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Brain
continued from page 1
Dougal, research assistant and lab co
ordinator for BEL. “How people oper
ate on an emotional level, signaled by
things in their environment. ”
Through measurements of event
related brain potential, or ERP, re
searchers report they have observed
that “clinically significant states of
depression and anxiety may be as
sociated with negative biases in cog
nition and judgment.”
This is just one study BEL’s team of
15 researchers — made up of post
doctorate students, graduate students
and visiting professors — are pursu
ing at the laboratory. These re
searchers are examining everything
from language to the brain’s percep
tion of time and music.
Using a Geodesic Sensor Net,
data-collection and data-acquisi
tion systems to measure brain activ
ity of students and others who vol
unteer for laboratory experiments,
researchers are combining the tech
niques of cognitive psychology and
brain studies to gain a better under
standing of how the brain works.
This “neural net” uses a dense ar
ray of sensors that cover a person’s
scalp and face to measure electric
current flow emitted by the brain,
McDougalsaid.
“We don’t need to cut open a per
son’s head and poke them with elec
trodes to gain information on what’s
going on,” McDougal said.
Though this analysis is only skin
deep, researchers said there are oth
er ways to get inside the brain.
“We observe the neural activity
that could be generating the effects
we see in the scalp and on the sur
face,” said Gwen Frishkoff, a doctoral
student and researcher for BEL.
E-mail
continued from page 1
“It’s so much easier to explain
things when there’s a back and forth,”
said Michael Kellman, a professor in
the chemistry department. “A diffi
cult technical or scientific course is
very difficult to do over the web. ”
That doesn’t mean Kellman does
n’t use the Internet at all. He said he
maintains a class Web page to keep
students updated on announce
ments, but makes it clear that they
should only e-mail questions about
homework or other course materi
als if they absolutely can’t make it to
his office hours.
Senior psychology major Tammie
Minnick agreed and said although
class notes and announcements
posted on the Internet have their
perks, only personal interaction al
lows professors to be able to tell
whether the students are hopelessly
lost or following along.
“I prefer face-to-face [communi
cation], although I do use e-mail,”
she said.
Minnick said she thinks it’s im
portant for students and professors
to see each other’s facial expressions
and to get an idea about whether
both are on the same page.
That’s why Minnick’s first choice
for getting help is going to her pro
fessors’ office hours. Her second op
tion is the phone, and if all else fails,
she resorts to e-mail.
For other students, however, e
mail is first choice, especially when
they juggle classes, jobs and other
obligations that overlap with faculty
members’ office hours.
“When they need an answer isn’t
always when I can be available for
them,” said Larry Deck, an instructor
in the accounting department. “The
value [of e-mail] I think comes from
being able to respond at those other
times when they have a question.”
Deck is known among his students
for responding to e-mails almost in
stantly, although he said he thinks
that might be slightly exaggerated.
“I do make it a point to respond
Once the “neural net” is in place,
the researc1 srs employ a combina
tion of stimuli to arouse emotional
reactions in the brain.
In a study graduate student Richard
Desmond is conducting, researchers
are determining how people evaluate
themselves and others through the
use of language. Volunteers donned
the net and were seated before a com
puter screen and asked to answer
“yes” or “no” to words that describe
themselves—words common in stu
dent jargon, such as “geeky,” “happy,”
“outgoing,” “mad” or “sad.”
After describing a person they
know, volunteers are then asked to
see if any of those same words ap
ply to themselves. This shows if
there is a “difference in the way we
evaluate other people as compared
to ourselves,” Desmond said.
“What we found is that there is not
much difference,” he continued.
“The reason may be that a lot of peo
ple are identifying a close friend with
themselves. We’ll have to design a
different experiment to test that.”
But Desmond said some interest
ing ideas have been gleaned
through this research.
One is the “valence effect,” the
difference in the brain’s reaction to
words that invoke something posi
tive, rather than evoking a negative
association, he said.
“There is a big difference in brain
activity which correlates with ask
ing something that is seen as good
or bad,” he said.
Another interesting find revolved
arojund the brain’s different activity
when answering “yes” or “no.”
Desmond calls this the “endorse
ment effect.”
“Something different occurs in
the brain when you’re planning to
say yes,” he said.
quickly,” he said.
Deck said students often get stuck
while reading a chapter in a textbook
or trying to understand a particular
concept. He said getting an answer
relatively quickly, even if it’s not face
to-face, often seems to be a lot more
valuable than having a student come
to his office hours with a week-long
collection of questions without re
membering what prompted them.
To get students’ questions an
swered quickly and to help them get
back on track, Deck said he checks
his e-mail several times a day.
That doesn’t necessarily mean e
mail and the Internet have in
creased his workload, he said.
“I don’t think it really has created
more work.” he said. “I just have to be
more flexible to meet their needs.”
Although Deck answers many
questions via e-mail, he said that this
form of communication doesn’t work
for all students. Some prefer to talk in
person, where Deck can use the
whiteboard in his office to explain a
problem with the help of a graph.
Joanne Hugi, director of the Com
puting Center and an avid e-mail and
Internet user, said she doesn’t think
the advancing technology has taken
away from traditional office hours.
“I think the [professors] that have
used it for awhile and are comfort
able with it would probably tell you
that they hear from students that
they probably wouldn’t hear from
otherwise,” Hugi said. “There’s far
more opportunity to get to know a
professor electronically than you
would ever have in a class of 100. ”
However, she said students need
to realize they might not get a re
sponse at midnight and that there is
a limit to how often most professors
will check their inbox.
Although technology wizards are
excited about the new and ever-de
veloping tools professors and stu
dents have at their fingertips, few
seem to be concerned that human in
teraction will ever become obsolete.
“The really worthwhile stuff is
mostly done face-to-face,” Kellman
said.