# Reading Responses (Set 1)
- Checklist for a [good reading response](https://reagle.org/joseph/zwiki/Teaching/Best_Practices/Learning/Writing_Responses.html) of 250-350 words
- [ ] Begin with a punchy start.
- [ ] Mention specific ideas, details, and examples from the text and earlier classes.
- [ ] Offer something novel that you can offer towards class participation.
- [ ] Check for writing for clarity, concision, cohesion, and coherence.
- [ ] Send to professor with “hackmd” in the subject, with URL of this page and markdown of today’s response.
## Reading responses 5 out of 5
### Sep 23 Tue- Learning
UCLA students and faculty were asked to identify the nearest fire extinguisher, many failed. One professor who had been there for 25 years discovered that the fire extinguisher was located right next to his office. This funny story was talked about in the 13th page of "Make it Stick" by Peter C. Brown and it makes the reader laugh while pushing them to think about how people misunderstand learning. Author argues that most learners usually rely on ineffective learning strategies such as rereading and repetition which can feel like learning but its usually an illusion of learning. the authors suggest some simple and practical strategies that people can use to learn better and remember longer. The most used ones are Retrieval Practice (flashcards, practice questions), spacing (spreading study sessions) and interleaving (switching between subjects and problem types). These approaches work because they force the brain to connect subjects between each other and how to apply knowledge rather than just recognize it. In the page 199 the author mentions the importance of adopting a growth mindset. Its mentioned that our intellectual abilities are ours to shape, they are not fixed. “Effortful learning changes the brain, building new connections and capability.” the author argues that whatever it is you're trying to master can be achieved through self- discipline, grit and persistent.

### Sep 30 Tue- Cooperation
Martin Nowak describes how Karl Sigmund showed up at a meeting with a "wild shock of hair, bottle-brush mustache, and spectacles", its noted that he looked more like a student than a professor. on the final day he gave a big talk about the Prisoner's Dilemma even though he had just read it in a article himself (p. 11-13). The Prisoner's Dilemma used when people get put into situations where they must make rash decisions with limited information and basically run on improvisation, so its ironic that Karl Sigmund decided to improvise the lecture.
In the dilemma the prisoners are given two choices: cooperation (staying silent) and selfishness (confessing). Each person is tempted to be selfish even though everyone would be better off cooperating, there are many themes behind this thinking process. First is evolutionary forces,in a well mixed society defectors/ people who choose to be selfish will always do better cooperation is disregarded and people focus on natural selection. Second is reputation, most people would choose to defect but if this choice is public then people start to think about their reputation and what people would say so cooperation becomes important. Similarly, punishment and reward can also enforce cooperation, society will punish the defectors but usually rewarding the cooperators works better. Nowak links the dilemma to language and communication, it can be seen that people cooperate better if they can somehow get in touch with each other, like send signals, spread gossip etc.

### Oct 7- Catfishing and scams
If the person you are texting says things like "I can show you how to invest" or "I am in the military far away", you maybe getting catfished and currently falling in love with someones second gmail account. Emma Flecher talks about how in only 2022 70,000 people reported a romance scam (when people catfish others mainly for money), total loss being about 1.3 billion dollars. But there is a deeper psychological process to people who engage in catfishing. Evita March talks about how people who engage in catfishing often carry the same personality traits as Antisocial personality disorder, which is known as the "dark tetrad" of personality.Which include narcissism, sadism, psychopathy and machiavellianism. Narcissism is a important part of catfishing because these people have larger than normal self- importance and they need constant admiration, sadism is also clearly seen in catfishers: they usually enjoy causing others harm or pain. Similarly psychopathy is also seen because most of catfishers lack guilt about their actions. Lastly, luring someone in under a fake identity for your own gain requires a lot strategic manipulation which is named machiavellianism. It can be hard to spot catfishing but there are some signs that everyone should pay attention to. First of all if they repeat sentences like "im in the military so I am far away" or any repeated excuses to avoid meeting you in person. They might say things like "A relative of mine is in jail/ill" after the trust is established, so to avoid catfishing watch out for repeated emergencies.

### Oct 17 Fri - Exam review
(1) Which of these is NOT a sign of the dark tetrad
a- uncaring
b- greedy
c- manipulative
d- vengeful

(answer= b)

(2) Explain the difference between a public good and tragedy of commons. Give an example for each.

(answer= A public good is a resource that is non- excludable and non- rivalrous. This means anyone can use this resource without reducing its availability to others. You should be aware of free riders. The National defense and streetlights are good examples of public goods.
On the other hand Tragedy of Commons happens when people overuse a shared limited resource. İt is non- excludable but rivalrous. A good example would be overfishing.)

(3) Which of these phrases does NOT define reconstruct conduct?
a- "It was for the greater good"
b- "Others were way meaner than me"
c- "It wasn't bullying we were letting off steam"
d- "Who cares about them?"

(answer= d)

(4) Explain the difference between deindividuation and depersonalization. Give examples for each.

(answer= Deindividuation happens when individuals in a group lose their sense of self. Anonymity and group size can reduce the pressure of personal responsibility and get people to act in ways they normally wouldnt if they were alone. A good example would be how sometimes people would act violent during protests.
Depersonalization is where a person feels obligated to do an action they wouldnt do normally just because someone in a crowd is doing them. Like a kid taking multiple candy bars when trick or treating and other kids following their lead.)

### Oct 24- Shaping
When people get asked the question "What defines your self- worth" their social media followers or the amount of likes they get on a post usually doesn't come to mind, but that actually might be a big part of it. The paper opens with comedian Louis C.K.’s joke where he is poking fun at people who say stuff like "Aw shit, I have to update my twitter." like its a big priority, Reagle introduces the question of hoe social media (especially comment sections) influence how people feel about themselves. Social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Twitter cause social comparison. People turn to their likes, replies and follower count as social approval which can either affirm or distort a persons sense of self.
We had discussed Multitasking on our prior classes, this issue causes distraction and shortened attention spam because people try to multitask between notifications and comments and real life information and communication.
Reagle also talks about the quantification of social life where a person's self worth and connections is reduced to numbers. the more validation people seek online the more they associate online visibility with self- worth