Lecture - Chapter 1

Question 1

How did the paper “A scientist like me” investigate the issue of diversity in academia?

Answer 1

conducted a dempgraphic analysis by extracting hundreds of human names from common biology textbooks and assessing the binary gender and race of featured scientists

Question 2

While most common scientists feaured in textbooks are white men, what positive findings were found in the study?

Answer 2

• BUT, women and scientists of colour are increasingly represented in contemporary scientific discoveries
• the proportion of women highlighted in textbooks has increased in lockstep with the proportion of women in the field (textbooks are matching demographics!)

Question 3

What were some negative findings in the study?

Answer 3

• the scientists portrayed in textbooks are not representative of their target audience - the student population
• overall, very few scientists of colour were highlighted, and projections suggest it could take multiple centuries at current rates before we reach inclusive representation

Question 4

Given the results of the study, textbook publishers are called upon to _

Answer 4

expand upon the scientists they hihghlight to reflect the diverse population of learners in biology

Question 5

In times articles about the election that mentioned a political scientist starting from the day the first candidate was formally anounced until the first caucus of the season, they mentioned _ political scientists, _ of which were men

Answer 5

182 political scientists
80% were men

Question 6

define an all-male panel

Answer 6

group of men (usually mostly white) on stage under the auspices of being the “experts” in their fields (even women’s repro rights and breastfeeding)

Question 7

Who began collecting images of all male panels in facebook, which later merged into the ALL MALE PANELS tumblr?

Answer 7

Dr. Saara Sarma
- researcher in international relations at the University of Tampere in Finland
*added a photo of David Hasselhoff to each post XD

Question 8

In the study “gender-balanced teams do better work,” what did the researchers look at?

Answer 8

• reviewed 6.6 million biomedical science publications from 2000 to 2019
• used an algorithm to document the author’s genders from their names

Question 9

What was each paper evaluated on (Gender Balanced Teams do Better work?

Answer 9

• the researchers evaluated the influence & originality of each paper upon its publication
• influence was gauged by the number of citations the paper received
• a paper was considered highly influential if it fell within the top 5% of citations for that particular year

Question 10

How did the researchers measure novelty?

Answer 10

examined the citations each paper contained
- ex. looking to see if there are any novel combinations in citations used
*novel combinations suggest knowledge advancement

Question 11

What was found in relation to novelty and impact of research and gender-balanced teams?

Answer 11

mixed gender teams significantly outperformed not mixed in novelty score and impact

Question 12

A mixed-gender team of 6 or more researchers was _ more likely to produce a novel paper and _ more highly to produce a highly cited paper than a same-gender team of the same size

Answer 12

9.1%, 14.6%

*and gender balanced teams (ex. 3 men 3 women) were more likely to produce novel and highly cited research than 4 men and 2 women

Question 13

how did Watson shape modern psychology?

Answer 13

• believed our learning is connected to environment
• the interactionshapes who we come, and plays an important part in developing who we are career-wise
  *give me a dozen healthy infants and I’ll train him to be anything

Question 14

how did skinner shape modern psychology?

Answer 14

believed behaviour is shaped by reinforcement (postive/negative) or punishment

Question 15

How did thorndike shape modern psychology?

Answer 15

• solidified that current consequences have impact on future behaviour
• law of effect: behaviours followed by positive outcomes are more likelyto be repeated, while those followed by negative outcomesare less likely to recur
  *similar so skinner’s thoughts

Question 16

how did pavlov shape modern psychology?

Answer 16

accidentally discovered that associations could be formed between an environmental stimulus and a naturally occurring reflex
- classical conditioning, thinking about how environment has impact on physiology

Question 17

how did bandura shape modern psychology?

Answer 17

introduced the concept of self-efficacy, a person’s belief in their ability to succeed in different situations or accomplish tasks
- and we can learn new behaviours by simply observing others (social learning theory

Question 18

what are 3 more modern people who contributed to psychology?

Answer 18

• Hopi E. Hoekstra
• Jane Goodall
• Cissy Ballen

Question 19

What did the “Diversity Matters” report analyse?

Answer 19

• examined proprietary data (not everyone has access) sets for 366 public companies across a range of industries in Canada, Latin America, the UK, and US
• analyzed metrics such as financial results and the composition of top management and boards (tell management what to do)

Question 20

What did the “Diversity Matters” report find?

Answer 20

companies in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity are 35% more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians
*35% more - ethnic diversity
*15% more- gender diversity
*25% more, both G and E diversity

Question 21

Katherine Phillips from Northwestern University led a study with sorority/fraternity members… how was this set up?

Answer 21

• participants were split into 4-member groups to review interviews conducted by a detective investigating a murder
• 3 old timers were fromeach sorority/frat
• the 4th was newcomer (either from same frat/sorority or different one)
• old timers discussed for 5 mins before new showed up
• newcomer then shared opinion

Question 22

What was found in the Northwestern University study?

Answer 22

• groups with out-group newcomers (from a different sorority/fraternity) felt less confident about their decisions
• yet, these groups were more likely to correctly identify the suspect than groups with in-group newcomers
  *(makes sense, confidence is high were there are commonalities)

Question 23

what are the 2 action items Khan brought up in class?

Answer 23

Form study gorup with new friends
- most effective if variability in skill (once you have studied on your own)

develop study habits
- no 1 best strategy, experimentation to find what works

Question 24

what are the 3 main components of the habit loop

Answer 24

cue, routine, reward

Question 25

describe the cue (or trigger) in the habit loop

Answer 25

the first component of the habit loop, and serves as a trigger or signal that initiates the habit

Question 26

what types of cues can we have?

Answer 26

internal or external
- internal cues might include emotions (eg. stress, boredom) or physical sensations (eg. hunger)
- external cues could be specific times of day, locations, people or objects

Question 27

cues are essential because _

Answer 27

they prompt your brain to initiate a particular habit
- they create an automatic response to a given situation/context

Question 28

describe the routine (or behaviour) in the habit loop

Answer 28

the routine is the actual behaviour or action that you perform in response to the cue
- it’s the habit itself, the action or series of actions that you repeat consistently in a specific context

Question 29

routines are the _ of the habit loop

Answer 29

core
*components of habit loop need to be very clearly specified

Question 30

routines can be _ or _ behaviours depending on the context and the individual

Answer 30

positive/negative

Question 31

what is chunking?

Answer 31

the brain converts a sequence of actions into an automatic routine
- plays a crucial role in how habits form

Question 32

where do we see behavioural chunks in our daily llives?

Answer 32

• dozens-hundreds of behavioural chunks are part of our daily lives
• some simple ex. putting toothpaste on toothbrush before brushing
• complex ex. making lunch/getting dressed

Question 33

in order for the brain to convert actions into an automatic routine _

Answer 33

you have to be explicit with what you will be doing and what you get as a reward

Question 34

give an example of complex actions turned habits

Answer 34

• consider the intricate task of backing your car out of the driveway
• when first learned, it demanded intense concentration and sequential steps
• this complexity highlights the remarkable nature of habit formation

Question 35

describe evolutionary brain adaptation as it relates to the habit loop

Answer 35

• our brain, a product of evolution, can transform complex actions into habits
• it involves a multitude of actions, from unlocking doors to monitoring traffic, all in a coordinated routine

Question 36

describe effortless habitual behaviour

Answer 36

• over time, these actions become second nature
• you perform them automatically, without conscious thought
• habitual behaviour simplifies complex tasks, making them feel effortless

Question 37

define reward

Answer 37

reinforces the habit and gives you motivation to continue