THINKER'S ALMANAC - July 24

Subject:  Testing Effect/Retrieval Practice - A String of Cranberries

Event:    Birthday of American psychologist Henry L. Roediger III, 1947

The true art of memory is the art of attention.  -Samuel Johnson

Today is the birthday of American psychologist Henry L. "Roddy" Roediger III, who was born in 1947. Specializing in learning and memory, Roediger’s experiments have generated a somewhat controversial conclusion: when it comes to learning, testing is more important than studying.

                                                          Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

In one sample study, students attempted to memorize words.  The students were separated into three groups.  Each group studied the words for the same amount of time, but each group employed different strategies.  One group of students studied in eight short sessions. The second group attended six sessions, interrupted by two tests.  The third group completed four study sessions with each session ending with a test.  Forty-eight hours after the three groups completed their learning, all groups were assessed to determine which strategy resulted in the best retention.  The results revealed that the more students were given the opportunity to test their retention, the better they retained their knowledge.

Roediger’s studies reveal the vital connection between study and testing.  Often long study sessions fool students into thinking they have learned the material; this happens because the material is present in their conscious working memory; however, in order to transfer learning from short-term working memory to long-term memory, students need to practice retrieving what they have learned, testing themselves to determine that what has been studied can be retrieved.  Whether it is called the testing effect or retrieval practice, this method prevents the illusion of knowledge.  Putting memory to the test strengthens it.  As Aristotle wrote long ago, “Exercise in repeatedly recalling a thing strengthens the memory.”

In the book Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning, the authors present the following analogy to explain the relationship between study and learning:  

A child stringing cranberries on a thread goes to hang them on a tree, only to find they’ve slipped off the other end. Without the knot, there’s no making a string.  Without the knot there’s no necklace, there’s no beaded purse, no magnificent tapestry.  Retrieval ties the knot for memory.  Repeated retrieval snugs it up and adds a loop to make it fast. (1)

Two keys to successful retrieval practice are legitimate self-testing and spacing out the learning.  Instead of just reviewing notes, for example, students should use flashcards with questions on one side and answers on the other.  This creates a legitimate self test because the student reads a study question without looking at the answer.  The added benefit of this method is that it provides immediate feedback; turning over the flash card reveals the answer and allows the student to know immediately what they know versus what they don’t know. The second key is spacing out study and retrieval sessions.  As demonstrated by Hermann Ebbinghaus’ forgetting curve, the best way to prevent memory loss is to review information at timed, spaced intervals.  In fact, studies reveal that spacing out retrieval practice sessions over several days produces three times better retention than a single cramming session.  Therefore, while cramming may have shown results in the short term, the key to long-term retention is spaced-out sessions of retrieval practice.

Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason:  What is the testing effect, and what evidence is there that it is an effective study strategy?

Challenge - Transform Forgetting into Learning:  Create a poster that explains and illustrates Ebbinghaus’ Forgetting Curve; then, add an explanation of how the proper application of the testing effect/retrieval practice can transform the Forgetting Curve into a Learning Curve.

Sources:

1-Brown, Peter C., Henry L. Roediger III, Mark A. McDaniel.  Make It Stick:  The Science of Successful Learning.  Cambridge, Mass.:  Harvard University Press, 2014.

THINKER'S ALMANAC - July 22

Subject:  Neuropsychology - Neurons

Event:  Birthday of neuropsychologist Donald Hebb, 1904 

The brain is a monstrous, beautiful mess. Its billions of nerve cells - called neurons - lie in a tangled web that displays cognitive powers far exceeding any of the silicon machines we have built to mimic it. -William F. Allman 

To understand how our brain works, we must understand neurons.  Our brains have a lot of neurons:  128 billion, which is more than the number of stars in the Milky Way.  

Donald Hebb, born on this day in 1904 in Nova Scotia, was a man who helped us better understand our brain and our mind.  He is known today as the “father of neuropsychology,” the field of study that merges the study of the brain -- neuroscience -- with the study of the mind -- psychology  (1).

Hebb articulated how the parts of each neuron work and how different neurons connect with each other in our brain’s neural network.  The process of thinking and learning is both electrical and chemical.  Our brain’s neurons continually fire, sending off messages to each other.   These messages begin in the “arm” of the neuron -- called the axon.  When a neuron fires, the electrical signal moves through the axon and into the dendrites, which reach out toward other neurons.  The connections between neurons are called synapses, which is a narrow gap between two neurons.  The electrical signal is transmitted across the synapse with the help of chemicals.  

                                                         Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

In 1949, Hebb published the book The Organization of Behavior, which introduced his theory of learning, known today as Hebbian learning.  The key to Hebb’s theory is repetition.  When we are first introduced to new learning, the neural connections are weak.  The connections become stronger and stronger, however, each time the same neuron connections are made.  Hebb summarized his theory with the following concise and catchy slogan:  “Neurons that fire together, wire together.”

Imagine, for example, you are learning to play the guitar.  The first time you learn to play a C chord, you struggle to place your fingers correctly on the guitar’s fretboard.  As you continue practicing, however, the placement of your fingers in the correct position becomes easier and easier.  Soon, with repeated practice, you don’t even need to look at the fretboard because forming a C chord has become so automatic, you don’t even need to think about it anymore.

Challenge:  Your Brain Matters: The fields of neuroscience and neuropsychology are constantly offering new insights into the human brain.  Do a bit of research to find brain facts that will help you understand your own brain and mind better.  Your brain is your most important possession, and, like it or not, you’ll need it for the rest of your life.  What are some facts about the human brain that will help you to get to know your own brain better.

Sources:

1-Ferguson, Sarah.  “Donald Olding Hebb”  Can-acn.org.

2-Barrett, Lisa Feldman. Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain.  New York:  Mariner Books, 2020: 31.

THINKER'S ALMANAC - July 21

Subject:  Epistemology - The Scope’s Trial and The Flying Spaghetti Monster

Event:  Verdict in the Scope’s Trial, 1925

I do not consider it an insult, but rather a compliment to be called an agnostic. I do not pretend to know where many ignorant men are sure — that is all that agnosticism means. -Clarence Darrow

Sixty-six years after the publication of Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species (1859), the Tennessee House of Representatives passed a law called the Butler Act, banning the teaching of evolution in schools in March 1925.

Looking to test the Butler Act, the American Civil Liberties Union began looking for teachers who might be willing to challenge the law. Hearing about the ACLU’s search, a group of town leaders in Dayton, Tennessee became interested, not because they were truly concerned about the law; instead, they were motivated for monetary reasons.  If they could bring the high-level court case to Dayton, it might just create the kind of publicity that would stimulate the town's economy.  The Dayton group’s leaders recruited John Scopes, a football coach and substitute science teacher, to carry out the plan.  After being charged, Scopes was indicted by a grand jury. 

                                                            Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay

When the trial began on July 10, 1925, the Rhea County Courthouse was loaded to standing-room-only capacity with nearly 1,000 onlookers.  Adding to the drama of the proceedings, Scopes was represented by Clarence Darrow, one of the nation’s best-known lawyers.  The prosecution had its own celebrity, William Jennings Bryan, a famous lawyer, orator, and politician, who had run three times as the Democratic nominee for the office of President of the United States.  

A climactic moment of the trial came on its tenth day.  Because of the summer heat, the trial was moved outdoors, and the defense decided to raise the heat even more by calling William Jennings Bryan to testify as a biblical expert (1).

Challenging Bryan’s literal interpretation of the Bible, Darrow interrogated him concerning specific Old Testament accounts, such as Jonah being swallowed by a whale, Noah and the flood, and Adam being tempted in the Garden of Eden.  Bryan insisted that he accepted the biblical accounts as true but eventually conceded that a literal interpretation should not always be made.  For example, when asked if the biblical account of the six days of creation from Genesis was a description of six 24-hour days, Bryan responded, saying,  "My impression is that they were periods” (2).

The confrontation between Darrow and Bryan was more spectacle than substance.  The next day Judge Raulston had Bryan’s examination by Darrow stricken from the record since it had little to do with the central question of the trail, which was whether or not Scopes break the Tennessee law.

In the end, Darrow requested the jury return a guilty verdict, which would allow the case to be appealed to the Tennessee Supreme Court.  After deliberating for nine minutes, the jury announced its guilty verdict on this day in 1925.  As a penalty, Judge Raulston fined Scopes $100.

Less than a week after the trial, William Jennings Bryan died in his sleep.

In 1967, 42 years after the Scopes Trial, Tennessee repealed the Butler Act.

The clash between religion and science in public schools resurfaced in the 21st century when the Kansas State Board of Education ruled in 2005 that schools could present “intelligent design” as an alternative to evolution.  

In response, Bobby Henderson, a physics graduate of Oregon State University, published a satirical open letter to the Kansas State Board of Education demanding equal time for his belief in Pastafarianism, the belief in a creator called the Flying Spaghetti Monster:

I am writing you with much concern after having read of your hearing to decide whether the alternative theory of Intelligent Design should be taught along with the theory of Evolution. I think we can all agree that it is important for students to hear multiple viewpoints so they can choose for themselves the theory that makes the most sense to them. I am concerned, however, that students will only hear one theory of Intelligent Design.

Let us remember that there are multiple theories of Intelligent Design. I and many others around the world are of the strong belief that the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster. It was He who created all that we see and all that we feel. We feel strongly that the overwhelming scientific evidence pointing towards evolutionary processes is nothing but a coincidence, put in place by Him.

. . . .  I think we can all look forward to the time when these three theories are given equal time in our science classrooms across the country, and eventually the world; One third time for Intelligent Design, one third time for Flying Spaghetti Monsterism (Pastafarianism), and one third time for logical conjecture based on overwhelming observable evidence. (3)

Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason:  How do the Scope's Trial and the Flying Spaghetti Monster both relate to epistemology? 

Challenge - Express Your Ire with Satire:  Write a satirical open letter of your own to a person, place, or thing that you think deserves criticism.  The challenge here is to cloak your satire in irony.  Instead of directly criticizing, you must mock your subject through hyperbole and sarcasm.

The following are just a few examples of possible recipients:

Open Letter to Multiple Choice Tests

Open Letter to Procrastination

Open Letter to Homework

Open Letter to Your Hometown

Open Letter to Your Textbook

Open Letter to Daylight Saving Time

Open Letter to Your High School Cafeteria

Sources:

1-Adams, Noah. Timeline: Remembering the Scopes Monkey Trial.  NPR.org  JULY 5, 2005

2-Linder, Douglas O.  State v. John Scopes ("The Monkey Trial")

3-Henderson, Bobby.  Open Letter to the Kansas School Board. Spaghettimonster.org 2006. 

THINKER'S ALMANAC - July 20

 Subject:  Antithesis - Armstrong’s “Giant Leap”

Event:  Apollo Moon landing, 1969

United we stand, divided we fall.

Put up or shut up.

Don’t call us, we’ll call you.

Today is the anniversary of what many consider the single greatest human achievement of all time: the successful Moon mission of Apollo 11. On July 20, 1969, at 4:17 p.m. (EDT), Neil A. Armstrong became the first human to stand on the Moon. Armstrong was soon joined by Buzz Aldrin, and the two astronauts spent 21 hours on the Moon collecting 46 pounds of moon rocks before returning to the Lunar Module (1).

 

The race to the Moon that began with the launch of the Russian satellite Sputnik on October 4, 1957 was over, and the first words from a human being on the Moon were in English:

 

That's one small step for a man; one giant leap for mankind.

 

                                                            Image by WikiImages from Pixabay

To mark humankind’s most remarkable technological achievement, Armstrong needed to craft a message in words worthy of the moment.  To do this, he turned to a tried and true trick dating back to the classical orators of ancient Greece and Rome.

 

The specific rhetorical device he used is called antithesis. As a word antithesis means "the exact opposite," as in Love is the antithesis of hate. But as a figure of speech, antithesis juxtaposes two contrasting ideas in a balanced, parallel manner, or -- as in Armstrong's case -- a contrast of degrees: small step and giant leap, and man and mankind.

 

We live in a world of dichotomies:  hot and cold, light and dark, tragedy and comedy, love and hate.  Antithesis is the technique of juxtaposing these opposites.  Notice, for example, how the following quotations play with contrasts and parallelism to make concise, clear, and balanced sentences:

 

Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend.  Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read anyway. -Groucho Marx

 

Lives as if you were to die tomorrow.  Learn as if you were to live forever. -Mahatma Gandhi

 

To err is human, to forgive divine.  -Alexander Pope

 

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, . . . . -Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

 

Using antithesis creates contrast but also brings balance, revealing the tone of someone who sees the world in all of its broad contrasts and particular opposites.  When writers use antithesis, the contrasts and opposition create a tension that keeps the reader interested.  When ideas clash, something is at stake, so there’s more reason for the reader to stick around.

 

Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason:  What is antithesis, and why did Armstrong use it when he set foot on the Moon?

Challenge - Opposites Attract:  What are some examples of words that are opposites -- antonyms such as ‘speak’ and ‘listen,’ ‘war’ and ‘peace,’ ‘present’ and ‘past’?  Brainstorm a list of opposites, and select one pair from your list or the list below to write about:

  

actions/words, above/below, beginning/end, day/night, fast/slow, freedom/slavery, gain/loss, good/evil, hot/cold, knowledge/ignorance, laugh/cry, less/more, love/hate, left/right, mother/father, mountain/valley, order/chaos, parent/child, present/past, quality/quantity, read/write, rich/poor, save/spend, speak/listen, triumph/tragedy, truth/lies, victory/defeat, war/peace, win/lose, winter/summer, yesterday/today

Then, write an opening sentence featuring antitheses that makes a claim based on the differences in the two topics, such as:

 

Logic teach us about the world; creativity teaches us about ourselves.

 

Then write a short composition of at least 150 words in which you support the claim using contrast, details, examples, and evidence.

 

Example:

 

When we read, we travel to a world of imagination; when we write, we imagine a world of our own.  With reading, the words are fixed on the page for us, and although words evoke different pictures in the minds of different readers, we still are limited by the words that were selected for us by the author.  When Robert Frost, for example, describes the snow, he says, “The only sound is the sweep of easy wind and downy flake.”  Whoever reads this imagines falling snow.  When we write, however, we are in control of the words we choose and, therefore, the worlds – and the weather – we create.  We become omniscient and omnipotent.  If we choose, we can defy gravity, we can defy logic, we can defy nature.  If we choose we can create a snowstorm in August, a world where words grow on trees, where trees speak in Latin.  Reading exercises our imagination, opening our eyes to see more; writing challenges our imagination, forcing our minds to be more.

 

 

Sources:

1- Apollo 11. The 30th Anniversary

2- "Antithesis." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-05.

THINKER'S ALMANAC - July 19

Subject:  Metaphors - “Push the Envelope”

Event:  First space flight by X-15, 1962

I put all of my resources into pushing the evolution in an industry that is notoriously backwards and I enjoy pushing that envelope. -George Lucas

Today is the anniversary of the first true space flight in 1962. Air Force pilot Bob White took the experimental aircraft X-15 to a record altitude of 314,750 feet, pushing the envelope and breaking the 50-mile boundary separating the Earth's atmosphere and outer space. White's flight established a world record that still stands for altitude achieved in a winged aircraft. For his feat of daring, Walker became the first pilot to earn astronaut wings (1).

                                                       Image by Jon Pauling from Pixabay

 

Today we hear the expression push the envelope in a variety of contexts relating to attempts to "exceed the limits of what is normally done"; in other words, attempts to be innovative, as in: The computer company is trying to get its software engineers to push the envelope in developing a new approach to computing. The three-word idiom comes from the field of aviation and was originally used to describe the exploits of pilots like Bob White, who attempted to push the limits of a plane's capabilities either in speed or altitude. Within the “envelope,” the pilot was safe; beyond it, there was uncertainty and risk (2).

 

Push the envelope is just one of many three-word idioms -- expressions that don't make sense when translated literally -- in English that follow the pattern: verb + "the" + noun, as in "bite the bullet." Here are five more examples, all beginning with the verb “take”:

 

take the plunge

take the heat

take the Fifth

take the fall

take the rap

 

Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason:  What is the origin and meaning of the idiom “push the envelope”?

Challenge - Take the Proverbial Plunge:  What are some examples of figurative expressions or familiar idiomatic phrases that follow the pattern Verb + “the” + Noun, as in “take the plunge” or “push the envelope”?  Brainstorm as many as you can; then, select one and use it as the title of a short poem or paragraph.  For more examples of three-word phrases see the list below.  Play around with your expression’s meaning, both literal and figurative, and consider the action as expressed in the verb.  Compose your poem or paragraph, and use your three-word idiom as its title.

 

break the bank, clear the air, cross the Rubicon, draw the line, drink the Kool-Aid, fly the coop, foot the bill, hit the deck, hit the hay, hit the road, hit the jackpot, hit the roof, hit the spot, hold the fort, hold the line, hold the phone, kick the habit, kick the bucket, make the grade, take the Fifth, take the rap, turn the tables

 

Sources:

1 - Wolverton, Mark. The Airplane That Flew Into Space. American Heritage Summer 2001 Volume 17, Issue 1

2 - Ammer, Christine. The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Miffline Company, 1997.