Phineas Gage--What Really Happened?

Phineas Gage is the most well-known neuroscience patient in history.  Teachers of all topics like to trot out his picture and talk about his accident when the explosion drove the tamping iron through his skull. After that, he survived, but, as was indicated in the early Psychology/Brain videos, "Gage was no longer Gage."  I enjoyed reading the author's examination of the early press accounts and how the stories about Gage changed throughout time.  There is also a great deal of context added that many of us have not read about,

Today, Slate.com printed an extended essay discussing the history of the stories about Gage and how they have changed through the years, perhaps being influenced by neuroscientists personal preconceptions.  It is a fascinating read and possibly a great one for this post-AP exam time for those students who love both psychology and history.

The Slate link: http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2014/05/phineas_gage_neuroscience_case_true_story_of_famous_frontal_lobe_patient.html?wpisrc=newsletter_slatest_morning_newsletter&mc_cid=a9e5dfa92a&mc_eid=924356369f

This photos below are ones I had not seen before.

posted by Chuck Schallhorn

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Little Albert: Found!

I haven't read the American Psychologist article about this yet, but this summary from the Mind Hacks blog summarizes the story pretty well: Dr. Hall Beck from Appalachian State University has been trying to track down the identity of "Little Albert" for 7 seven years, and he succeeded! It sounds like the article describes in detail how he used historical records, photographs, and facial recognition experts to figure out the true identity of the baby Watson and Rayner worked with all those years ago. Spoiler alert: don't read the end of the end of the blog post if you want to read the original and find out Albert's fate.

Also, Mary Cover Jones published an article years after the Little Albert study on using classical conditioning to "cure" a child of fears: A Laboratory Study of Fear: The Case of Peter.

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Human Intelligence site

Human Intelligence is a terrific resource for the intelligence unit. I recently asked Dr. Jonathan Plucker, one of the founders of the site and a professor of both Educational Psychology and Cognitive Science at Indiana University, to introduce his site to THSP readers. Here's Dr. Plucker:

"We started the site roughly 12 years ago because little reliable, accessible information was available on the topic of human intelligence. We continually add to the site, primarily by revising the profiles as new information comes to light about each person's work and influence. Key features for teachers are the Hot Topics and the streaming video interviews with many of the contemporary scholars, some of whom have regrettably passed away since the interviews. We are open to -- and in fact encourage -- submissions by teachers and students of new Hot Topics, nominations of profiles to add to the site, and any other content users think will be of interest to others. We are especially interested in lesson plans and activities that teachers use to introduce and explore human intelligence, genius, etc."

This is a great site! Check it out and as Dr. Plucker says, feel free to contribute as well. And below I have copied the site's intelligence map -- click the link to go to an interactive version. (This map's just for you, Kent!)

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