It seems to me that the current question of "standardized methods for determining the intent of the voter" issue currently in the supreme court has implications for a number of issues in my classes (and on this listserve, including previous Tipster discussions on Lickert scaling and the relationship between question wording and scale anchors). I have come up with a few questions/exercises that I am going to pose to my cognitive psychology class with regard to the issues involved in the current election. One of these exercises is a thought response in which they have to apply what they have learned about human perception by developing a standard for those (unfortunate souls) who will be asked to determine the intent of the voter by observing ballots. There are a few other connections that I have thought of to cognitive issues such as decision making and reasoning as well. Any thoughts of how this historic event can be used to help students apply what they have learned in class? I have been captivated by the complexity of this problem, and the social, political, sociological, economic, etc. causes and consequences of it. Thus, for some reason, this seems like a good "teaching moment." Any thougts would be most welcomed! Best Wishes. Steve Steve Vanden Avond, Ph.D. Silver Lake College Manitowoc, WI
