An alternative might be a lecture on categorical knowledge and the following lecture on the structure of semantic memory. Both have a long history in Western thought, and I find they're usually fairly-easily-grasped by students.
Another would be on science, and how it works, with examples of psychological research that dispel one or another common-sense myths. How we know what we know is through research... This is of course not unique to psych, but it's certainly an under-appreciated (among laypersons) aspect of psychology. Good luck. It sounds like great fun. I love that sort of thing. m ------ "There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about." -- Margaret Wheatley -----Original Message----- From: Patrick Dolan [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, September 07, 2007 11:08 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: [tips] lecture ideas on "knowledge"? Hi folks- I've been asked to give 2 lectures on the topic of knowledge (from the view of a cognitive psychologist) as part of an interdisciplinary humanities course (Course description: The central task of a university is to promote knowledge. This course takes a probing look at how we know what we know, both within and across disciplines.) This isn't happening until the spring semester and from my narrow focus of memory research I have some ideas but wondered if others of you had any thoughts. Thanks! Patrick -- Patrick O. Dolan, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Psychology Drew University Madison, NJ 07940 973-408-3558 [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- ---
