"The Nile is the longest river in Africa and the second in the length of all the rivers in the globe. Although falling short of the length of the Mississippi-Missouri, the Nile is at the head of all rivers as it regards the length of its basin, which extends through 35 degrees of latitude..." (pg. 25)
Chapter Two included some examples of how the lab teaches children through associating objects with sounds and through sleep. The above quote is what the lab was trying to teach a child in his sleep to see if he could wake up knowing this fact. Someone asked him when he woke up what the longest river in Africa was, and he didn't know. He could recite the quote but could not answer the question. I thought this was very interesting and neat. I would think that if I had something memorized, I could put two and two together and say that the Nile is the longest river in Africa, but this example says otherwise. I think this would be a cool experiment to try on someone. The other method of teaching in the lab involves babies designating certain objects to be good or bad. The scientists brought the babies into the room and put them next to flowers and books. As the babies touched the objects, the scientists sounded a shrieking alarm that made the babies cry and be frightened. They took the babies away and brought them back to the flowers and books later. At the sight of the two objects, the babies started screaming, and the lesson was over. I thought this was really cool too to see how smart babies are and how their minds work. Just by the sight of the two objects, the babies were filled with horror and will now associate the sight of flowers and books with a shrieking alarm for the rest of their lives.
When I read this chapter, I thought about the pledge of allegiance. We say it everyday at school, but I bet if someone asked me what the 4th line was, I wouldn't be able to do it.
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