|
Functional neuroimaging has already told us a lot about cognition: Yes or No?
Methods of functional neuroimaging are used in a steadily increasing number of scientific studies in psychology, the neurosciences, or economics. While these studies have, without doubt, helped develop our knowledge about brain functions, the issue addressed in this debate is to what extent they also have contributed to a better understanding of cognition.
Monday, 21 July, 15.00 – 16.30 h,
Hall 6
Moderator
Arno Villringer, Berlin Neuroimaging Center, Germany
Debaters
Max Coltheart, Macquarie Centre for Cognitive Science, Sydney, Australia
Karl Friston, Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, London, United Kingdom
Further information: 
Managing diversity at school: Should students be grouped by their ability?
Differences in students’ cognitive capabilities affect schooling outcomes from the very beginning and set challenges in providing appropriate learning environments for the entire achievement spectrum. While some countries have a system of comprehensive schools for the first ten years, others have implemented tracking systems after grade 4. There is an ongoing debate about whether students’ needs can be better met in homogeneous learning groups,
or whether heterogeneity stimulates learning. A related question concerns whether it is better to integrate or separate students from the extremes of the achievement distribution: Should gifted students and students with learning difficulties stay in regular classrooms or not?
Tuesday, 22 July, 15.00 – 16.30 h,
Hall 6
Moderator
Elsbeth Stern, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Debaters
Camilla Benbow, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA
Zemira Mevarech, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
Further information:  Do evidence-based psychotherapy and education require randomized trials?
The clash between researchers and practitioners is a matter of concern in numerous fields. Many experimenters believe that randomized trials are the sole means of obtaining knowledge about efficient treatments. Yet in health
care, evidence-based medicine routinely conflicts with competing interests, and many doctors do not deliver evidence-based treatments. Should psychotherapists always base treatments on the results of experimental studies (randomized trials)? Should educational policy makers always rely on this “gold standard“ or instead on quasi-experiments or other methods,
and if so, on which? What if a practitioner’s gut feelings conflict with evidence from randomized trials?
Tuesday, 22 July, 15.00 – 16.30 h, Roof Garden
Moderator
Gerd Gigerenzer, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
Debaters
Alan Kazdin, Yale University, New Haven, USA
Barbara Schneider, Michigan State University, East Lansing, USA
Further information: 
|
Should psychologists adopt the experimental practices of economics?
Motivate, explain, and don’t deceive
Economists experiment on many of the same processes that interest psychologists: decisionmaking, emotions, concepts of fairness, motivation to work, etc. Yet they are often highly critical, even dismissive, of the results obtained by psychologists in these areas. One criticism is that no meaningful inferences can be made about the rationality of human decision-making from performing studies on participants without any motivation or opportunity to learn and without having the task clearly explained. Another criticism is that psychologists’ penchant for deceiving their subjects is not only immoral but counterproductive, as it induces suspicion, distrust, and counterstrategies in the subject population.
 Web content form
Thursday, 24 July, 15.00 – 16.30 h, Hall 6
Moderator
Denis Hilton, University of Toulouse, France
Debaters
Andreas Ortmann, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
Fritz Strack, University of Würzburg, Germany
Further information: 
Do chimpanzees have culture?
Different populations of chimpanzees in the wild engage in different behavioral practices, some of which are very likely socially learned across generations. Some researchers have thus claimed that chimpanzees, like humans, live in
cultures. Other researchers have focused on the specific processes by which these behavioral practices might be socially learned and noted differences, arguing that chimpanzees may have culture, but it is very different from human culture. The issue addressed in this debate is how and to what extent the chimpanzee and human versions of culture coincide and diverge.
Thursday, 24 July, 15.00 – 16.30 h, Roof Garden
Moderator
Peter Hammerstein, Humboldt-Universität Berlin, Germany
Debaters
Christophe Boesch, Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
Mike Tomasello, Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
Further information: 
|
Log on: Private Area
Newsletter:
