fiogf49gjkf0d fiogf49gjkf0d Smoker Brain Error
Why are addicts so bad at thinking about tomorrow, beyond viewing it as a better time to quit than today? New research shows smokers’ brains ignore signals about “what might happen.” As this ScienCentral News video explains, the study looked at smokers’ choices about investing, not about their habit.
Interviewee: Reid Montague, Baylor College of Medicine
Copyright © ScienCentral, Inc.
Reid Montague and his colleagues asked smokers and nonsmokers to play an investment game. They weren’t actually interested in high finance. Their goal was to see how people use information that might be useful for future profit or loss to guide their behavior. The participants had their brains scanned as they played an investment game. A critical part of this study is the information given to the participants. They not only made investment decisions, but they were also told how other decisions—ones they didn’t actually make—might have led to greater gains or losses. Information about what might have been can be very helpful in learning to be more successful.
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1. fiogf49gjkf0d fiogf49gjkf0d According to the video, how did smokers and nonsmokers differ in their use of this “might have been” information? |
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2. fiogf49gjkf0d fiogf49gjkf0d From this research, one might draw the conclusion that addiction causes these brain areas to shut down and not respond to the “what might have been” information. What is another causal explanation that is equally consistent with the results? |
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fiogf49gjkf0d fiogf49gjkf0d Red sways men
The way to a man’s heart on Valentine’s Day? Wear red. This ScienCentral News video explains there is scientific evidence for the attractive power of red.
Interviewee: Daniela Niesta, University of Rochester
Copyright © ScienCentral, Inc.
Red is the color of love. That is such a worn-out cliché—or is it? What does Pavlov have to say about all love?
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3. fiogf49gjkf0d fiogf49gjkf0d According to the video, red is associated with what sorts of experiences? |
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4. fiogf49gjkf0d fiogf49gjkf0d Is the association of red with these experiences something that is innate or learned? Based on your answer, would you expect red to have the same associations in all cultures across the world? |
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5. fiogf49gjkf0d fiogf49gjkf0d A stimulus becomes a CS when it is able to predict a US. Would you expect the color red to be a CS or a US? If it is a CS, what does it predict? If it is a US, what predicts it? |
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