1. Who’s in charge here anyway? What happens when we learn something?

2. Who’s in charge here anyway? Being well connected When we are born we already have almost all of the neurons that we will ever have (100 billion or 100,000,000,000 cells). The photograph on the following slide shows a small part of a human brain at three ages. The shaded circle shows a single neuron, which connects to other brain cells by connections called dendrites.

3. Who’s in charge here anyway? A single neuron has many dendrites that form links with other nerve cells

4. Who’s in charge here anyway? Being well connected 1.Describe the differences in the brain structure at three different ages. 2.Has the brain grown more neurons over three years? Explain your answer. 1.The younger the brain is, the more ‘plastic’ it is thought to be. The word ‘plastic’ here means moulded or shaped. Why might it be easier to learn language when very young but less easy when we get older?

5. Who’s in charge here anyway? Simple learning: Classical conditioning All dogs start to produce saliva when they smell food. In a famous experiment, Russian scientists, Ivan Pavlov, flashed a light bulb (or rang a bell) every time food was presented to a dog. Eventually, the dog would produce saliva through flashing a light bulb or ringing a bell – without the presence of food.

6. Who’s in charge here anyway? Pavlov’s dog Training phase flashing light + food = salivating dog

7. Who’s in charge here anyway? Pavlov’s dog Post-training phase flashing light – food = salivating dog

8. Who’s in charge here anyway? Simple learning: Classical conditioning 4.At the start of the experiment would you expect the smell of the food or the lit bulb to make the dog produce saliva? Explain your answer. 5.Did the dog salivate when Pavlov repeated the experiment, but with no food present? 6.Discuss with one of two classmates what you think may have taken place in the dog’s brain that caused this effect to happen. 4.Further Investigation: Pavlov proved that sights and sounds that do not normally signal food, can be learned and can trigger our stomachs and mouths and make our mouths water. Think about how advertisers use this idea for us.

9. Who’s in charge here anyway? Memories are made of this © Alex Slobodkin

10. Who’s in charge here anyway? Memories are made of this

11. Who’s in charge here anyway? 1.How did your memory test results differ from that of the boy in the lecture for each of the following: a.Total number remembered b.Where your remembered objects came in the list c.Whether you remembered the unusual/funny/unexpected objects more easily than the ordinary everyday ones? 2.Suggest how your brain helps you to remember things from your past, by organising your memories under headings such as: nursery school, holidays, family, sport...etc 3.How is this similar to the using folders in a filing cabinet or on a computer? Are there any differences in the way we store and retrieve memories in our brain? Memories are made of this

12. Who’s in charge here anyway? We are more likely to remember information if we can make it work for us. When we make sense of objects and events and link them to other knowledge or patterns, our short-term memories become long-term ones. One system that we use is called Mnemonics (pronounced ‘ne-mon-ics’) Mnemonics provide a structure to lists. Look at the following examples: RICHARD OF YORK GAVE BATTLE IN VAIN Colours of the visible spectrum: Red, Orange, Yellow, Blue, Indigo, Violet H.O.M.E.S Names of the American Great Lakes: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior Mnemonics and Memories

13. Who’s in charge here anyway? Mnemonics and other memory cues use structures, rhythms and rhymes that we are familiar with. a.Construct a mnemonic that helps to remember the names and order of the planets in the solar system: Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto b.See whether you can produce a mnemonic for the objects displayed in the lecture. Then test your ability to remember the objects: pound coin, diamond lattice, skull, cuddly toy, hose, dice, broom, Christmas hat, football, helmet, bucket, leaf blower, kettle, camcorder, truck, mirror, juggling balls, alarm clock, globe, tyre, child Mnemonics and Memories

14. Who’s in charge here anyway? How to become World Memory Champion? © Alex Slobodkin

15. Who’s in charge here anyway? The Jack of clubs reminds him of a friend, who is a skiing instructor Visualises an old girlfriend, called Kate, skiing The number ‘2’ represents the second letter of the alphabet, ‘B’ The the number zero becomes the letter ‘O’. So the 20th is represented by the letters BO, Barak Obama’s initials Imagines Barak Obama fighting an octopus to produce a link between 20th and October How to become World Memory Champion?

16. Who’s in charge here anyway? Attention please!

17. Who’s in charge here anyway? 1.Work in a group of three: (i) participant (ii) timer, and (iii) presentation ‘clicker’. 2.Set up the PowerPoint presentation in presentation mode, so that you can move quickly from slide to slide 3.The timer says ‘START’ as they start the clock and the clicker moves to the first slide 4.The participant has to state the colour that the text is written in, and NOT what is written on the slide. 5.Continue through each slide until reaching the ‘STOP’ slide when the timer stops the clock 6.Repeat for the second round of slides 7.Then repeat once more for the third round of slides The Stroop Effect

18. Who’s in charge here anyway? © Robert Simon START First Experiment

19. Who’s in charge here anyway? © Robert Simon Red

20. Who’s in charge here anyway? © Robert Simon Green

21. Who’s in charge here anyway? © Robert Simon Blue

22. Who’s in charge here anyway? © Robert Simon Black

23. Who’s in charge here anyway? © Robert Simon Red

24. Who’s in charge here anyway? © Robert Simon Blue

25. Who’s in charge here anyway? © Robert Simon Red

26. Who’s in charge here anyway? © Robert Simon STOP

27. Who’s in charge here anyway? © Robert Simon START Second Experiment

28. Who’s in charge here anyway? © Robert Simon Rope

29. Who’s in charge here anyway? © Robert Simon Plug

30. Who’s in charge here anyway? © Robert Simon Snail

31. Who’s in charge here anyway? © Robert Simon Brain

32. Who’s in charge here anyway? © Robert Simon House

33. Who’s in charge here anyway? © Robert Simon Toy

34. Who’s in charge here anyway? © Robert Simon Chair

35. Who’s in charge here anyway? © Robert Simon STOP

36. Who’s in charge here anyway? © Robert Simon START Third Experiment

37. Who’s in charge here anyway? © Robert Simon Red

38. Who’s in charge here anyway? © Robert Simon Green

39. Who’s in charge here anyway? © Robert Simon Yellow

40. Who’s in charge here anyway? © Robert Simon Black

41. Who’s in charge here anyway? © Robert Simon Red

42. Who’s in charge here anyway? © Robert Simon Blue

43. Who’s in charge here anyway? © Robert Simon Red

44. Who’s in charge here anyway? © Robert Simon STOP