able to find several tests in-house. My advice: If you do not have easy access to a variety of tests, I would change the assignment into more of a review paper than a test critique. Rather than asking students to critique a test they had never seen, the assignment would become to write a brief literature review on the test. Eric R. Dahlen, Ph.D. Department of Psychology University of Southern Mississippi Southern Station Box 5025 Hattiesburg, MS 39406-5025 Phone: (601) 266-4608 Fax: (413) 643-5521 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of G. Marc Turner Sent: Wednesday, March 08, 2000 12:33 AM To: TIPS Subject: Test Critiques I'm getting ready to give my measurement class an assignment that involves writing a test critique. We've already covered the basics of norms, reliability, validity, etc. as well as an introduction to locating existing test reviews. My problem is that I would really like them to have a chance to look at test manuals, booklets, etc. However, since this is my first time teaching the course, I don't have a test file for them to use as a resource. I was wondering how other people who teach measurement/assessment courses handle this. I've already tried contacting the head of the counseling center (who used to teach this course, and in fact gave me this same assignment a few years back) but I haven't heard back from him yet. So, the big questions are: Do you have students look at test manuals, booklets, etc when writing test critiques? If so, where do they get access to these materials or are they on their own to locate them? Any help is greatly appreciated. Struggling with obstacles I should have seen coming... - Marc G. Marc Turner, MEd Lecturer & Head of Computer Operations Department of Psychology Southwest Texas State University San Marcos, TX 78666 phone: (512)245-2526 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Memory and PTSD
Hello all, I sent a really long message last week describing what happened with my social psych class (the guest lecturer episode) and thanking everyone for your helpful insight. I never saw it come back, so I'm not sure any of you saw it. So if you're interested and it wasn't posted someone let me know and I'll do it again. Main point - thanks, I took a variety of your suggestions and made the class better (imho). The real question for today has to do with memory and PTSD. I have started a section on social psych. and the law and started with eyewitness testimony. We were discussing acquisition problems such as the arousal at the time of the crime interfering with individuals abilities to attend to key features. One student posed the alternative hypothesis that such a traumatic event should cement in memory. Sounds like a flashbulb memory type of explanation. Well, our text supports the difficulty of acquisition. This student then asked if that meant that individuals suffering from post traumatic stress are making up their memories. Well, I don't know, thought maybe some of you could help before my next class (Friday am). Thanks in advance, Don ~ Donald J. Rudawsky University of Cincinnati Dept. of Psychology PO Box 210376 Cincinnati, OH 45210-0376 513.558.3146 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://homepages.uc.edu/~rudawsdj
Re: Rites of passage and anthropological accuracy
At 10:46 AM -0500 3/8/00, Stephen Black wrote: >On Wed, 8 Mar 2000 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >> >> However, keeping in mind that some of my Native relatives have had fun over >> the years telling anthropologists and psychologists "stories" about some of >> our traditions that aren't fully true..some things just aren't meant to >> be shared under certain circumstances. > >Now that's interesting. There's a current controversy concerning >Margaret Mead's work, and apparently a claim that at least some of >what she put into Coming of Age in Samoa was a joke perpetuated on her >by her interviewees. > >I have sources, somewhere. I believe that there were a few articles in Natural History about it. Sounds like there was not much question that she was spoofed; the big debate is about whether she still made valid points about "broader issues". * PAUL K. BRANDON [EMAIL PROTECTED] * * Psychology Dept Minnesota State University, Mankato * * 23 Armstrong Hall, Mankato, MN 56001 ph 507-389-6217 * *http://www.mankato.msus.edu/dept/psych/welcome.html*
Re: Ethnic urban legends
Title: Re: Ethnic urban legends This rather interesting exchange took place on another list I came across while searching for some Mead background: (Note: I issue my standard caveat about web sources - an undocumented source on the web is only worth the paper on which it's written. ) ;-) >Also, in America, groups like Poles and Italians were not always considered >"white." Benjamin Franklin stated that Germans, Swedes, French, and Russians >were members of the "swarthy races" and that the Anglo-Saxons were the only >truly white people in the world. White is a rather moveable feast. As we now >understand it, the term white was created in the 1970s and may or may not >include Arabs. Although one can define caucasian (hence the inclusion of Asian >Indians and Ethiopians), there is no historically or culturally valid >definition of "white." > >In fact, Poles, Italians and the like were considered "non-white" by U.S. immigration authorities until about the 1920s. Also, in one of the postings there was talk about Native Americans' attitudes toward the Earth and its natural resources. But these attitudes varied from tribe to tribe and were influenced by how people fed themselves. The hunting and fishing tribes tended to have one way of dealing with nature, the farming tribes another.<
Ethnic urban legends (Was: Rites of passage and anthropological accuracy)
Title: Ethnic urban legends (Was: Rites of passage and anthropological accuracy) Having also heard the Mead controversy (I also alluded to it in a recent post), I thought it might be interesting to compare notes about studies, "facts," etc., about ethnicity which were held to be true but later dismissed. (I'm looking for Mead controversy sources...) One that immediately comes to mind, as discussed in Janet Hyde's Half the Human Experience, my text for Psychology of Women: The belief that menstruating women in American Indian tribes were isolated because they were "contaminated." This belief was described by Stephens in 1961. (Stephens, W.N. (1961). A cross-cultural study of menstrual taboos. Genetic Psychology Monographs, 64, 385-416.) "Firsthand accounts from Indian writers provide a different interpretation: Menstruating women were not shunned as unclean, but rather were considered extremely powerful, with tremendous capacities for destruction. Women's spiritual forces were thought to be especially strong during menstruation, and women were generally thought to possess powers so great that they could counteract or weaken men's powers." (quote from Hyde) Source: LaFramboise, Teresa D., Heyle, Anneliese M., & Ozer, Emily J. (1990). Changing and diverse roles of women in American Indian culture. Sex Roles, 22, 455-476.) Beth Benoit University of Massachusetts Lowell >>>-- From: Stephen Black <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: TIPS <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Rites of passage and anthropological accuracy Date: Wed, Mar 8, 2000, 10:46 AM On Wed, 8 Mar 2000 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > However, keeping in mind that some of my Native relatives have had fun over > the years telling anthropologists and psychologists "stories" about some of > our traditions that aren't fully true..some things just aren't meant to > be shared under certain circumstances. Now that's interesting. There's a current controversy concerning Margaret Mead's work, and apparently a claim that at least some of what she put into Coming of Age in Samoa was a joke perpetuated on her by her interviewees. I have sources, somewhere. -Stephen<<<
Re: Irony (or "we become what we hate")
Paul, I do not wish to defend or attack yourself, or the individual you were sparring with... My intention was merely to point out that you and those making attacks are every bit as guilty as jumping to conclusions as he is... He decided on the basis of a few students that all Russians are cheaters...you decided on the basis of the fact that he didn't want to tell you where he taught that he was a fraud. You're both guilty of miscarriages of logic...that was my entire point. If you feel accused of anything beyond that, the accusation did not come from me. -- Max McGee Adjunct Instructor of Psychology University of South Florida >The assumption that he was not a psychologist, and probably not a teacher, >was based on his explicit refusal to identify the institution where he >taught; partially verified by a check of dissertation abstracts where the >only PhD under that name was in engineering. > >If you check my posts in the archives, you will find that I did not state >that he was under 18 years of age; I characterized (semihumorously) his >behavior as having that appearance. > >I don't recall anyone calling him to task for being politically incorrect; >he was the only one using that phrase. __ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
Re: Irony (or "we become what we hate")
On Wed, 8 Mar 2000, Max McGee wrote: > > Paul, > > I do not wish to defend or attack yourself, or the individual you were > sparring with... > > My intention was merely to point out that you and those making attacks are > every bit as guilty as jumping to conclusions as he is... > > He decided on the basis of a few students that all Russians are > cheaters...you decided on the basis of the fact that he didn't want to tell > you where he taught that he was a fraud. > > You're both guilty of miscarriages of logic...that was my entire point. If > you feel accused of anything beyond that, the accusation did not come from > me. > Speaking of people jumping to conclusions, I think Max will have to add himself to the list. I can recall no one concluding that Dr. Davis was a fraud. What I believe Paul and I both alluded to was that whenever someone refuses to provide information which can be used to verify claims, those claims become suspect. In the case of Dr. Davis, he told me in a private post he had no intention of telling us what university he was at. Why in heavens's name not? It's certainly possible that his refusal was to prevent us from checking on the truthfulness of his claims. Would you hire someone to teach at your school based on his assertion that he had a doctorate but refused to tell you where it was from? As it happens, someone (probably Paul, but I can't recall for sure) managed to locate his dissertation, so we know that part is true. But it still strikes me as suspicious that he would not tell us his current institutional affiliation. -Stephen Stephen Black, Ph.D. tel: (819) 822-9600 ext 2470 Department of Psychology fax: (819) 822-9661 Bishop's Universitye-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Lennoxville, QC J1M 1Z7 Canada Department web page at http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy Check out TIPS listserv for teachers of psychology at: http://www.frostburg.edu/dept/psyc/southerly/tips/
Re: Ethnic urban legends (Was: Rites of passage and anthropological accuracy)
At 1:01 PM -0500 3/8/00, Beth Benoit wrote: > Having also heard the Mead controversy (I also alluded to it in a >recent post), > I thought it might be interesting to compare notes about studies, >"facts," etc., > about ethnicity which were held to be true but later dismissed. (I'm looking > for Mead controversy sources...) > > One that immediately comes to mind, as discussed in Janet Hyde's Half the > Human Experience, my text for Psychology of Women: > > The belief that menstruating women in American Indian tribes were isolated > because they were "contaminated." > > This belief was described by Stephens in 1961. (Stephens, W.N. (1961). > A cross-cultural study of menstrual taboos. Genetic Psychology > Monographs, 64, 385-416.) > > "Firsthand accounts from Indian writers provide a different interpretation: > Menstruating women were not shunned as unclean, but rather were > considered extremely powerful, with tremendous capacities for > destruction. Women's spiritual forces were thought to be especially > strong during menstruation, and women were generally thought to > possess powers so great that they could counteract or weaken men's > powers." (quote from Hyde) Source: LaFramboise, Teresa D., Heyle, > Anneliese M., & Ozer, Emily J. (1990). Changing and diverse roles > of women in American Indian culture. Sex Roles, 22, 455-476.) I'd have questions about _any_ attempt to treat 'Indians' as a signle homogenous group. There's some linguistic and anthropological evidence that there may have been as many as three separate Asian migrations from Siberia, as well as some recent speculation (again) about a possible southern migration route (some recent preÇlovis South American artifacts would support this). * PAUL K. BRANDON [EMAIL PROTECTED] * * Psychology Dept Minnesota State University, Mankato * * 23 Armstrong Hall, Mankato, MN 56001 ph 507-389-6217 * *http://www.mankato.msus.edu/dept/psych/welcome.html*
William James and dope
did really William James do dope? something about him inhaling nitrous oxide? Michael Sylvester Daytona Beach,Florida
Re: Ethnic urban legends
Title: Re: Ethnic urban legends I agree with Paul that care must be taken when seeming to treat such an amorphous group as "Indians" as a single entity. However, when the source is respectful (Teresa LaFramboise is herself a respected researcher and belongs to an American Indian tribe whose name escapes me - that source is around here somewhere... ;-) ) my inclination is to think that while it would have reflected more careful writing to specify which tribe(s) practice(s) the customs discussed, I don't doubt the veracity of the information. But then, maybe no one doubted Margaret Mead either, eh? Beth Benoit University of Massachusetts Lowell >>>I'd have questions about _any_ attempt to treat 'Indians' as a signle homogenous group. There's some linguistic and anthropological evidence that there may have been as many as three separate Asian migrations from Siberia, as well as some recent speculation (again) about a possible southern migration route (some recent preÇlovis South American artifacts would support this). * PAUL K. BRANDON [EMAIL PROTECTED] * * Psychology Dept Minnesota State University, Mankato * * 23 Armstrong Hall, Mankato, MN 56001 ph 507-389-6217 * * http://www.mankato.msus.edu/dept/psych/welcome.html *<<<
memes as memes
Tipsters: I know some of you were more enamored of the meme idea than I, so here is a critical (but of course, I agree ;-) perspective from Martin Gardner reviewing Susan Blackmore's book The Meme Machine in the LA times. Gary Peterson http://www.calendarlive.com/calendarlive/books/bookreview/2305/t0014 3.html
