I Like That!

Students interpret a series of images (rebus puzzle) to determine the focus of this lesson. Their answers are recorded on the "I Like That" Part 1 worksheet.

This lesson is a real experiment and the results are specific to each class that completes it. This is exactly what scientists face in their own labs when they ask questions that don't have answers yet. Because this requires students to have a solid understanding of the Scientific Method, the first part of the lesson is a recap of each step in that process.

Students have five minutes to complete this activity. Their observations form the basis for the next part of the scientific method. Students need either digital or printed copies of Images A - J (Image Cards) as well as the "I Like That" Part 1 Worksheet.

By talking about visual stimuli, students understand why they ranked the 10 images the way they did. ▶ I Like That! How our eyes and brains interact to determine what we like and dislike explores how the eyes and brain interact to result in our visual preferences.

After watching the video and learning more about the Cognition, Perception, and Emotion triad, students answer Questions 11-15 on their worksheets.

The class tests the hypothesis that cognition and emotion determine how the images were ranked.

The experiment must try to isolate two of the three effects (Cognition and Emotion) and measure how much each contributes to preference.

Using descriptive numerical scales, students discuss in pairs (or small groups) how they would rate their top-ranked images based on Emotion and Cognition.

Students learn how to develop predictions related to their hypothesis and experimental design by looking at example data. They have two minutes to think about the example presented to them and decide which responses they would predict. Students then discuss their answers in pairs or small groups.

Once the class understands how to formulate a prediction, for the purposes of this study they adopt the following Prediction (P1): Top ranked images will have high cognitive and emotional scores.

The student acting as the "scientist" shows the "test subject" one image at a time and asks questions using the Cognitive and Emotion Score scales to collect data. Each pair has 10 minutes to complete the experiment, then they switch roles and repeat the process. The scientist should record the test subject's data on the test subject's worksheet (page 4).

Students plot their data to make similar graphs as the ones used in the example data to practice making predictions. These graphs plot Emotion vs. Cognitive scores for the top and bottom five scores.

Students answer questions 9 - 15 on their worksheets. The class can also discuss as a group the results, why they may have ended up with the results that were observed, and how the experimental design may have affected any outcomes.

Students see a set of squares and are tasked with counting how many ladybugs they see. This activity was developed by experimental psychologist, Akiyoshi Kitaoka, who studies visual illusions.

Students recall their data from Part 1 from the image ranking experiment and whether about whether they noticed any patterns.

The perception of beauty is often influenced by colors which is perceived using our eyes. Students learn more about how this process works in the interface between the eyes and brain.

Darters are great model organisms to study evolutionary changes in animal communication over time.

Students watch ▶ How do we know what a fish likes? (And can we predict it?) which explains more about Dr. Mendelson's work on how fish preference is studied scientifically.

Using actual data from Dr. Mendelson's studies, students consider how visual stimuli and fish perception interact to influence fish preferences (Q3 in the worksheet). They then learn about box plots and how they are used in data analysis.

Students write briefly about how they might define something as being cute and creepy. They then look at a line-up of characters and write about which one they find the cutest vs. creepiest and why.

After learning about what typicality means, students apply it to how it can influence preference through our different sensory systems.

While "typical" things often reflect what we prefer, on the other hand atypical things can cause us to feel repulsed or uneasy. Students use animated characters to dig deeper into this.

Students answer Q1-3 on their worksheet to form a prediction about how we percieve what is cute vs. creepy.

There are seven illustrated characters which have several different measurements for different parts of their bodies. Students use these to calculate different proportions, or ratios, between different body parts, such as eye height to eye width, by finishing Table 1 in the worksheet (Qs4-15). Lastly students mark the ratios on a pre-made histogram (Q16).

Students go through an example of what a histogram is and how to interpret the data to draw conclusions.

Dot plots use similar data to histograms, but make display the data in a way that's a little easier to understand. Students practice looking at example dot plots and analyzing them for information.

Using the histogram data from Creature Stats, students draw final conclusions about how something could be labeled as cute or creepy based on ratios.

Students refer back to their predictions and discuss whether the data they collected and analyzed support them.