Reference no: EM133533340

Discussion Post

Part 1: Memory strategies

Watch the study strategy videos below. Choose at least TWO study strategies from the videos that you think will work for you or you recognize using them before. Why did you choose those strategies? Explain IN DETAIL how you will use these strategies, and/or how you have used them in everyday life.

YouTube Videos:

• "Study Strategies: Retrieval Practice"
• "Study Strategies: Interleaving"
• "Study Strategies: Spaced Practice"
• "Study Strategies: Elaboration"
• "Study Strategies: Concrete Examples"
• "Study Strategies: Dual Coding".

Part 2: Correlation

Pick one of these questions (I or II) and clearly label which one you are responding to:

Question I: Even though two things are correlated (reliably co-occur in a systematic manner), some third factor can be behind both of them. Come up with two variables that could be correlated but don't in fact influence each other. Instead, there's a THIRD VARIABLE that affects them and explains the correlation. Clearly identify the two variables that are measured (for clarity use bold letters or highlight them), and clearly identify what you think the third variable is and explain why.

The third variable must be something that systematically influences both of the measured variables and it must explain why the measured variables are correlated. See the example below and more in this lecture, but come up with your own example.

There's a positive correlation between amount of ice-cream sold and frequency of boating accidents. The more ice-cream is sold, the more boating accidents occur, and vice versa. Does ice-cream eating cause accidents on the water? Do boating accidents cause people to eat ice-cream? Nope! This correlation is coincidental because there is a THIRD VARIABLE that directly and systematically influences each of the measured variables (making it look as if there is a correlation between the measured variables). Ice-cream sales and boating accidents DO correlate, but they do NOT influence each other directly. Ice-cream sales are regulated by weather/temperature (warmer weather leads to more sales, colder weather to lower sales). At the same time, people are more likely to go boating in warmer weather which can lead to accidents on the water. Weather/temperature is the third variable that predictably and consistently influences BOTH ice-cream sales and accidents on the water.

Question II: We often believe that two things are related, even though in actuality we just notice random coincidences. We easily perceive patterns even when they are not there. Believing that two variables are associated with each other when they are not is called an illusory correlation. Note that this is different from question 1 in which the variables are correlated but there's a third variable that explains that correlation. With illusory correlation, there's really no correlation at all, but the person feels like there is.

Can you identify any illusory correlations that you or people you know hold (or have held in the past)? Why do you think you or others had that belief? What kinds of thinking patterns might contribute to the illusory correlation?