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Reflections and Thanks

Submitted by JHarmon on Mon, 12/12/2011 - 10:10pm

education

While last night's performances were really touching and funny, we all know that they went far beyond that. They showed our sense of agency to go into the world with the knowledge we've gained and actually make a change--whether that change is simply modifying how we will personally operate in the world or taking our knowledge to a broader audience through teaching, playing games, noticing bias in youtube videos, or rapping. The only thing I hope is that our efforts don't stop just because this class has. I hope we continue to keep what we've learned in our minds far beyond this class and our years at Bryn Mawr. In my group's performance, we didn't get a chance to share what Robin Kelly said, and that is that we can't change the media until we change society; and we cannot change society until we change ourselves. It is only in this sort of cyclical pattern of “making new people” that we can “make new television.”

Equalize Brain Size

In the table below all of the animals now have the same brain sizes. What happens now? If we make all brain sizes equal, will we see any difference between the animals? Remember we are not concerned with body size anymore because we have controlled for body size and now simply made all brains the same size. Does this mean that from now on these animals would act the same, walk the same, eat the same things, behave the same ways?

Brain and Body Size

What is the relationship between brain and body size?

In this table, all the animal heads are approximately in proportion to each other (and each respective brain is in relation to its owner). Can you look at this table and make any observations about brain and body size?

Bibliography

Angevine, J., Cotman, C. "Principles of Neuroanatomy". New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1981.

Bloom, F. "Brain, Mind, and Behavior". New York, NY: W.H. Freeman and Co., 1985.

Butler, A. "Comparative Vertebrate Neuroanatomy". New York, NY: Wiley-Liss, 1996.

Carey, P. "Creating Web Pages with HTML". Cambridge, MA: Carey Associates, Inc., 1999.

Chiassen, R., Radke, W. "Laboratory Anatomy of the Vertebrates". Dubuque, Iowa: WCB Publishers, 1993.

Cohen, M., Strumwasser, F. "Comparative Neurobiology". New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons, 1985.

Deacon, T. "What Makes the Human Brain Different?" Annual Review of Anthropology, Vol. 26, p. 337-57, 1997.

Eccles, J. "The Understanding of the Brain". New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1973.

Heinz, S., Baron, G., Frahm, H. "Comparative Size of Brains and Brain Components". Neurosciences: Comparative Primate Biology, Vol. 4, New York, NY: Alan R. Liss, Inc., 1988.

Jerison, H. "Evolution of the Brain and Intelligence". New York, NY: Academic Press, 1973.

Karger, S., "Central Nervous System of Vertebrates". Vol. 3, Part II. New York, NY: Arnold-Backlin-Strasse, 1973.

Kesner, R., Olton, D. ed. "Neurobiology of Comparative Cognition". Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, 1990.

Kuhlenbeck, H. "Central Nervous System of Vertebrates". Vol. 3, Part II, New York, NY: Arnold-Backlin-Strasse, 1973.

Macphail, E. "Brain and Intelligence in Vertebrates". Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1982.

link between poverty and education?

Submitted by Anne Dalke on Mon, 12/12/2011 - 9:29pm

From y'day's New York Times Opinion Pages, on the unaddressed link between poverty and education: Class Matters. Why Won't We Admit It?

Anne Dalke's blog

Links

Websites on Brains and Intelligence

Neuroscience for Kids

Brain Size, Evolution, and Behavioral Complexity

Allometry

Brains, Behavior, and Intelligence in Cetaceans

Animal Minds

The Brain from Top to Bottom

General Websites on Animals

Electronic Zoo

National Geographic

Neurons

What are brains made of?

Remember when we were talking about similarities and differences between the various brains? Did you think about whether each brain is made of a different material?

What do you think human and animal brains are made of? Click the button below to find out!

What is Intelligence

How do we define intelligence? What does it mean to be highly evolved? Why are humans considered to be "higher" vertebrates than frogs?

side view of head Often we define intelligence with respect to human qualities. Thus, as we tend to consider ourselves as the most intelligent species, we compare other species to ourselves. Yet, is this really possible? One scientist suggests that humans tend to ignore any intelligence that is somewhat different than our own: "We willingly accept the idea of intelligence in a lifeform only if the intelligence displayed is on the same evolutionary wavelength as our own. Technology automicatically indicates intelligence. An absence of technology translates into an absence of intelligence."

There is no certain basis for the assumption that all intelligence is human-like intelligence. Indeed, there are undeniable trends, such as large brains in mammals and larger neocortices in primates, but to generalize these correlations cannot always be done.

Truly, intelligence seems to be relative, in that it evolves to fulfill the needs of the particular species. How, then, can we truly compare the intelligence of a crocodile with that of a whale or that of a human?

Classed Memories

Submitted by Utitofon on Mon, 12/12/2011 - 9:28pm

Wow. Was i amazed? More than. I loved the various presentation formats of all the other groups. Chandrea has already summarized our group objective. I based my slam/speech whatever it was, on the phrases that stuck with me throughout the class - words i will still remember a year from now.

Scarcity

Time-poor versus money-poor

Rich shame versus poor shame

Room size versus pocket size

class - bridge - divide

The questions at the end were meant to provoke thought, especially the 'Can we really bridge the class divide?'. I asked the question in the hope that our conversation does not end up as 3 months of academic noise and freshman memories, but as something more concrete - that changes the face of class at Bryn Mawr.

This was an extra class in its own right and a unique learning experience for me. The piece on space made me remember the discussion we had on ownership. I remember how i moved from answering that i could claim full ownership of my dorm room to doubting myself, when someone pointed out the issues involved in claiming a space you share?

I noticed that in the creative assignment, some students came out and identified with their class. It was therefore interesting to me when Chandrea said after the performance that she might as well flaunt hers. It was a 'go girl' moment for me. And for 5 minutes I enjoyed the thrill of changing class with the wheel game. I could go on and on, but there's other stuff to do.

Mfon