12.8 Applications

1. Guess the ages of five people you know and then ask them how old they are. Analyze the clues you used for your guesses and the people’s reactions to your question.

2. Find a speaker willing to come to your class who is an expert on weight loss, adult health, smoking, or drinking. Write a one-page proposal explaining why you think this speaker would be good and what topics he or she should address. Give this proposal to your instructor, with contact information for your speaker. The instructor can call the potential speakers, thank them for their willingness, and decide whether to actually invite them to speak.

3. The importance of context and culture is illustrated by the things that people think are basic knowledge. Choose a partner, and each of you write four questions that you think are hard but fair as measures of general intelligence. Then give your test to your partner and answer the four questions that person has prepared for you. What did you learn from the results?

4. Skill at video games is sometimes thought to reflect intelligence. Interview three or four people who play such games. What abilities do they think video games require? What do you think these games reflect in terms of experience, age, and motivation?

>>ONLINE CONNECTIONS

To accompany your textbook, you have access to a number of online resources, including LearningCurve, which is an adaptive quizzing program; critical thinking questions; and case studies. For access to any of these links, go to www.worthpublishers.com/launchpad/bergerinvitels2ecanadian. In addition to these resources, you’ll find links to video clips, personalized study advice, and an e-Book. Among the videos and activities available online are the following:

  • Brain Development: Middle Adulthood. Animations show age-related loss of brain volume and compensatory increase in the size of the ventricles and the volume of cerebrospinal fluid.
  • Development of Expertise. Expertise involves analytic, creative, and practical intelligence, but what makes it happen? Research shows that talent is not enough—practise, practise, practise!